CHEM131 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an F Anonymous 11/21/2024	This is the worst chem prof ever trust me bro do not take his class
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 11/21/2024	I would definitely not recommend her to anyone. Her teaching style does not work at all. She moves quickly and does not do enough practice. She doesn't like to answer questions and she gives impossible homework that is not at all helpful for the exams. If you do get stuck in her class here are some tips: 1. Watch videos on each topic as you learn them. I recommend the organic chemistry tutor on YouTube, he has videos for most of the topics and explains them much better than her. 2. Do the problems on mastering chemistry for extra practice. 3. If she tells you to do the other version of the homework to study for the test, don't do it. It will completely waster your time as the exams are much easier than the homework. 4. Go to the GSS sessions. They are not always helpful, but it does provide extra practice and can help you meet other people in the class that you can study with. 5. Just don't take her class!
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/20/2024	You know that Tiktok sound that is like "I can't tell you how to do it, you just have to know" that basically sums up her teaching.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 11/20/2024	I wrote one of these for her in October, but since then I realize I left a few things out. First, if you take her be prepared to never ever miss class! If you miss one lecture you would assume you can just look at her slides, but her notes never make any sense because she abbreviates everything and barely writes anything down compared to all that she says. Second, she "forgets" that we are just "beginners" and tries to teach as if we are already advanced chem students. She will pause in the middle of a problem and be like "oh I forget you guys are stupid and don't know what that means" and laugh as if its funny that she can't teach beginner students. Lastly, and this is the biggest one, she has this strong belief that if she makes her homework literally impossible we will somehow do amazing on the test where the questions are easier. This makes no sense. You are supposed to start easy and work your way up. No one can learn anything when you can't do any of the homework/practice problems because they are too difficult. By the time you get to the exam you have not learned anything. If you do take her class, good luck, because you're gonna need it.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/01/2024	Do not take her for gen chem
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a D Anonymous 10/27/2024	Seems like a nice person but her teaching style isn't great at all. Her notes are so bad you cant even follow them if you didn't show up to class. Like i go to class everyday and still have questions about what she means in the notes cause they're all over the place. She rushes through the course material like someone is running after her and you don't even have time to process it. She teaches like she thinks we already know what she it talking about. It's literally almost like revision. She also doesn't have a good point distribution so you cant even really redeem yourself if you failed the first two exams maybe. She needs to give better resources and extra practice problems so we can at least be more prepared for her exams. She says that chemistry is about practice but doesn't even give the recourses to practice but also tells us not to use outside recourses. Like make it make sense?? I've really disliked her class this entire semester and its making me want to rethink my major. It's extremely frustrating. Everyone I know is struggling and failing. Surely there's a common denominator in this. I BEG you DO NOT take her if she's teaching this course again.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Anonymous 10/15/2024	Just an amazing professor - please take her!
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Anonymous 10/15/2024	She is a great professor. She is always super enthusiastic about what she is teaching and thoroughly explains concepts. Instead of just explaining and moving on she always builds practice problems into her lectures to make sure we understand. Also she always answers questions students have during classes. Plus her exams aren't that hard as long as you do her homework and study.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/15/2024	Dr. Schech is an amazing professor! She will explain everything in detail and will help you out if you ever need assistance.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a D Anonymous 10/14/2024	Idk why everyone is saying such positive things about her. She is absolutely rude and cannot teach at all. She acts as though everything she is teaching are things we already know. Then, she gives incredibly hard homework questions that are 10x harder than the exam. She says this will "prepare us for the exam" but it isn't preparing us if we never know how to do the homework. The examples she does in class almost never help with the homework or the exams, only the CAN that she does outside of class helps and not everyone has 2 hours to spend outside of class watching her do things she should have done in class. Everyone I know in my class is failing. I did extremely well in chemistry before and know have a 45% in her class. I would NEVER take another class led by her. She is making me want to change majors just so I don't have to take more chemistry classes. PLEASE AVOID HER!!!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 10/08/2024	The first exam had an average of around 30-40%, and that average remained on all following exams throughout the semester. If it weren't for the curve at the end of the semester, lots of people I know would not have passed at all. She would cancel class frequently, and independent learning was the only way to learn the more advanced topics. Overall I don't feel as though there was any quality teaching half the time, and the exams were taxing on self-esteem.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an F Anonymous 09/11/2024	If you're bad at math and chemistry, don't take her!! She is passive aggressive, tells you not to email her, and isn't helpful. The TA also wasn't helpful either because he just made things more confusing. Her teaching style wasn't for me and she just made things harder than it was supposed to me. She wasn't willing to help and she wasn't encouraging either. I am not the best at math and/or chem however I did my best and studied over 10+ hrs a week for this class, still I felt like it wasn't enough. Additionally, It would be nice if she recorded her lectures and provided the notes she took in class. I found myself rushing to take notes during class and becoming overwhelmed with all the information overload because she doesn't record lecture or save the notes. Take her at your own risk.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/19/2024	Dr. Schech is truly an amazing professor. She has open office hours and answers all of your questions to the best of her ability until you fully understand the concept. I was very nervous about taking chemistry, but she made it a class that I felt comfortable in. I like the structure of the class and I love the way she teaches. She always uses analogies to explain complex concepts, for example using pasta to explain different molecule structures and their relation to heating up. Of course- I studied a lot but I never felt overworked. The only thing is that I would not recommend getting the online textbook. I paid for it and never used it once because she provides lots of practice problems that best reflect the exams. I definitely recommend taking Dr. Schech for CHEM131, she was an amazing person and professor.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/04/2024	I didn't attend her lectures frequently because they were at 9 am, but when I did I learned a lot. The slides were detailed enough to get the gist from. I also went to her office hours and she was super nice.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 06/03/2024	First off she is EXTREMELY passive aggressive. Don’t listen to what people say about her office hours, it’s overwhelming and always packed and i once had to wait 15 minutes for her to answer 1 question….The first two pages of her exams are not too bad.(but she does things to purposely trip you up, and then grades harshly on top of that. Last pages of her exams are the hardest and consist of larger problems where she still implements things to trip you up. I also had a grading error once. Doesn’t record lectures. Tells you on the first day not to email her. She likes to talk about herself and seem like she’s super nice, but please don’t be fooled it feels like she gets off with smiling in your face and then just fail u without even batting an eye. Stay safe…
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/24/2024	Best instructor I have ever had… Dr. Schech was awesome! I did not open the textbook once because Dr. Schech did such a great job teaching the material. My advice to students: go to class, do the HW, and really try to understand concepts. She makes this class very manageable.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2024	I struggled a lot in this class if I am being honest. However, Professor Baxter made this class impossible. She was very rude when students would ask "stupid" questions and would just expect us to know what was going on without any explanation. Not to mention the number of times she would cancel class. At one point in the semester, we didn't have class for 2 weeks straight because she canceled all those classes in a row. She would go over basic problems during class but the actual exams were very advanced problems that were completely different from what she taught. If you take her expect to be teaching yourself or getting a tutor. Her exams were pretty difficult for me and the average grade for each exam was never over a 50%. And our final exam was worse with a 42% average. The other chemistry classes had significantly higher averages than us over the exams and final. Overall, this class took 10 years off my life and Ashley Baxter definitely contributed to it.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2024	Dr. Baxter is a horrible professor and I do not recommend her to anyone. Yes, chemistry can be a difficult class but she made it more difficult than it should be. She was barely in class, and would “teach” us through less than helpful video lectures. As well as, like clockwork, cancel her office hours and reschedule them at a time that was not convenient for anyone to attend. She would also cancel class last minute for one reason or another regularly. On the other hand she does curve at the end, and the homework she gives is somewhat useful. But the cons outweigh the pros. We were taught basically by the TA and the GSS leaders, had to teach ourselves, or look for tutors.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/17/2024	Dr. Schech is one of the best, if not THE best, professor in UMD. Her lectures are very understandable and easy to follow. A very easy-going person and actually cares about her students’ understanding. Paying attention in lecture is very important as she takes exam contents from it. She curves the whole class grade based on the final though, so midterms aren't curved. General Chemistry 1 is a hard course in general and I am not saying that you won’t struggle in this class, but Dr. Schech provides the resources for you to excel. I’ve seen many people not do the ungraded worksheet she provides in discussion and those are really helpful as they mimic problems that might be on the exam. Just because it is optional does not mean it is not important. One thing to keep in mind is that there are also self-study assignments in her class (meaning it’s going to be on the exam but she will not cover it in-person lecture) but she gives plenty of time to do it and very manageable. She records her lecture and posts her lecture notes. When I said she provides a lot of resources, SHE REALLY DOES so take advantage of it. Lastly, she is very big on conceptual understanding and her exams revolve around it a lot. She writes her own exam questions and NEVER repeats the same questions again. This makes her exams pretty tricky but as long as you pay attention to her lecture and read the textbooks, you will do great on her exams.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/17/2024	Go to her office hours!! Most approachable professor I've met. She explains concepts in a way that is digestible.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/17/2024	Don't get me wrong, chem is a really difficult class, but if you put in the time and effort to study and make sure you really understand the material you can do well. Dr. Stocker is a great teacher, and the information she teaches in class is similar to what you will see on her exams. She also provides a bunch of previous semester exams which are extremely helpful study tools. There is weekly homework, but it's not weighted much, and it's actually really helpful in practicing the material. Also, you never have to go to discussion. Tests are hard, and you really need to master all of the material and know of every exception or trick because Stocker will include these in most of her questions, but the curve is also really high since the average is so low.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/16/2024	I only took chemistry once in the 10th grade and never really took it again lol. Now coming into this spring semester, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect and I can say there is A LOT that goes into this course. I will say this: Dr. Baxter is fairly organized and her slides pretty much have all the information you need for all the midterms and the final exam. I will say for me personally, I did slack off after the first exam and was having trouble grasping content as time went on so I can only blame myself for how poorly I did on the exams. But one thing I would say that has really helped me improve is: only taking notes of the practice problems she does in class and repeatedly doing different versions of them (which you can find in the online textbook), our TA during discussion always had worksheets that were approved by Dr. Baxter to help us grasp the content and practice the topics we needed to know, and GSS. I was never able to go to GSS as much since it always had class or other obligations but the times I went were really helpful. I will say I like that Dr. Baxter would clarify specifically how to solve the problems she always went over in class because there were times I was confused this semester and majority of the semester she was out of class so everything she couldn't go over in class was recorded, which made it even more difficult for me. But I will say that you don't have to be afraid to ask her questions. Lots of people are afraid to reach out to their teachers because they feel like their teachers will consider them dumb or the teacher won't help out as much but I'm telling you it doesn't hurt trying. You can't succeed in this course, especially chemistry and science classes in general if you're not asking for help and Dr. Baxter made sure to accommodate people the best she could. This past semester she curved it to 13% which really became helpful because I really thought I was going to fail. But that's just my experience, so hopefully this helps for anyone considering taking her in the future!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/16/2024	I’ve been waiting to write this all semester. Alright we all know 8am classes suck… the semester started of ok, the slides are JAM packed with info and this course goes extremely fast. I had numerous panic attacks. There is a homework due every two weeks or less that will take you hours to do, it’s good practice through and tends to be helpful for exam prep. I absolutely recommend doing ALL the gss worksheets and organic chemistry tutor videos. She is very vague about what is on the exams, unfortunately you will need to study everything she taught u leading up to the lecture, and do NOT just study the lecture problems, they are helpful but she tends to switch it up on the exam. Halfway through the semester things on fishy. She cancelled class literally 7 times and doing recorded lectures was awful and I agree it had to do with my down fall in my grades. The final was hard as hell, it is on what she doesn’t test you on in the exams, so study strategically. Unfortunately my test grades were a 67/100, 88/100, 38/100 and 121/200. I was shitting bricks with my 67% in the class, BUT she does replace your lowest midterm with your final if helpful, and there was a 13% curve because averages ranged from 40-55% on every midterm and the final. Infact our class did so bad she gave a 20 point extra credit quiz for exam 2, which boosted my score from a 75 to an 88. I studied for 30+ hours for finals and I tried so hard. Unfortunately not having a study guide for this class makes it impossible to be prepared for exams, there is so much content. Just be above the average in the class, and you should get a B. I went from a 67 to an 85 after a midterm replacement and the curve. Good luck!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/16/2024	The material of the class is extremely difficult, and I guess she tries to give you some resources to make it work. However, her exams are unnecessarily difficult and even after each exam had a class average of about 50%, instead of altering exams or giving us more study material, she simply gives around a 5 point curve to make herself look better (actually she only did this once and just left the other exams with the scores they had). We are not allowed to ask any questions during exams, we are not given any sort of practice exams and she does not give us any sort of tips to on how/what to study. So if you spend 2 hours studying a more difficult topic that's part of exam material, chances are it may not even show up on the exam and you will have wasted your time. Our class average on our final exam was a 46%, while other chem131 classes had an average of about 75%. Her solution to this- a 13 point curve. Her lectures were also at 8 am, and I cannot count the amount of times she has canceled lectures at 7:45 AM right before class because of some dismissive reason... whether that be a headache, stomach not feeling well, etc. We also had GSS sessions throughout the week that were always getting canceled without explanation.This class is ridiculous.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/16/2024	Dr. Stocker was an okay professor. This class was required as a GenEd for my degree. Only thing good about this class is that she curves the exams and final grade a lot. I found her to be discouraging at times like when she told us not to email her with questions or to drop the class if we are not happy with our exam grades. If you take this class with her make sure to really study and understand the equations used and how to apply them. As for grades, you do not know your final grade until the very end of the class. I passed with a C and the entire class I thought I was going to fail. For grade reference: I got a 33 on exam 1, 44 on exam 2, 60 on exam 3, and a 48 on the final exam. With my homework's being a 93, my semester score ended up being a 60. Hope this helps!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/14/2024	Professor Baxter is pretty chill, takes time to work through problems during lectures so you can get a feel of how to use the information. However, she doesn't post answers to the lecture problems anywhere, so woe upon anyone who misses lecture because you will miss at least half of the content. Not sure if this a common occurrence, but she cancelled about seven lectures in my semester, which was pretty annoying, because then we had to catch up using panopto videos. Homework is leniently graded, so is a good boost for your grade, and your worst midterm is replaced by your final grade, so that helps too, along with a pretty hefty curve. You will make it through this class with an acceptable grade.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/13/2024	Dr. Baxter canceled 7 of our ~27 sessions this semester an hour before their start times at 8:00 A.M., for frequent sickness or "car trouble." Underprepared would be a tragedy of an understatement, as Dr. Baxter published zero resources to assist us in studying for our final exam, and not only was she largely unhelpful in the classes leading up to the final as all she did was teach us new material that didn't even get tested on the exam, but she refuses to answer questions during the exams. Please, for your own sanity, take someone else.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/13/2024	Dr. Baxter is nice, but that does not make up for the fact that she missed around 7 classes this semester and still expected us to keep up with the content at her pace. Video lectures were posted online, but the amount of missed class time was unacceptable, especially since CHEM131 is such a difficult course and the class was only held twice a week. Our third midterm had three extremely challenging topics on it, and two of those topics were taught entirely online. That may work better for some students, but I prefer in-person learning. It was also inconvenient that each time she canceled class it was only an hour before the lecture began (7 am.) I understand that things can uncontrollably come up in all of our lives, but apparently, this has been a trend in past semesters. The averages for each midterm were 61.31% for Exam 1, 51.5% for Exam 2 (before she gave the opportunity to gain up to 20 points in extra credit), and 55% for Exam 3. She says that she expects these types of grades. Personally, I do not understand why she can't just give exams with easier content that will not result in such poor grades overall... Especially since she plans to curve the class average up to a 77% (adding 10-12% to our final grade this semester.) It kind of just seems like a cover-up for how badly the entire class is doing. During the final exam, my class was in a room with another section. They were allowed to ask their professor/TAs questions, while our class was not. I glanced at their exam and could instantly see how much easier their content was. It's upsetting to have done so poorly in this class. I feel so discouraged; I am an extremely hardworking student and take pride in my abilities. I feel that if I had taken this class with another professor, I would have gotten a much better grade. I'm in a group chat with fifteen other students, and we all feel equally about this course. Some of us may even need to retake it. If you do end up in a section with Dr. Baxter, do not miss lecture. Go to Guided Study Sessions, and don't miss your discussion. Things will snowball if you're not on top of it. Best of luck.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/13/2024	DO NOT TAKE HER!!!! SHE IS ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. She put things on the exams that she never went over. Her final, she gave us nothing to study with and continued to teach final material 4 days before... she puts all new concepts on the final and has the mindset of "well ive alr tested u on this so no need to put it on there". if u care about your mental health, don't take her. she does not care about her students
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/11/2024	Dr. Schech is an engaging lecturer but my biggest issue comes down to the exams. The content we cover in class, in discussion, and on the online homework is so incredibly easy compared to the exams. We had 3 exams and on each one there was at least 1 multi part question that was so much more complicated than anything we had done in class or done for homework. No matter what I did, even when I did the practice exams, I did not feel prepared for the exams. Exam averages were in the mid 60s to low 70s. When it came time for the final exam, she sent out a list of topics that would be covered along with practice problems 2 days before the exam. To expect us to review the entire class, do practice problems, and ask questions in only 2 days while also studying for other exams is insane imo
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/10/2024	Chem 131 is not an easy class and Baxter does little to make it easier. I should start out by saying that she missed about 3 weeks of lectures altogether-make sure you check canvas before you go to class because there is a 50/50 chance you will have to go. She did post videos going through the slides but if you dont understand the videos,she said and I quote 'rewatch until you get it'. Her lectures are mostly going through problems and you're basically going to have to teach yourself the content. Be prepared to spend hours teaching yourself and asking others for help. She doesnt put out any kind of practice exams or study guide. Your best bet is finding someone who has taken her class previously. There surprisingly was extra credit this semester after the second exam bc the class did so terrible-i think the average was a 41% for it. Exams consist of ~20 multiple choise questions and 6-10 written answers. This should be your last choice for chem 131.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024	SCHECH IS THE BEST PROFESSOR EVER! Take her class if you can. Very organized and fun to listen too. She makes me want to come to chem every day. Exams aren't too bad, but you do have to study for them. She posts everything about lectures, including recording, notes, and slides. No exams or assignments are curved, but the entire class is curved so that an 83 is an A-
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/08/2024	Did not really like her teaching style or lectures. Whatever problems were on the exam, she provides little examples of. Did not feel very welcoming when asked questions. Exam averages are so low but the curve at the end is good. She replaced your lowest exam with your final and curved so the average grade was a C+/B- which really helped my grade.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/07/2024	Amazing professor! Passionate, enthusiastic, and energetic, which was great for engaging us in the subject. I dreaded taking this class because I hated chemistry in high school, but college chemistry is much more interesting, especially with Dr. Schech as the teacher. The exams are difficult, but only because the subject itself is difficult. The exams are what you would expect from what you learned in the lectures, and nothing on there should be a surprise or a trick as long as you study well. I would highly recommend anyone to take her for CHEM131.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2024	Professor Schech is an excellent lecturer and a fair grader. While the homework is a bit long, generally speaking, her exams are fair and study guides are provided. While naturally GenChem is going to be fairly difficult, Professor Schech does a good job of explaining material properly, and the GSS's are extremely helpful.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/07/2024	I took Baxter because she was the only available professor when I signed up for classes. She speeds through lectures, so you really need to pay attention and even missing one lecture will cause you to fall behind. If you take your own notes, you will miss most of the information because of how fast she goes, so I would recommend using the provided outlines. She only gives 1-2 practice problem per theory/concept, so you need to do a lot of practice outside of class. The practice problems in class are similar to the ones found on exams, so it is important to understand these because she does not provide any past or practice exams. There are 1-2 homework assignments per week that each take between 90-180 mins. Discussion sessions are optional and mostly a waste of time, it's better to just look for the worksheet key after class. She does curve, but she curves final grades and not specific exams so you won't know your final grade until after the final exam, which is annoying. I went to a few of the GSS sections, but the leaders were not very helpful and even made me more confused with some problems. Not sure if this is every semester, but she cancelled class so many times (like 8 times). She taught an 8am this semester so waking up early and finding out at 7:30 that there is no class is very annoying. We only had about 3 classes in between exam 2-3, so the averages were much lower than normal. She gave videos to watch, but I did not sign up to self-teach chemistry. Overall, she's not the worst chemistry professor, but if you can take someone else I would recommend it. If you are good with chemistry or are very dedicated to the class, you should be fine with her.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 04/30/2024	Honestly, I do not know what majority of these people are talking about. Baxter is a terrible professor. For starters, she does not provide her students with enough resources to succeed in her class. On the first day of class, she told us that she doesn't offer study guides despite her own professor when she took chem providing her with one because "she didn't use them". She has no compassion and does not care about whether her students learn or not. She rather cancel classes for a whole month straight over a simple migraine than show up and do her job. Even after canceling classes for about a month straight, she still expects students to take midterms based on a few 30-minute videos she uploads to Canvas randomly. The average for my class's first exam was 60 and she decided to make the second exam longer simply because many people left too early during the first exam. However, she failed to realize that this was probably because people gave up on the exam due to it being extremely difficult. Not to even talk about her homework, each week expect nothing less than about 40-70 questions that take up your whole day. Her teaching style is so monotone. Attending her office hours does not help much as she is not a good teacher and does not know how to break down information. Gss session leaders try their best, but it is hard when Baxter barely provides information until like the last minute. I am warning all of you guys who are thinking about taking Baxter, DON'T!!!!! My friends warned me and I didn't listen. Don't be like me and end up crying everyday after each exam.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 04/28/2024	She is a really nice person, loves Taylor Swift (includes references in the exams), and lectures through notes. In the first half she teaches things as if you may have already learned them (which if this is your first chem course you obviously have not). When you think you understand the lecture, you look at the practice test and it's 5x more difficult and confusing. There are clickers in every class but thankfully there are makeup clickers (quiz on canvas unlimited attempts and time). There are weekly hw assignments on Mylab mastering, some are very long but help you understand the concepts. If the tests were a direct reflection of the hw questions, clicker questions, and in class examples this class would be a lot less difficult.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/06/2024	TAKE HER CLASS. I had Dr.Schech for chem131, and I wish I had her for every chem course. She is very sweet, loves chem, and tries to make the class fun. She also remembers almost everyone's name, which is crazy. A lot of reviews are saying the exams are hard, but if you do the practice problems (she gives like 100 from the textbook lol), you will definitely get above average on every exam because her questions are very similar to them. I took chem over Zoom during covid, so I knew NOTHING going into her class. I went to every lecture, did the practice problems, went to office hours and GSS meetings (GSS meetings are soooo helpful), etc., and did well on the exams. Also, during her big office hour meetings right before the exam, she gives hints as to what's going to be on it. The only annoying part about the course was the self-study units. I slacked and didn't do them until the last minute, so I was VERY confused since much of the material was based on them. But overall, I could not have asked for a better chem teacher!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/27/2024	She is very organized with her lecture slides and notes. She only goes over a certain type of problem in class and then the rest, you learn over homeworks. The content on the midterm is manageable and consists off mcqs, short and long answer. And the lowest midterm grade is replaced by the final exam grade if it helps your grade which is very nice. The curve at the end is very accommodating, so if you score above the class average for the midterms, it should be very easy to end with a B or higher.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/16/2024	I took at 8am with Baxter to avoid taking Rainbolt and I do not regret it at all. She was very good at teaching, always to the point. She is very helpful during office hours. The class goes very fast (no matter who your professor is) so make sure to stay on top of it. She does give like 50 homework questions a week which can take a lot of time. Her guided notes are extremely helpful. If you use those and the lecture practice problems to study you will be fine!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/10/2024	She is nice and very organized. You will not learn how to do Chemistry by her because she will only go over one practice problem and then move onto a completely different topic. However, she is very in-depth explaining how to do that one practice problem. You will mostly learn how to do the different types of problems through the homework, discussion and GSS sessions.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a B- cdalbora 02/05/2024	She was very knowledgeable and as a orgo teacher did a good job of preparing us for that. She was pretty organized as well, however her style of notetaking didn't work as well for me because I was so busy keeping up with what she was writing I couldn't pay as much attention as I needed for chem.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 02/01/2024	From what I can tell, the people rating Dr. Baxter so low have a hard time with chemistry, not Dr. Baxter. This is my second time taking chem. I dropped it 5 weeks before the final because I couldn't give this class the time it requires to get a passing grade. Retaking it now, and when I tell you Dr. Baxter makes it so easy for you to pass, she really does. Just do the homework and get off your phone in lectures. Pay attention, go to GSS. Chem is hard but Dr. Baxter gives you a really good shot at passing.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/28/2024	She was nice, ig, but that's her only plus point.
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/26/2024	He is rude and arrogant and should be dismissed from the university.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2024	Dr. Baxter is a wonderful teacher for General Chemistry. She is very organized and wants you to succeed in the course. She is always available to answer questions during office hours and before and after her lectures. She is very considerate with grading and curves at the end of the course, but you are expected to put in work to get a good grade. The course is structured with Homework assignments through an online ebook included in the course, which is 10% of your grade, and Exams make up the rest of your grade. Since exams are a huge part of the grade, you have to do a lot of practice problems and pay attention during her lectures to succeed in the course. Your worst exam score is also replaced with your final exam score if it is lower than the final exam score. I would recommend not slacking off for her first exam because it can put you behind in the class, and it's harder to catch up later in the course. Overall, it is definitely possible to get an A in this class if you attend all the lectures and do TONS of practice problems.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/23/2024	I haven't talked to anyone with other professors and how they are, but I did very well in his class and I honestly don't think he is an absolute lunatic who will eat you whole like many else described him as. One key trait of Rainbolt's teaching style is that offers these "module" packets, these packets have everything you need to learn about the topic and he goes over them in lectures. When you don't understand something and go to ask him about it, he will tell you to look at the modules, and most times he would be right, what you will need to know in this class is all printed on his modules, and he does a pretty good job at writing them, however, it is still very frustrating to be dismissed by him saying "you probably didn't look at the modules". There are also many practice questions on the modules and if you can finish those questions by yourself it means you have understood the concept. You are probably better off with other professors honestly but you can still succeed in his class.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous_2018 01/21/2024	This fall was my first college semester, and I hadn't even touched chemistry since 10th grade. I was a little nervous, but after taking this course with Dr. Baxter, it went better than expected. I thought Dr. Baxter lectured well, for the most part. Yes, she does cover a lot, so you have to attend EVERY lecture, or you will fall behind. But that's pretty much the case for all college courses; all of them are fast-paced. Don't bother making your own notes because Dr. Baxter already gives you lecture-based guided notes, which are super helpful for review. Sometimes, it can be hard to follow, but Dr. Baxter always pauses for questions after every mini-topic or practice question. She'll even re-explain a concept if you just ask. You can also ask her questions or express concerns before the lecture or during office hours. Always ASK if you're confused about something. That's literally what professors are there for. For homework, I suggest starting it early and breaking it into chunks. Depending on the topic, there can be 30 - 60 questions with conceptual or math problems. Do a few problems every day, and try to finish a few days or even a week before the deadline, so you have enough time to review it again for exams. Even though it's not worth much, homework is going to be one of your primary study resources because the problems tend to be a bit harder than on the exams. Alright, everyone's favorite: exams. Dr. Baxter has three mid-terms and one final with MCQs, Short-response, and Long response questions. Around a week before the exam, she provides some info about the exam and might pop in a hint or two. The exams were a bit difficult for most people, and the class average for all of them didn't get past a high 60, which is the lowest I've ever seen, to be honest. However, they are doable, and some students did get A+s. The number one strategy is practice, practice, practice. The more practice problems you do (discussion WS, GSS, etc.), the easier it will be for you to recognize a question and solve it quickly. Some students, if not most, couldn't even finish the whole exam because of time. But, the exams are worth like 85% of your grade - which is A LOT - so you have to do your best. If you don't know a question, put something on the paper even if it's rubbish. You can expect to at least gain a few points because TAs tend to grade with tenancy. The final was long and brain-frying but overall fair. Some questions even came from the lecture, which was great. After the exam, Dr. Baxter also gives you three free points if you collect all your previous exams. In addition, she'll replace your lowest midterm score with the final if it benefits you, which helped a lot of students. Does this class have a curve? Yes, and it's a fat one: 10%. She literally bumps your grade by a letter if the class average is in the 60s. A final word. Overall, even though I never liked chemistry, taking this course with Dr. Baxter made it tolerable and sometimes even fun. She's really understanding, will try to help out in any way she can, and wants her students to succeed. But you'll have to reach out and care about your performance. This class won't be a breeze, and you can't really expect it to be, but, in the end, you'll have to be willing to put the effort and time into this course if you want to get an A. Hope this helped, and good luck.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/21/2024	Dr. Stocker was a great gen chem 1 professor!! She teaches everything in a way that's really easy to understand and will go through any questions you have during her office hours. Workload is super bearable, only 10 homework problems that usually don't take up too much time. Tests are hard, but averages are usually pretty low so there's a pretty big curve. She also posts 3-4 past exams (only one has an answer key though) that are pretty similar to the actual test that are great to study from. I had a great experience in her class, taking her again for orgo next semester!
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/16/2024	CHEM131 with Dr Stocker was not that bad of a class. I liked the way she explained concepts and provided ways to solve problems and ways to remember certain things. Only thing I didn't like is that she doesn't record lectures. She posts the slides but not the notes online so if you want the notes you have to go to class or get them from someone else. But going to class is helpful since exam problems are similar to ones she goes over in class. Grading structure is 3 midterms (100pts each), final (200pts), and 11 HW (10x10pts she drops the lowest). Not bad at all just have to study for exams since they make up most of the grade. Curve is also generous, I had an 86 raw score and ended up with an A. I recommend Dr Stocker for CHEM131!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/12/2024	Gen chem was a difficult class that required a lot of studying outside of class. Since her lectures are super early, it can be easy to skip but I recommend going to every lecture to retain the information and learn how to solve the practice problems on her lecture slides. The exams are pretty fair but the long answer questions can be difficult but as long as you do the GSS worksheets, lecture slide problems, and discussion worksheets: it's basically like the exam. The homework assignments were very tedious and took a few hours so chunk it up over the course of a few days. Baxter was sassy and if you asked "dumb" questions, she would have a little attitude behind her response. Her curve was pretty nice, being around 10% but that is the average for most science classes. Also, she provides extra points for the final if you collect all of your exams which was nice. She's an okay professor, just put in the work early in the semester so you don't have to play catch up because the final exam was pretty difficult.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2024	Before reviewing Dr. Baxter for this course, note Gen Chem won't be a breeze for most. I never enjoyed chemistry in high school, so I can't say I was anticipating this course. With that said, overall, Dr. Baxter was a great professor. Let's talk about lectures. I know some people say that she lectures too quickly, but isn't that the case with all college semesters? While Dr. Baxter finished topics in about a week or two, she always paused for questions after each sub-topic during lectures. She's friendly, and understanding and will repeat concepts even if she repeated them already. In addition, she had office hours throughout the week for additional help on homework or questions. She also replies to emails quickly. I would recommend printing out the lecture guided notes (super helpful in reviewing) and filling them out throughout lecture periods. With homework, we only had around one per week, which consisted around 30 - sometimes 60 questions that take 2-3 hours, depending on the topic. Now this same seem like a lot, but it's not so bad if you split questions in different sittings throughout the week. I liked to finish them around a week in advance to get a head start on the next topic. Don't try to leave it last minute! Even though they may not support grades as much, they're an excellent source of review and help for exams. Alright, exams... Dr. Baxter has 4 exams total for Gen Chem: 3 mid-terms and 1 final. For all the exams, she provides information and the format around a week before and sometimes pops in a hint or two of what to expect. Now, all the exams had pretty low-class averages in the 60s, which I never experienced in high school. However, the exams are fair and doable. I mean each exam had multiple students getting As and even A+s. Dr. Baxter also has a policy that your final exam will replace your lowest midterm score, which often helps a lot for most students. For instance, if you bomb the first exam, you still have a chance. However, you will need to work hard to succeed in this course. My best advice would be to practice, practice, practice. The more questions and problems you do, the easier it will be to recognize concepts on the exams. Review the guided notes, homework, discussion worksheets, and GSS worksheets. I never liked a textbook, so I didn't use it. But if that works for you, you can use that too for more problems. The final was pretty long and brain-frying, but it was fair. Try limiting dumb mistakes, and don't overthink lol. For this recent final, Dr. Baxter even included some questions we did in lecture, which was super helpful. In addition, if you collected all your previous midterm exams, you got 3 free bonus points, which was great. If you're still worried, well, this may ease some nerves. Baxter has a really generous curve at the end of the semester, which can literally bump your grade by a whole letter. (It was 10% for this last semester.) Overall, Dr. Baxter is a great professor and wants her students to succeed. But you have to be willing and ready to put the work and effort in. I hope this helped, and good luck!
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/04/2024	Can be a fast teacher at times but she teaches very well and I understood the vast majority of the material. Tests were difficult but fair and the final was a bit easier than expected. Will be taking Orgo 1 with her next semester.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 01/03/2024	Dr. Stocker is a very typical lecture-style professor where there will be zero in-class interaction and no personal touch. She much prefers teaching Orgo, however, she still knows her stuff very well for Gen Chem. She moves very fast through lectures, often ending the class with a half-complete equation set. If you do not come to lectures and take thorough notes you will not be successful. She only posts slides without any of her work from class so if you miss a class you're practically on your own. The exams were fair and I found discussion to not be necessary. Cutoff to pass her class with a C- usually hangs around a 50%.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/26/2023	I came into this class thinking it would be my easiest, it was definitely not. This class is difficult, it will take a lot of time to study for, and you can't underestimate the exams because she loves trying to trip you up with little details on the exam and taking points off when she gets you. With all that in mind she is an extremely fair professor; the exams are on what was taught in class (besides 1 or 2 more complex questions which she puts in), the final is easier than the 3 midterms and the final replaces the lowest exam if it helps you, and yes their is a nice curve so don't freak out like I did. On top of that she is a great lecturer, helpful with questions, and readily available. I'm giving her 5 stars because even with the tricks and the quick pace, if you study, and listen, you will actually come out having learned a lot and feel good about the material.
Elizabeth Griffith CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2023	I didn’t take AP Chem and thought this class was very hard especially as a freshman, but look through the resources she gives you and do the practice past exams she puts out. I never went to office hours but she was so sweet and you can tell she really cares about her students. She also emphasizes that she wants us to understand the concepts rather than have to do tons of memorization and gives us huge cheat sheet notecards for each exam and an even bigger one for the final. Would definitely recommend taking her
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/23/2023	Chemistry is just a very confusing topic on its own, but Baxter is honestly such a well organized professor and one of the few teachers that does a great job when it comes to teaching and explaining topics within gen chem in a way where you can better understand and have any questions properly addressed.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/19/2023	As someone who hasn't taken chemistry since 10th grade, I was able to do fine in this course just from attending lecture, doing homework, and reading a little bit of the textbook. She fits lots of information into every lecture, so if you miss even one you'll fall behind pretty easily. She does lots of practice problems during the lectures which helps with understanding how to approach the problems. The exams are challenging, but if you do the homeworks, redo the practice problems, and even look online for extra practice you'll be fine.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2023	Gen Chem as a class has some of the hardest content I've ever been taught, but Dr. Stocker made it bearable. The tests are really hard but the averages are really low so the curve is pretty generous, and I'd say her teaching style is at a very good pace (maybe just a tad too slow sometimes) and taught very thoroughly. Whenever I didn't understand a topic The Organic Chemistry Tutor always had a video on it that I would just watch and that helped so much. Dr. Stocker also provides enough practice problems and practice tests, so she does her best for everyone to thrive. The only thing I didn't like is that the grading system is relative, in that only the top percentage get A's, the middle get B's, etc. This means that you can average a 90 but still get curved down to an 85, which I don't really like.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ terp2027 12/17/2023	Dr. Baxter is a young woman with a lot of sass. Her lectures are just her reading off of the slides however she is incredibly helpful during office hours. She is nice and sometimes you'll even think she cares about how you do on her exams. Her exams are usually manageable but she does through in one curve ball long response question. Also, the multiple-choice can be quite tricky. However the final is fair, I even think that she drew some problems from the lecture slides. Overall, I would recommend her, but just understand that she will not change or break any rule for you and that your outcome in the class is entirely dependent upon how well you study chemistry (the textbook is extremely helpful).
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2023	I like the way she taught her lecture. Don't be intimidated if you don't do good on the first exam because most people don't. Your grade depends on the entire class. For example if the highest grade in the class is a 69, then that's an A. And after every exam she shows you a grade distribution and it tells you that if you have anything lower than lets say a 40% then you're at risk of failing the class. Her curve was insane! It was like a 15% I was gonna pass with a 70% (C-) but because of the curve I passed with a B. This was a life saver. Most of her exam written response questions come from the slides in her class, discussion slides and GSS worksheet. So for practice, look over all those problems.
Elizabeth Griffith CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2023	She is such a good teacher. It is definitely not an easy class, but if you put in the work, then you will do well. If you need extra help, go to office hours, she is super happy to help, and it always makes the information easier to understand after. The final was worth about too much at about 30 percent, but other than that, the class is structured greatly. She gives out clicker points for coming to class, and it doesn't matter if you get them right, so just show up to class. Also, she records all of her lectures so you can go back and watch them before the tests. She doesn't curve the individual tests, but after every exam, she adjusts the letter grade cut-offs. Her exams are hard but fair, and just make sure to study and put the work in.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/16/2023	He is not a horrible person, he just can't teach. He stands at the front of the lecture hall and nonstop writes for the entire class. He gets irritated when people ask questions. If you have a very strong chemistry background then you will do perfectly fine in this class, since he teaches it like most of us haven't taken chemistry since sophomore year (which was virtual for most of us). He does not curve exams and drops one of the weekly 10 point quizzes at the end of the semester. These quizzes are not easy and are timed. His modules are good practice, but sometimes he omits difficult questions from the module keys because he wants to put similar ones on the quizzes. The only reason I am expecting a B is because of the curve. Which was a very generous curve, but not knowing where your grade stands all semester is very stressful.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2023	Dr. Stocker is good at explaining concepts and seems genuinely invested in our success, but I felt like she went through the material unnecessarily slowly. This was good for cementing concepts in our heads, but I did not have the focus to keep watching her do examples of the same things over and over again. That being said, I can see why she is one of the most liked chemistry professors and it is definitely possible to succeed in her class. Exams are fair and graded with a curve. Dr. Stocker gives you access to multiple past exams to study with, but only provides the key for one of them. (There is no past exam for the final, unfortunately.) But the exam material was similar to the past exams, and additional worksheets and GSS problems are available for more practice. Homework is ten questions per week, doable in about an hour and definitely worth the time to practice what you learn in class.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2023	Best professor for Chemistry hands down. One of the nicest and approachable people as well. She truly cares for her students and loves seeing more students come to office hours. She prepares you well for all the exams as she has handouts and practice exams from the past. GO TO HER LECTURE! GO TO HER LECTURE AND GO TO HER LECTURE! I understand the idea of skipping class and all that but she doesn't record plus the concepts are much easier explained in person and she gives clear examples and problems that don't follow the lecture slides at all. Trust me you will thank yourself in the long run if you go to her lecture and try to go to her office hours at least once a week. To be honest discussion wasn't really helpful for me because my TA at the time wasn't great. But for Orgo 1 no way should anyone be skipping discussion. GOOD LUCK!
