Professor Garrell is great. Though she is an energetic lecturer, she can be a little tough to follow. Her lectures are most effective when you've done the reading beforehand, which shouldn't be an issue because she provides a handout with all the sections in the book that her lectures are based off of (I know because when I did read beforehand, I knew where she was going in her lectures, but when I didn't, often I was a little confused). Her tests aren't too difficult. They're much easier if you've done practice problems from the book. Overall she is a wonderful professor. I definitely recommend taking a class with her.

Had her for 30A Spring 2011, she's a great Professor, one of the shining lights within the Chemistry Department that cares about her students' learning and wants you to do good. The class's difficulty was pretty moderate, it was a fair class where your grade was REALLY determined by the time you put into the class, her tests aren't easy but they're not the hardest, they're time-crunching tests however. Nevertheless she teaches you what's needed and she does a great job at explaining ideas in Ochem, and she's VERY organized. By all means take her, she's great!

Professor Garrell is a very energetic teacher who loves to teach and is caring for her students.
Her tests are fair, especially because you KNOW how the test will be like because she gives Learning Objectives which basically outline the skills/facts/knowledge you need. The first midterm focused on naming and using the R/S naming system and a few other things. The second midterm is ridiculously hard because you have to memorize 25 reactions - their reactants, reagents, and the products. The final was really hard because you have to memorize 30 reactions and also be familiar with which and where electrons go (arrow pushing electrons).
Discussions are very useful in learning the naming and reaction stuff, especially because I got a really good TA, Cait, who baked us cookies and taught REALLY REALLY well.
Overall, lectures are fun to be in, but a lot of work is put into this class because memorizing 30 reactions and which and where electrons go takes a lot of time.

Hands down one of the best teachers I\355ve ever had. I would have slept in most of the time (8 AM class) and just tried to learn the material myself if it were not for her very energetic teaching style. Lectures are very interactive and are good for keeping you awake, involved, and interested. I thought her tests were fairly challenging. Questions tend to be short but some can be rather tricky (be sure to read all directions carefully!). I thought the final was our hardest test. Her grading scheme is kindve confusing as for most of the quarter ull be wondering what the heck ur gonna get. She explained to me that your grade is mainly based on your test scores relative to other students and that improvement throughout the course boosts your grade (especially on the final), which is pretty cool cuz if you bomb the first middie you not in as much trouble as ud initially think (so don't be worried about the minimum grade cutoffs on her syllabus). I would definitely take her if you have the chance. Be sure to make flashcards for terminology as well as reactions because she does test you on random factual tidbits (as long as you study them they're easy). Her biggest downside is that she gives six quizzes during discussion section (about one quiz for every week there's no midterm). The MOM project was kindve a pain (especially since directions were ambiguous) but really was a way to earn easy points. Highly recommended!

An awesome teacher. I think everyone should have her once. She is understanding and very willing to help her students out. She's also a very interactive, peppy and energetic lecturerer that would never put you to sleep because you're just sitting at the edge of your seat the whole time. I completely recommend this teacher.

O chem is a difficult course, and it will probably be difficult no matter who you take it with. Keeping that in mind, Professor Garrell was a very good teacher. She's really nice and approachable. She seems excited about the chance to teach us instead of treating it like some chore which is just below her highness, which a lot of professors do. She did her best to make the class fun with demos, model kits, and dressing up on Halloween. Not only did I feel like I had to be at every lecture or I would miss something and be lost for the rest of the quarter, but I actually enjoyed them as much as can be hoped for in a chemistry class. Her tests are tough and she is far from an easy teacher. But, like I said, I doubt there is one.

Prof. Garrell is one the most enthusiastic professors that I have had, not just from science classes too. Just that alone I think is a reason to take one of her classes because she really teaches you to become enthusiastic about the material which is something that not many other professors can do and definitely helps drive you to do better. Even though I didn't go to office hours I felt that she genuinely cared about student learning. She is also a really good lecturer - I didn't think she went too fast so long as you keep on top of your material. Overall, you should try to take a class with her because you might actually end up liking o-chem!