<p>What's the difference? Is 20A just harder? And if so, how much harder is 20A?</p>
<p>ive heard that 20 series is supposed to be more difficult…yet from some i hear that 20 series is just taught differently…all the chem 14 series professors act like uve taken AP Chem…just avoid lavelle if u can for the 14 series…ie dont take chem in the fall of next year, wait to take it in the winter</p>
<p>oh … hm okay … because I haven’t decided if I want to do Neuroscience or Mechanical Engineering but both of them require the 20 series so I think I have to take them … wait why do I wait to take it in the winter?</p>
<p>^ I think mnop444 means that Lavelle will be teaching 14A in Fall '10 so you should avoid him and wait till Winter '11 for a better professor. </p>
<p>But since you’ll likely take the 20 series, it’s not really necessary… (Well, maybe except if you have to take Baugh or something, from what I hear… Though I personally would avoid Scerri, but that’s just me. xD )</p>
<p>The 14 is mainly for pre-meds and life science people, while the 20 is for engineering and physical science students. Really depends on your choice of major. The 14 series is much more condensed, meaning that you have to take less Chem classes overall (probably since most life science/pre-meds don’t like, hate, or don’t really need chem).</p>
<p>Here’s what UCLA says:
<a href=“http://www.chem.ucla.edu/dept/Ugrad/Counseling/FAQ.htm#1[/url]”>http://www.chem.ucla.edu/dept/Ugrad/Counseling/FAQ.htm#1</a>
<a href=“http://www.physci.ucla.edu/ugrad_major_understanding.php[/url]”>http://www.physci.ucla.edu/ugrad_major_understanding.php</a></p>
<p>whoa now…neuro does not require 14 series, its a life science major and no life sci major requires 14 series…basically here is how it works:</p>
<p>engineering/chem/biochem majors --20 series
life sci/everything else - 14 series</p>
<p>if ure takin the 14 series take it the winter, so that u will avoid laurence lavelle…a prof who gets worse and worse and harder and harder each year…if u take it in the winter u get scerri who i hear is cool, easier, and more fun (the guy plays the electric guitar in class lol)…lavelle assumes u took AP Chem in high school, which is reallly unfair</p>
<p>there is nothing wrong with lavelle. yall just suck.</p>
<p>neuro needs either the 14 series or 20 series, and mechanical engineering requires the 20 series. so i was planning on taking the 20 series but i was just worried that it was a lot harder or something… </p>
<p>haha that lavelle guy must be really bad … everybody talks about him! i’ll be sure to avoid him haha.</p>
<p>phew thanks for the help you guys!</p>
<p>ok buddy look at this year’s chem 14b final…and um no we dont suck…lavelle told us he made a midterm hella hard…and said he was very very impressed with how we did…so quite the opposite of wut u said</p>
<p>as far as 20 vs. 14:</p>
<p>20/30 is longer (2 or 3 classes longer)</p>
<p>i think 14a/b/bl r about the same level as 20a/b/l (but taught very differently – 14 is your classical chemistry, but 20 is very physical chem based, pick your poison).</p>
<p>30 series is by far harder than 14c/d</p>
<p>The 20 series is more in depth, while I heard the 14 series just teaches what you need to know for the MCAT. I took Chem 20A/B and it seemed like I learned more stuff than the students in 14A/B. It’s probably because the last part of 14B gives an intro to ochem, which is more important for life science majors so a lot of the concepts before that aren’t discussed in depth.</p>
<p>hm… so if I took the 20 series and decide to make Neuroscience as my major I wouldn’t be at a disadvantage or anything right?</p>
<p>i dont know…but honestly 20 series will have a much higher chance of destroying ur gpa and as stated above 14 series has more emphasis on ochem which is more important for life sci</p>
<p>false^. we have more organic classes - it is emphasized more.</p>
<p>does 14 series even do grignard reagents? lol</p>
<p>Yea, the 30 series is more in depth. The last 2 weeks or so in 14B gives an INTRO to ochem, so you have 2.2 quarters of ochem. Chem 30A/B/C are 3 full quarters of ochem fun.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it was just the luck of the draw, but Scerri was not difficult this quarter for 14A. He avoided a number of chances to be really mean and such, and though I hated paying $70 for his course reader package, the class was incredibly simple since Scerri does not like math and basically tests 90% conceptually.</p>