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2023	I think this class is a lot about what you put in. Rainbolt gives a lottt of resources such as prelecture videos that are like 20 min long and I know for a fact that most people didn't watch them. He is a bit condescending but if you just take everything as a joke its fine and it makes lectures more engaging. One complaint I do get is his lectures feel a bit unorganized at times and is kind of just doing parts of the module with no slides or anything so I can see how people struggle with that, but again he presumes you've watched the pre lecture video. One thing I definitely appreciate is I feel like he really tries to gauge what students need the most work on and do a bunch of problems with those concepts. He also really tries to get everyone involved in the lecture so it's more engaging, that being said try to participate as much as possible it will help you in the long run. He even works really hard to make sure he knows peoples names which I think is commendable in such a big lecture. I also think his tests are very fair as they are similar to either the module or the weekly quizzes so if you actually understand those you'll be fine. Overall, he may not be the best 131 professor but personally I think he is over hated.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/15/2023	I am not sure if Chemistry is for me because this class was a STRUGGLE. Dr. Stocker posted exams but not the answer key which were little help to me. I felt like she went too slow on topics that were simple and too fast on topics that were very foreign.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/15/2023	Dr. Baxter is a great professor but chem is going to be difficult no matter what. She moves through stuff in class quickly but the homework is pretty helpful. If you stay on top of studying the course will be okay. She curves the class and drops the lowest exam for your final exam score if it benefits you. Overall, I recommend her as a professor but not this course in general.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/13/2023	I urge you to ignore reviews about rainbolt where he is completely slammed with negative comments. Please only listen to reviews who actually support their negative comments with factual information. I am going to break down the class for you, I took gen chem with him as a senior. He is not supposed to teach gen chem for spring 2024, however I still wanted to write my review in case he returns to gen chem or you are just curious... LECTURE: Rainbolts designed our class to have modules, pre-lecture videos, AND lecture to synthesize information. Unfortunately rainbolt rarely ever made new material for lectures. The modules were supposed to be extra practice, however around week 2 it became quickly apparent that these modules are now our lecture material. "Lecture" consisted of these modules and rarely his own practice problems. He would often make comments about our uncompleted modules during lecture and even had the class "break our papers in'' by scrunching them up with our hands, which I won't even lie made me roll my eyes but laugh. If you have a hard time hearing far away professors or seeing a chalkboard, take another professor because he rarely wore the microphone and only projected the chalkboard to the class a total of 3-4 times. You have to set yourself up for success, and being able to see/hear lectures is vital to doing so. The pre-lecture videos are beneficial if you want them to be, it was nice to have an extra resource on top of our modules but often he would post them late. I will say though that him posting the prelecture videos late didn't even make sense to me because the videos are dated from 2019 and he literally just needed to repost them for us. Lastly, word questions in class properly or he will not answer it, say "ask god" or "see me after class" and your question will not be answered during lecture. QUIZZES/EXAMS: Quizzes were difficult but good study material for the exams. One thing that bothered me about the quizzes was no partial credit is given. No matter how hard you attempt it, or how close you get your answer, you won’t get any partial credit at all. He also does not provide a quiz answer key afterwards unless emailed by multiple people to make one. He made a quiz answer key for one of our quizzes but sent it out the day before the exam, leaving no time to study the correct quiz answer for our exam. This was extremely stressful as a student trying to earn credit on quizzes for work and seeing what you get wrong so you can fix it! Exams were fair but you have to study. Rainbolt said our exam 3 was our best exam yet however the average was the lowest of all 3 exams we took (excluding final, i'm writing this before our final exam). In total we will have 4 exams (including final). I was pleased after exam 1 when he provided us with the current class curve and even provided a spreadsheet to calculate our grades. It felt like this effort quickly dropped on his part when he told us the curve changed, but would not tell us by how much. As a student it's extremely stressful to have a low grade and not know the updated information on our curve. When I would speak with him privately he would give me more information on the curve but dont even bother asking this question during, before, or after class as he more than likely won't answer it. It should be noted that he does give a curve though and doesn't want his students to fail. Rainbolt set a fair curve early on but just not knowing how it would change is frustrating to me. RAINBOLT AS A PROF: I enjoyed Rainbolt as a person, he was kind and funny! You will see many reviews mentioning he's funny or cracks a good joke, which is true but I personally felt like some of these attributes quickly went away when the topic switched to chemistry. When asking rainbolt a conceptual question, it has to be thought out or he will not answer it. I suggest going to anyone else but rainbolt for chem help because often he won’t even answer your question if you word your question weird or "wrong". It is not fair to disregard a question when the student doesn’t even understand how to ask let alone what to ask. Lastly, just know that Rainbolt hates teaching gen chem, he will tell you that if you ever get a good conversation going with him. If you are looking for a passionate GEN CHEM class, take a different professor. It's one thing to hate teaching gen chem, however as the recipient student this SUCKED. I felt he did not care about the gen chem class especially because we did not even have lecture material and his neglect showed. I want to reiterate that this is all how I PERSONALLY FELT. Take this review with a grain of salt and make your OWN assumptions. As I mentioned I am a senior, I've had over 40-50 different professors at this university and rarely write an actual review for them, which shows I am definitely somewhat fed up. HOWEVER!!!! If you are stuck with rainbolt, it's not the end of the world!!! you will pass if you put in the effort, you cannot slack off or skip lectures. You will be frustrated at the class the entire semester, but you will pass and get through it.
Venkata Adury CHEM131 Expecting a B+ brenna44 12/11/2023	A great TA!
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2023	The only reason I am expecting a B is because of the curve. He is the most condescending professor I have ever had. I tend to enjoy professors with some character, who joke and are sarcastic, but it isn't funny or fun feeling disrespected. He doesn't allow any room for error and wont answer questions straight on. I emailed once asking for an accommodation regarding a pdf over paper copy, and he emailed back saying it was like I slapped him in the face. I would not recommend taking him unless you are comfortable spending 40 hours a week on GEN CHEM.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/08/2023	Dr. Baxter is a good lecturer, however goes over the content very quickly. I would suggest taking notes on the powerpoint prior to lecture. Once I started doing this, I began to understand concepts quicker. Dr. Baxter is very helpful in office hours also. Go to lecture and do the homework.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/06/2023	Where to begin….Rainbolt is an interesting fellow. I’ll just list the pros and cons of his teaching methods Pros: Gives out paper modules with practice problems Uploads pre lecture videos that can help you review the material Kinda funny?? If you’re a fan of dry humor Cons: Classes aren’t recorded Grades consist of a quiz a week and your exams, both of which he purposefully makes harder than what’s done in class Not super approachable in class.. idk what he’s like in office hours Doesn’t give many practice material outside of the paper modules Overall: if you have an understanding of chemistry concepts I think you’ll like his teaching style but if you’re a beginner or need a refresher: I do not recommend
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2023	What can I say, the reviews do him a little harshly. Rainbolt's main problem is he sometimes looks like he doesn't care about the class, and can be condescending, but if you go to his office hours he is very personable and will help you work through problems. He assigns no homework, but he gives quizzes every Friday that are challenging but solvable. His quiz questions that you struggle with are usually indicators of whats coming on the tests, as he literally just changes the numbers and rewrites the same question. A lot of people complain about Rainbolt, but I really enjoyed his class, it is certainly hard and you WILL need to study, but if you do it really is a good experience.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/06/2023	Super rude and condescending to students. He excuses this by talking about how its a professional environment and we should just deal w/ it. Seriously? Also the only grades are through weekly quizzes and midterms so if you do poorly on those then sucks for you. He also flies through lectures and hardly ever explains the details of what he just did. The bright side is that he writes great modules that have practice problems and are great study tools - only reason I'm passing. His curve is very big because all his students test so terribly.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/06/2023	Professor Rainbolt is and okay professor. His teaching methods could be improved, but he does a great job at keeping the course real organized. He gives modules for each topic (which can be a lot but are honestly the best practice resource for exams) and at the top of each module there's like a mini description of what you should be able to do by the end of it. He also does pre-lecture videos which are helpful (sometimes). As for the textbook practice problems, it's really optional, like some students pass without ever touching the textbook. The only thing is the way he teaches isn't the best. He tends to dive straight into a new topic with little to no background/introduction on it and sometimes over-complicates things. Not to mention the questions. If you're lucky, on a good day he'll give you actual answers to your questions (and some dad-jokes), otherwise, get ready for a condescending/sarcastic answer. It's one or the other, there's no in-between. Overall, he can be a bit intimidating, but he keeps the course material organized and is actually much nicer during office hours!
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/05/2023	she's extremely approachable and explains chem with the best analogies. she makes chem super digestible and provides plenty of practice problems, worksheets, and practice exams. i'd recommend doing every problem set or worksheet available to you because that helped me breeze through the class and ace every exam. the exams also match up well with the content she's taught, so you won't have surprises or anything on the exams. she's also such a sweet and lovely person in general. she doesn't record lectures, so attending class is definitely mandatory for an A, but stocker will guide you through everything else. her curve is also extremely fair (i think the cutoff is around a 50, but it can range based on the class's performance, and the cutoff grade is curved to a passing grade aka a C).
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/02/2023	I think many of the reviews are very harsh. He isn't great but he isn't terrible either. I think he's a decent lecturer; he has good energy and I was never bored in his class (expect some dad jokes too). He provides module sheets that contain practice problems and explicitly tell you what's going to be on the exams, although they often contain errors that he needs to correct and there are some things they don't explain clearly enough. However as long as you go through and understand what's in the module sheets, there should be no surprises on the exams. He also provides other resources, such as pre-lecture videos and additional practice problems on MyLab & Mastering. He can be a bit intimidating and difficult to approach, but he is willing to work with you if you need help. What bugged me the most about this class though was him assigning weekly quizzes that are harder than the exams (even the TA's thought they were unfair). There are probably better options, but his class is definitely doable and he is by no means the worst professor I've had.
Elizabeth Griffith CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2023	Great professor for Chem 131. She was pretty flexible with homework deadlines and helpful at office hours. Also did grade cut-offs for the exams. This course will be easy is you took AP Chem otherwise you will be struggling.
Elizabeth Griffith CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/26/2023	Great teacher, super kind, funny and overall cool. If you have prior chemistry knowledge this class will be a cake walk. Attend her lectures, pay attention, and look at her past exams and you will do well.
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Anonymous 11/09/2023	Spent 50 minutes with him when Dr. Stocker was out for the day. Nobody in the class could tell what he was trying to teach us and he kept using the word "pneumonic" incorrectly? Really confusing
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/27/2023	I took honors and Ap chem in HS. I thought I would do really good in his class but I was wrong. If I could give him a negative stars I would. He is very condescending and I am pretty sure he doesn’t even know what he is teaching. If you ask him a question he may not even know the answer. VERY BAD TEACHER!! He makes multiple mistakes in his modules. For our second exam, he posted the module video the NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM. Overall, DO NOT TAKE!!
James Rainbolt CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/20/2023	super condescending and egotistical. his tests have so many errors. module keys rarely matched the problems in the modules and if so he makes errors frequently. if you ask him a question he will put you down.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/23/2023	I took her freshman connection CHEM131 course in Fall 2022. The structure of her course consisted of lectures with clicker questions, discussion sections with a graded group worksheet, homework, and exams. I felt that the way the class was set up was unstable and messy. Half of the grades were in Canvas while the other half were in Gradescope and Achieve (the textbook/homework software), so you had to calculate your own grade which wasn't even accurate half the time. Dr. Tseng's lecturing style was going through slides and explaining/working out problems by drawing on the slides. While it is helpful to see the problems done in front of you, her explanations could be hard to follow and ineffective at times. The exam averages were low, and it was hard to expect what would be on the exam because of all the different sources of course content. Because of this she gave a generous curve at the end of the semester. All this being said, Dr. Tseng is a kind person. I would definitely recommend going in for office hours if you are having trouble. I also appreciated that she recorded the lectures, so I didn't miss anything if I couldn't make it to class. I would recommend taking a different professor if you are able, but just know it's not the end of the world if you end up with Dr. Tseng.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/03/2023	Honestly she is not that bad. She moves a little fast and has an accent so if you aren't used to having teachers like that it can be challenging. I will say a lot of information made sense because I took chem in high school (it was 2-3 years ago) but you still learned a lot from the class. She is also the lab coordinator, so she tends to teach in that order, but once she's behind in lecture you are on your own for labs. Overall, she provides practice exams that are similar, I also would take advantage of the GSS review sessions for the exams. For the final you will have access to your old exam answer sheets (so keep your exam packets!!!!!) On top of practice exams she gives just lists of concepts and things to know for the exams, and homework is pretty forgiving, the quizzes are a little harder but not too bad and she drops lowest scores. Her teaching style isn't amazing but she makes up for it by making her class easier; compared to other chem teachers, we had higher averages before a curve. She also zoom calls her lectures and records them so your attendance isn't mandatory unless she starts using clickers (which she didn't for us). I would recommend and take her again.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/06/2023	Dr. Guest is a wonderful lecturer. She is a tad bit fast but very easy to understand. She takes the time to prepare us for each exam by providing homework, quizzes, practice exams, and study guides. She also very welcoming to speak to and always there to answer questions.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 06/04/2023	I really enjoyed taking Gen Chem with Professor Baxter. I think that this class is definitely challenging and there is no way to make this class a breeze. With that said, I think that Professor Baxter is an amazing teacher. Her lectures are filled with information and she does a lot of practice problems during lecture which are really helpful for studying for the exams. There is a homework assignment due every week which covers the information that was taught in class that week which are also really helpful to study from for the exams. I thought all of the exams were hard but they all were fair. By the end of the class, she curved everyone's grade by 10% so the curve for the class is also pretty generous. I think that Professor Baxter is an amazing professor and really wants her students to do well. She always has office hours and is willing to answer any question that you have. I really am not so good at Chemistry but Baxter made it possible for me to do understand concepts and know the material. As long as you go to every lecture, do the homeworks, go to office hours when you need, and study hard for the exams you will be fine. She really is a GOAT and a great person.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/30/2023	I had Guest for 131 lecture and 132 lab, so I'll review her for both 131 - Guest provides practice exams, which are essentially the exams from past years. She also added an optional exam at the end of the semester that would replace your lowest exam grade if you did better, and would not affect your grade if you did worse. There were lots of practice problems provided via discussion, quizzes, and homeworks (although some of the hw questions didn't exactly match what we learned). The only downside is that she goes over lecture kind of fast and also starts new chapters in the middle of lectures instead of having each lecture be about one topic. 132 - Honestly the entire lab is based on TAs (which is the case for most science labs). The TAs are the ones grading your lab reports. On Guest's part, however, many of the labs would not line up with what we were learning in lecture and some of the labs would be about completely new information. Additionally, her lab manual was not completely updated and so the TA had to change directions one or two times.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/27/2023	Never went to class because she was bad at lecturing. Sam, the TA was godsend. He was incredible at teaching. If you needed to learn, discussion was the most useful. The averages for exams were mid 40s but there was a 15% curve. I took AP chem but the questions in her exams were tricky and unusual.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/23/2023	I had very HIGH expectations for her considering the fact that she had a 4 out of 5 rating on here, however, I quickly realized that she is a pretty average teacher. Although she is a very nice person, she runs through the material during class as if we already know what it is. At the beginning of the first class, she emphasized how you do not need a strong background in CHEM to do well in the course, however, the way the class is set up makes me strongly disagree. Overall the cons for her class is that she goes very fast in lecture, there are no study guides provided for her/old exams, she typically teaches the classes very early in the morning, and there is only about a 10% curve. The pros for her class are that she is a super nice/understanding individual, she is typically good with communication (emails back fast, etc.), she offers homework assignments as a boost for our grade, and for my specific class, she gave us 3 extra credit points on the final if you collected all your exams from throughout the semester. Hope this helped :)
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/23/2023	There are a couple problems I have with Mignerey. Lectures were mainly practice problem based which I arguably liked because it helped a lot when understand some problems. I will say that it made the class rather boring though. She made many mistakes during her lectures and would sometimes have to have the TA, Sam, help out because she couldn't figure out what she did wrong. The class average was extremely low which is great if you're on the curve, but not so great if you want to actually understand chemistry. Mignerey herself isn't the worst, I do believe she doesn't want the class to be seen as a "weed-out" class. But the class itself is so difficult that it makes it appear that way. Now lets talk about her final, her final was really hard. While Baxter was doing stoichiometry on their exam, Mignerey was doing complex thermodynamic questions. PRIOR, to the final exam I think she realized that her class average was so low that she was trying to give us options to help us pass the class (which is a good thing.) For example, she offered that if you were able to "pass the final" (meaning getting anything above the avg on the final) she wouldn't give you anything less than a c-. HOWEVER! She only OFFERED that during the spring 2023 semester, and she didn't offer it during the Fall 2022 semester. Finally, I actually passed chemistry with a 40% in the class. Which means her curve was roughly around 30%. In conclusion, if you want to understand chemistry I would probably suggest taking someone else. But if Mignerey is your only choice, just be prepared when it comes to doing a lot of self studying. P.S do the homeworks, they actually have a huge impact on your grade. They're are freebie points and will boost your grade a lot near the end of the semester.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/22/2023	Yes, chem is going to be hard either way. You're going to have to study in order to do well, but out of all of the gen chem 1 professors, Baxter makes it the easiest. Lectures and discussions are not mandatory, but I highly advise attending. Personally, I just have a really hard time picking up what's being taught in lectures (but it's not Baxter's fault, I just understand more when I'm able to go back to the dorm and walk through a problem on my own). I say that because if you find that you're having a hard time keeping up with Baxter during her lectures, I still strongly advise attending class. A lot of the time I wouldn't understand (completely) why a certain step was done in a problem or why some conversion has to be done in step 2 instead of step 4, but once I got back to my dorm and was able to walk through the problem myself, I would then understand/remember "oh yea, Baxter said this because of this" and then everything would fall into place. So yea, Baxter is probably the best choice to go with. The homework definitely takes time so try to do it in chunks day by day, it's way too stressful to do it the night that it's due. The software we use for homework only takes about 0.03% off of a question when you get it wrong, so you have A LOT of chances to get it right. There are 3 midterms, 1 cumulative final. Her exams are extremely fair, listen to what she tells you to study, redo the practice problems are her slides (which is another reason you should go to lecture because she doesn't post the answers on Canvas), and do some of the learning curve practice questions on the homework software (this is a really good studying starting point) and you'll be fine. The TAs also provided a practice exam, those were extremely helpful and provided a good reflection of what the exam would contain. She gave us a 10% curve, so at the very least, just try to stay above a 60%, and you should pass with a C- or higher. Last thing, try to do really well (well = on average) on the midterms, it sucks trying to bring your grade back up with the final. Much easier to do well on the midterms and have cushion room, than to not do well on the midterms and be forced to do well on the final (while juggling other finals).
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/20/2023	i would have given her 1 star but we had an eight-point curve at the end of the semester. she is an awful lecturer and takes three weeks to respond to emails. sitting in her class is actual torture. however, if you're good at self-studying she's an okay option. i stopped going to class and crammed the night before tests and still managed to get ~30 points above the average. tests are pretty easy, the textbook is your best resource.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/19/2023	Honestly this class is hard and it takes up all of your time, if u want to get an A. Getting an A is achievable though. Out of all the teachers, she definitely is the best, teaching wise. Her exams aren't significantly harder than the other teachers' exams. But, she doesn't curve as much as the teachers, so keep that in mind. The curve is around 10%. If you actually want to learn something from this class take Baxter. Lectures and exams at 8 am are horrible but she posts guided notes and slides. However, she doesn't record her lectures or upload past exams, which would be extremely helpful if she did. Also, her final was based on material that we weren't tested on in exams, so you have to study strategically. Averages were in the 55s-65s. She also crams a lot of random stuff in, in lecture, the day before the exam. Which is extremely stressful.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/19/2023	Couple things: Greatest prof out there? No. Easiest class? Maybe if you took AP CHEM in HS/good at chem, if you don't fall under those categories, it will be very hard. However, some people I think make it seem like her class is the hardest thing anyone will ever take (which could be the case as well). The prof expects you to read the textbook to understand the concepts and she'll do the math for you doing lectures to show you how to do it. IMO, as much as I prefer profs to go over concepts, this does not make her some horrendous prof. Many classes require you to read their textbook, simply how college goes. Another thing, yes she did make mistakes during lecture, but some people make it out to be like she was all over the place and was not conveying the correct methods of how to solve problems. She might forget an extra number, put it in her calc wrong, add instead of subtract, small things like that where 99% of the time, her mistakes were caught and corrected. Overall, her doing problems during lecture was not confusing. In addition, yes she can have a bit of an attitude, but it was not as horrible as some people took it to be. I do not think she was having malicious intentions, I think she just does not realize her response is a bit standoffish and possibly seems rude at times. Not excusing it, but also being more realistic about it as there was times she had been objectively rude. A lot of people expected I feel for her to hold our hand thru this, but she simply will not do this. Exams were a lot and you have to put in the work for it. While a 100 level class, it is still a weed out class unfortunately. Utilize GSS, TAs, and the textbook and you'll do fine. DO NOT EXPECT THE PRACTICE EXAMS TO BE THE SAME AS THE TESTS!! She writes up the tests in such a way where you need to completely understand how the equations for various problems work and what the question is asking for; simply memorizing how to do the practice exams will get you a bad grade. I know this is long, but last piece of advice: put in the work, utilize all resources, and don't expect the prof to solely get you thru this course.
Sam Lascio CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/19/2023	AMAZING TA !!! Not sure if he will be the same TA for Fall 2023 for Mignerey and on, but if so, he will be one of your greatest resource in class. Truly cares about his students and wants everyone to succeed. Never seen a TA go so above and beyond for students before; will always answer emails in a timely, maybe even fast, manner. Super sweet guy as well. Explains concepts thoroughly to help everyone understand. If he's your TA or even your prof, you're in good hands.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	She is an extremely good lecturer. She explains things clearly and has really helpful practice problems during lecture. You have to put in work for this class to do well, but that's the case with every professor. She was very organized and although the homework was long, as long as you understand how to do it you're guaranteed to do well on exams. The exams were not harder than the homework, and GSS offers practice exams that can help you study as well.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	Chemistry is hard but doable in Baxter's class. Although I definitely struggled a bit, the effort I put into the class by going to GSS, office hours, and studying really helped me. Baxter was a really nice and approachable person in my opinion. Her homework was sometimes a bit difficult and time consuming, especially if we didn't go over how to do it in class specifically, but it was doable and making mistakes had little to no impact on my grade. The homework definitely helped me learn the material more in depth and I found it to be helpful most times. She also responded to emails quickly, so if you couldn't figure out a homework problem, she would help. The most important and helpful thing I did was going through all the practice problems before the exam because if you know how to do all of them and understand them to a certain extent, you will do fine on the exam. The most difficult imo was the multiple choice which was a bit difficult to study for and sometimes ended up just being lucky guesses for me. The most frustrating thing about this class was how chaotic things would get right before the exam. Baxter would often try to cram the most amount of content possible in like the last lecture before the exam which made things frustrating and stressful. She also gives little to no resources to help study for the exam which was also frustrating because I always found practice exams to be so helpful with preparing for the exams, and I felt a little overwhelmed and so so stressed coming into the first exam since I didn't really know what to expect. However, after the first exam it become less stressful since I had a better idea of what to expect. Her exams are a bit difficult, but the topics that are on them are pretty clear. The final was also easier than the other exams in my opinion, and she tends to test on things that she taught but did not show up on previous exams, which she is pretty open about. The discussions were not mandatory but super helpful and the TA was so amazing.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/18/2023	Really good professor and easy to understand. She posts all her slides and practice problems with the answer key which is very helpful when it comes to studying for tests. There are 3 exams that were pretty fair, however, her final was much harder than all the other exams and had the lowest average.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/18/2023	The professor views teaching college courses like this: the student learns concepts on their own essentially via the textbook they should read before class (and in general ofc). The prof's role is to simply lecture important concepts but at a very basic level of understanding and does the math problems over and over again. The TA's job is to actually TEACH the material to you and help you understand concepts and the math all together. If you want a prof who will actually teach concepts, do not take mignerey. The exams are tough, but I found after the first exam you need to utilize the textbook in order to do well. A lot of studying and time going into the tests and homeworks. The only grades are the 3 midterms, 1 final, the homeworks totaled to 100 points, and learning curve totaled to 50 points. DO THE HW!! If you find yourself taking this course and not chem oriented, my advice as someone who is the same: go to GSSs, utilize the TA (Sam is amazing) and ask questions, utilize the textbooks, and truly understand the practice exams she gives before tests, not just memorize the way she presents problems on there (practice exams are different from actual tests, but basic concepts are still present).
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	Dr. Guest is good lecturer, definitely better than the other CHEM131 professors. She provides practice exams, study guides, and homework/quizzes that are beneficial when studying. I can say she is a tad bit fast when lecturing and wants students to contribute in answering questions. But I appreciate her taking the time to asks us questions just to make sure we are learning. She nice, approachable, and takes time to explain a concept we find confusing. I will definitely recommend taking her for CHEM131.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/17/2023	-expects you to know all the material before lectures, doesn't teach in class and just goes over problems so her lecture slides are fully filled with just math - she's condescending and ignores raised hands - Sam (the TA and extremely helpful and nice) has to always correct her in lecture - our exam average was a 42% and a general grade average of a 52% and she blamed it on us - pretty sure she doesn't care if you pass or fail - homework can save your grade - just don't take her -other profs get multiple choice and equation sheet, mignerey does not -final was terrible, she just straight up put random things on it - even if you think your good at chem, take anyone else bc this class material is so so different from the other classes and you will 100% do much better in literally any other prof
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/17/2023	absolutely not. take anyone. anyone else. guest and baxter both get an exam dropped and baxter in particular gets an exam replaced if you do better on the final. both classes also have multiple choice whereas Mignerey does not and they get a equation sheet with much much much more information than we did since she expected us to memorize literally everything. unless you've taken AP chem and thought that it was the easiest thing you've ever done, DO NOT take her class. Our exam average was 42% with a general class average of 52% and then she proceeds to blame us for the terrible averages????? she's condescending when you ask her questions and seems like she purposely ignores hands that are raised. Sam, the TA, is extremely helpful and nice so if you get stuck with Mignerey definitely rely on sam to actually you teach you the concepts. She expects you to go into lecture already knowing the information and only goes over practice examples in class and that's all her lecture slides are. literally all math. the math itself isn't hard but the way she expects you to know what to do and when to do it can be confusing. i swear she wants her students to fail. there's supposedly a 20% curve and her final exam was literally just awful. I studied a week straight ignoring my other classes for the final studying what she SAID would be on the exam. still had to leave 3 questions blank. After the first exam and realizing I was fcked, i proceeded to have a mental breakdown every single time before the rest of her exams :)There are also upperclassman that re-take her class which kinda messes up the curve but they have to because if you re-take the course with a diff professor you'd literally have to learn new things all over again since she teaches whatever she wants to and its very different from the other classes' material. If I could give her negative 5 stars I would. By farrr the WORST prof I've ever had and i am genuinely so sorry to anyone that has to end up taking her.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 05/15/2023	Absolutely the worst teacher I have ever come across. She is rude, condescending, and makes you feel completely stupid if you ask her to clarify something. Never have I experienced so much anxiety and cried because of one class (an introductory level class too) because of a teacher. Had I taken this course with any other teacher, my grade would be much better. Don't even think to take chemistry with her, she doesn't know how to teach the material. Her TA Sam, is excellent and is the only reason I even understand anything that she says.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/11/2023	Dr. Baxter did a really good job at explaining complex concepts in an understandable way. Her slides were incredibly helpful for understanding and organizing what information I needed to know for the class. This was an incredibly difficult class for me, and I went to her office hours when I was struggling and she was always patient with me and eager to help me understand my mistakes. Professor Baxter really cares about her students and believes in our ability to succeed. She made this class doable. I would highly recommend her to other students.
Samuel Lascio CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2023	Was my TA for CHEM131 and is the goat. Explained the material very well. Mignerey, the professor, made everything very confusing but Sam was able to make everything a lot clearer. Very passionate about the material, and is always there to answer questions in person and over email about anything you're confused about. Would 100% recommend.
Jarrar Haider CHEM131 Expecting an A- callpink 05/11/2023	The class itself is hard but the chem department at umd is bad so thats expected. But he's such a good TA and he is extremely helpful and nice. He thoroughly explains everything and is very open to answering any questions. Honestly he is probably the best TA I've ever had. Thanks to him, I actually understood what was going on in lecture.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/09/2023	I wish I could give 0 stars. This class traumatized me. I love science classes and loved chem in high school, but I'm NOT joking when I say that this class killed something inside of me. Dr. Tseng cannot teach this class and I'm surprised that she is allowed to. I'm not sure if she should just be teaching something more advanced or not but it definitely shouldn't be gen chem. Her handwriting is awful so it's hard to write down correct notes as she's solving, there is SO MUCH HOMEWORK, and the exams are literally the hardest exams I have ever taken. Practice problems, homework, study guides, videos, and even an expensive tutor couldn't save me. I failed every single exam, and so did the majority of the class, and she had to curve the grades so much to accommodate for it. Think about it. I got an F on 3 midterms and the final and still ended with a B. Impossible, and it only shows how poorly everyone did with her teaching. FIND A DIFFERENT PROFESSOR FOR THIS COURSE IT IS NOT WORTH THE MENTAL BREAKDOWNS.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 05/05/2023	I'm just going to reiterate what others said about Mignerey and give some more key points, it's going to be long but it is worth the read: -She would often go on tangents during lectures that weren't related to what we were discussing, making most of us more confused about the topic she was going over. -As someone said below me, she would also get confused about problems she was doing and then eventually say "I give up" on the problem (this was especially bad with the stoichiometry and combustion reaction units). -The practice exams she gave before tests were a "review of concepts learned in class" (as stated by Mignerey) they were way easier than the actual exams and not similar at all to the tests we took in class. - Each exam average was ~43 out of 100. For reference, my friends who had Baxter said the average was ~62. The average for our exams was also lower than ORGO averages. - I went to all GSS, lectures, and discussions, as well as additional studying, and still wasn't enough for me to do well -The students who did well in her class were either very proficient in chem, AP chem students retaking the class, or those who studied over 10 hours a week outside of the class (I mean it's possible but I had a busy schedule and like sleep), and the small few who are just naturally good at it. Professor Mignerey is a very nice person but an awful teacher who could not teach to save her life and is very stuck in her ways. She is considerate of your questions and does try to answer them to the best of her ability, but her teaching style is terrible and the exams were unnecessarily hard. If you have to take 131 I would suggest getting Baxter, she teaches well and her exams are hard but fair.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/05/2023	I chose Baxters 8 am instead of Guests 11am class because baxters reviews assured me she is a good professor who can help me do well in the class. However, if I could, I would go back to choose Guest. I attended every single lecture and put forth effort in studying and attending discussion and GSS but I could only do so well because of her difficult exams and just how she taught. She is very good at reading slides which gets boring but also we don't get underlying explanations for the material which is important. I do like how she tries to answer questions during lecture is is pretty nice, but other than that, she emphasizes u have to go to office hours. Mind you, she had to reschedule or cancel them almost every time. About her lecture: she doesn't record or nothing just post slides. For exams, she doesn't provide any practice exams, which is soo important for chem. Her exams are also difficult compared to other classes. Her average was always around 50-60. They are also very strict with grading. There is rarely any partial points for long questions that are worth minimum 10 points. However, she does curve, but only at the end of the semester so you really have no idea what to expect. Honestly the entire chem department sucks. And chem alone isn't even hard, it just matters who teaches you. With any professor, utilize tutoring and gss resources!!
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/04/2023	I literally stopped going to lectures after the second week of class because she spent the first 15 minutes each time struggling with technology. She also kept writing down incorrect things and fully relies on her TA Sam. He is great. If you do the homework you should pass but the average for every one of our exams was below 50%.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2023	she did not teach the material, she just did practice examples in the lecture and assumed we knew things from the textbook. I was told by the TA that she is there to "clarify the material, not teach" and that we should be primarily learning through the textbook. So why shouldn't I just self-teach the class and save money? Which is pretty much what I ended up having to do. Even after reading the textbook and fully understanding it through that, mignerey made the material more confusing and after lecture, I felt like I was back at square one. I am inclined to think I would have done better in the course if I didn't go to the lectures. Without going to all the GSS, reading all of the textbook, organizing study sessions outside of class, and doing the discussion worksheets provided, I don't believe it would be possible to get through this class. This amount of work would make sense for a more upper-level class, but for Gen Chem, this seems ridiculous. I spent 4-6 hours on an average week just looking over material and studying/GSS on a NON-exam week. Plus the time it took to do the weekly homework which is at least an hour. At max (exam weeks) I spent 10/11+ hours working on this class to get [without the curve] around a B- (2 hours of GSS, 1.25 hours of lecture, 1 hour of discussion, 4 hours of group study, 3+ hours studying on my own). The average for exams we were told was about 45% for the first two which is ridiculous to me. at least there will be a good curve
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/02/2023	I see a lot of poor reviews about Prof. Mignerey, and I really think for the most part they are about the class and less about her. She is not nearly as bad as described. She mostly does practice problems, which I actually find very helpful. If you can review the material a bit before class to get familiar with the concepts, the class is almost like free study time. If you go to office hours, do the homework, and put in the effort, you should be okay. It isn't an easy class, but she really isn't that bad. She always gives practice exams which are very similar to the real thing, and the homeworks are always more difficult than the exams. She can come across a bit condescending at times, but otherwise she is a fine professor if you're willing to do some work.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 05/01/2023	She straight up doesn't know chemistry. All she does is ask the TA for help and tell students to read the textbook because she has no clue what is going on and if she does she can't communicate it. She makes mistakes in every lecture and often has to "give up" on problems because she can't figure them out. I learned nothing. biggest waste of my time and money.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 04/29/2023	if i could do 0 stars i would. ended up failing and retaking with dr. guest which is much better. mignerey did not teach at all.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/11/2023	Lectures are honestly quite boring and sometimes hard to follow what is going on. the homework and quizzes aren’t too bad, but sometimes it doesn’t really reflect the content in the lectures. the exams are definitely hard, but with the curve the grades are super fair. if you put in effort and actually pay attention to the lectures, you should be fine. i’ve never been to office hours or anything, so i can’t rly say much about her personally.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 04/11/2023	If you’re looking for a nice and easy ride through 131, know that it simply does no exist. I feel that many of the reviews for Professor Baxter are more for her class than her teaching abilities, which is a bit unfair as making this class enjoyable/easy is pretty much impossible. All things considered she’s the best you could get between all your other options for this class, helpful lady who will genuinely make time to boost her class and makes lectures certainly more interesting than they might otherwise be. Provides no practice exams but guided notes will carry you through long and fast lectures. Absolute Queen.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/04/2023	So I must admit Tienson is not the best professor. Her handwriting is close to unreadable, and she gets flustered easily when asked questions during lecture. Also she wasn’t the best at explaining concepts and tends to over-explain or overcomplicate things in lecture, and often looses her train of thought. HOWEVER, she does seem to genuinely want to see her students succeed and although I never went to her office hours (don’t be like me, you should go) I was told that she was kind and more helpful during them. Also, I found the achieve homeworks helpful and she usually put out a TON of extra practice problems before the exam, which were always useful. The clicker questions we did in class also counted as extra credit so that was nice, even though we didn’t end up doing as many as she said we would in the beginning. I thought her exams and curves were reasonable and I honestly did better than I thought I would in this class. The only thing I really did not like were the group quizzes and exams, as I didn’t really find them very helpful and it was sometimes a little difficult to interact and coordinate with my group-mates as a disabled student, however I can see how they could be helpful to other students. Overall she wasn’t the best professor however she gave us opportunities to do well without being overly stressed, and tried to make the class not as test-heavy which I appreciated as chemistry is pretty difficult for me.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 03/12/2023	Baxter was probably the best professor out of the options I had. Chemistry is miserable. I hated every second I was there. But she tries hard to answer questions well and make lectures interesting. She also provided fill in the blank notes which I LOVEDDD. To be honest if I tried harder I probably could have gotten an A or at least a B+. She doesn't offer practice exams or anything which was kinda annoying but if you put in the work you can do okay. She doesn't post lectures, but she does post her slides/notes so if you miss class you're fine. I had an 8am section so I relied on those v heavily! Attendance is not mandatory (thank god). Overall would recommend over other chem profs
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/04/2023	Got a B+ in the class, which is okay. I think the practice exams were easier than the exams she gives out, but it is manageable. She is a really great lecturer and explains the concept really well. Even though I had forgot most of stuff I learned in high school chem class, she definitely explained it well enough to understand for students who don't have prior knowledge of the course.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/03/2023	Other comments basically say what I want to say, and one more thing I want to ask, this professor gave the practice exam and her actual exam have anything to do with it??????
