Prof. Li is absolutely fantastic. She’s probably one of the best professors I’ve had for all the time I’ve studied at UCLA.

She has an infectious passion for teaching chemistry and makes classes fun and engaging. She’s unbelievably helpful and clear, and will go to great lengths to help any single student understand the subject.

Also, she makes chemistry jokes. That’s always a (delta) positive.

Screw Pauli. Two spin states up for this professor.

I had Li for both 14A and 14B (yay, lucky me)! I got an A- in both courses. Honestly, if you do all the practice problems she gives out (handouts) + her practice midterm (very similar to real exam!!), you should be able to get a 90% at least! She also has extra credit opportunities. I avoided Lavelle at ALL costs because I did not want to get anything lower than an A-.

I would HATE to do every textbook problem and suffer so much for no reason? I like to be strategic and pick the most doable courses with the best professors. If she ever teaches, pick her over Lavelle and Scerri! I took AP Chem in 12th grade (I NEVER paid attention). However, in her class, I payed attention, read the textbook, and did the problems. I never really went to OH since I studied with friends and was able to get the answers and reason through them. Like I said, this class should NOT be hard regardless if you took AP Chem or not.

If you take Lavelle, you BETTER hope you took AP Chem because he is way harder. If you want to play the game right, get at least an A- or so, and not suffer so much, LI IS THE ONE!!!

Professor Li is the best professor I have ever had and the best I will probably ever have the privilege/pleasure of learning from. Prof. Li said many times that she wishes all of us to succeed and she really sets us up for success by doing everything a teacher can do from the pedagogy point of view. She is very organized and sends weekly emails telling students what we will learn next week, what are the assignments due, what will the assessments cover if there are any and what are all the help resources available (Office hours from both her and the teaching assistants). Her lectures are very clear and she gives printed lecture slides to students so that we can follow along, annotate, and add calculations that she writes down on the board. She uses colored chalk and markers to contrast different examples and variables/graphs that she draws on the board so they are clear to the students. Prof. Li is willing to pause the lecture, take questions and answer them clearly before proceeding so that no student is confused. For the summer class, she understands the fast pace and adjusts the content covered so that we don’t rush through topics without truly understanding them.

For assessments, Professor Li holds review session in class, gives review notes and practice exams early so we have ample questions to practice and have the time to ask her questions. She also eases the pressure on tests by giving out extra credit from doing extra problems and creating our own chemistry questions, which all improve our own understanding of concepts.

I cannot stress enough Professor Li’s dedication to teaching and willingness to reach out to students. Prof. Li holds a block of office hour after every lecture to clarify everything from the lecture, gives hints to problem questions and answers anything chemistry related. She also holds two online office hours every week the day before assignments are due to answer last minute questions. I have never seen a professor who takes out 5 hours (6 the week before midterm and final) from her busy schedule every week just to help students in one course. Prof. Li writes students’ names down so that she can remember everyone and address them individually. She brings snacks to office hours so that we don’t get hungry and buys boxes of Subway sandwiches so that we have enough energy for midterms. She cares about students so much that she addresses us as the Chem20A Family and takes class photos with all of us just to remember our 6 weeks together (she even buys mugs printed with the class photos and gifted them to us).

Professor Li is insanely nice and the class is pretty important to do well in because the material is very important for future classes. HOWEVER, Professor Li goes WAY too easy on her students. All of the midterms are almost direct copies of the practice tests which results in everyone getting high grades on them. She uses a "no competition amongst students" breakdown which is great but I don't think I really learned anything because of how easy her tests were. The only test that was actually different was the final which I'm sure came as a shock for many.

Take her if you want the easy A. I definitely appreciate the 4.0 but I didn't get much out of her class.

Professor Li is beyond a doubt one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. She is extremely caring of her students and wants to see you succeed. With that being said, her exams and homework are easy, and even if you don't understand a concept, you could always go to her or her TA's office hours. Book readings were helpful and she has a preview due each lecture. ( In essence these are approximately 2-3 textbook problems) The problem sets are challenging but she gives us ample time to finish them. Her practice exams are GOLD. If you want to do well on the exams all you have to do is really know the practice exam front and back. Didn't study too hard managed to get a B+.

Snacks during the five to six office hours held every week. Where can you go wrong? Li is an extremely kind professor, taking the time to get to know the names of hundreds of students, and hosted extensive office hours and review sessions with free food at each of them even when she didn't have to. She is a clear lecturer and is clearly well-educated and passionate on the subject matter. The workload was fair and manageable, and the problem sets gave good, thorough practice on the material. All the TAs were also extremely approachable and knowledgeable.

The bad part about this class is that, to compensate for the absolute grading system (98% = A+, 92 = A, etc.), the midterms and final are all extremely easy, which can give the impression of a lack of challenge. The midterms in particular were nearly carbon copies of the practice midterms she handed out, with perhaps one or two additional concepts tacked onto the end of a question. The final was more challenging, but was still quite straightforward. All of this made for a very easy A in the class, so much that I worried less about this class than about my GEs. However, despite the easiness, I felt like I did learn all the concepts covered very well. Overall, I would recommend taking this class, although you may be wary if you want a real challenge, since the focus of this class is moreso learning than trying to get a good grade and the A is pretty much given to you if you do the work.

But given your other alternatives for 20A and 20B, I'd still probably take Li in a heartbeat.

Li is helpful and good

WARNING: The person whose review is two below mine is LYING (and I am skeptical of the guy who had a massive rant against Li saying how quote on quote "easy" Lavelle's 14A is on his 14A page).
Professor Li just started teaching last fall and has NEVER taught Chem 14A before Fall 2016.

She genuinely cares about her students and I doubt a professor as meticulous as she is is going to ignore the MCAT and underprepare you for the later classes in the 14 series. Granted she tests you on rather not so hard calculations but I doubt she will kill your GPA. From what I have experienced, you should have a great time with her, and she WILL make sure that you will walk out thinking positively about her class.

Does anyone know if she will also teach Chem 14b in the winter ?

I was in Prof. Li's Chem 20B in Summer 2015. This is the first time that Prof. Li taught as an instructor, after she got her PhD in UCLA physical chemistry in Spring 2015 and her UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award (TA) in Winter 2015. Simply put, Prof. Li is the best instructor I have so far at UCLA. (I am a Junior.)