Professor Hardinger is excellent all around. His class is challenging, but it is organic chemistry so that is to be expected. Compared to Lavelle's monotonous, slow-paced lectures, Hardinger moves extremely fast. I had to rewatch most of his lectures since trying to copy down what he said during lecture was difficult.

I really liked how organized his class was. He had a Lecture Supplement, which had the lecture slides, and a Thinkbook, which had OWLS, practice problems and concept focus questions. The OWLS were the problems you did during discussion with your TA, the practice problems helped reinforce your understanding of the material, and the CFQ's gave background information about the techniques used.

I was intimidated by organic chemistry, but I came to find that his exams were VERY fair. I know that's hard to believe when you're studying for the test by doing all the practice problems, but they really are. If you don't believe me, try doing some of his past exams that he posts online and you'll start to see that as you do more of them, you get a hang of his exam style. His exams are predictable, so you know what to expect. The best way to study for the exam is to do the past exams! If you're not going to do the practice problems, at least do those. If you do that, you'll be fine. I ended up getting an A in the class.

Hardinger is an effective professor. His slides are helpful, his lectures make things easier to understand, and his tests are as fair as possible. However, the fact that he makes his lecture slides available in a physical paper copy means that every lecture I pay very little attention because the notes are right in front of me. If we had to pay attention and copy down notes, then that would make me learn much more thoroughly. Or even if he posted the slides online a few days after the lecture. I literally wrote down nothing in my lecture handbook all quarter, there was no point to. I also think Hardinger is a bit of a jerk. I received a free Thinkbook from a drawing at the beginning of the year, and I went to his room to collect it like he asked. He was very rude to me when I knocked on the door, and he acted like I had barged in even though he opened it for me. I was very taken aback, and from then on I was turned off from ever talking to him in person again. He is one of those professors that seems all nice and peppy during lecture but when you talk to him outside of class he can be quite rude.

If you want to succeed in his class, do as many practice problems as you can, from the Thinkbook and from his practice tests online. It's frustrating that he doesn't require assignments to be due every week, because that would incite me to study harder and more consistently and it would give us a chance at easy points. His class is graded solely on tests, which is standard but can be devastating if you screw up once.

Wow! A professor who actually cares and is willing to help students in the Chemistry Department??? Who would've thought it possible? This guy rocks! He has soooo much material on his website to help students. He is open to help students in office hours, the TA's are great. If Ian Andrews is teaching take him! He knows everything and he's been a TA for Hardinger for a while. His lectures are funny. I hated chem after taking Scerri and than Hardinger came along. His thinkbook is very helpful--do all the problems, seriously. All of the past midterms and finals are posted on his website so you know exactly how he tests. He might have some tricky stuff but that's to make sure you really know the material. It's based solely on 2 midterms & the final, no homework or extra credit. He's great!! Really worth the money! Take him--I don't think there's anyone else, but if there is pick Hardinger!! And do the thinkbook problems!

Best professor ever.

Hardinger is so annoying, always reiterating the same jokes, "lalalala my kids lalalala"

AND he's tough... I wonder who is writing these reviews? Cut throat pre-meds? Who knows..

I think that his exams every year just got tougher. Sometimes you'd get through the practice material and be fine... Then, you hit the exams like WTF. Good luck, and study hard.

I loved Dr H. He actually made me like chem which I never thought was possible especially in OChem but he did. He has taught the same classes for a really long time so he know what and how to teach the material. He knows what is the most difficult for students and how to make it understandable. You don't need the book, just his lecture supplement and thinkbook. DO THE OLD EXAMS!!! They really prepare you for the exams and they let you know what to expect. The only thing I didn't like about the class was that it was a morning class. However its video podcasted so you don't have to go. Just make sure you don't get behind or youll really be hurting at exam time.

Very fair teacher, great professor, makes the information interesting to learn. Tries to capture your attention with some jokes (some were pretty bad). All in all, great class. You will do well if you put in the necessary work.

I took Chem 14C and 14D with Hardinger. He is possibly one of the best lecturers on campus, and his course is organized extremely well. You walk out of the midterm, and the key for the midterm is online allowing you to fix any errors in understanding you may have had right then and there. Same for the final. The material he presents is clear, the workbook he wrote for the class is VERY good. It's probably the only textbook I'm going to bother keeping after college. He puts up a good 7 or 8 quarter's worth of previous midterms and finals on his course website for you to study off of, so there are no surprises when it comes to what he will be asking.

That said, you have to work for it. I put in maybe 4-5 hours a week for this course outside of class to get an A. When he says do O-chem for 1 hour a day, he isn't kidding. If you work hard, getting an A isn't too difficult. There are no surprises or trick questions since you know exactly how his tests are formatted and what kinds of questions he asks. The grade you get it totally dependent on whether you do all the practice problems in his work book and practice midterms/finals he puts up for you.

I'm retaking the class because I got a C-

Despite that, I have to say, if you don't do well in Hardinger's class, it's your own damn fault. He is a great lecturer and literally gives you all you need to get an A. Like he says, an hour a day will go a long way. I just overloaded myself with too many time-consuming courses. As I said, my own fault for doing badly.

Hardinger, what a character. He has an interesting sense of humor, for sure. Everyone talks about how bad his jokes are. And yes, they are that bad. You'd think after multiple crickets and tumbleweeds every quarter he'd find something that worked. But who cares about jokes, on to the important stuff.
He's a very good lecturer. As he's explained his slides countless times, he presents them effortlessly with clarity and without any mistakes. Everything you need to know is in the lecture notes and his thinkbook, so no expensive textbook needed, no falling asleep while reading the same line of text over and over. There's a ton of info available online, from additional notes to offer different perspectives on learning, to advice, and about 7 years worth of exams. He invites students to drop by his office anytime. But for someone who seems to care so much about student learning, holy shit he can be an asshole during office hours. He seemed like an okay guy during lecture; I thought he was just merely misunderstood. NOPE, he drops snide comments at you all the time. But if you never go talk to him, no need to worry about it.
His tests are pretty difficult. O-Chem is a bitch of a class. Even if you know exactly how he tests, you gotta have your shit down. Put in the time. Hardinger said study O-Chem every day that had the word "day" in it. So Memorial Day Holiday on Monday is triple the studying. If you want an A, sadly that is kinda close to the truth. But maybe you're better at chem than me. Personally, I hate chem with a passion so your results will probably vary from mine. BTW I got a B+.