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/17/2023	Terrible doesn't give us practice exams. Great lecturer terrible teacher.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 02/03/2023	I hated CHEM131, and I got the grade I deserved considering the work I put in, which was very minimal. Baxter is a really good professor. She's very organized and explains things well in class. I'd like to point out that CHEM131 is HARD, so having a good professor doesn't mean you'll do well. Do your homework, go to lecture, and use her office hours if you need them. She's really accessible outside of class, so take advantage of that if you're struggling. Note that she doesn't give out practice exams or study guides, which I believe some other CHEM131 professors do. If you know how to do the problems in the lecture notes, you should probably be fine. Also note that she doesn't curve individual exam grades, but she does one big curve (~10%) at the end of the semester, as well as replaces your lowest exam grade with the final grade. She does her best to get your grade looking prettier on your transcript than it does on ELMS. Overall, if you have to take CHEM131, she's a great bet.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 01/20/2023	If you need a reference: My ending grade was a 44% and that translated to a C-(TuTh section) Good luck guys. If you do all her examples on canvas and memorize the material, you can do it! I somehow did. Overall, she is a good lecturer but goes fast and doesn't record.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/08/2023	Baxter is a lovely professor, who comes to class organized and prepared to teach. She is super accessible outside of class hours because she holds many office hours as well as responds to her emails frequently. She doesn't overcomplicate any concept beyond what we need to know in order to do well on her exams. Exam averages were pretty low, but that's to be expected of Gen Chem imo. If you are worried about grades, there is a very generous curve at the end of the course. If you do practice problem before exams/go over your homeworks, you will be fine!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2023	I feel like a lot of students mistakenly rate the class and not the professor. Obviously CHEM131 isn't easy, chemistry can be miserable. How well you do really depends on your own study habits and effort to learn the material. Professor Baxter herself is a great professor. Out of all the CHEM131 professors (and the others actually suck), she's the one to have. I think the absolute best part of this class is that she gives you guided notes to fill out during lecture. It makes note-taking so much easier, and I seriously wish all my professors did that. She doesn't curve exams, but she does curve the overall grade. For my class it ended up being 10 percentage points. She doesn't record lectures, but she does post her slideshows and notes keys on Canvas. Also, the other CHEM131 professors give four midterm exams, but Baxter only gives three. Do what you will with that information.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a C georgelkelley 01/05/2023	All the positive reviews were given by the few students who fully understand chemistry and found this class to be easy, so I would advise that most students reading this do not listen to them unless you fully understand chemistry too. This is the absolute worst class I have ever taken. During finals week, this one class caused me so much stress that I physically couldn't eat. I was always hesitant to ask Mignerey a question, but one day I did, and she was very rude in her answer. During lecture, she goes way too fast and does not explain stuff well. If you ask her a question, she'll answer it in the most condescending way and then say "right?" while laugh. The only reason I passed this class was because of the homework. If you fail the exams but do all the homeworks, you should pass. Surprisingly, her curve was 20% so I passed the class with a 50%.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ wild 12/27/2022	meh class - got an A+ though so that was cool the exams are pretty easy but lengthy so people tend to lose a lot of points simply to not finishing. exam averages were in the 50s and although this may seem quite concerning, it is very easy to do well. studying a few days before the exams is sufficient - go through all her slides and discussion questions to be in very good shape for the exams. i went to discussion a grand total of 0 times this semester and although this is very very bad for a first semester student, it all worked out. I also skipped class the majority of times and this is the basis of my reasoning for 4 stars. I didn't particularly need her to do well in the class so to rate her as a professor, it is quite hard for me. the other thing which made me rate her a 4 stars is the final was intentionally made to be full of questions not made in the past. she told us this and it was funny at first but it also meant we had to review all the material and not just past exams. otherwise, her teaching was probably good because her slides were sufficient for an A+ along with some discussion worksheets. you'll do well taking Baxter and it was a risk taking her because this was her first semester teaching but I have no regrets looking back. being like a month ahead other classes was a blessing for lab and just simply being a bit more chill at later points in the semester. good luck though!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/24/2022	This is coming from someone that slacked off in this class and came into the year with an extended case of senioritis. I truly believe Baxter is probably the best CHEM131 professor in terms of getting you ready for the content. Guest had easier tests and was more lenient with HW and also recorded her lectures, Baxter will get you prepared. Baxter is a great lecturer and very helpful in office hours. You will have to attend class in order to stay on top of things, which I did not, which resulted in me having to cram a few nights before each exam. The exams are a little bit more difficult than other classes, but there aren't really any curveballs or anything you haven't seen before, whether it's with Achieve homework or class discussion worksheets. However, there are no study guides or review guides before each exam, so you're gonna have to rely on your own notes and the slides she posts on Canvas. The class is curved at the end, with about a 10 point curve (Class average of 65 -> 75), but she has broadened grade cutoff ranges, so if you're borderline by like 2-3% to the next grade range, it will mostly likely be curved up to the next grade (Example: 87 would be a B+, but most likely will carry over to an A-) Keep in mind that the class is weighted, your ELMS grade most likely will be inaccurate by a lot, so do some manual calculations so you know what grade you actually have. I managed to grind it out to a B with a curve, but I truly believe I probably could've gotten an A in this class if I just cracked down early enough. The only gripe I had with this class is that the final exam is based on content she hasn't put on other midterms and new content, which is a very vague description on what's actually on the exams. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, she's a new teacher, but honestly pretty good overall.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2022	It was a pretty painful experience. She didn’t give out any practice tests or study guides and the class moved at a really fast pace. And I know in college lectures do move at a fast pace but the fact that we were about a month ahead of another class was ridiculous.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2022	Dr. Baxter is the best chem131 professor you can get! She does cover the content pretty fast and lectures are usually jam-packed with content. Her tests are also challenging but fair. After getting used to the content-heavy tests, the class became easier. Unlike other classes, we only had 3 midterms instead of 4, so take note of that. Fewer tests, more content on each one. I came out of her class actually being able to do chemistry, which is something I can't say about any of my highschool profs. The curve ended up being 10%, which is pretty normal for UMD gen-chem courses. Just remember to really study for those tests and you'll be fine!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	Dr Baxter is absolutely amazing. Coming into gen chem, I had no proper foundation of chemistry (I did not take AP Chem and I only had 2 normal quarters of chemistry in 10th grade because of the pandemic). But on the first day, Dr Baxter made herself very clear that we do not need prior knowledge and that she wants us to succeed as long as we meet her half way. I was completely testify that this is true. She is very reasonable with the HW (which is an easy A by the way) and the due dates and if she makes a mistake she always acknowledges it and apologizes. Her course page is so so organized and it makes other students jealous. Literally, in September she made a calendar for the whole semester that showed what lecture would be covered and when the specific HW would be due and when the next exam is. She makes guided notes for the lectures that go hand in hand with her presentations and they also serve as a study guide for when there are exams. She also posts answer keys to the guided notes after the lecture is over to ensure we have accurate information. I highly suggest printing them out before the lecture (as she does post them beforehand for us to do so). She also makes the discussion worksheets which are usually similar to the exams she gives. She is also always at her office hours and will always notify us if she cannot make it. At office hours she was so kind and nice to talk to and I was easily able to ask any question about chemistry that I wanted. I've been told that Alice Mingery (the other chem professor) is so condescending when asked questions, but Baxter has never been that way. She will explain everything so methodically and ensure that we get the proper answer. Now, she does expect us to practice and will emphasize us doing the practice problems given to ensure our mastery of the topic. She always says that the best way to master chemistry is through practice problems which I completely agree. Now I will be honest, going to lecture is not enough for this class. She does go at a very fast pace and there are many days I leave that class being completely confused. However what I did that I thought was really helpful was rereading her lecture notes (which are very clear) and finding the corresponding online textbook page that corresponds to that topic and doing the practice problems. That really helped. Going at a very fast pace for the chem lectures is nice because (A) it helps with the chem labs which may cover topics not covered in lecture and (B) It lets the information sink in more before the final. One thing that baffled me was that the exam averages were 50-60 for all three. However I managed to get a C on two midterms, a B on another midterm, and a B on the final (average was a D for the final). She also said that the final can replace our lowest midterm exam grade. Her exams are completely straightforward and there are usually no tricks to them. They are very similar to the discussion worksheets too. The one tricky part is the time limit which I admit can get some people (but that can be easily fixed with practice trust me). The final that I just took last week was identical to how her midterms were and they had no tricks to them Its clear that Dr Baxter cares about her students and just wants us to have a strong foundation of chemistry. My TA was honestly not that great and I left her discussion after the second week and stopped going. I just used the discussion worksheet and the answer key and If I had a question, I would just go to office hours. Also don't trust the GSS because they do not follow Baxter's structure for the exams. Baxter is not an easy professor as per say, but if you put in the work you will be able to do well. I am so glad I took her class
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/21/2022	Amazing CHEM 131 professor considering the other options. Do not listen to the reviews below in which people whine about the low averages for each exam. This is college, not high school. Not everyone can get an A. Also, as someone who has taken orgo, the high C/low B average across all exams with the curve is pretty standard, so get used to that if you are going to take more chem courses at UMD. Also, the GSS leader was amazing. Like the person below said, definitely go to his regular sessions if you can. People usually don't attend those, and there is a lot of individualized help available. Exam review sessions were crowded though. I felt that the past exams were challenging in their own right. Again, don't listen to the people who complain that they didn't resemble Dr. Baxter's exams. This was her first time teaching, so how can you expect the past exams to be similar to hers when literally no one has seen one of her exams before? Some practice is better than no practice, and if that isn't good enough for you, just don't attend.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2022	When I first took this Prof, it was TBD. I was so scared. Then, I met her and realized she was friendly, understanding, and kept her students in mind. Her lectures are fast, so read her notes ahead of time (like she recommends!). Also, read the textbook. It helped me with the multiple choice A LOT. Honestly, everything is excellent but the tests. The tests are long and you barely have enough time to process the question. But, she replaced the final w the lowest grade and gave us a 10% curve based on the class averages at the end, so she truly wants us to succeed. I would take her again if I had to do it all over again. Just know that you need to put in the work, but I think her teaching and test style set me up for success for future science classes.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2022	DO NOT TAKE HER THESE PEOPLE ARE LYING TO YOU
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/19/2022	She's definitely not as bad as people make it out to be. It's going to be difficult to understand what is going on in class if you don't read the textbook since she doesn't really cover any conceptual ideas and if she does then it's covered in a very short amount of time and difficult to understand. The class is mostly going over practice problems and she does move fast but that is expected since they are only 50 minute lectures. She gives practice exams that are very similar to the actual exams that you receive, so as long as you understand how to do those and are able to do problems that are slightly different than the ones given on the practice exams then you should be fine. The averages on all of the midterms were in the 50s to low 60s and the final's average was in the low 50s, but don't let this scare you because as long as you put in the work then you'll do well. Before the exams always make sure to first have read all of the required chapters in the textbook and understand the concepts, do the practice exam given, and do the worksheets that are made by the TA and GSS leader. This is a very exam heavy class where your entire grade is entirely determined on the exams so make sure you don't slack off with not studying for an exam as it will be difficult to recover your grade. The word problems on the final were definitely more difficult than on the midterms in my opinion but it is still very attainable to get an A on the final.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/19/2022	The fact that no test average has been higher than a 61 and the only people rating her are expecting an A should tell you that these accounts aren’t indicative of her average student’s experience. I will say off the bat that if you do not spend a significant amount of time on this class—taking thorough notes, attending gss sessions, going over the textbook—you will fail. This is because Professor Baxter is far too disorganized with the content to provide you with a concise, accurate view of what you need to know. As others have said, her exams include questions students have never seen before and could have no way of knowing how to solve because she refuses to teach them how. Her entire guiding philosophy is “here’s a textbook, figure it out yourself.” Fine if you have 20 hours a week to blow on chem, bit of an issue if you’re taking 3 labs. My biggest gripe with her is that she refuses to accept that things other than hard work and studying can have an effect on your grade. She offered a grand total of 3 points of extra credit on one test and that’s it. I wound up getting super sick at the end of the semester and didn’t have much time to prepare for the test. I still wound up taking it because I figured it was nothing more than a cold and some nerves that were fogging up my head and making it impossible to study. So I still took the final and ended up bombing it. I found out the day after that I had been suffering from Mono and a nasty ear infection in my left ear. I let Professor Baxter know this. I owned up to my grade but asked if I couldn’t redo an assignment or two just to offset some of the points I might have lost. Her answer was flat out no, that the only extra credit offered was 3 total points for picking up tests from her office. I understand I’m not entitled to a good grade in the class, but when a teacher has repeatedly shown that she doesn’t care a lick about your grade, your out of school life, and your wellbeing as a whole, it’s hard to have any shred of respect for them. Easily the worst teacher I’ve had at this university. If I’d had any interest in chemistry going into this class, she would have put me off of it.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2022	Prepare to put in a lot of effort to do well in her class. The one good thing about her is that she records her lectures. Overall, not a great lecturer. She can be hard to follow along with and moves through topics slowly but the key to doing well in her class is to do every practice problem available to you. Not a very good curve at the end of the semester whatsoever. Only about 3%. This is because she “assigns grades” and the class average was pretty high for an intro chem class.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/17/2022	Dr. Guest is an extremely lenient grader and is always willing to give extensions. The tests are easier than what you'll see in lectures and homework, so study and use the resources given to you. She's not the best lecturer but you'll get enough of the concepts to know what you have to review in the textbook. She gives great study guides and practice exams which are exactly what you'll see on the tests. For me, the GSS helped the most, as my TA was a useless douchebag so discussions were a waste of my time. Also, Dr. Guest gives an incredible curve at the end. My 91 curved to a 98, and I know people with lower grades curved even higher. My advice: Use the homeworks to study. It's easy to do well on them which will bump your grade up enough. Same with the quizzes. The textbook is a great resource. It gives great examples and explains things really well. I mostly took notes from the textbook so I could pay more attention during lectures. Go to the GSS! And if you find you need the help, get a tutor. You can absolutely do well in this class, you just have to take responsibility. It won't be an easy A but definitely attainable.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2022	Personally I think she deserves more credit. Her lectures weren’t the best, but her exams were overall pretty fair. She curves the class at the end and it helped me out a lot. I think she tried her best to teach a quick paced course. If I had to take her again I would. She was the best out of all the Chem131 professors.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2022	lowk she's not even that bad. if ur a good student and u put in work and study and take notes you'll do great. her content's pretty easy especially if u took chem in high school. to study, read the textbook and her powerpoints and do the homework and you'll be good. it's dependent on u and what ur willing to put in but overall it's really not that bad don't be scared like yea there's downsides lab is annoying and she moves slow so what ur doing in class won't line up w what u do in lab (which is def frustrating) but i feel like it's not as horrible as everyone makes it seem
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/16/2022	Honestly, I don't even know what to say. I have never felt this bad about a class in my life. This class is very draining and it's even worse when the professor is no help. She doesn't explain concepts well during lectures and I can only get proper insight when I go to discussions. When students ask her questions during lectures, she doesn't know how to answer them at all and usually the TA steps in to help. I'm glad we had a good TA because without Sam, I wouldn't have been able to do as well(barely) on the exams. Even though I understood the material, the exams did not reflect well. It was sometimes hard understanding what the questions were asking. Her midterm averages ranged from 50s-60s. Also, her last exam is a week before finals which seems like a set up for failure in her class. It just makes no sense and gives us little time to study for the final which is cumulative. The final was a total fail and I am only hoping she gives a really generous curve because that is all I am relying on right now. Allegedly, she gives a generous curve at the end and if she does I could possibly get a C-.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2022	Honestly not that bad. If you were an A student in high school, you're gonna be an A student in this class. A lot of the reviews about mignerey are incorrect. She was nice and provided a lot of material to learn and prepare for the tests. The final exam was whack though and nearly impossible! Definitely the best general chemistry professor available.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2022	I'd say your grade in this class depends entirely on you. Mignerey's lectures aren't helpful, she goes way too fast, doesn't transition well into topics, and never explains anything conceptually. It's up to you to go through the textbook and teach yourself. BUT she's not as bad as everyone else says though - her exams are pretty similar to her practice exams. Sam, the TA, is also really helpful, as well as Jen (GSS). If you know how to self-study you should be fine. My best advice is to attend every discussion with your TA and go to GSS as much as you can (especially the ones before exams). Baxter's definitely better, Guest is um no comment but I just wanna emphasize that Mignerey isn't totally horrible.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2022	Try to take a different professor if you can. I ended up taking her and truly was just not happy with her teaching, let alone her handwriting. She will help you if you ask questions in person to her, but she does not teach super great. You need to read the textbook if you want to have some clue of what is going on.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/15/2022	Please don't listen to these other reviews. Mignerey is not good, but easily the best chem131 professor available. Guest is terrible, Baxter is brand new and gives students no material to prepare for tests with, averages in both classes were 50s and below. Literally just go to class and discussion and GSS if you're still confused and you'll be fine. She posts practice exams a week before each exam that are basically the same as the test. Plus Sam (TA) and Jen (GSS) are so so so helpful. Take this professor I promise.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2022	This professor doesnt even know chemistry. She doesn't even know what shes talking about half of the time. She goes over some powerpoint and expects us to actually understand what shes saying and doing. She has assignments on Achieve which you basically have to figure out yourself since she doesn't even go over any of that material properly. She does curve the class though. If you actually want to learn anything don't take this class. If you end up with her, good luck. Dont lose points on things like discussion worksheets, achieve homeworks/preclass assignments, and clicker questions. Someone take away her doctorate degree ASAP !!
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2022	I feel like her exams do not reflect what she teaches us at all! I feel confident going into every exam, I understand the review guides, did well on the homework, go to lectures, etc... yet do so terribly on the exams??? and It's not just me the averages on the exams are embarrassingly low. I understand this is a difficult course but I'm not sure what else one can do to improve. The only reason I did alright in the class is because of the TA, Sam who is very helpful. He also teaches the discussions and goes over practice problems during those so definitely don't skip! If you ever have to email Dr. Mignerey also email Sam because he will respond within minutes not days.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022	Out of all the chem teachers Dr. Baxter is the best so far. Tone honest Chem131 is a lot of material so her lectures go by fast however if you do you're work on time, don't skip lectures, and go to office hours you will do fine. On the first test I was shaken up about the time but for the 2nd and 3rd time was not an issue anymore. Her tests are pretty fair and although it can be intimidating with how much content is in each exam, for the most part it will never be anything she hasn't shown in class or in the textbook questions. My suggestion is doing notes prior to class and glancing over the textbook for definitions and guided examples, then in class strengthen it along with asking questions during lecture, and then practice. She is really helpful during office hours too. People say this class is hard but it also depends on how you study and the effort you put into this class.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2022	do not listen to the reviews claiming that baxter's class will have a massive curve. not once has she ever used those words. at most she said there will be a curve to push grades up to a "high c," meaning, most likely, a 77%. this would be useful information, but she refuses to tell us what the actual class average is. as of right now, all the grades in elms are incredibly inflated because she hasn't even put in the weightings yet (15% homework, 20% exam 1, 20% exam 2, 20% exam 3, and 25% final). when she does put the weightings in, i have no doubt that everyone's grade will drop exponentially. does this sound like a professor who wants to be helpful? i'm sure that baxter is nice and accommodating outside of class, but this review is a true reflection of the actual proceedings of the course. exam averages have never exceeded 60% (about 53% for exam 1, 56% exam 2, and 61% exam 3). she doesn't curve exams. only 15% of the grade is homework, meaning that you HAVE to perform well on tests to do well in the class. despite what other reviews claim, three days of casual studying is not enough to do well on tests. i studied for hours everyday leading up to the test, and my test average is still an 85%. the gss discussion are absolutely unhelpful. all the questions are in formats completely different from test questions and the gss leader is not effective in providing help with confusing topics. the gss exam reviews used past exams from dr. guest, whose tests are completely different from baxter's. most of dr. baxter's lectures are fast paced and she explains concepts in the most convoluted manner possible. she teaches the class as if students already have an education in chemistry, even though she claimed in the beginning of the year that the curriculum was made for "beginners." exam material is incredibly concentrated, and any question about exam content is answered with the incredibly vague response: "anything is fair game." for our second exam, professor baxter asked students to submit questions they were confused about so that we could review them in class. instead of truly reviewing in a helpful way, baxter pulled up the questions and proceeded to not do any of them. she would project them and then say "i'm not going to show you how to actually solve the problem or tell you the answer, i'll just tell you how much i think you need to know to find it yourself." in terms of exam review, this wasn't exactly the most helpful. the only reason i'm rating this class 2 stars is because out of all the chemistry teachers, dr. baxter is probably still your best bet. however, these reviews are biased towards baxter's personality and not her class - don't listen to them. the class is still very hard. you'll need to put in a lot of work to do well. just because she's a nice person doesn't mean that her class is easy.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/11/2022	I would definitely say Dr. Baxter is the best CHEM131 professor you can get because I’ve heard such bad things about the other two that I AM glad I have her. That being said, I struggled a lot in this course. For the amount of work I put in before the tests, it was extremely disappointing for my highest test grade to be a C. The averages for these midterms did not exceed 60, and after literally the first one the average overall grade in the class plummeted to a 73. The curve for this class will hopefully save everyone, but meanwhile it’s my lowest grade by far and I’m putting way more work into this than any other class. HOWEVER. Dr. Baxter is smart and competent and I trust she wants us to learn and succeed, but it is extremely hard to do so in this class. Would recommend though.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ pengpenguin 12/11/2022	To everyone thinking of taking Guest for CHEM131 (lecture), DO IT. Let's be real, it's impossible to expect an entirely perfect professor for CHEM131 given the size of the class, but I think Guest is pretty much as good as you can get. It's true that she's not great for lab (132), and that's why you see a lot of negative reviews for her. HOWEVER this does not mean she's a bad prof to have for lecture. She was the only prof this semester (so besides Mignerey and Baxter) to have a zoom option for lecture, and upload recordings of her lectures on Canvas. This was literally so clutch because I could skip that 9am lecture all the time and catch up later, or drag myself out of bed to sit on zoom if I felt productive. Our class averages on exams were also higher than Mignerey's and Baxter's. She always uploaded a study guide and practice exam in the modules of our Canvas page, and sent announcements to remind us that they were there. She has a weekly homework assignment and a quiz, but she's very flexible with deadlines and would always give extensions on these assignments. She likes a lot of class engagement, which can be kind of awkward, but she's pretty nice about it and always reminds us that it's not bad to be wrong and we should just give it a try. When I emailed her to ask her to post a lecture video, she did so at 3am. One negative thing about having her for lecture was that she moves pretty slow (like a week behind the syllabus) so I often had to learn the content in lab myself. However, her lab manual makes that pretty easy. It honestly wasn't very hard to figure things our myself, though I will say I took chemistry 4 years ago in high school, which may have made it easier for me.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a W Anonymous 12/08/2022	Mignerey was the reason I dropped premed and decided to go into business. She does not give time for students to process the information that they are learning. When lecturing, she messes up her own problems and then the TA has to call it out. The whole class would follow her until someone decides to speak up and she would then fix it. The only good thing about chem are the discussions. Please go to the discussions because those are the reasons why you will pass the exams. Before withdrawing and getting first hand experience from my friends, she would give multiple chapters of reading along with the learning curves and hw that would all be due in a week.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022	She is a fair and accommodating professor and wants her students to understand the material. Although the midterm averages are all ~50%, she allegedly has a large curve at the end to help people's grades. She also has a policy where your final grade can replace one of your midterm grades, so that can be helpful if you do bad on one midterm. Overall, the class has a lot of material and tests can be difficult, but she seems better than a lot of other CHEM131 options and she tries to help students succeed, so I would recommend her over other professors.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/06/2022	Honestly, a great addition to the University of Maryland's lacking chem/science department. I was initially scared to take chem because I have not heard great things about the professors. However, Dr. Baxter is super understanding and is great at teaching material. I never felt cheated in exams by trick questions or information that wasn't explained during lectures. I will admit her exam averages are quite low compared to other professors I've heard about (about 50-60%). But I honestly think if you take the time to understand the material you will be completely fine. Her exam questions are very similar to those she makes for the discussion sections, so pay very close attention to those.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022	Class aside, she's so nice, understanding, and flexible. If her class is available, register immediately because she will fill up. As long as you show up to her classes, you will definitely be fine. Exams are straightforward and pretty much just what we go over in class. Highly recommend.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B UMDStudent100 12/05/2022	Do not take Mignerey. Dr. Mignerey is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. She consistently makes mistakes while doing problems and when students are confused, she is condescending and rude. She also consistently skips steps in example problems leaving students lost, and unable to follow without explaining the steps she has skipped. She makes every topic much more confusing than it has to be. She also assigns an astronomical amount of homework that is due Monday nights and sometimes does not teach the material until that Monday leaving those with busy Mondays completely screwed. Dr. Mignerey teaches badly, is condescending, and is never there for office hours.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A laanderson4 12/05/2022	Regularly copies things down wrong or makes mistakes while demonstrating examples, then when everyone is confused acts like we’re all stupid. If she finally realizes her mistake, Mignerey goes around in circles instead of reexplaining. Hostile to people who ask questions during class, but also unavailable during office hours. Pray that you get a different teacher.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/05/2022	everything written about her on here and rate my professors is correct, perhaps even worse. take that as you wish. the exams are whack, she gets her own problems during lecture wrong and then gets fiesty when a STUDENT fixes her mistake. she doesn't answer emails, only reason I might pass this class is because of the TA's and GSS sessions. ATTEND EVERY SINGLE ONE! they're the only place you're going to learn anything. she assigns you 50+ questions a week that are 100x harder than what you've seen in class, and expects you to get that down on top of an exam every 3 weeks and learning the material. her averages ranged from 52-63, nothing ever higher. i don't know one person who has passed one of her exams with an A. i strongly recommend taking ANYONE BUT HER IF YOU CAN! FOR YOUR OWN SAKE!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022	Dr. Baxter is absolutely amazing, highly recommend for anyone that needs to take chem 131. She provides guided lecture notes which make lectures easy to follow in highly engaging. Chem 131 is literally my favorite class this semester and the only class I look forward to thanks to her. Super nice individual and very helpful during office hours. Cannot recommend her enough. If you need to take chem 131, take Dr. Baxter.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022	Terrific professor, explains concepts really well. Exams can be kinda difficult but the curve in her class is ridiculous at the end, I've done so mid on every exam but could still get an A just because of how good the curve is.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/02/2022	Class averages for exams rarely exceed 60%, generally around 50%. Material is incredibly dense. Other professors have split their material into 4 exams, this class had only 3 which makes exam material incredibly concentrated. Most people were unable to complete the exams with the time provided. Could just be the curriculum being too much, but I am a junior and have taken many 300+ level classes, and somehow despite being a 100 level introductory course this class has been the worst experience of my academic career. Majority of people I’ve spoken to have had similar feelings. Just an overall difficult and painful experience.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/02/2022	dr baxter is the best. the ta's are a little janky but not anything you can do about it. I haven't gone to discussion and just look over the discussion worksheet she posts and the answer key to them and her module notes. easily able to pass the class. very fair and would recommend her to everyone who needs to take chem131.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022	When talking about Dr. Baxter, there is not a better general chemistry professor than her. When I first signed up for this class, it showed up as a TBA. However, I still count my stars to this day that I was blessed with getting a professor as good as Dr. Baxter. She goes in-depth in every important concept that is necessary and makes sure that you are prepared for the exams. She said that she will give around a ~10% curve to the final grade which can bump you up a whole letter grade. However, you should not rely on this curve as 3 days of studying prior to the exam can get you an 80 average on the exams, which is all you need. There are 3 midterms and a final. The final replaces the lowest midterm grade. Definitely take her at all costs if you can. Dr. Baxter the goat no cap.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/01/2022	Professor Baxter is by far the best general chemistry professor in the entire department. If you want a professor that cares about your learning, does not fall behind lecture schedule, and gives fair exams, take Dr. Baxter. Her exams are extremely fair: attend lectures, do all practice problems and I promise you will receive a good grade. Dr. Baxter's office hours are also outstanding. She will sit there with you for hours until you understand the material. She is always willing to help and she is very accommodating. Overall, a wonderful professor I absolutely recommend her to anyone thinking of taking chemistry.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Anonymous 12/01/2022	If I could give her a zero, I would. What a horrible experience this has been. No practice material, exams, you can barely understand her in lecture. She briefly reviews complicated topic as though it is not our first exposure to them. Compared to other professors, she gives no resources. I'm saying this as objectively as I can; no matter how much you study, what she gives us is not enough to succeed in her class.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/30/2022	She's a fair grader and has offered extensions multiple times through the semester. I have some background in chemistry coming in, so it's hard to say if her lectures would be difficult for beginners, but I felt they were decent. My main complaint: I don't know if other professors had this, but Guest's class used this auto-purchased e-textbook that was absolutely useless and she gave little to no instructions on how to opt out. Total money grab. Also the homework is super long but I doubt that changes much between professors. Also (for CHEM132), I'm pretty sure all the labs are run by TA's so idk why people are dogging on her for that? It's like that in other subjects too, and you literally just follow the experiment instructions. It's not like our TA was bad either. I'm so confused why people are mad about that.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/29/2022	I signed up for Dr. Baxter's class on a whim when the Professor's name was in Testudo as "TBA" because I figured that the new professor could not be any worse than the other options for CHEM131 who all had 1-star ratings. I'm so glad I did. Once the announcement came out about who the new professor was, I saw that she was a first-time professor who just received her PhD in the Spring of 2022. I honestly thought this was a good sign because I figured she would try more than some of the more veteran professors, and she really does. Dr. Baxter comes prepared to class every day with good content in-hand. The class itself is great because she provides you with guided notes so that you just have to fill in blanks and do the practice problems yourself. It makes it so that you can get all of the information without struggling to write it down in-time. Dr. Baxter also works really hard to keep the timing of the course on-track. During the first two units, we were ahead of schedule, which may sound grueling, but it's really great because then we're assured that we'll get through everything we need to before moving on to the next level of Chemistry. When she was absent and we started falling behind a little, she would record lecture videos for us to watch on our own. She really puts her students' education first. In regards to grading, I really like how she does it. Yes, the exams do count towards a large portion of our grade, but so does the homework. The homework is graded on accuracy, but you have as many tries as you need, and it just takes off a small percentage for every attempt you get wrong. I know the grades on the exams are mixed, with an average around 52%, but I believe that if you put in the work to study on your own by reading the textbook and doing the practice problems she provides, you can easily score a B or an A. She gives you the resources you need--all you have to do is use them. She is going to do a curve at the end of the semester, which she said will be done by curving the average in the class to a 70%. So, if the class average is a 60%, those people will end up with a 70%. People with a grade greater than 60% will end up with a grade that is greater than 70%. When talking about our first semester chemistry experience with friends, I always talk about how great Dr. Baxter is and my friends say they are jealous. They often fall behind in lecture content and will not get through everything by the end of the semester, and they're not normally at the right place in learning where what they're taught in lecture is what they do in lab. My experience is the opposite. Most of the time, I feel prepared to go to lab because Dr. Baxter has already taught us a lot of the necessary information. Overall, my experience has been great and I'm so lucky that I took the chance with the new professor, Dr. Baxter.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/13/2022	I took AP Chem in high school so this made it easier to get through the class but she is just not good. She doesn't teach anything and she makes you read the textbook if you want to get any knowledge at all. She has awful handwriting and a pretty bad attitude sometimes. She doesn't teach anything and even some of her problems had the wrong answer. Do not reccomend.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/07/2022	Not a friendly person, was an average lecturer at best. Exams were difficult, but she gave practice exams that were very similar to the actual exam. Gives a generous curve at the end of the semester.
Natalia White CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 07/10/2022	To be honest there is no cons with this teacher. She teaches nicely. She lets you know what will be on the exam. She responds to emails. She had a 10-point curve which was really nice. And we had a nice TA. It is chemistry so of course it will be hard. But if you score above average on every exam then you should be fine. The average in this class is probably a B because of her nice curve. I only give her a 4 out of 5 stars because I am an above average student, and I should have gotten an A. I'm the smartest person I know.
Christiana Guest CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/27/2022	Dr.Guest is an okayish teacher. She has a fair grading system in place, 3 midterms and 1 final, but an incredibly generous curve at the end of the semester. (Ours was 11 points on our final grade). She assigns TopHat reading and homework assignments, which are graded really easily so long as you do all of it and at least get 50 percent correct. However, there were a couple of things that I disliked about her class. She tries to do an online zoom class while also being in person, and that was extremely frustrating as she is not a tech-savvy teacher. We wasted almost 20 minutes every class trying to figure out technical issues with the screen. Secondly, she teaches the class, as most people have already had some kind of experience in chem, which wasn't true for most of our class. She would fly through lectures at light speed, and if you were left behind, you pretty much failed. I would definitely recommend taking it with someone else, unless you have a substantial amount of chemistry knowledge, if you do I think it's a free A. Best of luck. -
Michael Pacella CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2022	I have nothing bad to say about Dr. Pacella. His class grades are pretty simple with HW assignments, clicker questions, and exams. You do need to show up to class for participation points, but the class itself is not too boring. His exams can be difficult, but he adjusts the cumulative grade cutoffs accordingly. Dr. Pacella is very easy to contact and will have office hours almost everyday and has a discord server to answer any questions. Dr. Pacella will provide you with past exams and video recorded lectures that will make studying very easy. One of the coolest teachers ever (you can talk to him on just about anything).
Michael Pacella CHEM131 Anonymous 05/17/2022	Dr. Pacella is AMAZING! He is the best professor the chemistry department has and his passion for chemistry is evident every class. This was a flipped classroom so the course required a lot of work outside of class, but he did this so we can do practice problems during class. He had office hours every single day and was very accessible! He also held review sessions before a test and would spend upwards of 5 hours on zoom with us and wouldn't end the call until all questions were answered! He is seriously the kindest professor I have met and he actually cares about his students. That being said his exams were very very difficult and you won't get the grade you desire unless you work for it! NEVERTHELESS, TAKE HIM!
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Anonymous 05/16/2022	I'm sorry but this class was super disorganized and she made the exams harder than they needed to be/harder than the example problems she gave us in class. no wonder why the averages are usually low c's and high d's. we couldn't cover everything in class so we had to watch many pre-recorded videos on our own. she also taught us stuff the week of the final that was going to be ON THE FINAL which was okay, but the thing is, that stuff was 1/3 of the exam and she couldn't even go over all of the practice problems in class. she would put problems on the exam that are 10x harder and more complicated than what she taught us. don't get me wrong, she is super nice but she's just not a good teacher. you have to study really hard for the exams in order to do well. hw is on tophat which u have to pay for, and the questions r sm easier than the problems on the exam.
Michael Pacella CHEM131 Anonymous 05/13/2022	Dr. Pacella was one of the nicest professors I've had. He's super understanding and very accessible through email or discord. Before each exam, he holds a review session and answers any questions you have, and provides practice exams from past exams. With that being said, the exams themself were very hard. I took the final today and I would say the practice exams weren't reflective of what was on the actual final, which made me want to cry afterward. If you have him, he's not kidding when you have to study 7-9 hours a week, might even be more.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/05/2022	Took AP Chem in high school, so I was not expecting to put a ton of effort into this class. God was I wrong. Dr. Tseng was not a good lecturer, although I was usually able to follow up on the content based on prior knowledge. The Top Hat homeworks were helpful in terms of what to expect on exams, but that was pretty much the only material that helped. She had practice exams that were nothing like the actual exams, so eventually I stopped even doing them. Her handwriting was also horrible, so the exam keys and other keys were impossible to read and frequently had mistakes. Her problems on exams were also really hard for Gen Chem 1- harder than anything I had seen in AP Chem (which combines Gen Chem 1 and some of Gen Chem 2). This was reflected by the averages on exams- which she wouldn't even tell us because they were so low. All I know is there was never an average above a 50- which included the final. There was definitely a curve as I never got an A on an exam and still ended with an A, but when I took the class I had no clue what my grade was till final grades were released. To add, discussions were also graded, so keep that in mind if you like optional discussions. To add to this, as if it could not have gotten worse, exams were scheduled at the worst times possible. Had this class at 8 AM and one of our exams was the day after Halloween, with the other the day after Thanksgiving. Timing literally could not have been worse. Only good thing that came out of this class was the curve and that OChem genuinely feels easier because Tsengs' tests were just that hard. Take her as a last resort.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/26/2022	So terrible. Smartest person I know is me, and I could barely pass. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Even if you have to take an extra semester of classes just to avoid this professor - do it. DO NOT TAKE THIS GOD AWFUL PROFESSOR. Whoever allowed her to teach should be sent to the deepest pits of hell. :)
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/23/2022	The reason I did well in this course was because I knew most of the content from high school. The lectures were not that helpful and I found myself relying off of instincts I developed in high school instead of paying attention. The averages on exams were incredibly low (in the 50s and 60s), although the class had a very generous curve at the end (at least 6%). The curve is the only reason Alice is getting more than one star.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 03/25/2022	Mid. I took this chemistry class last fall, the questions are some of the most improperly worded things I have ever seen. Her handwriting is that of a child.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 02/16/2022	I actually cannot think of a single person that consistently passed the exams. The whole semester I had no idea what my grade was. Also, the material on the discussion worksheets, the homework, the lectures, and the exams was all different so just when you thought you knew what you were doing, you didn't. I thought I could do okay despite her terrible UCLA reviews. I was wrong. Please just listen to the reviews and DO NOT TAKE THE CLASS if you are applying to any sort of schooling after undergrad.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/06/2022	Professor Mignerey accused me of being a liar when I asked her about inconsistent grading on her test, when a classmate received credit for the same work that I did, when I had not. She is rarely available, pretty rude, and practice assignments do not correlate with the tests provided. You will be relying on Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube for learning this material. Would not recommend unless you have a really strong background in chemistry, and even then you could find a better professor.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/18/2022	Dr. Schech was honestly amazing. She was friendly and helpful and was very clearly passionate and knowledgeable about her subject. She was really kind and understanding and her lectures were always fun and well-prepared for. Her class was a bit of work but honestly less than the other professors at the time. Her exams were reasonable too.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 01/13/2022	Honestly, if you do not have a good background in Chemistry. I would say avoid her like the plague. Unless you have an AP Chem background or feel like you have yourself together and can go above and beyond to get help from outside resources (GSS, Khan Academy, Academic Tutoring, etc.) then this is not the class for you. Her Exams were HARD, the final exam was even worse. Only thing that saved me was the curve. She gives out way too many midterms, the 3rd midterm is most likely to be the lowest grade (If you do decide to ignore this warning and take her class), since it's literally 2 weeks after the 2nd midterm. Mignerey as a person, she's a nice person BUT she can be very rude at times and oblivious to the idea that half of the class can be completely lost and she'll still move on like everything is going 100% well. I studied, went to GSS, looked at online Youtube videos and still didn't do as well as I wanted to, BUT I PASSED. So it's doable, but your stress levels will definitely be through the roof over this one class. But also bare in mind, I did not have a strong background in Chemistry at all.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 01/12/2022	Knows what she’s doing, lectures are mainly her doing practice problems and not going over any actual material. Classes are mainly her proving that she knows how to do the problems. I would recommend doing the readings before the week starts to understand anything during class. Huge curve tho
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2021	Her midterms are unnecessary hard. I believe the test average was below 50. I don't think she's a good lecturer. The final midterm on the first day right after the break was not it man. But I think her grading scale is pretty generous. If you did great AP Chemistry, this class would be ok for you.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Anonymous 12/22/2021	Dr. Schech is an amazing professor 10/10 recommend. She is very passionate about chemistry and teaching and it shows in her class. During lecture, she explains concepts clearly, although quickly, but makes sure everyone’s on the same page. Homework and reading are given weekly and they are manageable. There are three exams that are given during lecture. They were a time crunch but very similar to past exams she provides. The final was harder.and we weren’t provided a practice exam. Discussion was not very helpful - GSS was more useful. Nonetheless she is super caring, energetic, and a great communicator. Overall, Dr. Schech is a great choice for CHEM131, especially if you do not have a strong background in chemistry.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 12/21/2021	To put it quite simply: Tseng is a terrible professor. Her lack of compassion towards students along with her inability to teach makes her class ridiculously hard to pass. Her lectures are incomprehensible and her method as to solving the problems is more confusing and complicated than it needs to be. On top of that, she doesn’t spend too much time on practice problems in class, during the times she did, she either spent too long on a simple problem or breezed through a hard one. Homework and reading assignments were posted on tophat and they were definitely harder than what we learned in class. The practice problems for exams were also posted on tophat and they were misleading in the sense that they were nothing like the real exams. Her grades were also all over the place: some were posted on Tophat, some on Gradescope and some on Elms. It is impossible to calculate percentages in her class and you will never know what you finally get till after she posts the final exam. Throughout the semester, she kept talking about some imaginary curve but never posted it. Very difficult when you don’t know how well you’re doing and then it’s too late to drop the class. Tseng assigned “Exam Wrap-ups” for extra credit, essentially giving us an opportunity to tell her what she can improve on in her teaching and yet, she did nothing to improve the class and blamed students for the low exam scores. Two of her exams were after major holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving) which was very stressful since she also posted homework and reading assignments to do during the break. Even some of my friends who took AP Chemistry in high school had a hard time in her class. You’re better off either self teaching or taking a different professor entirely. 0/5 stars if I could. Send her back to UCLA asap.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/21/2021	It is chemistry so expect it to be hard. When I first walked into class I walked with low expectations for the teacher. All of the chemistry teachers in my life could not teach chemistry very well. So when this teacher would speed by topics and not explain things very well I wasn't surprised. Everything everyone is saying in these comments are true. I just recommend walking in with low expectations.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a D Anonymous 12/20/2021	This is the absolute worst professor I have had yet if you are registering for courses please stay away. On the first exam she said she doesn't believe in giving out the class average which is something I don't like but it's not a huge deal. After the exam she sent out an email saying how disappointed she is in the student because the average was below a 50%. Nothing since that exam changed with both other mid terms being equally as difficult. For the finial she said it would be the easiest yet, short, and similar to the practice test she gave out to study. This finial exam was the most ridiculous exam I have taken, questions unlike anything that we have seen before. She couldn't care less about her students and won't let you see your grades until the very last week of the semester. STAY AWAY!!!!
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/19/2021	Professor Mignerey can be nice but also condescending and its so discouraging to get LAUGHED at when you ask a question about a topic that is obviously hard for someone who doesn't have a PhD in Chemistry like her. This happened to multiple people, oh and she was also extremely rude to people who came in to fix simple technological issues that she could not figure out. This class is so heavily dependent on the exams which makes it so stressful, and the final was hard. Although chemistry is gonna be hard with any professor most likely, you are probably better off with a professor that tries to be understanding so take someone else.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/17/2021	Alice Mignerey is a terrible Professor. I would give her 0 stars if I could. She doesnt know how to communicate her knowledge to the class at all and frequently glazed over the fact that only 20-30% of the class understood in class quizzes. Her exams are difficult and do not match her lectures what so ever. She doesnt post important math equations on her slides which makes questions impossible to understand if you are confused and need to review. If you have to take this course and you have no other option, Im praying you have taken AP Chem or at least have a strong background in chemistry. Avoid this course at all costs.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2021	I did not take AP Chem in high school and came into this class with just taking 10th grade honors chemistry. Here are some of my takeaways from this course - Professor Mignerey is a good teacher and person. Her lectures can be quite dry, but if you pay attention and follow along with her in class, you will have a much better understanding of the topic. Her office hours are very helpful and going to discussion is important to review the material - She gives daily in class quizzes on TopHat which at times can be challenging, but are usually on what we just learned in class earlier. - In terms of Homework, it's a bit on the heavy side but the homework genuinely helped me understand the material better. She assigns usually 2 Chem 101 quizzes per unit and 2 TopHat readings. The Chem101 problems are probably the most similar questions to the ones on her exams. Review those and understand those if you want a chance at doing well on her exams. - Her exams are tough, but relatively fair and cover most of the material in lecture however you do need to put in a bit of extra work and look over the Chem101 problems. - The final exam was long and the majority of the questions were questions we've had on previous exams just with different numbers. She did in fact tell us to study those and posted them with answer keys. - I recommend taking her if you are a chem major or interested in Pre-med and want to have a good base knowledge of chemistry before taking Orgo or any other chem class
