<p>Does anyone have any comments about this course and the professor? I looked up the average GPA of the course and it is insanely high. I am wondering if the course makes you work like a dog or not to justify this high GPA. But then again, almost no one withdrawn from this course. Is it actually recommended to take this course over regular 140B?</p>
<p>I recommend it, if you are taking the course because you want to master ochem and not because 80% of the class gets an A.</p>
<p>About the professor: Weizman’s really nice and helpful. His teaching style doesn’t suit everyone – he likes to teach new concepts by placing a problem on the board and then he walks around the room to check up on everyone’s progress. I’ve been scolded more than once because he could tell I wasn’t keeping up with the class. XD </p>
<p>About the class: You benefit from the small class size. The class is more mechanism focused, and now that I’m done with the ochem series and starting on ochem lab it’s a good and a bad thing. </p>
<p>The good is that while everyone else tends to flail and bail whenever they see a mechanism question, you’ll be able to do everything with your eyes closed because you’ll have such a solid grasp of the fundamentals. The bad is the class skips over things that require rote memorization (like names and some reactions) but it is implied that you are learning how to do synthesis problems and such outside of class (which are on the exams). I never “worked like a dog” for this class, but I can see why some people did. Even now, in lab, I don’t know the names for basic structures and it’s implied all the time that I should know how to draw acetone, or know what a Wittig reaction is from the name.</p>
<p>But yes. I enjoyed the class, and I thought I learned a ton. The average grade basically means you’re guaranteed a A/B. People usually associate this with “you have to haul !@$” or “that means I don’t need to try” and I don’t think any of these things are true. <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>Okay cool thanks momosky. I think I got a pretty good grasp of how the class is going to be next quarter. I was just concerned because I took Chem6AH and even though i got a good grade, I honestly didn’t learn anything because everything flew over my head.</p>