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/16/2021	Horrible teacher, good person. Her exams are extremely hard for no reason. She needs to explain topics better. Half of the stuff on the final exam was not on anything we learned in the class. Maybe I am just bad at chemistry but having a better teacher would make things better. I just wish the stuff she teaches would actually be on the exam and not other stuff.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/16/2021	Professor Mignerey is not a good teacher at all. Her lectures go way too fast and she is terrible at explaining things. Her slides also have wrong answers sometimes. She quizzes up on problems that we just learned on TopHat for completion and correctness. Her exams are so unfair. The final exam had questions on it that we didn't even learn. She didn't give us a practice exam for the final and just told us to look at the midterm exams and chem 101. There were like 3 world problems on there that were on the midterms, otherwise all the problems are different and we couldn't even practice them. Do not take her class. Get another professor.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 12/13/2021	I genuinely do not know how this professor is teaching this course at UMD as she had never taught CHEM131 in her past. She was so ineffective in teaching the course content during lectures that I found myself watching other professors' lecture videos to try and teach myself the content. During lectures, she seemed to be teaching the content to herself as she went along. She also failed to ask students questions during the lecture. I remember a student asking a simple question in solving some sort of conversion and she responded with "I'll have to take you up on that later", leaving the student confused. On top of it all, her exams were ridiculously hard. The practice problems or practice exams did not match up whatsoever. I wish she made it more clear that she wants to see her students succeed, but she really isn't a pleasant person. She also does not input grades into ELMS. So, this entire semester I have felt that I am going in blind. Who knows what kind of curve she is going to give since her exam averages were maybe 50% at the highest. I wish I could have learned chemistry more effectively in this course because as of now, I learned so much more in my high school AP chemistry class than this one. (for anyone even thinking about taking Dr. Tseng please make sure you have taken AP Chem first, or you're screwed) Dr.Tseng seems to assume that most of her students understand the basics and don't need much explanation or demonstration of practice problems. This was an awful course experience.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/13/2021	After the majority of the class failed an exam (mind you, this test was given at 8 am the day we returned from Thanksgiving break) she said that she can only do her job and that we needed to "start doing our job". She usually seems so nice, but this sums up how she is a lecturer; she's unable to see anything from the student's perspective. I wouldn't say "don't take this class" though. Is it stressful? Yes. But I will say that it's supposed to be heavily curved. Granted you won't know your grade until the very end (she doesn't post all assignments in one place), but still, a curve is a curve.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a D+ Anonymous 12/11/2021	She does not explain anything because she often rushes through difficult concepts and doesn't write in a legible manner. Half of the time she gets the question wrong herself. It seems like she does not know the content during lectures, she simply reads off of her slides which are 95% from the tophat homework and she has an attitude in class. She is surprised when her exam averages are below 50. She also then continues to blame you for not doing as well as she expected which is very discouraging in this class when you study as hard as you can and still end up failing the exams. SAVE YOURSELF !!!
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 12/11/2021	Worst professor I have had at umd so far. Her lectures are pointless because she barely reviews the reading and questions that you do on your own and any practice questions are extremely simple compared to anything done on tests. Also, whenever someone asks a question in class, she pauses to think way too long, which is concerning since you're supposed to be an expert in this, and gives really unhelpful answers. You're better off making study groups rather than going to her awful and boring lectures. Her grading is also terrible. If 0 stars was an option I would've chosen that, 1 star is generous. She doesn't even seem like she knows what she's talking about and just reads off of her slides and still occasionally messes up. I would do a better job teaching AND do so in discussion since no one understands her teaching. I honestly feel bad for the students who try so hard and are still struggling because of her incompetence.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Anonymous 12/09/2021	I enjoyed having Schech for chem. She's a great and engaging lecturer and she's very accessible outside of class. If you go to office hours she'll clear things up for you and she remembers names. Goes pretty fast like all the other chem classes but I would disagree with the other reviews saying that her tests were super hard. As long as you studied well (she gave us old exams and GSS sessions) then you should be fine. You need to fully understand the material to get a good grade on the tests. Cons are that we needed to pay to get our homework and grades were pretty test dependent. Had clicker questions but those were graded by completion. Curves are totally based on how well the class does overall on the tests. My class is currently graded by the regular grading scale (93 and up is an A) because we've been having good test averages (~70%) but we haven't gotten our last test back yet so it could be curved. I would recommend her for gen chem, coming from someone who did not take AP chem in high school.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 12/09/2021	I have never ever experienced such a bad teacher before in my life. She has definitely set the standard for worst professor ever in existence. Her lectures cover simple problems and are somewhat ok, but her exams are something else entirely. For our exam 1, the average was below a 50% (most people flunked it) and there was not enough time to complete it. For exam 2, results were better. But then exam 3 was by far the worst. Not only are you tested on material significantly harder than in lecture and TopHat, you are tested on your English deciphering skills. I have have never seen such horrid wording. Her wording makes the question 200x harder as you waste precious time on wondering what exactly she is asking. For exam 3, the average is definitely going to be in the 15%-30% range. Oh yeah and she put exam 2 the day after Thanksgiving and made me miss a highly anticipated trip I was going on with my friends. She gets high off of the suffering of students. UCLA, please take her back.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 12/09/2021	she seems like a nice person but is a bad professor. can never answer questions in class, you don't know your grade for like the whole semester because of her grading system, her handwriting is really bad so it's hard to take notes in class. don't recommend if you actual want to know and understand what you're learning and doing.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 12/08/2021	Dr. Tseng is not a bad professor. I believe the proper way to describe her is strict and highly expectant of her students. She originally worked in UCLA from what I've heard from other students so its not too surprising that her exams are more difficult than the other teachers. Students in this class have lower averages on exams than other students with other professors. If you want to start off in a chem class that challenges you and prepares you for future chem classes, I recommend Dr. Tseng. However, it can often be discouraging in this class when you study as hard as you can and still end up failing the exams. Choose her at your own discretion. Her depicted curve is pretty gracious so far and it will probably be MORE gracious after the final. I don't like the fact that she made her exams after holidays, but I appreciate that she is sticking with the syllabus she made before the first day of classes. The class has a very rigid structure and it is difficult if you underestimate how much studying you need. Always attend discussions because attendance is mandatory and you lose points. She has practice exams which makes the midterms a bit fair. The first and second midterms were very fair because their structure was close to the practice exams. However, the third midterm was not very close to the practice exam which may account for why it was the worst midterm in the whole class. Just be prepared for the unexpected with Dr. Tseng and put good effort in this class and you can manage an A or B with her depicted gracious curve.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/08/2021	Dr. T is an okay lecturer- she adequately teaches concepts however she rushed through difficult concepts. For example she spent two to three lectures on the whole thermodynamic section, but she spent the same amount of time on hybridization. Her tests are unnecessarily hard compared to the practice problems in lecture and homework. Most of the questions, if not all, on the tests are application problems (problems you have never seen before) which would be fine yet she gives very long tests. There simply is not enough time to figure out how to solve all the problems on the exam. Class averages were not high and she does not like to give out curves. If you are not strong in Chemistry or have not taken AP Chemistry before do not take this professor. I am only expecting an A in this course because Chemistry is one of my strongest subjects.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/08/2021	Honestly Mignerey is probably average in comparison to the rest of the chem department which isn't saying much. She consistently says the wrong information in lectures and someone who sits in the front has to constantly raise his hand and correct her. She's very all over the place during class. The TA is even worse. On the first day of class she told us it's her first time in America and if we have suggestions on how to improve her english we should email her. Hearing that the first class I was initially concerned but thought "how bad could she actually be?" The answer to that is terrible. Any time anyone asks a question she just goes back to a random slide that has nothing to do with the question and points to it. Mignerey gives more than double the amount of homework as other professors give. Be prepared to have over 100 problems weekly for homework. I will say that the tests are somewhat fair if you understand what's going on in class. If you didn't take AP chem in high school though, be prepared to learn everything on your own. Also our last class of the semester we have an exam which was just lovely. She is pretty good at communication and responding to emails which is better than most professors.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/07/2021	Terrible. She does not explain anything, she does not write in a legible manner, she should not be teaching period if she doesn't learn to explain what she is doing. Half of the time she gets the question wrong herself. It seems like she does not know the content during lecture, she simply reads off of her slides and she has an attitude in class. Her exam averages are below 50. DO NOT take this class with her because you will not do well.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Expecting a C+ dino821 12/07/2021	Worst professor I have literally ever had. She does not explain anything and the exams are incredibly hard. Discussion worksheets, homework, and study guides have absolutely nothing to do with the exams or lecture material. Her handwriting is impossible and has TopHat clicker questions. Save yourself
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 11/29/2021	Not the worst professor ever but not very good. She is an okay teacher but does not give good answers at all if you ask in class. She also scheduled two out of our 3 exams the DAY AFTER HOLIDAYS. Had one exam the day after halloween and the other the day after thanksgiving break. Very messed up. Our class average on the first test was below a 50%. I would avoid her at all costs unless u want to be cramming for a test the whole time u are finally home for thanksgiving after being at school for 3 months.
Heather Tienson-Tseng CHEM131 Anonymous 11/28/2021	Overall one of the worst professors I've ever had. It simply seems that she does not know how to answer questions during lecture and rushes through the slides to a point where students cannot even write down any notes. It's frustrating when I go to class and then have to go back and watch the lecture recording to find the slides I couldn't write in class due to how fast she speeds through. Also, making the last midterm in the course to be the day after Thanksgiving break is just brutal. Are we supposed to be spending time with our families or studying chemistry?? Her curves are imaginary and she doesn't believe in averages, don't recommend this.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/29/2021	phenomenal lecturer; extremely organized; and probably the most fair tests I've ever seen in my entire life. Nothing is out of the ordinary or too hard and she gives you more than enough time for the exams. I've only had two midterms so far but for both of them I had 25 minutes remaining out of the 50 allotted to me. Anyone who says her exams are too hard are either dumbasses or they didn't understand the material. So long as you understand what's happening you'll get an A
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Anonymous 10/23/2021	My friends said she's lit.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Anonymous 09/02/2021	I had Dixon for both CHEM131, CHEM241 and CHEM242...let's just say I should have learned my lesson the first semester and never taken her again. Both semesters I had her were completely virtual which I know caused a lot more issues but most issues I had with Dixon were about her personally. I was diagnosed with COVID during my first semester with her and although I was very sick and reached out to her four times requesting a private meeting with her, she never responded or gave me any accommodations even though my absence was University approved. Dixon is notorious for never responding to students which I find unacceptable. In my experience, Dixon did not care about her students at all. As a teacher, Dixon goes extremely fast and never records her lectures so you can't go back to see what you missed. She has makes A LOT of mistakes. All of her homeworks and exams had mistakes on them. On one of my exams, this past semester over 50% of the questions on the exam had big mistakes and she refused to give us extra time to decipher her hieroglyphs of an exam. Dixon also posted almost all homework assignments late but never gave us extra time to complete them. Even Dixon's TAs this past semester admitted how unfair and confusing Dixon and her homeworks and exams were. The TAs even admitted that some of the questions Dixon was giving us were material too advanced to be covered in orgo 1 and 2. I am a junior here at Maryland and I can confidently say that I have never had such a terrible experience with a professor. Throughout my two semesters with her I watched her get reported multiple times my students for her unfair teaching styles. Avoid taking her if you can.
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/28/2021	The lectures were rarely useful. I mostly learned from the software TopHat which had assigned readings and questions. These readings were long-winded and usually convoluted. The exams were fair(no trick questions). However, at the end of the year, he curved down the grades. For example, a 90% translates to a B+. I feel like taking this class in person would be best.
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/17/2021	Not a terrible teacher but make sure you don’t learn too much or they’ll curve down your grade. Wtf
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/03/2021	A very nice professor and you can tell she loves what she does. However, the material we cover in lecture and on top hat does not reflect the exams. The exams are very hard. They have so many steps and people always run out of time.
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting a B 02itonti 04/22/2021	He understood what he was talking about and usually answered questions pretty well. Was not very helpful on the interactive textbook, which has a lot of glitches and answers key issues. Other than that his exams and homeworks are very similar to those in the past. DIfficult material for any freshman I think but if you study a lot you should be fine in his class. However, having him online and in-person are two very different things. Easier to get a good grade in person so I would wait to take his class until the apocalypse is over.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 04/16/2021	Extremely condescending. Not helpful whatsoever during office hours, and her exams are much harder than anything covered in lecture
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/22/2021	He was an alright professor. I chose an asynchronous class and he recorded his lectures. I mainly used the textbook and CHEM101 homework to teach myself. I only used his lecture if I really didn't understand a concept but I only needed to do that once or twice. The class is manageable and the textbook was my main resource. The homework was reasonable and it really helped me in the end. He also is willing to work with students. My class did really bad overall on one test so he let everyone take the make-up but if we ended up with a worse score that would be our grade either way. I think he was better than the other teacher for the semester. Overall the class was fine.
Samuel Lascio CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/17/2021	great Professor and he cares a lot about his students and whether or not they understand the material (which can be hard to do in such a big class).
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2020	In a bubble Professor Mignerey is a cat lady @daisy. But actually. She was not the greatest teacher out there, but also not bad. What she lacks in clarity though she makes up for in good character. For more than one test she allowed students to take a retest. She also was generally pretty good about communication, which I've realized is super important. Some other teachers don't respond to emails ever. It's not a very tough class. If you're some who's solid at chem, you'll probably fly through this class pretty easily. If not, just try to pay attention in class, and (more importantly, I think) do the Homework. The HW is the exact same form and website as the tests, so questions are similar. If you understand the HW, you will do well on the tests.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/17/2020	She cares about the subject and seems like a nice person. However, if you are not doing good in the class or if the class teams up to achieve a better grade she pulls out attitude. The exams weren't that bad for online classes since they were on chem101 not canvas. The last midterm is worse than the final exam. She is understanding and flexible if you have a problem or need to take the exam at a different time. Overall, not a bad teacher.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2020	Her behavior this semester was outrageous to say the least. She made sure our section knew she had a vendetta against us. Her emails towards us were disrespectful and childish. Her online lecture were so bad. She would constantly mess up and for god sake she couldn't use the ERASER tool. I had to spend time looking at her math to try and make sense of what she wrote. It got so bad I ended up self teaching the class for the entire semester with a few friends. I will be the first to say I learned more from my study group than her teaching. Our 3rd exam had a massively low average. It was an outlier compared to the performance on our other exams. The only difference between the 3rd exam and the other ones was the fact that Dr. Mignerey made the questions. Instead of trying to understand what occured on her 3rd exam she decided to insult our section and justify why she placed every question on said exam. Dr. Mignerey is a egotistical and sympathizing teacher. Avoid her and go for Papoian
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/09/2020	Not ideal for online learning. Spends half on the lectures trying to figure out how to make her iPad show on the screen. She is not a good lecturer and constantly has mistakes on her slides which students have to correct. First 2 exams were hard but doable. 3rd exam was so difficult and half of the questions were concepts that we haven’t don’t in class. If you don’t have an extensive chemistry background then I do not recommend.
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/09/2020	The professor mostly went over the same topics we did as homework. Lectures were okay, not very interesting. The workload was by far the worst out of all my classes but its not too hard to get a decent grade, just VERY time consuming. Practice exams were NOTHING compared to the real exam so don't be fooled. Same concept but much more difficult problems. One of the exams ended up having a horrible class average (many 40s) and from many complaints, was curved at least 18 points.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/08/2020	She is a nice person, very sweet old lady, However, her class wasn't as sweet. Since school is online this semester, she just does not know how to teach over zoom. She is all over the place and when she finally lectures you literally only get a broad overview of the material. She isn't detailed in what she teaches which makes it hard to understand what's going on. She is not good at explaining the material. One question quizzes were given during lecture (meaning you had to go) and were quite frustrating. HW on TopHat and Chem101 were long and tedious and difficult( on Chem101). Tests were hard. It was a game of chance if the test was like the homework. It could be the same difficulty or easier, but sometimes the tests were much much harder than what we went over in class and the practice exams given. You really have to take in the time to learn the material so I would highly recommend GSS or Organic Chemistry Teacher on YT. Yeah she's nice but would not reccomend taking her. But if you have, PLEASE go to GSS or review often.
Samuel Lascio CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2020	Lascio really tries his best to make sure students understand the course material despite it being challenging, he's a great guy! He sometimes puts out-of-touch memes all over the place, but he genuinely wants his students to succeed and make sure they understand the subject matter. He's a very approachable guy and a good professor.
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/15/2020	Friedman is epic, I had him at 8 am and while I was very tired because of the morning, he would understand and do his best to keep the class lively and exciting. I love organic chemistry because he is such a good professor.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 06/15/2020	Horrible professor. The lectures were fairly easy and the homework assignments were difficult but doable. The exams were 10x harder than what she prepared us for. The constant average was in the D range. I got a C in her class. When I applied the same strategies of work to orgo, I got an A. She is a trash professor, do not take her. She may appear nice but she isn't.
Monique Koppel CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/26/2020	Dr. Koppel was a pretty good professor. She moved very slowly at the beginning, but after we transitioned to online learning she went pretty fast to "catch up". In the beginning she did a really good job at explaining the basics, but possibly too much time. After transitioning to online learning, she uploaded multiple lectures at once sporadically to watch at our own pace, which was nice because her lectures are usually fast paced. Her online lectures very good most of the time. It was much harder to learn online personally because discussions and GSS (which are super necessary!!) were not at the usual times and did not feel the same. There is 8 online homework assignments due at the end of the semester which helped me understand concepts and they were not too difficult Dr. Koppel will tell you that you need to put in the work outside of lecture, which is very very true!! I put in about 3 hours/week in person and probably 6-10 hours/week after the online transition. Organic Chemistry is not as intimidating as it seems if you put in the hard work and Koppel was a pretty good professor.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/12/2020	Solid professor. I was very unexcited to take chem and it was definitely challenging but if you prepare for her exams well (I did the practice tests, went through mastering, GSS, and did textbook questions) then you should be okay. She's a very nice person and is very accommodating.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2020	131 didn't have that much work. The homework assignments were like once a week and took a hour tops. Clickers were mandatory and annoying but expected for a Chem Class so I can't complain. As for teaching, I actually thought she was a really good teacher. Never went to her personal office hours so can't really vouch for her as a person but she always seemed nice in class. Her exams are something else though, they often mix different concepts into one question and it can get really tough. She tries to make questions seem relevant to real life, but this in turn makes questions confusing and wording a bit weird. However, she gives the previous semesters exam which does prepare you pretty well, but you really have to know the material inside and out to pass her exams, can't just skim them (there's no multiple choice and bulk of her points are on long questions with multiple parts).
Diandra Soemardi CHEM131 Anonymous 04/18/2020	Absolutely amazing TA that genuinely cared about her students. Total mom TA, and put together several practice exam materials for us.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/16/2020	She seems like a nice person. Now that that's out of the way, she isn't a great professor. She's always messing up in lecture and isn't proficient with technology. A lot of the ways she teaches concepts are unnecessarily hard. She makes a lot of mistakes while explaining concepts. That being said, she provides practice exams, which are essentially the real exam. But unless you find yourself going to GSS or office hours a lot, I would advise against taking her.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 03/26/2020	Worst professor I have ever had, if you have an option do not sign up for her lecture. I learned the entire course myself through reading the textbook and watching videos on Khan Academy. Her lectures are unbearable to sit through and she never explains what/why she is teaching what she is. She is smart and competent, but a bad teacher.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 03/24/2020	Fast paced lecturer. She sometimes gets confused as she is doing problems but this didn't happen often. She does lots of practice problems during lecture, but she does do them extremely fast. Exams were very difficult compared to the practice exams it was honestly a joke. She did make the final pretty fair and she curves well. 84% was curved up to an A-.
Monique Koppel CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/12/2020	Dr. Koppel is one of the better teachers offered for CHEM 131. Her lectures tend to be slow, but as long as you do the textbook readings, homework, and attend discussions, it should be a manageable class. Exams are fair and accurately reflect practice tests, and what is learned in class.
Monique Koppel CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/09/2020	Great professor for Chem 131! As long as you work for it you’re fine.
Pedro Bueno CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/30/2019	Bueno is a really nice guy! He makes jokes all the time and sometimes slips in a story or two. However, this lead to our class not getting through material fast enough and as a result the last exam we took was almost half of the material of the whole course (the first two exams had 1/4 of the material). Sometimes his lectures were confusing and he routinely made mistakes that other students would have to fix. Overall, a decent class but I took AP in high school so I would not recommend this professor to a person that has not taken a previous high level chem course.
Monique Koppel CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2019	I took AP Chemistry in high school, so this class came easier to me than others. Koppel does a good job of what you need to know for the exams and warns us about what we will need to know for organic chemistry. She comes off a bit sassy at times, but it's important to ask her questions during office hours if you're confused or else you'll fall behind. She does a lot of practice problems during class, which I would pay close attention to because those questions are very similar to the questions on the exams. I recommend doing all the extra practice problems and previous exams that she posts online. The class is curved but only at the end of the semester and it depends on the class average. Overall, if you go to lecture and understand how to do practice problems, you will do fine in the class.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting a D+ Anonymous 12/13/2019	Do not take this professor if you are bad at chemistry. I have to retake this class because she didnt prepare you for the test besides the bare minimum. The TA is the only reason i didnt completely fail
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/13/2019	If you haven't taken AP/IB Chem or are bad at Chemistry, DO NOT take Mignerey. Mignerey is a brilliant nuclear chemist but she is not a teacher. Her slides have many mistakes and she makes mistakes during lectures pretty constantly. She does release practice exams that are helpful for the first two exams but the last two killed me. If you do have to take her, make sure to keep up-to-date with discussion worksheets and find a good GSS session or tutor.
Diandra Soemardi CHEM131 Anonymous 11/28/2019	Diandra is the best TA I've had and I wish she was the TA for all my classes. She is a total genius who makes everything easier to understand. I don't think I would have passed chem131 without Diandra. Im not a morning person so discussion at 8am was hell but she makes it very engaging and fun.
Elizabeth Griffith CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/10/2019	She is an excellent professor who is very knowledgable and seem pretty excited whenever she teaches, and she is super sweet. However, her exams are tough, and she does in-class clicker questions so make sure you pay attention during lectures. The good thing is that she curves the class by 10 %. Also, everyone that I knew got a B or lower in this course.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 10/31/2019	A very nice person! However, her lectures and practice tests are absolutely nothing like what you might see on exams. The exams are silly compared to your homework assignments.
Amanda Schech CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/23/2019	She's so funny and seems very sweet! However, lectures do move very fast, and sometimes she messes up on her own work in lectures and the TA has to correct her, which is bad when students are trying to learn the material. Tests are very hard.
Pedro Bueno CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/28/2019	Hes a nice guy, but not the most prepared professor. Many times he messed up math problems and ended up spending half the class time trying to figure out where he messed up. He's very approachable however, so take advantage of his office hours. If you're able to understand the process of how to complete problems without correct numbers, you should be fine in his class.
Pedro Bueno CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/05/2019	He really wants his students to succeed in this course and tries to personally know students, so go to his office hours. Sometimes confusing but usually made a point to go back and review topics he was not clear on. Do homework and clicker questions to boost overall average.
Pedro Bueno CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/19/2018	Bueno is a very nice guy, but not the best professor. He often messed up during lectures and confused himself along with the students. He didn't go over problems you'd see on his exams in class, so you have to study those on your own. Go to discussion because TA's will help you with problems. Bueno created a welcoming atmosphere for his students and I loved his jokes, even though some of them were cringey. Study and take advantage of GSS and discussion and you should be fine
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/18/2018	Awesome guy, makes class extremely enjoyable. Known for having pretty tough tests, but they are not unreasonable whatsoever. study hard and show up to class and you will do well. its not the hardest class ever, but definitely need to put time in. Professor Freidman is a great guy though, and has a unique sense of humor
Pedro Bueno CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/11/2018	Nice professor, his lessons are though out, and is very open for office hours. His exams are somewhat tough, but he curves everything to make the average an 80%. It was his first semester teaching, and he did a good job.
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2018	Love her! One of the best chem teachers I have ever had. Chem is hard so the class is still difficult but she makes it bearable
Lenea Stocker CHEM131 Expecting an A mye 08/14/2018	Amazing professor. She's super nice, teaches material well, and cares about her students. Go to office hours and look at past exams and you'll be set. Also DO HER PROBLEM SETS!!!!
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/25/2018	Dr. Papoian seems like the classic archetype of a professor who understands his material so well that he struggles to teach to people with little to no chemistry background. His lectures were unenlightening but he is a nice enough guy and the class isn't challenging if you just do your work.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/02/2018	Had him in the fall. He's friendly and talkative. Lectures are cool he tries to make jokes and stuff.
Garegin Papoian CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/21/2017	Dr. Papoian is a good teacher for what is usually a difficult class. His lectures are clear and helpful. He spends time going over quantitative problems and makes it clear what will be on the exam via practice exams. The exams are relatively easy compared to other 131 profs (esp. Friedman). The average overall grade for our class was 81.9.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/11/2016	This professor cannot teach. All Ondov does is ramble on and on and on. Most of my daily sleep probably happens in his lectures--"Thank you for my beauty sleep, but no thank you for the mediocre teaching." His monotonous rambling only circles around his own thoughts. And he spends LECTURE time trying to figure out what he did wrong or what information he got wrong. He just doesn't have it together at all. Very unprepared and awkward. Just thinking about his lectures makes my blood boil. Sometimes, I just leave and take the tophat quizzes from my dorm or somewhere else because he predictably gives them either at the beginning of class, or at the end. So, yea... don't have Ondov. He will harm you more than help you. Just saying.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A leon_li 10/08/2016	Dr. Eichhorn was really knowledgable. His style of presenting lectures is helpful. You also have to study a lot for this class, though. It's not one of those classes where you can just attend the lecture to get a good grade.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2015	I recommend taking Dr. Eichhorn's class. He is good at explaining concepts and showing how to do problems in lecture, but I felt like a lot of the material on the test came from the textbook, not his lectures. If you read the textbook and do practice problems from it, you'll definitely be prepared for the tests. He barely curves (this semester it was ~2%), but it's definitely possible to get an A.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 12/17/2015	I went into this class thinking he was a nice, considerate teacher (like many reviews said). Boy, was a I wrong. First of all, sometimes he was a little condescending when students would ask questions that he might have felt were stupid or obvious. We are students for a reason--we came to class to LEARN and ask questions. Anyways, he's a complete asshole when it comes to getting points back on tests. I showed all of my work on a test and got the CORRECT answer but got a considerable amount of points off because I didn't do the work exactly how he had done it on the answer key. I showed him my work and he tried to say that I hadn't shown certain major things in my work. I POLITELY pointed out that I in fact had. He acknowledged that I had shown the correct work. AND THEN GOES "yeahhh i don't think I'll give you the points though..." Excuse me????? he says on his answer key that if we got a correct answer but approached it a different way, it was a valid reason to get points back. It just doesn't make sense. I've seen students come up to him and ask him a question, and when he doesn't want to answer, he just looks at them, smiles, and turns the other way. That's just rude, inconsiderate, and shows that you do not care. Especially in a Chemistry class, every point is important and he just doesn't care about the student, in my opinion. ALSO HE DOES NOT CURVE. When averages on the tests are in the 60's, you would expect an professor to curve. But, no. He REFUSES to curve. I don't know if it's because he's tenured now or is just jaded but it just doesn't seem like he cares whether or not we do well. Then, he gives you practice tests BUT NO ANSWER KEY. what is the point????? i have never understood professors that do that.In addition, he said he would ask a little over 40 clicker questions this semester so we could get a possible max of 10 extra credit points. INSTEAD he asked a little over 19 questions. With each clicker counting as 0.33 points, it was impossible for anyone to get the max of 10 extra credit points. We needed at least 30 clicker questions for that. Those points could have really helped, but again, doesn't seem like he cares. He might be a nice person outside of school, but I was not impressed with his teaching at all.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/17/2015	Mignerey is a difficult teacher to get an A in. Don't follow the book religiously but more as a small supplement since her powerpoints are better. Her exams are a lot like the practice ones so be sure to do them. As a professor, she's not very good. Her answers aren't always clear and her explanations aren't always clear as well. I'll be following her explanation and then suddenly she makes some drastic jump that leaves everyone confused and wondering how to do the problem. She also does tend to get a little flustered when students keep asking questions. Don't rely on Mignerey for learning, go find a good study group or GSS session.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 11/13/2015	Honestly, she is a very nice lady outside of class, and I actually have never ever written a review about a professor before. But I warn you, please please please don't take her as your professor. Every class she screws up at least one or two problems therefore making it incredibly hard for anybody to follow what she is saying, because if she is screwing it up how does she expect us to understand it? If you try to ask a question she gets incredibly sassy and doesn't understand why you don't get what she is saying..probably because she doesn't even understand what she is saying. If you want to actually learn concepts and understand the material and you HAVE to take her, don't go to class and just use the book. But I would encourage all reading this that honestly, every class theres about 8 hands raised in the air and people are always looking around trying to see if anyone understands and what is going on, and the averages on the tests are embarrassingly low. Don't take her. Ever.
Frederick Khachik CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/29/2015	Out of all the Chem teachers our class seemed to have the easiest exam. He's an alright teacher. He seems to really care about Chemistry and try to explain things simply but sometimes does a poor job of doing so.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 indoleEntheogen 06/10/2015	eh... her lectures are a little difficult to follow and annoying. there is a decent curve at the end of the semester but the final exam was unreasonably long an therefore difficult to finish in the 2 hour time frame. she does masteringchemistry which is helpful but other than that Id consider another professor for Genchem 1 if I were you. I get the feeling she's a much better professor for more advanced courses, genchem 1 just isnt her thing
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 05/06/2015	Mignerey is an interesting teacher to say the least. While you do not want to miss any lecture you also have to read in order to keep up. She blew past material really fast and also covers material that will not be on exams because she finds it interesting. In all seriousness, she is a very intelligent woman, but you have to have an interest in science in order to do well in her class.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/27/2015	Dixon is one of the best teachers I have ever had. Her class is based mostly on 3 exams and a final, with clicker questions and homework as a small part of the grade. Pros: -She is very passionate! -She is funny, and nice! -Her teaching is very very very clear. She will make you know your stuff. -She really cares about students and is very helpful. - You will be well prepared for orgo. Cons: -This class is hard, but it's chemistry so it will always be hard. -She is tough.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a B Cpowers 01/30/2015	LOVE Dixon. She's sassy and very honest. She told me straight-up when I went to her office hours (which are 9-5 btw) that as long as I went to lecture I probably didn't ever need to open up the textbook. That being said, the class isn't easy. No chem class will be. But if you have Dixon, you will enjoy lecture and have an insane support system. She's very passionate about helping her students learn, so don't be afraid to visit her!
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/08/2015	BONNIE IS BAE <3 <3 <3 I was super scared to take her...and I was so nervous coming into the first day of class. But, I am so glad that I took her! She is such a fun and crazy (in the best way possible) teacher, and she made chemistry so interesting. Don't be fooled though. This class isn't a walk in the park. She does go through the material at a fast pace, but just ask questions in class if you are confused and she will stop and answer them! I took AP Chem in high school, and I guess that helped, but Dr. Dixon was such a good and clear teacher that I think I would have been fine if I hadn't taken AP Chem before coming in. ALWAYS TAKE THE EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES!!! She gives a good amount of extra credit (about 30-40 points), but you do have to work for it. She also doesn't do a plus minus system, which is really awesome. If you are borderline and you do all the online assignments, there's a chance you will be bumped up to the next letter grade! so take advantage of that! CLICKER QUESTIONS! She has 40 clicker questions. I don't know if she always does this, but for us, I feel like there were more clicker questions in the beginning of the year than at the end. So in the beginning half of the year, I would recommend just always being ready for her to spring a clicker question or two on you. She doesn't give you a lot of time to answer it. If you don't know what you're doing, you're kinda screwed. I was lucky enough to surround myself with a group of friends and we worked through each one together (which she is fine with). She also does like 5-7 clicker questions before each exam to give you some practice. Those helped a lot and gave me some idea of what topics would be on the exam/what kind of questions to expect. Some clicker questions are meant to trick you. But she goes over them if most of the class doesn't get it right. And hey! Better to get tricked on a 1 point clicker question than to get tricked on a 8 point question on the test! Before each exam and the final, she tells you exactly what she is going to test you on. Personally, I never had a problem with timing on an exam. But that might be because I just write really fast.i dunno. But I always finished with about 20 minutes to spare, which gave me time to check through my work at least 3 times (and usually I made a lot of little stupid mistakes so those 20 minutes gave me time to redo some problems) Make SURE you study for the extra credit pre-test because it is an awesome grade booster. This may not be the case every year, but for me, I thought the first two exams were significantly easier than the third one. BUT! The third exam is still do-able. I studied probably around 3-4 hours for each exam. I just looked through my notes, clicker questions, and old exams (she has a bunch in her office). Her homework is not that bad. I got an A on every single one, but that required a couple hours of work. The homework questions aren't impossible, but I think everyone just wanted to make sure they got that 10/10. She has AMAZING office hours. There are always a bunch of students in her office, either asking her questions, or sitting around working on homework or studying for an exam. I didn't really go to GSS The girls who taught GSS for us were super nice and helpful. I didn't go often because I like to study at my own pace. But if you are a person who likes to have someone teaching you stuff and working through problems with you, then definitely go! OVERALL...TAKE THE CLASS! You will have to put a decent amount of work into it, but hey...challenge yourself. It's worth it.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2014	Dr. Dixon is a great teacher. Her class is extremely difficult and her tests are really hard. I took her for gen chem with the mindset that I wouldn't get the best grade but would have a good base for all the other chemistry classes I have to take. GO TO EVERY LECTURE! First of all if you dont, your going to be totally lost. Also she does clicker points. Her homeworks are a giant pain in the ass. They are way to hard. Ask people who have taken her to help you so that you dont end up working on it for 3 hours and only getting a 3/10. I had a mixed expereince with her office hours. Sometimes she was extremely helpful and friendly but other times she was kinda *****y and just told me to go figure it out. Goodluck!
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 sfrail 12/16/2014	Dr. Dixon is legitimately one of the best professors I have ever had. She's a fantastic and fun person (she plays music at the start of class), she knows exactly what she's talking about all the time, she's really helpful and caring, honesty perfect. Probably one of the things I'm the most grateful for is that she tailors her course material directly to what she tests you on. If you do the work, and you study what she says, you won't see anything on the exam that you weren't expecting. She lets you know exactly what she wants, exactly the format to put it in, and exactly what you need to do. The way she grades is also great, a lot of teachers will take off for small arithmetic mistakes and annoying things like that. Dr. Dixon will grade you for getting each step of the problem right, so if you set it up you get some points, if you move on to the next step you get some points, and the final answer is only worth some of the credit, it's great and it makes the class feel really fair. She had fantastic TAs and she communicated with them really well, they were all willing to adjust their schedules and help us out as best they could and even do some extra GSS's. I have no idea how Dr. Dixon manages her time with the amount of stuff she does for us. One time this semester her TA had a medical emergency so she ran almost all the discussion sessions herself, I can imagine any other teacher just canceling them and apologizing but not Dr. D. After all those compliments, legitimately the ONLY downside to this course is that it is extremely difficult. The tests are hard, the homework is hard, even lecture is pretty rigorous (I missed a single lecture and I felt way behind). I devoted the majority of my time and emotional effort this semester to this class in order to keep up. Also, time is a huge issue on exams, she makes them so you can just barely finish in the time given. The thing about Dixon is that she makes you really want to do well in her class. This is the first serious chemistry class I've ever taken and it's made me love chemistry. It's so interesting and the way Dr. Dixon talks about it makes me like it even more. I know I already said this but I just want to emphasize that she is such a fun person, Chemistry is probably one of the only classes I have this year that I actually really enjoy going to. I think I'm going to get an A or a B. After every test Dr. Dixon will check in with how many points you should have to be on track for an A, B, C, etc. Also, word of advice, use the chat page on elms before an exam. People are usually in there working on the practice test and sharing answers and methods, it helped me so much. Unless you're honestly just looking to breeze through a gen chem class (is that even possible?) take Dr. Dixon. You will not regret it.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 05/18/2014	She's a fair teacher. Mignerey is not a bad teacher but she could have been better with her lectures. I didn't do good on the final. Con: Her TA, I think he replaced Mara. His name is Paul Diss and he is a snob! He's impatient and has an attitude that could throw anyone off.You will find it hard seeking help from him. Don't ever deal with him but only if you don't got a choice
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Blinded.Institution 04/16/2014	To start in all fairness - this professor is smart in her own right. She studies nuclear chemistry which is quite advanced compared to the introductory Chem 131. So i can't review how she teaches other chem courses. However! Even the smartest people can be the worst of teachers. Mignerey is one poor professor. Her lectures are read off of less than descriptive power points. Her shinannagins in class result from her inability to demostrate concepts correctly. Furthermore, asking questions to her in the middle of class is a joke. She gets mad so easily and instead of elaborating on a concept she just says "it's like this right?...see right." She assumes the student knows the very questioned they asked about, which is silly because then why would they ask. The most frustrating part! In her minimal effort to explain things she uses her stupid catch phrase "boot strap ourselves through it." This is a cop out as a professor who is basically is using a poor analogy to explain a concept in chemistry. She also has some ghoulish henceboy named Paul Diss who has inhereted Mignerey's inability to teach effectively, not to mention her snotty attitude. These two combined really make the class an uncomfortable learning environment because they are always looking down their noses at students. It's sad they functionally exist in a teaching capacity. Testing: The tests are probably equivalent to other chem131 courses in terms of difficulty, but the professor does little to provide fundamental information in a coherent manner. Her class averages are depressingly low. The results you see on this website are most likely used after <50% of the class drops the course. The TA's are the saving grace of Mignerey's career. Without them the class wouldn't do so well(minus the top percentile of students who just accel at any class they take) I wouldn't trust anyone who thinks this professor is good. Chances are they have a passion or understanding of chemistry already and rely little on the professor. Thy are basing their judgments off of the tests which is not a true reflection of the professor's teaching abilities. If you are a Chem major or interested in nuclear chemistry or anything close to that then this might be the professor for you. If you are a student who needs to take Chem with a relatively different major and hope to be enlightened with coherent knowledge of the subject then you might want to take a different professor #Mignereysucks
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM131 Expecting an A- umdstudent3 12/21/2013	This was Jarzynski's first time teaching Chem131. He explains things pretty well but sometimes he doesnt explain the easy hints/tricks. He doesnt use powerpoints, which I LOVE. The first two exams were ridiculously easy, the third was crazy hard, and the final was in-between difficulty wise. But, he gave a curve in the end which was pretty fair. I would definitely take him again, he is a great professor!
John Ondov CHEM131 Anonymous 03/09/2013	I love chemistry, and all the gen chem stuff I learned in high school is the reason I became a chem major. However, if I were paying 100% in Dr. Ondov's lecture, I would be constantly depressed every time I attended. I don't believe Dr. Ondov is a bad person, but I agree with the reviews that as a professor with an intent in imparting information to his students, he's not doing it right. It's more like his throwing information at you instead of challenging you to think about why things are the way they are in chemistry. Without constantly asking his students questions, they aren't being engaged in the learning. There's also the problem of students not being sure what the take-away/main points are after listening to his lecture. A student can do well in his class if they're keeping up by reading the textbook and learning concepts as they do the online homework. The exams aren't particularly difficult and are for the most part fairly straight forward. He'll throw in one or two trivia questions that no one ever told you but you might be able to make an educated guess. Students probably struggle the most with understanding when to use certain equations or interpreting the meaning of the question. As for the homework assignments, I have some issues with the type of problems he picks to be assigned. Often times, the level of understanding goes beyond what I would expect an introductory student to grasp. My second complaint is since the homeworks due weekly, there are times when he does not get to cover concepts which students are expected to know in order to complete the homework. I think this goes to show students are really on their own and struggling to learn by this method. TL;DR: If you want to enjoy learning science, look for a different professor.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A yumyumshisha 12/14/2012	Averages for the exams: Exam 1: 71 Exam 2: 80 Exam 3: 71 I'd recommend Dr. Eichhorn. If you do the practice problems in the book, you will be over-qualified for the tests i.e. the practice problems are harder than the actual exams. Also, Brad is the nicest T.A. you will ever meet.
Natalia White CHEM131 Expecting an A kalama 08/21/2012	Really fun, vibrant, kind respectful professor. Gives extracredit which come in handy 30+ credit. 2 really fair exams 100ea, final exam 200 pts. 5 easy quizzes, 20 pts each. Out of 500 pts.. loved the class, learned a lot,, super impressed..
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a C krun 05/17/2012	Ondov is a pretty poor teacher and kind of a jerk. He knows what he is talking about for the most part, but no one else in the lecture hall does. If you've taken Chem before you'd probably understand, but he doesn't really teach anything. He just does examples, which he screws up half the time. Reading on my own and doing the homework was the only way I learned anything. He doesn't use any lecture slides, but uses a bunch of blackboards, so you can't go back and visit the notes unless you spend the whole class writing them down. But I'm finally done with the class and when I asked him about the curve he had a sassy reply and reminded me how happy I am to be done with him. Overall chemistry is a pretty hard class and you don't need to take this prof to make it any harder. Avoid him if you can. Oh, and the average exam score was about a 60%. I did better than the average overall and still got a 73%. There's not much grade padding, so don't expect a B if you get the average or even better.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/09/2012	DO NOT TAKE HIM. don't do it unless he is the last teacher available. even then you might want to wait a semester. i took ondov because the other teacher taught at 8 am which i did not want but i would have so much rather been in that class. he sucks. his lectures are him writing in a disorganized mess on the board and its hard to follow along. the only way you learn is the book. then when he gives exams the averages are about 54% and he either doesn't curve them or curves them 1% point. and he has told us he will not be curving our end grade. compared to other professors for chem131 who curve 10% or more for an exam this is horrible. he is so disorganized, doesn't show up for office hours, and doesn't respond to emails. i spent 3 times more time on this class than any other and still might not be able to get a c. just don't take him and maybe the department will fire him and save everyone their money.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2012	An excellent teacher. A nice guy and sometimes makes some good jokes in class. More importantly, he has a knack for going through problems clearly and methodically. Studying those lecture notes go a long way to doing well on exams. His exams are fair and really not too terrible. The only downside is that I didn't feel as prepared for Orgo I as other students did. Still, I would recommend him for Gen. Chem. I. Oh and if you Brad as a TA, take advantage of him. Go to discussion. He's awesome.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 04/05/2012	Pretty much what others have said. He's not a bad guy from what I've seen, although I haven't interacted with him much. I'm in the class now so I'm not sure what my final grade will be - currently I'm hovering around an 80%. The curve on the first exam was about 4 points out of 100: not terrible, but as the class average for the first exam was a 55% it certainly could have been better. Let's get something straight: I was an excellent student in high school and in other science classes at UMD, and have no problems with science in general. But Ondov is one of those teachers who manages to make the subject ridiculously, hideously complicated even if it's simple to begin with. He goes off on long tangents about material that's more suited to graduate students than to an intro course, constantly makes mistakes and corrects himself, and just generally makes a mess of everything he's trying to teach. I ended up not going to classes at all except for exams because my grades went UP that way instead of down, even with the extra credit clicker questions at the end of class. Studying out of the book is much more manageable than trying to decode the gibberish he's spouting at the front of the class. Even the exams themselves routinely have multiple mistakes on them, and he reads out corrections as people point out the mistakes, which is extremely distracting and very unprofessional. The one good thing I can say about his teaching is that he clearly lists the topics covered by each exam, making them easy to study for. It's clear that he's a doer instead of a teacher - not a problem in and of itself, but he REALLY shouldn't be teaching an introductory course. I realize that yes, this course is for science majors and thus is going to be difficult, but there's no reason to make the material more confusing than it already is. jcp5383 below says "he knows what he's talking about," and that's the problem. HE knows what he's talking about, we don't. That's why it's a class and not a discussion. He's supposed to be TEACHING us the material, not confusing it further. He might be a professional, but he's certainly not a professional teacher except by definition. Let's face it, we have to judge teachers on how well they teach the material, not how well they know it, and while Ondov knows his stuff he's an absolutely terrible teacher. Definitely not recommended, one star.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a C mchives 03/27/2012	Honestly if I had not dropped this professor for another I probably would have failed. He is aging and it clearly shows when he starts rambling during lectures in like a whole nother language. Nobody had a clue what he was saying! If you read the book then you could kind of understand him, but really who has to time to read so many chapters before the next lecture? Also his slides sucked! I was willing to drop this class for an 8AM, that's how bad it was. Avoid this professor at all costs, chemistry is hard enough as it is.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A btc5105 03/16/2012	He is a very good lecturer. His class really is not hard if you read the book a little bit and understand the concepts. I recommend this professor for anyone really.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/22/2011	Make sure you understand the material when you come into lecture. She'll point out all the little things you need to know but you have to go back to the book and read up on it, thankfully the book is really easy to understand. Her tests are basically what she gives you on the practice exams, understand the concepts, memorize the equations and you'll do well on the tests. Be wary she's not to approachable. Yes she does want you to do well but it's best to understand when she raises her voice at you it's not because she's mad. I could have gotten an A in this class. In fact I got an A on the final. I wish she had a policy like Dixon's where if you get an A on the final you get an A in the class.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 12/22/2011	Guys don't take her. Take Eichorn. I would suggest this. Go to two of her lectures, and go to two of Eichorn's, you will figure out four yourself. I knida' did it, but I did too later to drop Mignerey's class and go to Eichorn's. So, yea. Trust me. Take Eichorn. A better professor from every angle. >Mignerey doesn't teach you concepts, Eichorn does. >Mignerey puts everything in the powerpoint and everything is organized so she goes really fast over the material and loses a lot of her students in the middle. So, after she does every question, there would be 10 hands up by the students asking what she did. >Eichorn puts questions up, doesn't put steps up. Does on the board. So goes slowly. You get the concepts and understand how to approach the problem, and solve it slowly. >Mignerey faces board and powerpoint while teaching. Eichorn faces you. >Mignerey doesn't tell you the conceptual background of the question. Eichorn does. >Eichorn, in general, just gets more student's attention because he is animated. Makes stuff interesting. Mignerey, not any of that. Etc.. Eichorn > Mignerey
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a C- Raikou-Neko 12/14/2011	While I'll admit I failed the course, I don't feel like it's Mignerey's fault. I'm just really bad at the math in the course. She tries her best to convey the material and is probably one of the better teachers in the course. She seems to try her hardest to get people to pass the course, which is typically used as a drop course. Do the homework and the quizzes - she gives you extra credit for it. I MIGHT be able to scrape a D from the EC, despite getting really low exam grades. ---Edit--- I ended up with a C- due to the massive curve. Lucky me.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/28/2011	Dr. Eichhorn may night be the best professor in the world, but I'm confident that he is one of the best (if not the best) professors for general chemistry. People that give him low ratings probably weren't happy with their grades. Chemistry itself is a very hard subject, you have to put a LOT of effort in it. However, Dr. Eichhorn is a good instructor that does multiple problems until everyone is able to understand it. The exams for Dr. Eicchorn are fairly easy. The average for exams for Eicchorn is usually the highest compared to other professors. I definitely recommend this professor for those who are taking general chemistry (CHEM 131) because he's the better one out of the other professors.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting a C jlynn895 10/31/2011	Dr. Eichhorn is a very nice professor, but he is not that great at teaching. He zooms through the material in lecture which is definitely not enough to complete the online homework. Reading the book is a necessity for this class. If you want to go back to examples done in class, you can't because he doesn't post any notes or examples online. Homework is quite difficult, but not hard to do well on which helps with your grade. He posts pasts exams online to review but don't rely on them. They are nothing like the actual exam that he gives.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/20/2011	Mignerey was not a bad teacher at all. Her exams were very straight forward. The only thing is that, I wouldn't go to her for office hours because she spoke to me with a condescending tone. But her TAs really wanted us to do well so I went to them often. The class wasn't hard but do not ever wait until the last minute to do your mastering chem. But for chem131, I recommend her
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 aplane 05/14/2011	Dr. Mignerey is a very nice and interesting person. I just could really get interested or engaged in that class. She knows her material very well, but conveying it to the general public is not her strong suit and is very hard to follow along with when she gets lost in her own thoughts. Her exams are interesting. She posts a practice exam along with an answer key, but when the actual exam comes, there are several questions that were talked about for one lecture slide. Things like that make the averages of the exam around a 55. I think that in this case, either you lover her or you hate her.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a 65 Anonymous 05/13/2011	Let me start with this, I have never been motivated enough to review a teacher or class in my life. The fact that Ondov was such a pathetic excuse for a professor is testament to his ability to inspire righteous anger in even the most uninterested students like myself. Where to begin? First, his lectures. Allow me to sum up every Ondov lecture you will ever attend: He will use a combination of powerpoint slides and blackboard work to teach. The powerpoint slides are ripe with mistakes and errors that students point out merrily every class, as finding one of his ever-present screw-ups usually results in extra credit. This is also known as "bribing students to not talk about how many times I mess-up" When he turns to further explain the complicated problems on the blackboard, you might as well turn off all your senses because he is about to start sprouting gibberish and incoherent nonsense for about 5-10 minutes. Whenever you see him turn around, rest assured he is actually entering his own little world where everything he says makes perfect sense and unicorns fly across the sky on rainbow bridges. Trying to follow his thought process is almost as challenging as mustering your will to go to his class at all. In addition, his droning monotonous voice combined with the difficulty of following his spastic "teaching" results in the lecture essentially becoming a way to catch up on sleep. I'm telling you right now, the only reason to ever attend his lectures are for the clicker questions that his TA will give at the end of class as a quiz grade. Thank god for those TA's. Although some of them are extremely incompetent at grading your exams (which results in you having to meticulously go over your every test to get back your much-needed points) they literally carry the class on their backs with their discussion sections. Pray for a good one. His office hours are really great if you love being talked down to and falling asleep in a chair. Here's a personal experience from me: I emailed him after the second exam asking to go over it with him. He responded a speedy month later. When I went there to learn how I made my mistakes, he assumed I just wanted him to look over his test for mistakes the TA's made when grading (a testament to the number of problems they cause and his disinterest in helping his students). He looked over my first couple problems and determined that my TA had actually given me more points then I should have. He then proceed to LOWER my grade on the exam on his computer when I came to him for HELP in UNDERSTANDING THE MATERIAL. A more obnoxious thing to do to a student who comes to you for help I cannot imagine. I shouldn't end this review without saying at least one positive thing about him as much as he deserves it. Unfortunately, I can't think of one yet. Another one of his great habits is changing the classroom and not telling the students until the last minute, or not at all. As much fun as going back and forth across the campus is, I just want to learn Chem. I don't want you to think I took this class with no effort on my own either. It was the second time I was taking the class, and I have had a private chem tutor for a year and a half. I still was getting 60's on his exams. My best advice for taking is class is this: I hope you are good at teaching yourself material because he sure won't. Read the textbooks, do the practice problems and maybe you won't be completely lost. That guy who posted beneath me may have the right idea about it not being high school anymore, but that doesn't really help when you're professor is incapable of getting the material across to you. He is right about another thing too, Ondov knows his chemistry. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean jack when he might as well be teaching the class in another language due to his total inability to teach. Also he might be Ondov himself. Don't take him unless you are a natural at chem who can teach yourself the entire class.
John Ondov CHEM131 Anonymous 05/02/2011	Professor Ondov is a brilliant guy but should not be the general chem professor. I have no idea what is going on in class because HE knows what he is talking about but WE don't. He goes on these tangents about an equation and does not explain what he is doing clearly. I recommend getting a tutor early in the semester if you find yourself drowning in chem. Once you have someone explain the concepts, his lectures are easier to follow and make sense. Clicker quizzes on Thursdays are great for bonus points. You can talk to your neighbors about the answer. Overall, it's an obnoxious course with a lot of studying but if 131 is necessary for your major go for it, and get a tutor.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting an F Anonymous 04/14/2011	honestly i have never seen a worse teacher...hes adorable dont get me wrong but his lecture is like another language. he starts a problem without explaining what it is and continues to talk about other things as he solves problems...if your good at chem you might be able to just teach yourself...but if youre as bad as i am youll fail if you wanna learn it
Neil Blough CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/13/2011	I did not find this class to be that hard. My basic chemistry knowledge from high school helped me out for the first couple of months and then we started going in depth. Blough just reads straight off the powerpoint slides. He is not really helpful as a professor. However, my TA (Chris Simms) was by far the best TA I ever had. Discussion sections are vital! GO TO THEM! It is very hard to depend on Blough when he rehearses the textbook verbatim. Overall, easy class, take good notes, and everything will go well. I even though CHEM 132(lab) was harder than CHEM 131, but thats a different story...
Amy Mullin CHEM131 Expecting a b+ Anonymous 03/27/2011	bad lecturer. although professor mullin is very knowledgeable, she does a very poor job of explaining simple topics of chem131 to her students. her lectures are confusing, and she quickly jumps back and forth between topics. she also goes way into detail of upperlevel topics that are not needed for the exams and that are too complex to understand in a gen chem class. you must be very self sufficient in this class to learn and hopefully get a good TA.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting a B rose11 12/20/2010	I really liked Dr. Eichhorn. Chemistry is a difficult class no matter what professor you take, so working hard is implied. There were three exams throughout the semester, and the material becomes harder as the course progresses. I did ok on the first exam, but not as well on the last two. Material from lecture will most likely not be enough to help you prepare for the exams. Attend guided study sessions (GSS), go to discussion, and form study groups if you can. That's how I made it through this class. Discussions are extremely helpful to clarify concepts. There is homework on MasteringChemistry, which is difficult but also helpful. And homework helped boost my grade immensely. As long as you study in advance for exams and get help outside of class to clarify concepts, you should do fine in the course.
Amy Mullin CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2010	where do i start?? oh i start by saying SHE SUCKS! she is one of those professors that destroy your self esteem and then give you a C as a consolation price to make you think she is doing you a favor! I went into the class with high hopes and after the first test, i knew i had the wrong professor! to start with, her class is an uphill battle and you will spend the rest of the semester fighting to stay alive! i attend over 90% of her lectures and i can count the number of times i actually learned something in one hand, over 90 percent of the work was done by myself, self learning. Our TA, Lenea Stocker was also really helpful. and when you think you got the material down and are prepared for the test? she hits you with something that is not even in the book! To do good on her tests, you have you go inside her head and think the way she thinks! After reading my review and that of others on this page, you'll be a fool to take her. SHE IS A SELF ESTEEM KILLER AND SHE CANNOT TEACH. and most likely, your grade in her class is not justified and will not reflect what you know. SHE is only gets that one star because we are required to give a minimum of a star.
Amy Mullin CHEM131 Anonymous 12/16/2010	Dr. Mullin is seriously not a bad professor like other people have said. Yes, you WILL have to do readings outside of class by yourself. She does not assign readings for you. You can read the chapter if you feel like it (which I recommend). Do practice problems. The homework on Mastering Chemistry is really not terrible. You have 3 tries for each problem. Yes, you do lose points for getting the wrong answer, but you can still miss quite a few and still get a good grade for the homework. PLUS, the lowest homework score is dropped and your homeworks together will combine to one test grade. There are extra credit clicker questions and this class is generously curved. I got an 88% or so in the class and still got an A+. You need to study on your own when you have to. There are office hours and you should go if you need to. Dr. Mullin has a very friendly personality, so don't be intimidated. Grading is not bad like what people have said. I have made some pretty poor mistakes on my tests and there are certain things I deserved. But also, I did get partial credit when I deserved it. I liked the tests since there were no multiple choice questions. Just four 25 point questions. The wording of the question may catch you off guard, BUT if you read very carefully, they are really not that hard to understand. You need to think outside of the box since they are not straight questions from your textbook, but she DOES cover the concepts in class. She lectures mostly by writing on the chalkboard and there aren't powerpoints for you. I think it's easier for her to draw and solve stuff on the board, then to give you a powerpoint of notes, but by writing on the board, she takes a little time to erase the stuff, which makes it seem as if there isn't enough time to cover all the material. I honestly don't prefer chalkboards, but I can't think of a better way to teach chem. Don't sit in the back of class, you won't learn. Too many people talking back there and it's hard to see the board. Good luck.
Amy Mullin CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2010	By far one of the worst professors i have had in a while. She cannot teach at all. in an applied science like chemistry you can't say that you go from point A to point B without explaining the process of how you got there. She seemed nice at first but, first impressions can be misleading, i have had some very mean spirited teachers in the past, and they at least give 1 pt partial credit if you at least give a feasible attempt at a question, not Mullin. Harsh grading, poor teaching skills, tests are one giant curve ball after another, avoid if you can...
Neil Blough CHEM131 Expecting an A+ cmoore16 12/15/2010	This class was pretty simple and you don't need to do too much to do well. He's a good guy and cares about his students, but he isn't very engaging when it comes to lectures. However, going to lecture is worth it since he gives out extra credit through clicker questions. All of his powerpoints are straight from the book, and his tests are fairly easy if you just study and practice. Easy class!
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 12/15/2010	I don't recommend his class. Don't be deceived by all these great rating about him. He's an okay professor, but a lot of the work you have to figure out yourself because he does like one problem and expects you to understand the concept. All he does is problems on the board and he DOES NOT CURVE. even when our third exam had an average of 60/105 (I think that average says something about the way he teaches). Some of the material that was on the exam was NOT covered in lecture. I would recommend another professor that actually cares about his students and curves.
Neil Blough CHEM131 Anonymous 12/13/2010	Dr. Blough is alright. Nothing special. His tests aren't too bad if you know the material. The first test is mostly conceptual, and the 2nd and 3rd are all solving equations. He gives 20 extra credit points through clickers at the end of class. Make sure you go to class and do them. Overall, if you work you can get whatever grade you want.
Amy Mullin CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2010	Horrible professor. She can't teach and her exams are ridiculous; four 25 point questions that are unlike any in the textbook, so even if you teach yourself the material perfectly you could end up screwed.
Neil Blough CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2010	Prof. Blough uses Powerpoint slides with examples (directly from the book). He went through the slides incredibly fast...you'd be lucky if you could jot down one or two things on the slide. So he wasn't all that helpful in learning the material but basically if you can read the book, you're good to go. Honestly, I thought he was awful at teaching, but his exams were fairly easy and he gave "extra points" through clicker questions.
Neil Blough CHEM131 Anonymous 12/05/2010	There is nothing particularly good or bad about this professor. His lectures are not very engaging but informative and I found myself getting distracted. However, he posts all his presentations online so the only reason you would want to go to lecture is to get extra credit with the clicker questions which are abundant. The exams are not overly difficult. Just know your stuff and you're good. Just doing the homework is enough to get you through the exams. I'm not crazy about this class but I don't mind it at all and recommend it because it is easy with this professor. I cannot say much about his explanatory power becaue I never really listened to his lectures but I am getting an A which says a lot about the amount of effort you need to put into his class! :) Hope this helps!
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 homgprd 11/03/2010	Read the book thoroughly before lecture, otherwise you'll have some trouble. He's a pretty cool guy who I definitely recommend.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/02/2010	Prof. Vedernikov is a pleasant professor who cares about his students. He responds to emails quickly. Don't worry about his accent; it's completely understandable. The exams are extremely do-able since they are nearly identical to the previous years' exams (which he posts on Blackboard). The online homeworks aren't too bad. It isn't too hard to get an A (85% and above) or a B (75% and above).
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a B TerpGuide 06/08/2010	The class overall isn't that hard. If you took high school chem it's about the same material. When I had him an A>85, B>75.. and so forth. It's a pretty fair class; you get what you put in. But if you have him for an 8am its brutal. He talks with an accent and has a monotone voice so you have to be somewhat alert. If you can avoid taking him at 8 do it. But overall he isn't a bad professor.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/06/2010	Dr. Dixon is a great teacher. She's definitely challenging, but she knows how to prepare students for Organic, which is really important. Be prepared to work and study. You may get low percentages, but don't forget she does curve a little. Go to every lecture to get clicker points. If you need help, go to her office hours because she really wants to help you. TA was also great
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a c Anonymous 03/16/2010	He had an accent so I was not always able to understand him. His handwriting was horrible so if you didnt understand what he said would would also not understand what he writes on the board. My TA was great and did a wonderful job of explaining the concepts.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A acgonzal 02/08/2010	I didnt find that his accent was much of a problem, tho he does tend to talk a bit softly, so do sit near the front. His exams were EXACTLY like those of past years, just with different numbers. The curve is also quite generous. Homework was a bit annoying, but easy. As some have said, sometimes his explanations are not the best, but hopefully you will have a good TA, mine last semester was great. Most of the time, though, stuff was pretty clear, and discussion was unnecessary. The professor himself was very approachable, and was just very sweet and uber helpful. I most def recommend him.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 01/27/2010	not a good prof.. he didn't teach just did problems on the board fast!!!
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a B eshupe 01/26/2010	Like most other reviews have said, Vedernikov is a pretty decent teacher. His accent isn't too bad, and his practice exams are really helpful to prepare for the real ones. However, if you aren't really a science/math person, this class might be somewhat challenging. I put a lot of work into the course and maintained a B. And also I almost never took notes in lecture because he tends to go all over the place; I took notes from the book (following the topics covered in the syllabus lecture schedule).
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 01/10/2010	Eichorn was a great Chemistry teacher. He broke down the concepts so anyone was able to understand the basic rules and equations. Has graded clicker questions almost every lecture but a lot of them are repeated or are from a problem he just went over so if you go to all the lectures, you will get easy points. He has three midterm exams, online homework that is pretty easy to get a 100 on since he allows 2-3 attempts, and the final.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting a B umd3890 01/07/2010	Emily is probably one of the greatest TA on the college park campus. She was very helpful and easy to understand that she clarified every problem the professor didn't explain very well or go over very much. If you have her, you are in good hands. Eichorn is a little bit above average chem professor. He explains the concepts fairly well. And compared to Verdernikov(sometimes hard to understand his explanation) and Dixon (hardcore exams that you might as well put your pencil down before you began) he was definitely the happy medium. This was my second time taking this course after failing it the first time and I got a B.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 01/07/2010	He's a fairly easy professor, but not all that good at lecturing. He'll teach you exactly what you need to know for his tests, and his tests are pretty fair. The class itself should not be hard at all - keep up with the work and go to lecture, and you're virtually guaranteed an A. If you're looking for an easy class, his is the one to take. However, if you're looking to actually learn a lot about chemistry, try Dr. Dixon. She's a lot harder, but teaches you a lot more about the foundations of chemistry.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/30/2009	Take another professor. Very nice lady. But if you care about getting an A or B, not the person you want to take. Class is challenging.. but too challenging unless you want to be a chemist. Take it if you are passionate about chemistry. If not take another professor. I also had her Organic Chemistry 1, it was awful as she moved way too fast so I did not absorb much. Phil DeShong is a much better professor and actually teaches much more concisely and gives examples, which she does not do enough of.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/28/2009	Like others have said, his accent is slightly distracting and his handwriting can be difficult to read at times. However, his exams are extremely easy, his class is graded on a curve, and 3 of the lowest hw grades, 10 clicker questions are dropped.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/27/2009	I will attempt to be as objective as possible. Dr. Dixon knows her stuff and forces you to do so as well. By the end of the course, you will feel like you can teach general chemistry. Her real trick is to intimidate you and force you to understand chemistry. She gives very difficult exams which require you to apply what you know. To do this you must review her lectures daily and really devote time to the class. Thus by giving such hard tests she is pushing her students to study a lot in order to understand the material. I spent a lot of time for this class and ended up with a B+. If you are up for the challenge then take her. Yes she is very tough but it all works out in the end. If you put in the effort you will get the grade. That being said, I do believe that she can stand to move a little slower and not try and scare her students so much. I along with many other freshman, felt that she demanded too much of her students who were not used to thinking the way she wanted us to. Additionally, her pace/exams can discourage many people. Overall, it's tough to rate this professor because I'm glad that I understand chemistry at the level that I do, but I know I would've received an A with another professor. Therefore, I am still trying to figure out how I truly felt about the course. I don't know if I want to challenge myself again and take her for organic.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/26/2009	Really nice guy, pretty good professor. His lectures/notes are kind of disorganized; also his handwriting can be kind of difficult to read. His accent, for me at least, took some getting used to. Sit near the front and you'll do better understanding him and reading his writing. An 85 is an A and a 75 is a B which is nice. He drops the 3 lowest of 13 homeworks. The homework isn't usually too hard, just annoying to do. I don't really feel like I understand chemistry all that well after his class, but it really doesn't matter because I'm a business major. Partly it's probably because I didn't put in all that much effort. He posts a practice exam online before each exam, and it's basically the same as the exam, just with different problems. My only issue was that I felt after each test that I had done really well and then I usually found that I had scored ~10 pts lower than I thought, for whatever reason. Go to every lecture--there's clicker questions. I often slept through my 8 am class and missed the CQs, bringing my grade down.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a B tero4life 12/23/2009	Effective teacher.. but too much information and extra info that it was hard to keep up. For sure I would take someone else. Her exams discourage you because the questions are so warped and time consuming!
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Anonymous 12/22/2009	Damn, listened to you guys down below saying how great she was, wtf?! She goes so damn fast in the damn class like a damn car. "Grades will not reflect what you learn"....that's all everyone cares about, the grades!!!!!!!!!!! my gpa got killed, and I'm not even from america damn this country, how unlucky this semester i have dixon and gold at the same time
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/20/2009	Good professor. His exams are decent, the average was around 70% for the first two, though our third exam had an average of 50%. Sometimes he'd make a student feel dumb during lecture if they asked a question that was obvious to him (to be fair, sometimes it WAS a really bad question). He's a nice guy and pretty funny (in a cheesy way). Graded clicker questions each class, though sometimes they were freebies (what do you eat on thanksgiving? turkey). I'd take another chem class with him.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting an A aralchen 12/20/2009	Giving him three stars is a little too kind considering his bad teaching. His lectures are incredibly dry and poorly put together. He frequently makes mistakes but does offer extra credit if you catch him. I missed more than a few lectures (I had him at 8 AM), but read the textbook and did practice problems religiously. That said, I'm definitely not advocating skipping class. But, if you'd rather not go, read the book as I did, and you'll likely get an A. He gives a small curve at the end of class only, so you never really know how well you're doing until the end. The online quizzes are meant "to help you" rather than "hurt you," so I guess they're like an extra credit.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2009	She is the best CHEM131 teacher. She truly cares a lot about her students and wants everyone to do well. She is engaging and teaches the material in a good way (unlike some other teachers, she does not use just the examples from the book-she makes up her own so you can understand the subject better). There are three exams and a final in this class. You do have to put effort in this class if you want a good grade. If you do your homework assignments, do the readings, and take notes in class, you will do fine. Just study effectively. Dr. Dixon is also there to help you during her office hours. Also, go to the discussions because the TA really helps clear some concepts up. There are also many, many opportunities for extra credit, so you can easily raise your grade if you do not do that well on the exams. She also takes the extra credit problems created by students and makes it into a packet for students to complete if they need extra help. Also, the curve isn this class is insanely high (this semester, a 70-75% was an A)
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2009	Dr. Eicchorn was a great professor. He cracked some jokes and tried to make the material interesting. He also used real life examples of some chemical reactions so we can relate to the material. His tests aren't that terrible. The first 2 were pretty easy and the third one was hard. Overall I had no problems with him. 1 time he wasn't there and the substitute professor, Verdernikov (or however you spell it) sucked and made me appreciate him more. Emily is also a great TA and made herself available and went over everything. Some things she didn't know but for the most part she was great as well.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2009	She is very knowledgeable and is a really good teacher! But her tests are impossible to finish in the time period given and are difficult. The averages on the tests were usually in the 50-60% but since the class was heavily curved overall, it helped out a lot! If you had 75% of the total points by the end of the semester, you got an A in the class!
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a D made4tv09 12/18/2009	This class was extremely difficult. Dr. Dixon is an awesome professor. She's very engaging and entertaining and she knows her stuff. On the other hand her exams were very difficult. If it had not been for the curve I would have failed this class. If you have to take Dr. Dixon I recommend attending her office hours as many times as you possibly can. She loves to help her students and offer extra problems. Good luck...
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Anonymous 12/16/2009	This class is entirely what you make of it. I personally thought it was the hardest class I ever took in my entire life and failed every midterm with about a 45% and got a 60% on the final. However you WILL learn more than you would with any other Chemistry professor at this university. Bonnie Dixon is quite possibly one of the best professors, period! Though the exams ARE hard she does provide lots and lots of review. In my class we had two guided study sessions (reviews) a week and then holds a review before each exam. She holds office hours througout the week and if you catch her in her office outside of office hours she will be more than happy to talk to you then. She also gives extra credit throughout the semester which are very helpful. She also does clicker questions worth 40 points so go to class. As for the curve, she said that this semester around 50% is a C and then about 65% is a B and 80% is an A. To top that off if you're failing and get a C on the final it is an automatic C in the class. I would highly recommend her because as long as you study and put alittle effort into it, you will at least get a C.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2009	Dr. Dixon is amazing! She is an awesome professor and will do her best to help you succeed!
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2009	Professor Vedernikov is a good professor. He is friendly towards his students. But, his lectures are a little disorganized. The notes he writes on the blackboards are sometimes all over the place, so sometimes it is hard to follow what he is writing or saying. Usually, he likes to use a lot of examples to explain what certain terms mean, but I wish he would give us the definitions first rather than going straight to examples to make it more understandable. The exams are fairly easy as long as you review the sample exams because they are very similar. There's a 5 point bonus question at the end of every exam. Clicker questions at the start of class every morning are easy because he explains what they are going to be before we actually answer them. They are based on what we learned at the last lecture. The online homework is tedious, and he drops the lowest 3 out of 13 total.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A- sdavies2 11/15/2009	He is definitely an awesome professor. I would recommend him to anyone. His exams are fair, and his lectures are engaging. He has a good sense of humor, and tries to incorporate real-world examples into his lectures. If you go to all the lectures and do your homework, you should do fine in the class. (Also, if Emily is still the TA for the class, she is fantastic)
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/21/2009	Vedernikov is a really nice professor, he really seems to care about his students, and he answers emails very quickly. The class doesn't have a curve, however that's only because an A=85% and above and a B=75% and above. The tests are easy, and are exactly the same as the practice exam that he posts. The only problem is lectures. His accent is totally understandable, there are no problems there, however you have to go to every lecture because he gives clicker questions every single class. So I usually go and then fall asleep. The homeworks are easy, just use your textbook, the answers are like directly in there. If you want a A take Vedernikov.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Anonymous 07/23/2009	Even though Vedernikov may not be the best lecturer, he gets concepts across to the students. The additional work he has including homework and clicker questions definitely boost your grade and REALLY help with the tests, as do the practice exams he posts. If you want an "A", take him!!
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a B qa197 04/29/2009	I have Ondov at 8 am for an hour and 15 minutes. It is nearly impossible to stay awake during his lectures because he has such a monotone voice. In addition, he makes lots of mistakes on the blackboard; we are continually correcting him - - although he does offer extra credit for that. The class in itself really isn't that hard. Going to discussion is more helpful for me than going to lecture, because it is so hard to pay attention. The book is slightly confusing, but has all of your needed information. Read it. If you manage to pay attention in lecture, power to you. I suggest not taking it at 8 am if you don't go to bed before 11 pm.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/27/2009	Overall, the class wasn't too hard. There were three midterms, online homework, clicker questions, and a final. I didn't ever take notes in class, I just read the book. Vedernikov is an okay professor, although his accent is distracting. The class is supposed to be for science majors, but I'm a non-science major and I did just fine in the class.
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 04/14/2009	You will learn a lot about General Chemistry with Dixon, but you probably won't get the grade you want. In the beginning of the semester she boasts a huge curve but by the end that curve is much smaller than she originally said so be careful.
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a B PossePrincess 04/12/2009	Professor Ondov may not be the most interesting lecturer, but you will come away knowing what he was talking about. His powerpoints are well done, and he moves at a good pace. His tests are a fair mix of concepts, applications, and difficulty levels. He is open to questions, and will give you extra credit if you catch a mistake.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting an A DN12 01/01/2009	My advice is to definitely take Chem 131 with Dr. Eichhorn. He is a wonderful teacher. A bonus is that if you took AP Chem and understood it (but maybe got a 3 like I did - no credit), he goes in the EXACT order as they do in AP, so you are not entirely lost. Throughout the course I used notes from regular and AP Chem in highschool, in addition to his notes and I have done quite well. Dr. Eichhorn is funny in class and helpful. He is willing to work with you during office hours, or will make time for you if you have class during his hours. His exams are fair and he lectures well. He works many examples to make sure you understand. He also does clicker questions for points that are very easy to get. Also, sit in the front. You learn better that way in his type of class. Just work hard (as with any class) and you will do well.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 kieri126 12/27/2008	so i have been going through these reviews in hoping i could make a good decision about my organic chem professor next semester. Not really satisfied with the reviews so I decided to write some aboutt he professors I had this past semester. HOPEFULLY, I can be of some real help in helping you decide on what professor to choose. Dr. Eichhorn as he likes to be addressed is all in all a pretty good professor. His lectures are pretty interesting and he teaches the material very well. His exam<----if this a big issue for you!! are really easy!! Just make you that you stay on top of the material and do alot of PRACTICE!!! he post past exams in an exam bank(no solutions) for practice.the curve he had on the exmas were not even worth it. 2 or 3 pts. But, again its because they were so easy. His lectures were actually interesting. He always cracked some jokes or had some story to tell. I personally did not completely DREAD going to class. He made it bearable. He has clicker questions almost every class. But, near the end of the semester you never know when he is going to throw in another. So, you could two clickers in one day. I actually liked these because the clicker ques were essentially FREE PTS!! so this alone was like a boost to your grade. even if u get it wrong, you get half a point! homeworks are the one thing i must say were horrible though. They are really really HARD! but, he does give you two attempts at getting the best grade possible. I don't know how he is going to do it next semester but for fall '08 in the beginning he allowed three attempts but each attempt had 10 NEW ques. and then near the end he finally changed it and allowed the two as i said with the SAME 10 ques. one last thing i have to add is Dr.Eichhorn does make you feel like an idiot if you ask an obvious or stupid ques. But, then again what is the definition of a stupid ques?? i don't think in CHEM there is such a thing but apparently he does. So, if your iffy about asking DON'T. because he will make you regret it infront of 300 other people. Just wait til after class or ask a peer or TA. saves you the embarrassment. So, if this is your first time taking chem or you have taken it before Eichhorn is a good professor to choose!!! Many did very well.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting a B tallboyt 12/22/2008	Good teacher and makes some funny corny jokes, lol. uses a clicker ~3-4times/week. 3 tests: each of which are fairly easy;however, you must come prepared (unlike myself). gives prac tests which are good. online ARIS hw is really hard compared to book work or in-class work. go to lec to get worked out problems. writes own final. curve.."depends"
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Expecting a B- makinmoney 12/20/2008	Solid Professor. the class notes are not enough to do well in his class. Become VERY familiar with your book. Test are easy if you STUDY FROM THE BOOK.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A 800meters 12/19/2008	He posts all the previous year's midterms with answers, and the midterms we actually take are the same midterms, only with different numbers and slight variations. He really likes to have people understand the material, so he wants people to attend office hours and whatnot. His lectures are boring at 8AM, but if you took AP Chem, you will do well. I put little effort into this class. Dr. Vedernikov is much easier than Steffek or Dixon from what I hear from friends who took the others. His accent is not too hard to understand after acclimating to it.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2008	Vedernkov is a terrible lecturer. His powerpoints do little to explain the concepts and his lectures in general did little for me in terms of understanding class material. I basically had to teach myself from the book and picked up a lot from lab rather than lecture (I got an easy A in lab). The only good thing about his class is that his tests are fairly easy, but the class doesn't have much of a curve compared to other professor's classes and since he doesn't teach the material well, having easier tests doesn't go too far...
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2008	Hands down--THE best Chem professor on campus. She always starts off class with an oldies song from her Itunes! But in all seriousness, you have to go to lecture and ask questions. She will tell you what's on the exam and will do one of those last-minute day before reviews IN CLASS where she will tell you what to expect. Also, although her exams are not as straightforward as other professors, you are here to learn and think....so go ahead and take her, get your money's worth, you will have a good time working with her. She's funny and energetic and can definitely keep you awake. The curve is very very very generous. I believe a 72% or higher is an A!! Good luck!
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2008	Dr. Vedernikov is a good Professor. However, his lectures can be all over the place sometimes. But, overall he is able to explain the concepts well. If you read the book and go to lectures, you will be fine. He is easy to get a hold of and always answer emails quickly. He is easy to approach If you have a question or a concern about the class or material.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 12/11/2008	Kept lectures interesting with jokes and anecdotes. Overall, he's a really good teacher and his lectures are easy to follow. Homework is online and you get multiple attempts and a week to do them. Clicker questions pretty much every class. Tests aren't that bad, and he posts old ones online (no answer keys though); you do have to study hard to get a good grade though. The only thing bad I can say about him is that if you ask an obvious question during lecture, he might make you look a little bit dumb.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/01/2008	Dr vedernikov is a great teacher. his class is fair and the clicker questions are easy IF you come to the class before and PAY ATTENTION. i havent really put a lot of effort into doing well in this class which is why my grade expected is a "C". his tests are fair and easy, i didn't study for them much and got a C. so you can listen to the students with the expected grade A that say hes awesome. or you can listen to the failing student complain about the work... point is He's a good teacher if you pay attention and take notes. the homeworks can be really hard and the exams are pretty easy. if you have a 85% thats' an A. if u have a 75% thats a B.. etc. hope this helped. (i took him for chem131. P.S i have gone to tutoring and heard students complain about dixon and the other teachers being difficult.. and most wish they'd taken vedernikov...
John Ondov CHEM131 Expecting a B jwhite89 11/10/2008	knows what he is talking about....mainly because hes been teaching this course for a while. uses powerpoint alot. expect a decent curve.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Anonymous 04/07/2008	This class has been terrible for me! The online homework took hours to complete, but wasn't worth many points. The practice tests weren't always accurate depictions of the actual test. I am doing poorly, and have to drop the course! Do not ignore these reviews. Some people don't mind her, but she didn't work for me. Be cautious when choosing this professor!
Bonnie Dixon CHEM131 Expecting an A jjberman 04/03/2008	Dixon's great. She gives a great lecture, and is always receptive to questions and helpful during her ample office hours.
John Ondov CHEM131 Anonymous 03/16/2008	Makes very good, understandable slides, but his explanations are a little awkward. It is not necessary to attend class if you can understand what's on the slides, though if you can't his explanations can clear things up. He seems a little out of it and has trouble with technology and understanding questions, as well as answering them. He's worth it, though, because the material is understandable
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Anonymous 12/16/2007	He does not explain concepts very well. It would best if you can take your own notes, and practice problems at the end of each chapter. His practice exams are somewhat helpful, but he gives different problems in his tests, so its better not to depend completely on his practice exams. I have also found that this year's exam are much much harder than last years.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A Myanus 12/03/2007	I agree with most of what LHaggerty said. He sometimes strays during the lecture onto somewhat related tangents which eat up valuable lecture time. On the positive side, he makes sure to explain difficult concepts in different ways to clarify things. His accent becomes easy to understand after about 10 minutes, so do not let a foreign accent discourage you. He was fair and friendly in dealing with me when I missed an exam. It is annoying to have to purchase a 40$ clicker and OWL access to do the graded assignments. He grades attendance and the homeworks can be long and tedious. I would recommend, as it can be an easy A.
Bryan Eichhorn CHEM131 Anonymous 11/21/2007	He was a pretty good teacher, and the fact that he posted old exams online really helped. In front of the class he was funny and kept your interest. The only thing is that whenever I would try to talk to him one on one, he always made me feel like an idiot.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Expecting an A LHaggerty 11/20/2007	Approachable and friendly, I found him relatively easy to understand despite his accent. Gives online homework assignments that help a lot when test time comes around and it's easy to score well on these if you put in the time. Tests are very reasonable if you take advantage of the practice tests he posts. Participation points are earned by attending lectures and answering a clicker question at the beginning of class. Lectures are not particularly clear, so it's best to take your own notes and go to lecture as review of your notes and to pick up extras not in the book.
Andrei Vedernikov CHEM131 Anonymous 11/19/2007	The thing I found most difficult about this professor was how he did not explain the concepts very well, and his thick accent makes it all the harder to understand. Uses Power-points for lectures.
Alice Mignerey CHEM131 Expecting a B kbe12478 11/14/2007	A very sweet lady, but unless you really need or love to take chemistry, do not take this class. Mignerey did not know how to work the equipment in the room, and after wasting ten minutes of each 50 minute class, she presented bare-bones powerpoint slides that she just read off of the whole time. Also, you had to show up at the beginning of class to answer questions with your clicker, and many people just left immediatewly afterwards (which disrupted the class even further). Three tests and a final. And the accompanying lab is awful (Chem 132).

Lee Friedman
CHEM131

Expecting an F
Anonymous
11/21/2024

This is the worst chem prof ever trust me bro do not take his class

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/21/2024

I would definitely not recommend her to anyone. Her teaching style does not work at all. She moves quickly and does not do enough practice. She doesn't like to answer questions and she gives impossible homework that is not at all helpful for the exams. If you do get stuck in her class here are some tips: 1. Watch videos on each topic as you learn them. I recommend the organic chemistry tutor on YouTube, he has videos for most of the topics and explains them much better than her. 2. Do the problems on mastering chemistry for extra practice. 3. If she tells you to do the other version of the homework to study for the test, don't do it. It will completely waster your time as the exams are much easier than the homework. 4. Go to the GSS sessions. They are not always helpful, but it does provide extra practice and can help you meet other people in the class that you can study with. 5. Just don't take her class!

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/20/2024

You know that Tiktok sound that is like "I can't tell you how to do it, you just have to know" that basically sums up her teaching.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/20/2024

I wrote one of these for her in October, but since then I realize I left a few things out. First, if you take her be prepared to never ever miss class! If you miss one lecture you would assume you can just look at her slides, but her notes never make any sense because she abbreviates everything and barely writes anything down compared to all that she says. Second, she "forgets" that we are just "beginners" and tries to teach as if we are already advanced chem students. She will pause in the middle of a problem and be like "oh I forget you guys are stupid and don't know what that means" and laugh as if its funny that she can't teach beginner students. Lastly, and this is the biggest one, she has this strong belief that if she makes her homework literally impossible we will somehow do amazing on the test where the questions are easier. This makes no sense. You are supposed to start easy and work your way up. No one can learn anything when you can't do any of the homework/practice problems because they are too difficult. By the time you get to the exam you have not learned anything. If you do take her class, good luck, because you're gonna need it.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/01/2024

Do not take her for gen chem

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a D
Anonymous
10/27/2024

Seems like a nice person but her teaching style isn't great at all. Her notes are so bad you cant even follow them if you didn't show up to class. Like i go to class everyday and still have questions about what she means in the notes cause they're all over the place. She rushes through the course material like someone is running after her and you don't even have time to process it. She teaches like she thinks we already know what she it talking about. It's literally almost like revision. She also doesn't have a good point distribution so you cant even really redeem yourself if you failed the first two exams maybe. She needs to give better resources and extra practice problems so we can at least be more prepared for her exams. She says that chemistry is about practice but doesn't even give the recourses to practice but also tells us not to use outside recourses. Like make it make sense?? I've really disliked her class this entire semester and its making me want to rethink my major. It's extremely frustrating. Everyone I know is struggling and failing. Surely there's a common denominator in this. I BEG you DO NOT take her if she's teaching this course again.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Anonymous
10/15/2024

Just an amazing professor - please take her!

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Anonymous
10/15/2024

She is a great professor. She is always super enthusiastic about what she is teaching and thoroughly explains concepts. Instead of just explaining and moving on she always builds practice problems into her lectures to make sure we understand. Also she always answers questions students have during classes. Plus her exams aren't that hard as long as you do her homework and study.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/15/2024

Dr. Schech is an amazing professor! She will explain everything in detail and will help you out if you ever need assistance.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a D
Anonymous
10/14/2024

Idk why everyone is saying such positive things about her. She is absolutely rude and cannot teach at all. She acts as though everything she is teaching are things we already know. Then, she gives incredibly hard homework questions that are 10x harder than the exam. She says this will "prepare us for the exam" but it isn't preparing us if we never know how to do the homework. The examples she does in class almost never help with the homework or the exams, only the CAN that she does outside of class helps and not everyone has 2 hours to spend outside of class watching her do things she should have done in class. Everyone I know in my class is failing. I did extremely well in chemistry before and know have a 45% in her class. I would NEVER take another class led by her. She is making me want to change majors just so I don't have to take more chemistry classes. PLEASE AVOID HER!!!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
10/08/2024

The first exam had an average of around 30-40%, and that average remained on all following exams throughout the semester. If it weren't for the curve at the end of the semester, lots of people I know would not have passed at all. She would cancel class frequently, and independent learning was the only way to learn the more advanced topics. Overall I don't feel as though there was any quality teaching half the time, and the exams were taxing on self-esteem.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an F
Anonymous
09/11/2024

If you're bad at math and chemistry, don't take her!! She is passive aggressive, tells you not to email her, and isn't helpful. The TA also wasn't helpful either because he just made things more confusing. Her teaching style wasn't for me and she just made things harder than it was supposed to me. She wasn't willing to help and she wasn't encouraging either. I am not the best at math and/or chem however I did my best and studied over 10+ hrs a week for this class, still I felt like it wasn't enough. Additionally, It would be nice if she recorded her lectures and provided the notes she took in class. I found myself rushing to take notes during class and becoming overwhelmed with all the information overload because she doesn't record lecture or save the notes. Take her at your own risk.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/19/2024

Dr. Schech is truly an amazing professor. She has open office hours and answers all of your questions to the best of her ability until you fully understand the concept. I was very nervous about taking chemistry, but she made it a class that I felt comfortable in. I like the structure of the class and I love the way she teaches. She always uses analogies to explain complex concepts, for example using pasta to explain different molecule structures and their relation to heating up. Of course- I studied a lot but I never felt overworked. The only thing is that I would not recommend getting the online textbook. I paid for it and never used it once because she provides lots of practice problems that best reflect the exams. I definitely recommend taking Dr. Schech for CHEM131, she was an amazing person and professor.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/04/2024

I didn't attend her lectures frequently because they were at 9 am, but when I did I learned a lot. The slides were detailed enough to get the gist from. I also went to her office hours and she was super nice.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
06/03/2024

First off she is EXTREMELY passive aggressive. Don’t listen to what people say about her office hours, it’s overwhelming and always packed and i once had to wait 15 minutes for her to answer 1 question….The first two pages of her exams are not too bad.(but she does things to purposely trip you up, and then grades harshly on top of that. Last pages of her exams are the hardest and consist of larger problems where she still implements things to trip you up. I also had a grading error once. Doesn’t record lectures. Tells you on the first day not to email her. She likes to talk about herself and seem like she’s super nice, but please don’t be fooled it feels like she gets off with smiling in your face and then just fail u without even batting an eye. Stay safe…

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/24/2024

Best instructor I have ever had… Dr. Schech was awesome! I did not open the textbook once because Dr. Schech did such a great job teaching the material. My advice to students: go to class, do the HW, and really try to understand concepts. She makes this class very manageable.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/19/2024

I struggled a lot in this class if I am being honest. However, Professor Baxter made this class impossible. She was very rude when students would ask "stupid" questions and would just expect us to know what was going on without any explanation. Not to mention the number of times she would cancel class. At one point in the semester, we didn't have class for 2 weeks straight because she canceled all those classes in a row. She would go over basic problems during class but the actual exams were very advanced problems that were completely different from what she taught. If you take her expect to be teaching yourself or getting a tutor. Her exams were pretty difficult for me and the average grade for each exam was never over a 50%. And our final exam was worse with a 42% average. The other chemistry classes had significantly higher averages than us over the exams and final. Overall, this class took 10 years off my life and Ashley Baxter definitely contributed to it.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/19/2024

Dr. Baxter is a horrible professor and I do not recommend her to anyone. Yes, chemistry can be a difficult class but she made it more difficult than it should be. She was barely in class, and would “teach” us through less than helpful video lectures. As well as, like clockwork, cancel her office hours and reschedule them at a time that was not convenient for anyone to attend. She would also cancel class last minute for one reason or another regularly. On the other hand she does curve at the end, and the homework she gives is somewhat useful. But the cons outweigh the pros. We were taught basically by the TA and the GSS leaders, had to teach ourselves, or look for tutors.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Dr. Schech is one of the best, if not THE best, professor in UMD. Her lectures are very understandable and easy to follow. A very easy-going person and actually cares about her students’ understanding. Paying attention in lecture is very important as she takes exam contents from it. She curves the whole class grade based on the final though, so midterms aren't curved. General Chemistry 1 is a hard course in general and I am not saying that you won’t struggle in this class, but Dr. Schech provides the resources for you to excel. I’ve seen many people not do the ungraded worksheet she provides in discussion and those are really helpful as they mimic problems that might be on the exam. Just because it is optional does not mean it is not important. One thing to keep in mind is that there are also self-study assignments in her class (meaning it’s going to be on the exam but she will not cover it in-person lecture) but she gives plenty of time to do it and very manageable. She records her lecture and posts her lecture notes. When I said she provides a lot of resources, SHE REALLY DOES so take advantage of it. Lastly, she is very big on conceptual understanding and her exams revolve around it a lot. She writes her own exam questions and NEVER repeats the same questions again. This makes her exams pretty tricky but as long as you pay attention to her lecture and read the textbooks, you will do great on her exams.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Go to her office hours!! Most approachable professor I've met. She explains concepts in a way that is digestible.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Don't get me wrong, chem is a really difficult class, but if you put in the time and effort to study and make sure you really understand the material you can do well. Dr. Stocker is a great teacher, and the information she teaches in class is similar to what you will see on her exams. She also provides a bunch of previous semester exams which are extremely helpful study tools. There is weekly homework, but it's not weighted much, and it's actually really helpful in practicing the material. Also, you never have to go to discussion. Tests are hard, and you really need to master all of the material and know of every exception or trick because Stocker will include these in most of her questions, but the curve is also really high since the average is so low.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/16/2024

I only took chemistry once in the 10th grade and never really took it again lol. Now coming into this spring semester, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect and I can say there is A LOT that goes into this course. I will say this: Dr. Baxter is fairly organized and her slides pretty much have all the information you need for all the midterms and the final exam. I will say for me personally, I did slack off after the first exam and was having trouble grasping content as time went on so I can only blame myself for how poorly I did on the exams. But one thing I would say that has really helped me improve is: only taking notes of the practice problems she does in class and repeatedly doing different versions of them (which you can find in the online textbook), our TA during discussion always had worksheets that were approved by Dr. Baxter to help us grasp the content and practice the topics we needed to know, and GSS. I was never able to go to GSS as much since it always had class or other obligations but the times I went were really helpful. I will say I like that Dr. Baxter would clarify specifically how to solve the problems she always went over in class because there were times I was confused this semester and majority of the semester she was out of class so everything she couldn't go over in class was recorded, which made it even more difficult for me. But I will say that you don't have to be afraid to ask her questions. Lots of people are afraid to reach out to their teachers because they feel like their teachers will consider them dumb or the teacher won't help out as much but I'm telling you it doesn't hurt trying. You can't succeed in this course, especially chemistry and science classes in general if you're not asking for help and Dr. Baxter made sure to accommodate people the best she could. This past semester she curved it to 13% which really became helpful because I really thought I was going to fail. But that's just my experience, so hopefully this helps for anyone considering taking her in the future!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/16/2024

I’ve been waiting to write this all semester. Alright we all know 8am classes suck… the semester started of ok, the slides are JAM packed with info and this course goes extremely fast. I had numerous panic attacks. There is a homework due every two weeks or less that will take you hours to do, it’s good practice through and tends to be helpful for exam prep. I absolutely recommend doing ALL the gss worksheets and organic chemistry tutor videos. She is very vague about what is on the exams, unfortunately you will need to study everything she taught u leading up to the lecture, and do NOT just study the lecture problems, they are helpful but she tends to switch it up on the exam. Halfway through the semester things on fishy. She cancelled class literally 7 times and doing recorded lectures was awful and I agree it had to do with my down fall in my grades. The final was hard as hell, it is on what she doesn’t test you on in the exams, so study strategically. Unfortunately my test grades were a 67/100, 88/100, 38/100 and 121/200. I was shitting bricks with my 67% in the class, BUT she does replace your lowest midterm with your final if helpful, and there was a 13% curve because averages ranged from 40-55% on every midterm and the final. Infact our class did so bad she gave a 20 point extra credit quiz for exam 2, which boosted my score from a 75 to an 88. I studied for 30+ hours for finals and I tried so hard. Unfortunately not having a study guide for this class makes it impossible to be prepared for exams, there is so much content. Just be above the average in the class, and you should get a B. I went from a 67 to an 85 after a midterm replacement and the curve. Good luck!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/16/2024

The material of the class is extremely difficult, and I guess she tries to give you some resources to make it work. However, her exams are unnecessarily difficult and even after each exam had a class average of about 50%, instead of altering exams or giving us more study material, she simply gives around a 5 point curve to make herself look better (actually she only did this once and just left the other exams with the scores they had). We are not allowed to ask any questions during exams, we are not given any sort of practice exams and she does not give us any sort of tips to on how/what to study. So if you spend 2 hours studying a more difficult topic that's part of exam material, chances are it may not even show up on the exam and you will have wasted your time. Our class average on our final exam was a 46%, while other chem131 classes had an average of about 75%. Her solution to this- a 13 point curve. Her lectures were also at 8 am, and I cannot count the amount of times she has canceled lectures at 7:45 AM right before class because of some dismissive reason... whether that be a headache, stomach not feeling well, etc. We also had GSS sessions throughout the week that were always getting canceled without explanation.This class is ridiculous.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/16/2024

Dr. Stocker was an okay professor. This class was required as a GenEd for my degree. Only thing good about this class is that she curves the exams and final grade a lot. I found her to be discouraging at times like when she told us not to email her with questions or to drop the class if we are not happy with our exam grades. If you take this class with her make sure to really study and understand the equations used and how to apply them. As for grades, you do not know your final grade until the very end of the class. I passed with a C and the entire class I thought I was going to fail. For grade reference: I got a 33 on exam 1, 44 on exam 2, 60 on exam 3, and a 48 on the final exam. With my homework's being a 93, my semester score ended up being a 60. Hope this helps!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/14/2024

Professor Baxter is pretty chill, takes time to work through problems during lectures so you can get a feel of how to use the information. However, she doesn't post answers to the lecture problems anywhere, so woe upon anyone who misses lecture because you will miss at least half of the content. Not sure if this a common occurrence, but she cancelled about seven lectures in my semester, which was pretty annoying, because then we had to catch up using panopto videos. Homework is leniently graded, so is a good boost for your grade, and your worst midterm is replaced by your final grade, so that helps too, along with a pretty hefty curve. You will make it through this class with an acceptable grade.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/13/2024

Dr. Baxter canceled 7 of our ~27 sessions this semester an hour before their start times at 8:00 A.M., for frequent sickness or "car trouble." Underprepared would be a tragedy of an understatement, as Dr. Baxter published zero resources to assist us in studying for our final exam, and not only was she largely unhelpful in the classes leading up to the final as all she did was teach us new material that didn't even get tested on the exam, but she refuses to answer questions during the exams. Please, for your own sanity, take someone else.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/13/2024

Dr. Baxter is nice, but that does not make up for the fact that she missed around 7 classes this semester and still expected us to keep up with the content at her pace. Video lectures were posted online, but the amount of missed class time was unacceptable, especially since CHEM131 is such a difficult course and the class was only held twice a week. Our third midterm had three extremely challenging topics on it, and two of those topics were taught entirely online. That may work better for some students, but I prefer in-person learning. It was also inconvenient that each time she canceled class it was only an hour before the lecture began (7 am.) I understand that things can uncontrollably come up in all of our lives, but apparently, this has been a trend in past semesters. The averages for each midterm were 61.31% for Exam 1, 51.5% for Exam 2 (before she gave the opportunity to gain up to 20 points in extra credit), and 55% for Exam 3. She says that she expects these types of grades. Personally, I do not understand why she can't just give exams with easier content that will not result in such poor grades overall... Especially since she plans to curve the class average up to a 77% (adding 10-12% to our final grade this semester.) It kind of just seems like a cover-up for how badly the entire class is doing. During the final exam, my class was in a room with another section. They were allowed to ask their professor/TAs questions, while our class was not. I glanced at their exam and could instantly see how much easier their content was. It's upsetting to have done so poorly in this class. I feel so discouraged; I am an extremely hardworking student and take pride in my abilities. I feel that if I had taken this class with another professor, I would have gotten a much better grade. I'm in a group chat with fifteen other students, and we all feel equally about this course. Some of us may even need to retake it. If you do end up in a section with Dr. Baxter, do not miss lecture. Go to Guided Study Sessions, and don't miss your discussion. Things will snowball if you're not on top of it. Best of luck.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/13/2024

DO NOT TAKE HER!!!! SHE IS ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. She put things on the exams that she never went over. Her final, she gave us nothing to study with and continued to teach final material 4 days before... she puts all new concepts on the final and has the mindset of "well ive alr tested u on this so no need to put it on there". if u care about your mental health, don't take her. she does not care about her students

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/11/2024

Dr. Schech is an engaging lecturer but my biggest issue comes down to the exams. The content we cover in class, in discussion, and on the online homework is so incredibly easy compared to the exams. We had 3 exams and on each one there was at least 1 multi part question that was so much more complicated than anything we had done in class or done for homework. No matter what I did, even when I did the practice exams, I did not feel prepared for the exams. Exam averages were in the mid 60s to low 70s. When it came time for the final exam, she sent out a list of topics that would be covered along with practice problems 2 days before the exam. To expect us to review the entire class, do practice problems, and ask questions in only 2 days while also studying for other exams is insane imo

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/10/2024

Chem 131 is not an easy class and Baxter does little to make it easier. I should start out by saying that she missed about 3 weeks of lectures altogether-make sure you check canvas before you go to class because there is a 50/50 chance you will have to go. She did post videos going through the slides but if you dont understand the videos,she said and I quote 'rewatch until you get it'. Her lectures are mostly going through problems and you're basically going to have to teach yourself the content. Be prepared to spend hours teaching yourself and asking others for help. She doesnt put out any kind of practice exams or study guide. Your best bet is finding someone who has taken her class previously. There surprisingly was extra credit this semester after the second exam bc the class did so terrible-i think the average was a 41% for it. Exams consist of ~20 multiple choise questions and 6-10 written answers. This should be your last choice for chem 131.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2024

SCHECH IS THE BEST PROFESSOR EVER! Take her class if you can. Very organized and fun to listen too. She makes me want to come to chem every day. Exams aren't too bad, but you do have to study for them. She posts everything about lectures, including recording, notes, and slides. No exams or assignments are curved, but the entire class is curved so that an 83 is an A-

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/08/2024

Did not really like her teaching style or lectures. Whatever problems were on the exam, she provides little examples of. Did not feel very welcoming when asked questions. Exam averages are so low but the curve at the end is good. She replaced your lowest exam with your final and curved so the average grade was a C+/B- which really helped my grade.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/07/2024

Amazing professor! Passionate, enthusiastic, and energetic, which was great for engaging us in the subject. I dreaded taking this class because I hated chemistry in high school, but college chemistry is much more interesting, especially with Dr. Schech as the teacher. The exams are difficult, but only because the subject itself is difficult. The exams are what you would expect from what you learned in the lectures, and nothing on there should be a surprise or a trick as long as you study well. I would highly recommend anyone to take her for CHEM131.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/07/2024

Professor Schech is an excellent lecturer and a fair grader. While the homework is a bit long, generally speaking, her exams are fair and study guides are provided. While naturally GenChem is going to be fairly difficult, Professor Schech does a good job of explaining material properly, and the GSS's are extremely helpful.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/07/2024

I took Baxter because she was the only available professor when I signed up for classes. She speeds through lectures, so you really need to pay attention and even missing one lecture will cause you to fall behind. If you take your own notes, you will miss most of the information because of how fast she goes, so I would recommend using the provided outlines. She only gives 1-2 practice problem per theory/concept, so you need to do a lot of practice outside of class. The practice problems in class are similar to the ones found on exams, so it is important to understand these because she does not provide any past or practice exams. There are 1-2 homework assignments per week that each take between 90-180 mins. Discussion sessions are optional and mostly a waste of time, it's better to just look for the worksheet key after class. She does curve, but she curves final grades and not specific exams so you won't know your final grade until after the final exam, which is annoying. I went to a few of the GSS sections, but the leaders were not very helpful and even made me more confused with some problems. Not sure if this is every semester, but she cancelled class so many times (like 8 times). She taught an 8am this semester so waking up early and finding out at 7:30 that there is no class is very annoying. We only had about 3 classes in between exam 2-3, so the averages were much lower than normal. She gave videos to watch, but I did not sign up to self-teach chemistry. Overall, she's not the worst chemistry professor, but if you can take someone else I would recommend it. If you are good with chemistry or are very dedicated to the class, you should be fine with her.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
04/30/2024

Honestly, I do not know what majority of these people are talking about. Baxter is a terrible professor. For starters, she does not provide her students with enough resources to succeed in her class. On the first day of class, she told us that she doesn't offer study guides despite her own professor when she took chem providing her with one because "she didn't use them". She has no compassion and does not care about whether her students learn or not. She rather cancel classes for a whole month straight over a simple migraine than show up and do her job. Even after canceling classes for about a month straight, she still expects students to take midterms based on a few 30-minute videos she uploads to Canvas randomly. The average for my class's first exam was 60 and she decided to make the second exam longer simply because many people left too early during the first exam. However, she failed to realize that this was probably because people gave up on the exam due to it being extremely difficult. Not to even talk about her homework, each week expect nothing less than about 40-70 questions that take up your whole day. Her teaching style is so monotone. Attending her office hours does not help much as she is not a good teacher and does not know how to break down information. Gss session leaders try their best, but it is hard when Baxter barely provides information until like the last minute. I am warning all of you guys who are thinking about taking Baxter, DON'T!!!!! My friends warned me and I didn't listen. Don't be like me and end up crying everyday after each exam.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
04/28/2024

She is a really nice person, loves Taylor Swift (includes references in the exams), and lectures through notes. In the first half she teaches things as if you may have already learned them (which if this is your first chem course you obviously have not). When you think you understand the lecture, you look at the practice test and it's 5x more difficult and confusing. There are clickers in every class but thankfully there are makeup clickers (quiz on canvas unlimited attempts and time). There are weekly hw assignments on Mylab mastering, some are very long but help you understand the concepts. If the tests were a direct reflection of the hw questions, clicker questions, and in class examples this class would be a lot less difficult.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/06/2024

TAKE HER CLASS. I had Dr.Schech for chem131, and I wish I had her for every chem course. She is very sweet, loves chem, and tries to make the class fun. She also remembers almost everyone's name, which is crazy. A lot of reviews are saying the exams are hard, but if you do the practice problems (she gives like 100 from the textbook lol), you will definitely get above average on every exam because her questions are very similar to them. I took chem over Zoom during covid, so I knew NOTHING going into her class. I went to every lecture, did the practice problems, went to office hours and GSS meetings (GSS meetings are soooo helpful), etc., and did well on the exams. Also, during her big office hour meetings right before the exam, she gives hints as to what's going to be on it. The only annoying part about the course was the self-study units. I slacked and didn't do them until the last minute, so I was VERY confused since much of the material was based on them. But overall, I could not have asked for a better chem teacher!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/27/2024

She is very organized with her lecture slides and notes. She only goes over a certain type of problem in class and then the rest, you learn over homeworks. The content on the midterm is manageable and consists off mcqs, short and long answer. And the lowest midterm grade is replaced by the final exam grade if it helps your grade which is very nice. The curve at the end is very accommodating, so if you score above the class average for the midterms, it should be very easy to end with a B or higher.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
03/16/2024

I took at 8am with Baxter to avoid taking Rainbolt and I do not regret it at all. She was very good at teaching, always to the point. She is very helpful during office hours. The class goes very fast (no matter who your professor is) so make sure to stay on top of it. She does give like 50 homework questions a week which can take a lot of time. Her guided notes are extremely helpful. If you use those and the lecture practice problems to study you will be fine!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/10/2024

She is nice and very organized. You will not learn how to do Chemistry by her because she will only go over one practice problem and then move onto a completely different topic. However, she is very in-depth explaining how to do that one practice problem. You will mostly learn how to do the different types of problems through the homework, discussion and GSS sessions.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
cdalbora
02/05/2024

She was very knowledgeable and as a orgo teacher did a good job of preparing us for that. She was pretty organized as well, however her style of notetaking didn't work as well for me because I was so busy keeping up with what she was writing I couldn't pay as much attention as I needed for chem.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
02/01/2024

From what I can tell, the people rating Dr. Baxter so low have a hard time with chemistry, not Dr. Baxter. This is my second time taking chem. I dropped it 5 weeks before the final because I couldn't give this class the time it requires to get a passing grade. Retaking it now, and when I tell you Dr. Baxter makes it so easy for you to pass, she really does. Just do the homework and get off your phone in lectures. Pay attention, go to GSS. Chem is hard but Dr. Baxter gives you a really good shot at passing.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/28/2024

She was nice, ig, but that's her only plus point.

Lee Friedman
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/26/2024

He is rude and arrogant and should be dismissed from the university.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/24/2024

Dr. Baxter is a wonderful teacher for General Chemistry. She is very organized and wants you to succeed in the course. She is always available to answer questions during office hours and before and after her lectures. She is very considerate with grading and curves at the end of the course, but you are expected to put in work to get a good grade. The course is structured with Homework assignments through an online ebook included in the course, which is 10% of your grade, and Exams make up the rest of your grade. Since exams are a huge part of the grade, you have to do a lot of practice problems and pay attention during her lectures to succeed in the course. Your worst exam score is also replaced with your final exam score if it is lower than the final exam score. I would recommend not slacking off for her first exam because it can put you behind in the class, and it's harder to catch up later in the course. Overall, it is definitely possible to get an A in this class if you attend all the lectures and do TONS of practice problems.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/23/2024

I haven't talked to anyone with other professors and how they are, but I did very well in his class and I honestly don't think he is an absolute lunatic who will eat you whole like many else described him as. One key trait of Rainbolt's teaching style is that offers these "module" packets, these packets have everything you need to learn about the topic and he goes over them in lectures. When you don't understand something and go to ask him about it, he will tell you to look at the modules, and most times he would be right, what you will need to know in this class is all printed on his modules, and he does a pretty good job at writing them, however, it is still very frustrating to be dismissed by him saying "you probably didn't look at the modules". There are also many practice questions on the modules and if you can finish those questions by yourself it means you have understood the concept. You are probably better off with other professors honestly but you can still succeed in his class.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous_2018
01/21/2024

This fall was my first college semester, and I hadn't even touched chemistry since 10th grade. I was a little nervous, but after taking this course with Dr. Baxter, it went better than expected. I thought Dr. Baxter lectured well, for the most part. Yes, she does cover a lot, so you have to attend EVERY lecture, or you will fall behind. But that's pretty much the case for all college courses; all of them are fast-paced. Don't bother making your own notes because Dr. Baxter already gives you lecture-based guided notes, which are super helpful for review. Sometimes, it can be hard to follow, but Dr. Baxter always pauses for questions after every mini-topic or practice question. She'll even re-explain a concept if you just ask. You can also ask her questions or express concerns before the lecture or during office hours. Always ASK if you're confused about something. That's literally what professors are there for. For homework, I suggest starting it early and breaking it into chunks. Depending on the topic, there can be 30 - 60 questions with conceptual or math problems. Do a few problems every day, and try to finish a few days or even a week before the deadline, so you have enough time to review it again for exams. Even though it's not worth much, homework is going to be one of your primary study resources because the problems tend to be a bit harder than on the exams. Alright, everyone's favorite: exams. Dr. Baxter has three mid-terms and one final with MCQs, Short-response, and Long response questions. Around a week before the exam, she provides some info about the exam and might pop in a hint or two. The exams were a bit difficult for most people, and the class average for all of them didn't get past a high 60, which is the lowest I've ever seen, to be honest. However, they are doable, and some students did get A+s. The number one strategy is practice, practice, practice. The more practice problems you do (discussion WS, GSS, etc.), the easier it will be for you to recognize a question and solve it quickly. Some students, if not most, couldn't even finish the whole exam because of time. But, the exams are worth like 85% of your grade - which is A LOT - so you have to do your best. If you don't know a question, put something on the paper even if it's rubbish. You can expect to at least gain a few points because TAs tend to grade with tenancy. The final was long and brain-frying but overall fair. Some questions even came from the lecture, which was great. After the exam, Dr. Baxter also gives you three free points if you collect all your previous exams. In addition, she'll replace your lowest midterm score with the final if it benefits you, which helped a lot of students. Does this class have a curve? Yes, and it's a fat one: 10%. She literally bumps your grade by a letter if the class average is in the 60s. A final word. Overall, even though I never liked chemistry, taking this course with Dr. Baxter made it tolerable and sometimes even fun. She's really understanding, will try to help out in any way she can, and wants her students to succeed. But you'll have to reach out and care about your performance. This class won't be a breeze, and you can't really expect it to be, but, in the end, you'll have to be willing to put the effort and time into this course if you want to get an A. Hope this helped, and good luck.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/21/2024

Dr. Stocker was a great gen chem 1 professor!! She teaches everything in a way that's really easy to understand and will go through any questions you have during her office hours. Workload is super bearable, only 10 homework problems that usually don't take up too much time. Tests are hard, but averages are usually pretty low so there's a pretty big curve. She also posts 3-4 past exams (only one has an answer key though) that are pretty similar to the actual test that are great to study from. I had a great experience in her class, taking her again for orgo next semester!

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/16/2024

CHEM131 with Dr Stocker was not that bad of a class. I liked the way she explained concepts and provided ways to solve problems and ways to remember certain things. Only thing I didn't like is that she doesn't record lectures. She posts the slides but not the notes online so if you want the notes you have to go to class or get them from someone else. But going to class is helpful since exam problems are similar to ones she goes over in class. Grading structure is 3 midterms (100pts each), final (200pts), and 11 HW (10x10pts she drops the lowest). Not bad at all just have to study for exams since they make up most of the grade. Curve is also generous, I had an 86 raw score and ended up with an A. I recommend Dr Stocker for CHEM131!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
01/12/2024

Gen chem was a difficult class that required a lot of studying outside of class. Since her lectures are super early, it can be easy to skip but I recommend going to every lecture to retain the information and learn how to solve the practice problems on her lecture slides. The exams are pretty fair but the long answer questions can be difficult but as long as you do the GSS worksheets, lecture slide problems, and discussion worksheets: it's basically like the exam. The homework assignments were very tedious and took a few hours so chunk it up over the course of a few days. Baxter was sassy and if you asked "dumb" questions, she would have a little attitude behind her response. Her curve was pretty nice, being around 10% but that is the average for most science classes. Also, she provides extra points for the final if you collect all of your exams which was nice. She's an okay professor, just put in the work early in the semester so you don't have to play catch up because the final exam was pretty difficult.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/04/2024

Before reviewing Dr. Baxter for this course, note Gen Chem won't be a breeze for most. I never enjoyed chemistry in high school, so I can't say I was anticipating this course. With that said, overall, Dr. Baxter was a great professor. Let's talk about lectures. I know some people say that she lectures too quickly, but isn't that the case with all college semesters? While Dr. Baxter finished topics in about a week or two, she always paused for questions after each sub-topic during lectures. She's friendly, and understanding and will repeat concepts even if she repeated them already. In addition, she had office hours throughout the week for additional help on homework or questions. She also replies to emails quickly. I would recommend printing out the lecture guided notes (super helpful in reviewing) and filling them out throughout lecture periods. With homework, we only had around one per week, which consisted around 30 - sometimes 60 questions that take 2-3 hours, depending on the topic. Now this same seem like a lot, but it's not so bad if you split questions in different sittings throughout the week. I liked to finish them around a week in advance to get a head start on the next topic. Don't try to leave it last minute! Even though they may not support grades as much, they're an excellent source of review and help for exams. Alright, exams... Dr. Baxter has 4 exams total for Gen Chem: 3 mid-terms and 1 final. For all the exams, she provides information and the format around a week before and sometimes pops in a hint or two of what to expect. Now, all the exams had pretty low-class averages in the 60s, which I never experienced in high school. However, the exams are fair and doable. I mean each exam had multiple students getting As and even A+s. Dr. Baxter also has a policy that your final exam will replace your lowest midterm score, which often helps a lot for most students. For instance, if you bomb the first exam, you still have a chance. However, you will need to work hard to succeed in this course. My best advice would be to practice, practice, practice. The more questions and problems you do, the easier it will be to recognize concepts on the exams. Review the guided notes, homework, discussion worksheets, and GSS worksheets. I never liked a textbook, so I didn't use it. But if that works for you, you can use that too for more problems. The final was pretty long and brain-frying, but it was fair. Try limiting dumb mistakes, and don't overthink lol. For this recent final, Dr. Baxter even included some questions we did in lecture, which was super helpful. In addition, if you collected all your previous midterm exams, you got 3 free bonus points, which was great. If you're still worried, well, this may ease some nerves. Baxter has a really generous curve at the end of the semester, which can literally bump your grade by a whole letter. (It was 10% for this last semester.) Overall, Dr. Baxter is a great professor and wants her students to succeed. But you have to be willing and ready to put the work and effort in. I hope this helped, and good luck!

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/04/2024

Can be a fast teacher at times but she teaches very well and I understood the vast majority of the material. Tests were difficult but fair and the final was a bit easier than expected. Will be taking Orgo 1 with her next semester.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
01/03/2024

Dr. Stocker is a very typical lecture-style professor where there will be zero in-class interaction and no personal touch. She much prefers teaching Orgo, however, she still knows her stuff very well for Gen Chem. She moves very fast through lectures, often ending the class with a half-complete equation set. If you do not come to lectures and take thorough notes you will not be successful. She only posts slides without any of her work from class so if you miss a class you're practically on your own. The exams were fair and I found discussion to not be necessary. Cutoff to pass her class with a C- usually hangs around a 50%.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/26/2023

I came into this class thinking it would be my easiest, it was definitely not. This class is difficult, it will take a lot of time to study for, and you can't underestimate the exams because she loves trying to trip you up with little details on the exam and taking points off when she gets you. With all that in mind she is an extremely fair professor; the exams are on what was taught in class (besides 1 or 2 more complex questions which she puts in), the final is easier than the 3 midterms and the final replaces the lowest exam if it helps you, and yes their is a nice curve so don't freak out like I did. On top of that she is a great lecturer, helpful with questions, and readily available. I'm giving her 5 stars because even with the tricks and the quick pace, if you study, and listen, you will actually come out having learned a lot and feel good about the material.

Elizabeth Griffith
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/24/2023

I didn’t take AP Chem and thought this class was very hard especially as a freshman, but look through the resources she gives you and do the practice past exams she puts out. I never went to office hours but she was so sweet and you can tell she really cares about her students. She also emphasizes that she wants us to understand the concepts rather than have to do tons of memorization and gives us huge cheat sheet notecards for each exam and an even bigger one for the final. Would definitely recommend taking her

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/23/2023

Chemistry is just a very confusing topic on its own, but Baxter is honestly such a well organized professor and one of the few teachers that does a great job when it comes to teaching and explaining topics within gen chem in a way where you can better understand and have any questions properly addressed.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/19/2023

As someone who hasn't taken chemistry since 10th grade, I was able to do fine in this course just from attending lecture, doing homework, and reading a little bit of the textbook. She fits lots of information into every lecture, so if you miss even one you'll fall behind pretty easily. She does lots of practice problems during the lectures which helps with understanding how to approach the problems. The exams are challenging, but if you do the homeworks, redo the practice problems, and even look online for extra practice you'll be fine.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2023

Gen Chem as a class has some of the hardest content I've ever been taught, but Dr. Stocker made it bearable. The tests are really hard but the averages are really low so the curve is pretty generous, and I'd say her teaching style is at a very good pace (maybe just a tad too slow sometimes) and taught very thoroughly. Whenever I didn't understand a topic The Organic Chemistry Tutor always had a video on it that I would just watch and that helped so much. Dr. Stocker also provides enough practice problems and practice tests, so she does her best for everyone to thrive. The only thing I didn't like is that the grading system is relative, in that only the top percentage get A's, the middle get B's, etc. This means that you can average a 90 but still get curved down to an 85, which I don't really like.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
terp2027
12/17/2023

Dr. Baxter is a young woman with a lot of sass. Her lectures are just her reading off of the slides however she is incredibly helpful during office hours. She is nice and sometimes you'll even think she cares about how you do on her exams. Her exams are usually manageable but she does through in one curve ball long response question. Also, the multiple-choice can be quite tricky. However the final is fair, I even think that she drew some problems from the lecture slides. Overall, I would recommend her, but just understand that she will not change or break any rule for you and that your outcome in the class is entirely dependent upon how well you study chemistry (the textbook is extremely helpful).

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2023

I like the way she taught her lecture. Don't be intimidated if you don't do good on the first exam because most people don't. Your grade depends on the entire class. For example if the highest grade in the class is a 69, then that's an A. And after every exam she shows you a grade distribution and it tells you that if you have anything lower than lets say a 40% then you're at risk of failing the class. Her curve was insane! It was like a 15% I was gonna pass with a 70% (C-) but because of the curve I passed with a B. This was a life saver. Most of her exam written response questions come from the slides in her class, discussion slides and GSS worksheet. So for practice, look over all those problems.

Elizabeth Griffith
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2023

She is such a good teacher. It is definitely not an easy class, but if you put in the work, then you will do well. If you need extra help, go to office hours, she is super happy to help, and it always makes the information easier to understand after. The final was worth about too much at about 30 percent, but other than that, the class is structured greatly. She gives out clicker points for coming to class, and it doesn't matter if you get them right, so just show up to class. Also, she records all of her lectures so you can go back and watch them before the tests. She doesn't curve the individual tests, but after every exam, she adjusts the letter grade cut-offs. Her exams are hard but fair, and just make sure to study and put the work in.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/16/2023

He is not a horrible person, he just can't teach. He stands at the front of the lecture hall and nonstop writes for the entire class. He gets irritated when people ask questions. If you have a very strong chemistry background then you will do perfectly fine in this class, since he teaches it like most of us haven't taken chemistry since sophomore year (which was virtual for most of us). He does not curve exams and drops one of the weekly 10 point quizzes at the end of the semester. These quizzes are not easy and are timed. His modules are good practice, but sometimes he omits difficult questions from the module keys because he wants to put similar ones on the quizzes. The only reason I am expecting a B is because of the curve. Which was a very generous curve, but not knowing where your grade stands all semester is very stressful.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2023

Dr. Stocker is good at explaining concepts and seems genuinely invested in our success, but I felt like she went through the material unnecessarily slowly. This was good for cementing concepts in our heads, but I did not have the focus to keep watching her do examples of the same things over and over again. That being said, I can see why she is one of the most liked chemistry professors and it is definitely possible to succeed in her class. Exams are fair and graded with a curve. Dr. Stocker gives you access to multiple past exams to study with, but only provides the key for one of them. (There is no past exam for the final, unfortunately.) But the exam material was similar to the past exams, and additional worksheets and GSS problems are available for more practice. Homework is ten questions per week, doable in about an hour and definitely worth the time to practice what you learn in class.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/16/2023

Best professor for Chemistry hands down. One of the nicest and approachable people as well. She truly cares for her students and loves seeing more students come to office hours. She prepares you well for all the exams as she has handouts and practice exams from the past. GO TO HER LECTURE! GO TO HER LECTURE AND GO TO HER LECTURE! I understand the idea of skipping class and all that but she doesn't record plus the concepts are much easier explained in person and she gives clear examples and problems that don't follow the lecture slides at all. Trust me you will thank yourself in the long run if you go to her lecture and try to go to her office hours at least once a week. To be honest discussion wasn't really helpful for me because my TA at the time wasn't great. But for Orgo 1 no way should anyone be skipping discussion. GOOD LUCK!

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2023

I think this class is a lot about what you put in. Rainbolt gives a lottt of resources such as prelecture videos that are like 20 min long and I know for a fact that most people didn't watch them. He is a bit condescending but if you just take everything as a joke its fine and it makes lectures more engaging. One complaint I do get is his lectures feel a bit unorganized at times and is kind of just doing parts of the module with no slides or anything so I can see how people struggle with that, but again he presumes you've watched the pre lecture video. One thing I definitely appreciate is I feel like he really tries to gauge what students need the most work on and do a bunch of problems with those concepts. He also really tries to get everyone involved in the lecture so it's more engaging, that being said try to participate as much as possible it will help you in the long run. He even works really hard to make sure he knows peoples names which I think is commendable in such a big lecture. I also think his tests are very fair as they are similar to either the module or the weekly quizzes so if you actually understand those you'll be fine. Overall, he may not be the best 131 professor but personally I think he is over hated.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/15/2023

I am not sure if Chemistry is for me because this class was a STRUGGLE. Dr. Stocker posted exams but not the answer key which were little help to me. I felt like she went too slow on topics that were simple and too fast on topics that were very foreign.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/15/2023

Dr. Baxter is a great professor but chem is going to be difficult no matter what. She moves through stuff in class quickly but the homework is pretty helpful. If you stay on top of studying the course will be okay. She curves the class and drops the lowest exam for your final exam score if it benefits you. Overall, I recommend her as a professor but not this course in general.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/13/2023

I urge you to ignore reviews about rainbolt where he is completely slammed with negative comments. Please only listen to reviews who actually support their negative comments with factual information. I am going to break down the class for you, I took gen chem with him as a senior. He is not supposed to teach gen chem for spring 2024, however I still wanted to write my review in case he returns to gen chem or you are just curious... LECTURE: Rainbolts designed our class to have modules, pre-lecture videos, AND lecture to synthesize information. Unfortunately rainbolt rarely ever made new material for lectures. The modules were supposed to be extra practice, however around week 2 it became quickly apparent that these modules are now our lecture material. "Lecture" consisted of these modules and rarely his own practice problems. He would often make comments about our uncompleted modules during lecture and even had the class "break our papers in'' by scrunching them up with our hands, which I won't even lie made me roll my eyes but laugh. If you have a hard time hearing far away professors or seeing a chalkboard, take another professor because he rarely wore the microphone and only projected the chalkboard to the class a total of 3-4 times. You have to set yourself up for success, and being able to see/hear lectures is vital to doing so. The pre-lecture videos are beneficial if you want them to be, it was nice to have an extra resource on top of our modules but often he would post them late. I will say though that him posting the prelecture videos late didn't even make sense to me because the videos are dated from 2019 and he literally just needed to repost them for us. Lastly, word questions in class properly or he will not answer it, say "ask god" or "see me after class" and your question will not be answered during lecture. QUIZZES/EXAMS: Quizzes were difficult but good study material for the exams. One thing that bothered me about the quizzes was no partial credit is given. No matter how hard you attempt it, or how close you get your answer, you won’t get any partial credit at all. He also does not provide a quiz answer key afterwards unless emailed by multiple people to make one. He made a quiz answer key for one of our quizzes but sent it out the day before the exam, leaving no time to study the correct quiz answer for our exam. This was extremely stressful as a student trying to earn credit on quizzes for work and seeing what you get wrong so you can fix it! Exams were fair but you have to study. Rainbolt said our exam 3 was our best exam yet however the average was the lowest of all 3 exams we took (excluding final, i'm writing this before our final exam). In total we will have 4 exams (including final). I was pleased after exam 1 when he provided us with the current class curve and even provided a spreadsheet to calculate our grades. It felt like this effort quickly dropped on his part when he told us the curve changed, but would not tell us by how much. As a student it's extremely stressful to have a low grade and not know the updated information on our curve. When I would speak with him privately he would give me more information on the curve but dont even bother asking this question during, before, or after class as he more than likely won't answer it. It should be noted that he does give a curve though and doesn't want his students to fail. Rainbolt set a fair curve early on but just not knowing how it would change is frustrating to me. RAINBOLT AS A PROF: I enjoyed Rainbolt as a person, he was kind and funny! You will see many reviews mentioning he's funny or cracks a good joke, which is true but I personally felt like some of these attributes quickly went away when the topic switched to chemistry. When asking rainbolt a conceptual question, it has to be thought out or he will not answer it. I suggest going to anyone else but rainbolt for chem help because often he won’t even answer your question if you word your question weird or "wrong". It is not fair to disregard a question when the student doesn’t even understand how to ask let alone what to ask. Lastly, just know that Rainbolt hates teaching gen chem, he will tell you that if you ever get a good conversation going with him. If you are looking for a passionate GEN CHEM class, take a different professor. It's one thing to hate teaching gen chem, however as the recipient student this SUCKED. I felt he did not care about the gen chem class especially because we did not even have lecture material and his neglect showed. I want to reiterate that this is all how I PERSONALLY FELT. Take this review with a grain of salt and make your OWN assumptions. As I mentioned I am a senior, I've had over 40-50 different professors at this university and rarely write an actual review for them, which shows I am definitely somewhat fed up. HOWEVER!!!! If you are stuck with rainbolt, it's not the end of the world!!! you will pass if you put in the effort, you cannot slack off or skip lectures. You will be frustrated at the class the entire semester, but you will pass and get through it.

Venkata Adury
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
brenna44
12/11/2023

A great TA!

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/09/2023

The only reason I am expecting a B is because of the curve. He is the most condescending professor I have ever had. I tend to enjoy professors with some character, who joke and are sarcastic, but it isn't funny or fun feeling disrespected. He doesn't allow any room for error and wont answer questions straight on. I emailed once asking for an accommodation regarding a pdf over paper copy, and he emailed back saying it was like I slapped him in the face. I would not recommend taking him unless you are comfortable spending 40 hours a week on GEN CHEM.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/08/2023

Dr. Baxter is a good lecturer, however goes over the content very quickly. I would suggest taking notes on the powerpoint prior to lecture. Once I started doing this, I began to understand concepts quicker. Dr. Baxter is very helpful in office hours also. Go to lecture and do the homework.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Where to begin….Rainbolt is an interesting fellow. I’ll just list the pros and cons of his teaching methods Pros: Gives out paper modules with practice problems Uploads pre lecture videos that can help you review the material Kinda funny?? If you’re a fan of dry humor Cons: Classes aren’t recorded Grades consist of a quiz a week and your exams, both of which he purposefully makes harder than what’s done in class Not super approachable in class.. idk what he’s like in office hours Doesn’t give many practice material outside of the paper modules Overall: if you have an understanding of chemistry concepts I think you’ll like his teaching style but if you’re a beginner or need a refresher: I do not recommend

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2023

What can I say, the reviews do him a little harshly. Rainbolt's main problem is he sometimes looks like he doesn't care about the class, and can be condescending, but if you go to his office hours he is very personable and will help you work through problems. He assigns no homework, but he gives quizzes every Friday that are challenging but solvable. His quiz questions that you struggle with are usually indicators of whats coming on the tests, as he literally just changes the numbers and rewrites the same question. A lot of people complain about Rainbolt, but I really enjoyed his class, it is certainly hard and you WILL need to study, but if you do it really is a good experience.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Super rude and condescending to students. He excuses this by talking about how its a professional environment and we should just deal w/ it. Seriously? Also the only grades are through weekly quizzes and midterms so if you do poorly on those then sucks for you. He also flies through lectures and hardly ever explains the details of what he just did. The bright side is that he writes great modules that have practice problems and are great study tools - only reason I'm passing. His curve is very big because all his students test so terribly.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/06/2023

Professor Rainbolt is and okay professor. His teaching methods could be improved, but he does a great job at keeping the course real organized. He gives modules for each topic (which can be a lot but are honestly the best practice resource for exams) and at the top of each module there's like a mini description of what you should be able to do by the end of it. He also does pre-lecture videos which are helpful (sometimes). As for the textbook practice problems, it's really optional, like some students pass without ever touching the textbook. The only thing is the way he teaches isn't the best. He tends to dive straight into a new topic with little to no background/introduction on it and sometimes over-complicates things. Not to mention the questions. If you're lucky, on a good day he'll give you actual answers to your questions (and some dad-jokes), otherwise, get ready for a condescending/sarcastic answer. It's one or the other, there's no in-between. Overall, he can be a bit intimidating, but he keeps the course material organized and is actually much nicer during office hours!

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/05/2023

she's extremely approachable and explains chem with the best analogies. she makes chem super digestible and provides plenty of practice problems, worksheets, and practice exams. i'd recommend doing every problem set or worksheet available to you because that helped me breeze through the class and ace every exam. the exams also match up well with the content she's taught, so you won't have surprises or anything on the exams. she's also such a sweet and lovely person in general. she doesn't record lectures, so attending class is definitely mandatory for an A, but stocker will guide you through everything else. her curve is also extremely fair (i think the cutoff is around a 50, but it can range based on the class's performance, and the cutoff grade is curved to a passing grade aka a C).

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/02/2023

I think many of the reviews are very harsh. He isn't great but he isn't terrible either. I think he's a decent lecturer; he has good energy and I was never bored in his class (expect some dad jokes too). He provides module sheets that contain practice problems and explicitly tell you what's going to be on the exams, although they often contain errors that he needs to correct and there are some things they don't explain clearly enough. However as long as you go through and understand what's in the module sheets, there should be no surprises on the exams. He also provides other resources, such as pre-lecture videos and additional practice problems on MyLab & Mastering. He can be a bit intimidating and difficult to approach, but he is willing to work with you if you need help. What bugged me the most about this class though was him assigning weekly quizzes that are harder than the exams (even the TA's thought they were unfair). There are probably better options, but his class is definitely doable and he is by no means the worst professor I've had.

Elizabeth Griffith
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2023

Great professor for Chem 131. She was pretty flexible with homework deadlines and helpful at office hours. Also did grade cut-offs for the exams. This course will be easy is you took AP Chem otherwise you will be struggling.

Elizabeth Griffith
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/26/2023

Great teacher, super kind, funny and overall cool. If you have prior chemistry knowledge this class will be a cake walk. Attend her lectures, pay attention, and look at her past exams and you will do well.

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Anonymous
11/09/2023

Spent 50 minutes with him when Dr. Stocker was out for the day. Nobody in the class could tell what he was trying to teach us and he kept using the word "pneumonic" incorrectly? Really confusing

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/27/2023

I took honors and Ap chem in HS. I thought I would do really good in his class but I was wrong. If I could give him a negative stars I would. He is very condescending and I am pretty sure he doesn’t even know what he is teaching. If you ask him a question he may not even know the answer. VERY BAD TEACHER!! He makes multiple mistakes in his modules. For our second exam, he posted the module video the NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM. Overall, DO NOT TAKE!!

James Rainbolt
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/20/2023

super condescending and egotistical. his tests have so many errors. module keys rarely matched the problems in the modules and if so he makes errors frequently. if you ask him a question he will put you down.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/23/2023

I took her freshman connection CHEM131 course in Fall 2022. The structure of her course consisted of lectures with clicker questions, discussion sections with a graded group worksheet, homework, and exams. I felt that the way the class was set up was unstable and messy. Half of the grades were in Canvas while the other half were in Gradescope and Achieve (the textbook/homework software), so you had to calculate your own grade which wasn't even accurate half the time. Dr. Tseng's lecturing style was going through slides and explaining/working out problems by drawing on the slides. While it is helpful to see the problems done in front of you, her explanations could be hard to follow and ineffective at times. The exam averages were low, and it was hard to expect what would be on the exam because of all the different sources of course content. Because of this she gave a generous curve at the end of the semester. All this being said, Dr. Tseng is a kind person. I would definitely recommend going in for office hours if you are having trouble. I also appreciated that she recorded the lectures, so I didn't miss anything if I couldn't make it to class. I would recommend taking a different professor if you are able, but just know it's not the end of the world if you end up with Dr. Tseng.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
08/03/2023

Honestly she is not that bad. She moves a little fast and has an accent so if you aren't used to having teachers like that it can be challenging. I will say a lot of information made sense because I took chem in high school (it was 2-3 years ago) but you still learned a lot from the class. She is also the lab coordinator, so she tends to teach in that order, but once she's behind in lecture you are on your own for labs. Overall, she provides practice exams that are similar, I also would take advantage of the GSS review sessions for the exams. For the final you will have access to your old exam answer sheets (so keep your exam packets!!!!!) On top of practice exams she gives just lists of concepts and things to know for the exams, and homework is pretty forgiving, the quizzes are a little harder but not too bad and she drops lowest scores. Her teaching style isn't amazing but she makes up for it by making her class easier; compared to other chem teachers, we had higher averages before a curve. She also zoom calls her lectures and records them so your attendance isn't mandatory unless she starts using clickers (which she didn't for us). I would recommend and take her again.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/06/2023

Dr. Guest is a wonderful lecturer. She is a tad bit fast but very easy to understand. She takes the time to prepare us for each exam by providing homework, quizzes, practice exams, and study guides. She also very welcoming to speak to and always there to answer questions.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
06/04/2023

I really enjoyed taking Gen Chem with Professor Baxter. I think that this class is definitely challenging and there is no way to make this class a breeze. With that said, I think that Professor Baxter is an amazing teacher. Her lectures are filled with information and she does a lot of practice problems during lecture which are really helpful for studying for the exams. There is a homework assignment due every week which covers the information that was taught in class that week which are also really helpful to study from for the exams. I thought all of the exams were hard but they all were fair. By the end of the class, she curved everyone's grade by 10% so the curve for the class is also pretty generous. I think that Professor Baxter is an amazing professor and really wants her students to do well. She always has office hours and is willing to answer any question that you have. I really am not so good at Chemistry but Baxter made it possible for me to do understand concepts and know the material. As long as you go to every lecture, do the homeworks, go to office hours when you need, and study hard for the exams you will be fine. She really is a GOAT and a great person.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/30/2023

I had Guest for 131 lecture and 132 lab, so I'll review her for both 131 - Guest provides practice exams, which are essentially the exams from past years. She also added an optional exam at the end of the semester that would replace your lowest exam grade if you did better, and would not affect your grade if you did worse. There were lots of practice problems provided via discussion, quizzes, and homeworks (although some of the hw questions didn't exactly match what we learned). The only downside is that she goes over lecture kind of fast and also starts new chapters in the middle of lectures instead of having each lecture be about one topic. 132 - Honestly the entire lab is based on TAs (which is the case for most science labs). The TAs are the ones grading your lab reports. On Guest's part, however, many of the labs would not line up with what we were learning in lecture and some of the labs would be about completely new information. Additionally, her lab manual was not completely updated and so the TA had to change directions one or two times.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/27/2023

Never went to class because she was bad at lecturing. Sam, the TA was godsend. He was incredible at teaching. If you needed to learn, discussion was the most useful. The averages for exams were mid 40s but there was a 15% curve. I took AP chem but the questions in her exams were tricky and unusual.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/23/2023

I had very HIGH expectations for her considering the fact that she had a 4 out of 5 rating on here, however, I quickly realized that she is a pretty average teacher. Although she is a very nice person, she runs through the material during class as if we already know what it is. At the beginning of the first class, she emphasized how you do not need a strong background in CHEM to do well in the course, however, the way the class is set up makes me strongly disagree. Overall the cons for her class is that she goes very fast in lecture, there are no study guides provided for her/old exams, she typically teaches the classes very early in the morning, and there is only about a 10% curve. The pros for her class are that she is a super nice/understanding individual, she is typically good with communication (emails back fast, etc.), she offers homework assignments as a boost for our grade, and for my specific class, she gave us 3 extra credit points on the final if you collected all your exams from throughout the semester. Hope this helped :)

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/23/2023

There are a couple problems I have with Mignerey. Lectures were mainly practice problem based which I arguably liked because it helped a lot when understand some problems. I will say that it made the class rather boring though. She made many mistakes during her lectures and would sometimes have to have the TA, Sam, help out because she couldn't figure out what she did wrong. The class average was extremely low which is great if you're on the curve, but not so great if you want to actually understand chemistry. Mignerey herself isn't the worst, I do believe she doesn't want the class to be seen as a "weed-out" class. But the class itself is so difficult that it makes it appear that way. Now lets talk about her final, her final was really hard. While Baxter was doing stoichiometry on their exam, Mignerey was doing complex thermodynamic questions. PRIOR, to the final exam I think she realized that her class average was so low that she was trying to give us options to help us pass the class (which is a good thing.) For example, she offered that if you were able to "pass the final" (meaning getting anything above the avg on the final) she wouldn't give you anything less than a c-. HOWEVER! She only OFFERED that during the spring 2023 semester, and she didn't offer it during the Fall 2022 semester. Finally, I actually passed chemistry with a 40% in the class. Which means her curve was roughly around 30%. In conclusion, if you want to understand chemistry I would probably suggest taking someone else. But if Mignerey is your only choice, just be prepared when it comes to doing a lot of self studying. P.S do the homeworks, they actually have a huge impact on your grade. They're are freebie points and will boost your grade a lot near the end of the semester.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/22/2023

Yes, chem is going to be hard either way. You're going to have to study in order to do well, but out of all of the gen chem 1 professors, Baxter makes it the easiest. Lectures and discussions are not mandatory, but I highly advise attending. Personally, I just have a really hard time picking up what's being taught in lectures (but it's not Baxter's fault, I just understand more when I'm able to go back to the dorm and walk through a problem on my own). I say that because if you find that you're having a hard time keeping up with Baxter during her lectures, I still strongly advise attending class. A lot of the time I wouldn't understand (completely) why a certain step was done in a problem or why some conversion has to be done in step 2 instead of step 4, but once I got back to my dorm and was able to walk through the problem myself, I would then understand/remember "oh yea, Baxter said this because of this" and then everything would fall into place. So yea, Baxter is probably the best choice to go with. The homework definitely takes time so try to do it in chunks day by day, it's way too stressful to do it the night that it's due. The software we use for homework only takes about 0.03% off of a question when you get it wrong, so you have A LOT of chances to get it right. There are 3 midterms, 1 cumulative final. Her exams are extremely fair, listen to what she tells you to study, redo the practice problems are her slides (which is another reason you should go to lecture because she doesn't post the answers on Canvas), and do some of the learning curve practice questions on the homework software (this is a really good studying starting point) and you'll be fine. The TAs also provided a practice exam, those were extremely helpful and provided a good reflection of what the exam would contain. She gave us a 10% curve, so at the very least, just try to stay above a 60%, and you should pass with a C- or higher. Last thing, try to do really well (well = on average) on the midterms, it sucks trying to bring your grade back up with the final. Much easier to do well on the midterms and have cushion room, than to not do well on the midterms and be forced to do well on the final (while juggling other finals).

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/20/2023

i would have given her 1 star but we had an eight-point curve at the end of the semester. she is an awful lecturer and takes three weeks to respond to emails. sitting in her class is actual torture. however, if you're good at self-studying she's an okay option. i stopped going to class and crammed the night before tests and still managed to get ~30 points above the average. tests are pretty easy, the textbook is your best resource.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/19/2023

Honestly this class is hard and it takes up all of your time, if u want to get an A. Getting an A is achievable though. Out of all the teachers, she definitely is the best, teaching wise. Her exams aren't significantly harder than the other teachers' exams. But, she doesn't curve as much as the teachers, so keep that in mind. The curve is around 10%. If you actually want to learn something from this class take Baxter. Lectures and exams at 8 am are horrible but she posts guided notes and slides. However, she doesn't record her lectures or upload past exams, which would be extremely helpful if she did. Also, her final was based on material that we weren't tested on in exams, so you have to study strategically. Averages were in the 55s-65s. She also crams a lot of random stuff in, in lecture, the day before the exam. Which is extremely stressful.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/19/2023

Couple things: Greatest prof out there? No. Easiest class? Maybe if you took AP CHEM in HS/good at chem, if you don't fall under those categories, it will be very hard. However, some people I think make it seem like her class is the hardest thing anyone will ever take (which could be the case as well). The prof expects you to read the textbook to understand the concepts and she'll do the math for you doing lectures to show you how to do it. IMO, as much as I prefer profs to go over concepts, this does not make her some horrendous prof. Many classes require you to read their textbook, simply how college goes. Another thing, yes she did make mistakes during lecture, but some people make it out to be like she was all over the place and was not conveying the correct methods of how to solve problems. She might forget an extra number, put it in her calc wrong, add instead of subtract, small things like that where 99% of the time, her mistakes were caught and corrected. Overall, her doing problems during lecture was not confusing. In addition, yes she can have a bit of an attitude, but it was not as horrible as some people took it to be. I do not think she was having malicious intentions, I think she just does not realize her response is a bit standoffish and possibly seems rude at times. Not excusing it, but also being more realistic about it as there was times she had been objectively rude. A lot of people expected I feel for her to hold our hand thru this, but she simply will not do this. Exams were a lot and you have to put in the work for it. While a 100 level class, it is still a weed out class unfortunately. Utilize GSS, TAs, and the textbook and you'll do fine. DO NOT EXPECT THE PRACTICE EXAMS TO BE THE SAME AS THE TESTS!! She writes up the tests in such a way where you need to completely understand how the equations for various problems work and what the question is asking for; simply memorizing how to do the practice exams will get you a bad grade. I know this is long, but last piece of advice: put in the work, utilize all resources, and don't expect the prof to solely get you thru this course.

Sam Lascio
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/19/2023

AMAZING TA !!! Not sure if he will be the same TA for Fall 2023 for Mignerey and on, but if so, he will be one of your greatest resource in class. Truly cares about his students and wants everyone to succeed. Never seen a TA go so above and beyond for students before; will always answer emails in a timely, maybe even fast, manner. Super sweet guy as well. Explains concepts thoroughly to help everyone understand. If he's your TA or even your prof, you're in good hands.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/18/2023

She is an extremely good lecturer. She explains things clearly and has really helpful practice problems during lecture. You have to put in work for this class to do well, but that's the case with every professor. She was very organized and although the homework was long, as long as you understand how to do it you're guaranteed to do well on exams. The exams were not harder than the homework, and GSS offers practice exams that can help you study as well.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/18/2023

Chemistry is hard but doable in Baxter's class. Although I definitely struggled a bit, the effort I put into the class by going to GSS, office hours, and studying really helped me. Baxter was a really nice and approachable person in my opinion. Her homework was sometimes a bit difficult and time consuming, especially if we didn't go over how to do it in class specifically, but it was doable and making mistakes had little to no impact on my grade. The homework definitely helped me learn the material more in depth and I found it to be helpful most times. She also responded to emails quickly, so if you couldn't figure out a homework problem, she would help. The most important and helpful thing I did was going through all the practice problems before the exam because if you know how to do all of them and understand them to a certain extent, you will do fine on the exam. The most difficult imo was the multiple choice which was a bit difficult to study for and sometimes ended up just being lucky guesses for me. The most frustrating thing about this class was how chaotic things would get right before the exam. Baxter would often try to cram the most amount of content possible in like the last lecture before the exam which made things frustrating and stressful. She also gives little to no resources to help study for the exam which was also frustrating because I always found practice exams to be so helpful with preparing for the exams, and I felt a little overwhelmed and so so stressed coming into the first exam since I didn't really know what to expect. However, after the first exam it become less stressful since I had a better idea of what to expect. Her exams are a bit difficult, but the topics that are on them are pretty clear. The final was also easier than the other exams in my opinion, and she tends to test on things that she taught but did not show up on previous exams, which she is pretty open about. The discussions were not mandatory but super helpful and the TA was so amazing.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/18/2023

Really good professor and easy to understand. She posts all her slides and practice problems with the answer key which is very helpful when it comes to studying for tests. There are 3 exams that were pretty fair, however, her final was much harder than all the other exams and had the lowest average.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/18/2023

The professor views teaching college courses like this: the student learns concepts on their own essentially via the textbook they should read before class (and in general ofc). The prof's role is to simply lecture important concepts but at a very basic level of understanding and does the math problems over and over again. The TA's job is to actually TEACH the material to you and help you understand concepts and the math all together. If you want a prof who will actually teach concepts, do not take mignerey. The exams are tough, but I found after the first exam you need to utilize the textbook in order to do well. A lot of studying and time going into the tests and homeworks. The only grades are the 3 midterms, 1 final, the homeworks totaled to 100 points, and learning curve totaled to 50 points. DO THE HW!! If you find yourself taking this course and not chem oriented, my advice as someone who is the same: go to GSSs, utilize the TA (Sam is amazing) and ask questions, utilize the textbooks, and truly understand the practice exams she gives before tests, not just memorize the way she presents problems on there (practice exams are different from actual tests, but basic concepts are still present).

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/18/2023

Dr. Guest is good lecturer, definitely better than the other CHEM131 professors. She provides practice exams, study guides, and homework/quizzes that are beneficial when studying. I can say she is a tad bit fast when lecturing and wants students to contribute in answering questions. But I appreciate her taking the time to asks us questions just to make sure we are learning. She nice, approachable, and takes time to explain a concept we find confusing. I will definitely recommend taking her for CHEM131.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/17/2023

-expects you to know all the material before lectures, doesn't teach in class and just goes over problems so her lecture slides are fully filled with just math - she's condescending and ignores raised hands - Sam (the TA and extremely helpful and nice) has to always correct her in lecture - our exam average was a 42% and a general grade average of a 52% and she blamed it on us - pretty sure she doesn't care if you pass or fail - homework can save your grade - just don't take her -other profs get multiple choice and equation sheet, mignerey does not -final was terrible, she just straight up put random things on it - even if you think your good at chem, take anyone else bc this class material is so so different from the other classes and you will 100% do much better in literally any other prof

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/17/2023

absolutely not. take anyone. anyone else. guest and baxter both get an exam dropped and baxter in particular gets an exam replaced if you do better on the final. both classes also have multiple choice whereas Mignerey does not and they get a equation sheet with much much much more information than we did since she expected us to memorize literally everything. unless you've taken AP chem and thought that it was the easiest thing you've ever done, DO NOT take her class. Our exam average was 42% with a general class average of 52% and then she proceeds to blame us for the terrible averages????? she's condescending when you ask her questions and seems like she purposely ignores hands that are raised. Sam, the TA, is extremely helpful and nice so if you get stuck with Mignerey definitely rely on sam to actually you teach you the concepts. She expects you to go into lecture already knowing the information and only goes over practice examples in class and that's all her lecture slides are. literally all math. the math itself isn't hard but the way she expects you to know what to do and when to do it can be confusing. i swear she wants her students to fail. there's supposedly a 20% curve and her final exam was literally just awful. I studied a week straight ignoring my other classes for the final studying what she SAID would be on the exam. still had to leave 3 questions blank. After the first exam and realizing I was fcked, i proceeded to have a mental breakdown every single time before the rest of her exams :)There are also upperclassman that re-take her class which kinda messes up the curve but they have to because if you re-take the course with a diff professor you'd literally have to learn new things all over again since she teaches whatever she wants to and its very different from the other classes' material. If I could give her negative 5 stars I would. By farrr the WORST prof I've ever had and i am genuinely so sorry to anyone that has to end up taking her.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/15/2023

Absolutely the worst teacher I have ever come across. She is rude, condescending, and makes you feel completely stupid if you ask her to clarify something. Never have I experienced so much anxiety and cried because of one class (an introductory level class too) because of a teacher. Had I taken this course with any other teacher, my grade would be much better. Don't even think to take chemistry with her, she doesn't know how to teach the material. Her TA Sam, is excellent and is the only reason I even understand anything that she says.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/11/2023

Dr. Baxter did a really good job at explaining complex concepts in an understandable way. Her slides were incredibly helpful for understanding and organizing what information I needed to know for the class. This was an incredibly difficult class for me, and I went to her office hours when I was struggling and she was always patient with me and eager to help me understand my mistakes. Professor Baxter really cares about her students and believes in our ability to succeed. She made this class doable. I would highly recommend her to other students.

Samuel Lascio
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/11/2023

Was my TA for CHEM131 and is the goat. Explained the material very well. Mignerey, the professor, made everything very confusing but Sam was able to make everything a lot clearer. Very passionate about the material, and is always there to answer questions in person and over email about anything you're confused about. Would 100% recommend.

Jarrar Haider
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
callpink
05/11/2023

The class itself is hard but the chem department at umd is bad so thats expected. But he's such a good TA and he is extremely helpful and nice. He thoroughly explains everything and is very open to answering any questions. Honestly he is probably the best TA I've ever had. Thanks to him, I actually understood what was going on in lecture.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/09/2023

I wish I could give 0 stars. This class traumatized me. I love science classes and loved chem in high school, but I'm NOT joking when I say that this class killed something inside of me. Dr. Tseng cannot teach this class and I'm surprised that she is allowed to. I'm not sure if she should just be teaching something more advanced or not but it definitely shouldn't be gen chem. Her handwriting is awful so it's hard to write down correct notes as she's solving, there is SO MUCH HOMEWORK, and the exams are literally the hardest exams I have ever taken. Practice problems, homework, study guides, videos, and even an expensive tutor couldn't save me. I failed every single exam, and so did the majority of the class, and she had to curve the grades so much to accommodate for it. Think about it. I got an F on 3 midterms and the final and still ended with a B. Impossible, and it only shows how poorly everyone did with her teaching. FIND A DIFFERENT PROFESSOR FOR THIS COURSE IT IS NOT WORTH THE MENTAL BREAKDOWNS.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/05/2023

I'm just going to reiterate what others said about Mignerey and give some more key points, it's going to be long but it is worth the read: -She would often go on tangents during lectures that weren't related to what we were discussing, making most of us more confused about the topic she was going over. -As someone said below me, she would also get confused about problems she was doing and then eventually say "I give up" on the problem (this was especially bad with the stoichiometry and combustion reaction units). -The practice exams she gave before tests were a "review of concepts learned in class" (as stated by Mignerey) they were way easier than the actual exams and not similar at all to the tests we took in class. - Each exam average was ~43 out of 100. For reference, my friends who had Baxter said the average was ~62. The average for our exams was also lower than ORGO averages. - I went to all GSS, lectures, and discussions, as well as additional studying, and still wasn't enough for me to do well -The students who did well in her class were either very proficient in chem, AP chem students retaking the class, or those who studied over 10 hours a week outside of the class (I mean it's possible but I had a busy schedule and like sleep), and the small few who are just naturally good at it. Professor Mignerey is a very nice person but an awful teacher who could not teach to save her life and is very stuck in her ways. She is considerate of your questions and does try to answer them to the best of her ability, but her teaching style is terrible and the exams were unnecessarily hard. If you have to take 131 I would suggest getting Baxter, she teaches well and her exams are hard but fair.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/05/2023

I chose Baxters 8 am instead of Guests 11am class because baxters reviews assured me she is a good professor who can help me do well in the class. However, if I could, I would go back to choose Guest. I attended every single lecture and put forth effort in studying and attending discussion and GSS but I could only do so well because of her difficult exams and just how she taught. She is very good at reading slides which gets boring but also we don't get underlying explanations for the material which is important. I do like how she tries to answer questions during lecture is is pretty nice, but other than that, she emphasizes u have to go to office hours. Mind you, she had to reschedule or cancel them almost every time. About her lecture: she doesn't record or nothing just post slides. For exams, she doesn't provide any practice exams, which is soo important for chem. Her exams are also difficult compared to other classes. Her average was always around 50-60. They are also very strict with grading. There is rarely any partial points for long questions that are worth minimum 10 points. However, she does curve, but only at the end of the semester so you really have no idea what to expect. Honestly the entire chem department sucks. And chem alone isn't even hard, it just matters who teaches you. With any professor, utilize tutoring and gss resources!!

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/04/2023

I literally stopped going to lectures after the second week of class because she spent the first 15 minutes each time struggling with technology. She also kept writing down incorrect things and fully relies on her TA Sam. He is great. If you do the homework you should pass but the average for every one of our exams was below 50%.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2023

she did not teach the material, she just did practice examples in the lecture and assumed we knew things from the textbook. I was told by the TA that she is there to "clarify the material, not teach" and that we should be primarily learning through the textbook. So why shouldn't I just self-teach the class and save money? Which is pretty much what I ended up having to do. Even after reading the textbook and fully understanding it through that, mignerey made the material more confusing and after lecture, I felt like I was back at square one. I am inclined to think I would have done better in the course if I didn't go to the lectures. Without going to all the GSS, reading all of the textbook, organizing study sessions outside of class, and doing the discussion worksheets provided, I don't believe it would be possible to get through this class. This amount of work would make sense for a more upper-level class, but for Gen Chem, this seems ridiculous. I spent 4-6 hours on an average week just looking over material and studying/GSS on a NON-exam week. Plus the time it took to do the weekly homework which is at least an hour. At max (exam weeks) I spent 10/11+ hours working on this class to get [without the curve] around a B- (2 hours of GSS, 1.25 hours of lecture, 1 hour of discussion, 4 hours of group study, 3+ hours studying on my own). The average for exams we were told was about 45% for the first two which is ridiculous to me. at least there will be a good curve

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/02/2023

I see a lot of poor reviews about Prof. Mignerey, and I really think for the most part they are about the class and less about her. She is not nearly as bad as described. She mostly does practice problems, which I actually find very helpful. If you can review the material a bit before class to get familiar with the concepts, the class is almost like free study time. If you go to office hours, do the homework, and put in the effort, you should be okay. It isn't an easy class, but she really isn't that bad. She always gives practice exams which are very similar to the real thing, and the homeworks are always more difficult than the exams. She can come across a bit condescending at times, but otherwise she is a fine professor if you're willing to do some work.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/01/2023

She straight up doesn't know chemistry. All she does is ask the TA for help and tell students to read the textbook because she has no clue what is going on and if she does she can't communicate it. She makes mistakes in every lecture and often has to "give up" on problems because she can't figure them out. I learned nothing. biggest waste of my time and money.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
04/29/2023

if i could do 0 stars i would. ended up failing and retaking with dr. guest which is much better. mignerey did not teach at all.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/11/2023

Lectures are honestly quite boring and sometimes hard to follow what is going on. the homework and quizzes aren’t too bad, but sometimes it doesn’t really reflect the content in the lectures. the exams are definitely hard, but with the curve the grades are super fair. if you put in effort and actually pay attention to the lectures, you should be fine. i’ve never been to office hours or anything, so i can’t rly say much about her personally.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
04/11/2023

If you’re looking for a nice and easy ride through 131, know that it simply does no exist. I feel that many of the reviews for Professor Baxter are more for her class than her teaching abilities, which is a bit unfair as making this class enjoyable/easy is pretty much impossible. All things considered she’s the best you could get between all your other options for this class, helpful lady who will genuinely make time to boost her class and makes lectures certainly more interesting than they might otherwise be. Provides no practice exams but guided notes will carry you through long and fast lectures. Absolute Queen.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/04/2023

So I must admit Tienson is not the best professor. Her handwriting is close to unreadable, and she gets flustered easily when asked questions during lecture. Also she wasn’t the best at explaining concepts and tends to over-explain or overcomplicate things in lecture, and often looses her train of thought. HOWEVER, she does seem to genuinely want to see her students succeed and although I never went to her office hours (don’t be like me, you should go) I was told that she was kind and more helpful during them. Also, I found the achieve homeworks helpful and she usually put out a TON of extra practice problems before the exam, which were always useful. The clicker questions we did in class also counted as extra credit so that was nice, even though we didn’t end up doing as many as she said we would in the beginning. I thought her exams and curves were reasonable and I honestly did better than I thought I would in this class. The only thing I really did not like were the group quizzes and exams, as I didn’t really find them very helpful and it was sometimes a little difficult to interact and coordinate with my group-mates as a disabled student, however I can see how they could be helpful to other students. Overall she wasn’t the best professor however she gave us opportunities to do well without being overly stressed, and tried to make the class not as test-heavy which I appreciated as chemistry is pretty difficult for me.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
03/12/2023

Baxter was probably the best professor out of the options I had. Chemistry is miserable. I hated every second I was there. But she tries hard to answer questions well and make lectures interesting. She also provided fill in the blank notes which I LOVEDDD. To be honest if I tried harder I probably could have gotten an A or at least a B+. She doesn't offer practice exams or anything which was kinda annoying but if you put in the work you can do okay. She doesn't post lectures, but she does post her slides/notes so if you miss class you're fine. I had an 8am section so I relied on those v heavily! Attendance is not mandatory (thank god). Overall would recommend over other chem profs

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
03/04/2023

Got a B+ in the class, which is okay. I think the practice exams were easier than the exams she gives out, but it is manageable. She is a really great lecturer and explains the concept really well. Even though I had forgot most of stuff I learned in high school chem class, she definitely explained it well enough to understand for students who don't have prior knowledge of the course.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/03/2023

Other comments basically say what I want to say, and one more thing I want to ask, this professor gave the practice exam and her actual exam have anything to do with it??????

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/17/2023

Terrible doesn't give us practice exams. Great lecturer terrible teacher.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
02/03/2023

I hated CHEM131, and I got the grade I deserved considering the work I put in, which was very minimal. Baxter is a really good professor. She's very organized and explains things well in class. I'd like to point out that CHEM131 is HARD, so having a good professor doesn't mean you'll do well. Do your homework, go to lecture, and use her office hours if you need them. She's really accessible outside of class, so take advantage of that if you're struggling. Note that she doesn't give out practice exams or study guides, which I believe some other CHEM131 professors do. If you know how to do the problems in the lecture notes, you should probably be fine. Also note that she doesn't curve individual exam grades, but she does one big curve (~10%) at the end of the semester, as well as replaces your lowest exam grade with the final grade. She does her best to get your grade looking prettier on your transcript than it does on ELMS. Overall, if you have to take CHEM131, she's a great bet.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
01/20/2023

If you need a reference: My ending grade was a 44% and that translated to a C-(TuTh section) Good luck guys. If you do all her examples on canvas and memorize the material, you can do it! I somehow did. Overall, she is a good lecturer but goes fast and doesn't record.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/08/2023

Baxter is a lovely professor, who comes to class organized and prepared to teach. She is super accessible outside of class hours because she holds many office hours as well as responds to her emails frequently. She doesn't overcomplicate any concept beyond what we need to know in order to do well on her exams. Exam averages were pretty low, but that's to be expected of Gen Chem imo. If you are worried about grades, there is a very generous curve at the end of the course. If you do practice problem before exams/go over your homeworks, you will be fine!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/05/2023

I feel like a lot of students mistakenly rate the class and not the professor. Obviously CHEM131 isn't easy, chemistry can be miserable. How well you do really depends on your own study habits and effort to learn the material. Professor Baxter herself is a great professor. Out of all the CHEM131 professors (and the others actually suck), she's the one to have. I think the absolute best part of this class is that she gives you guided notes to fill out during lecture. It makes note-taking so much easier, and I seriously wish all my professors did that. She doesn't curve exams, but she does curve the overall grade. For my class it ended up being 10 percentage points. She doesn't record lectures, but she does post her slideshows and notes keys on Canvas. Also, the other CHEM131 professors give four midterm exams, but Baxter only gives three. Do what you will with that information.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a C
georgelkelley
01/05/2023

All the positive reviews were given by the few students who fully understand chemistry and found this class to be easy, so I would advise that most students reading this do not listen to them unless you fully understand chemistry too. This is the absolute worst class I have ever taken. During finals week, this one class caused me so much stress that I physically couldn't eat. I was always hesitant to ask Mignerey a question, but one day I did, and she was very rude in her answer. During lecture, she goes way too fast and does not explain stuff well. If you ask her a question, she'll answer it in the most condescending way and then say "right?" while laugh. The only reason I passed this class was because of the homework. If you fail the exams but do all the homeworks, you should pass. Surprisingly, her curve was 20% so I passed the class with a 50%.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
wild
12/27/2022

meh class - got an A+ though so that was cool the exams are pretty easy but lengthy so people tend to lose a lot of points simply to not finishing. exam averages were in the 50s and although this may seem quite concerning, it is very easy to do well. studying a few days before the exams is sufficient - go through all her slides and discussion questions to be in very good shape for the exams. i went to discussion a grand total of 0 times this semester and although this is very very bad for a first semester student, it all worked out. I also skipped class the majority of times and this is the basis of my reasoning for 4 stars. I didn't particularly need her to do well in the class so to rate her as a professor, it is quite hard for me. the other thing which made me rate her a 4 stars is the final was intentionally made to be full of questions not made in the past. she told us this and it was funny at first but it also meant we had to review all the material and not just past exams. otherwise, her teaching was probably good because her slides were sufficient for an A+ along with some discussion worksheets. you'll do well taking Baxter and it was a risk taking her because this was her first semester teaching but I have no regrets looking back. being like a month ahead other classes was a blessing for lab and just simply being a bit more chill at later points in the semester. good luck though!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/24/2022

This is coming from someone that slacked off in this class and came into the year with an extended case of senioritis. I truly believe Baxter is probably the best CHEM131 professor in terms of getting you ready for the content. Guest had easier tests and was more lenient with HW and also recorded her lectures, Baxter will get you prepared. Baxter is a great lecturer and very helpful in office hours. You will have to attend class in order to stay on top of things, which I did not, which resulted in me having to cram a few nights before each exam. The exams are a little bit more difficult than other classes, but there aren't really any curveballs or anything you haven't seen before, whether it's with Achieve homework or class discussion worksheets. However, there are no study guides or review guides before each exam, so you're gonna have to rely on your own notes and the slides she posts on Canvas. The class is curved at the end, with about a 10 point curve (Class average of 65 -> 75), but she has broadened grade cutoff ranges, so if you're borderline by like 2-3% to the next grade range, it will mostly likely be curved up to the next grade (Example: 87 would be a B+, but most likely will carry over to an A-) Keep in mind that the class is weighted, your ELMS grade most likely will be inaccurate by a lot, so do some manual calculations so you know what grade you actually have. I managed to grind it out to a B with a curve, but I truly believe I probably could've gotten an A in this class if I just cracked down early enough. The only gripe I had with this class is that the final exam is based on content she hasn't put on other midterms and new content, which is a very vague description on what's actually on the exams. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, she's a new teacher, but honestly pretty good overall.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/21/2022

It was a pretty painful experience. She didn’t give out any practice tests or study guides and the class moved at a really fast pace. And I know in college lectures do move at a fast pace but the fact that we were about a month ahead of another class was ridiculous.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Dr. Baxter is the best chem131 professor you can get! She does cover the content pretty fast and lectures are usually jam-packed with content. Her tests are also challenging but fair. After getting used to the content-heavy tests, the class became easier. Unlike other classes, we only had 3 midterms instead of 4, so take note of that. Fewer tests, more content on each one. I came out of her class actually being able to do chemistry, which is something I can't say about any of my highschool profs. The curve ended up being 10%, which is pretty normal for UMD gen-chem courses. Just remember to really study for those tests and you'll be fine!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Dr Baxter is absolutely amazing. Coming into gen chem, I had no proper foundation of chemistry (I did not take AP Chem and I only had 2 normal quarters of chemistry in 10th grade because of the pandemic). But on the first day, Dr Baxter made herself very clear that we do not need prior knowledge and that she wants us to succeed as long as we meet her half way. I was completely testify that this is true. She is very reasonable with the HW (which is an easy A by the way) and the due dates and if she makes a mistake she always acknowledges it and apologizes. Her course page is so so organized and it makes other students jealous. Literally, in September she made a calendar for the whole semester that showed what lecture would be covered and when the specific HW would be due and when the next exam is. She makes guided notes for the lectures that go hand in hand with her presentations and they also serve as a study guide for when there are exams. She also posts answer keys to the guided notes after the lecture is over to ensure we have accurate information. I highly suggest printing them out before the lecture (as she does post them beforehand for us to do so). She also makes the discussion worksheets which are usually similar to the exams she gives. She is also always at her office hours and will always notify us if she cannot make it. At office hours she was so kind and nice to talk to and I was easily able to ask any question about chemistry that I wanted. I've been told that Alice Mingery (the other chem professor) is so condescending when asked questions, but Baxter has never been that way. She will explain everything so methodically and ensure that we get the proper answer. Now, she does expect us to practice and will emphasize us doing the practice problems given to ensure our mastery of the topic. She always says that the best way to master chemistry is through practice problems which I completely agree. Now I will be honest, going to lecture is not enough for this class. She does go at a very fast pace and there are many days I leave that class being completely confused. However what I did that I thought was really helpful was rereading her lecture notes (which are very clear) and finding the corresponding online textbook page that corresponds to that topic and doing the practice problems. That really helped. Going at a very fast pace for the chem lectures is nice because (A) it helps with the chem labs which may cover topics not covered in lecture and (B) It lets the information sink in more before the final. One thing that baffled me was that the exam averages were 50-60 for all three. However I managed to get a C on two midterms, a B on another midterm, and a B on the final (average was a D for the final). She also said that the final can replace our lowest midterm exam grade. Her exams are completely straightforward and there are usually no tricks to them. They are very similar to the discussion worksheets too. The one tricky part is the time limit which I admit can get some people (but that can be easily fixed with practice trust me). The final that I just took last week was identical to how her midterms were and they had no tricks to them Its clear that Dr Baxter cares about her students and just wants us to have a strong foundation of chemistry. My TA was honestly not that great and I left her discussion after the second week and stopped going. I just used the discussion worksheet and the answer key and If I had a question, I would just go to office hours. Also don't trust the GSS because they do not follow Baxter's structure for the exams. Baxter is not an easy professor as per say, but if you put in the work you will be able to do well. I am so glad I took her class

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Amazing CHEM 131 professor considering the other options. Do not listen to the reviews below in which people whine about the low averages for each exam. This is college, not high school. Not everyone can get an A. Also, as someone who has taken orgo, the high C/low B average across all exams with the curve is pretty standard, so get used to that if you are going to take more chem courses at UMD. Also, the GSS leader was amazing. Like the person below said, definitely go to his regular sessions if you can. People usually don't attend those, and there is a lot of individualized help available. Exam review sessions were crowded though. I felt that the past exams were challenging in their own right. Again, don't listen to the people who complain that they didn't resemble Dr. Baxter's exams. This was her first time teaching, so how can you expect the past exams to be similar to hers when literally no one has seen one of her exams before? Some practice is better than no practice, and if that isn't good enough for you, just don't attend.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2022

When I first took this Prof, it was TBD. I was so scared. Then, I met her and realized she was friendly, understanding, and kept her students in mind. Her lectures are fast, so read her notes ahead of time (like she recommends!). Also, read the textbook. It helped me with the multiple choice A LOT. Honestly, everything is excellent but the tests. The tests are long and you barely have enough time to process the question. But, she replaced the final w the lowest grade and gave us a 10% curve based on the class averages at the end, so she truly wants us to succeed. I would take her again if I had to do it all over again. Just know that you need to put in the work, but I think her teaching and test style set me up for success for future science classes.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/20/2022

DO NOT TAKE HER THESE PEOPLE ARE LYING TO YOU

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/19/2022

She's definitely not as bad as people make it out to be. It's going to be difficult to understand what is going on in class if you don't read the textbook since she doesn't really cover any conceptual ideas and if she does then it's covered in a very short amount of time and difficult to understand. The class is mostly going over practice problems and she does move fast but that is expected since they are only 50 minute lectures. She gives practice exams that are very similar to the actual exams that you receive, so as long as you understand how to do those and are able to do problems that are slightly different than the ones given on the practice exams then you should be fine. The averages on all of the midterms were in the 50s to low 60s and the final's average was in the low 50s, but don't let this scare you because as long as you put in the work then you'll do well. Before the exams always make sure to first have read all of the required chapters in the textbook and understand the concepts, do the practice exam given, and do the worksheets that are made by the TA and GSS leader. This is a very exam heavy class where your entire grade is entirely determined on the exams so make sure you don't slack off with not studying for an exam as it will be difficult to recover your grade. The word problems on the final were definitely more difficult than on the midterms in my opinion but it is still very attainable to get an A on the final.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/19/2022

The fact that no test average has been higher than a 61 and the only people rating her are expecting an A should tell you that these accounts aren’t indicative of her average student’s experience. I will say off the bat that if you do not spend a significant amount of time on this class—taking thorough notes, attending gss sessions, going over the textbook—you will fail. This is because Professor Baxter is far too disorganized with the content to provide you with a concise, accurate view of what you need to know. As others have said, her exams include questions students have never seen before and could have no way of knowing how to solve because she refuses to teach them how. Her entire guiding philosophy is “here’s a textbook, figure it out yourself.” Fine if you have 20 hours a week to blow on chem, bit of an issue if you’re taking 3 labs. My biggest gripe with her is that she refuses to accept that things other than hard work and studying can have an effect on your grade. She offered a grand total of 3 points of extra credit on one test and that’s it. I wound up getting super sick at the end of the semester and didn’t have much time to prepare for the test. I still wound up taking it because I figured it was nothing more than a cold and some nerves that were fogging up my head and making it impossible to study. So I still took the final and ended up bombing it. I found out the day after that I had been suffering from Mono and a nasty ear infection in my left ear. I let Professor Baxter know this. I owned up to my grade but asked if I couldn’t redo an assignment or two just to offset some of the points I might have lost. Her answer was flat out no, that the only extra credit offered was 3 total points for picking up tests from her office. I understand I’m not entitled to a good grade in the class, but when a teacher has repeatedly shown that she doesn’t care a lick about your grade, your out of school life, and your wellbeing as a whole, it’s hard to have any shred of respect for them. Easily the worst teacher I’ve had at this university. If I’d had any interest in chemistry going into this class, she would have put me off of it.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2022

Prepare to put in a lot of effort to do well in her class. The one good thing about her is that she records her lectures. Overall, not a great lecturer. She can be hard to follow along with and moves through topics slowly but the key to doing well in her class is to do every practice problem available to you. Not a very good curve at the end of the semester whatsoever. Only about 3%. This is because she “assigns grades” and the class average was pretty high for an intro chem class.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/17/2022

Dr. Guest is an extremely lenient grader and is always willing to give extensions. The tests are easier than what you'll see in lectures and homework, so study and use the resources given to you. She's not the best lecturer but you'll get enough of the concepts to know what you have to review in the textbook. She gives great study guides and practice exams which are exactly what you'll see on the tests. For me, the GSS helped the most, as my TA was a useless douchebag so discussions were a waste of my time. Also, Dr. Guest gives an incredible curve at the end. My 91 curved to a 98, and I know people with lower grades curved even higher. My advice: Use the homeworks to study. It's easy to do well on them which will bump your grade up enough. Same with the quizzes. The textbook is a great resource. It gives great examples and explains things really well. I mostly took notes from the textbook so I could pay more attention during lectures. Go to the GSS! And if you find you need the help, get a tutor. You can absolutely do well in this class, you just have to take responsibility. It won't be an easy A but definitely attainable.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2022

Personally I think she deserves more credit. Her lectures weren’t the best, but her exams were overall pretty fair. She curves the class at the end and it helped me out a lot. I think she tried her best to teach a quick paced course. If I had to take her again I would. She was the best out of all the Chem131 professors.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/16/2022

lowk she's not even that bad. if ur a good student and u put in work and study and take notes you'll do great. her content's pretty easy especially if u took chem in high school. to study, read the textbook and her powerpoints and do the homework and you'll be good. it's dependent on u and what ur willing to put in but overall it's really not that bad don't be scared like yea there's downsides lab is annoying and she moves slow so what ur doing in class won't line up w what u do in lab (which is def frustrating) but i feel like it's not as horrible as everyone makes it seem

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/16/2022

Honestly, I don't even know what to say. I have never felt this bad about a class in my life. This class is very draining and it's even worse when the professor is no help. She doesn't explain concepts well during lectures and I can only get proper insight when I go to discussions. When students ask her questions during lectures, she doesn't know how to answer them at all and usually the TA steps in to help. I'm glad we had a good TA because without Sam, I wouldn't have been able to do as well(barely) on the exams. Even though I understood the material, the exams did not reflect well. It was sometimes hard understanding what the questions were asking. Her midterm averages ranged from 50s-60s. Also, her last exam is a week before finals which seems like a set up for failure in her class. It just makes no sense and gives us little time to study for the final which is cumulative. The final was a total fail and I am only hoping she gives a really generous curve because that is all I am relying on right now. Allegedly, she gives a generous curve at the end and if she does I could possibly get a C-.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/15/2022

Honestly not that bad. If you were an A student in high school, you're gonna be an A student in this class. A lot of the reviews about mignerey are incorrect. She was nice and provided a lot of material to learn and prepare for the tests. The final exam was whack though and nearly impossible! Definitely the best general chemistry professor available.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2022

I'd say your grade in this class depends entirely on you. Mignerey's lectures aren't helpful, she goes way too fast, doesn't transition well into topics, and never explains anything conceptually. It's up to you to go through the textbook and teach yourself. BUT she's not as bad as everyone else says though - her exams are pretty similar to her practice exams. Sam, the TA, is also really helpful, as well as Jen (GSS). If you know how to self-study you should be fine. My best advice is to attend every discussion with your TA and go to GSS as much as you can (especially the ones before exams). Baxter's definitely better, Guest is um no comment but I just wanna emphasize that Mignerey isn't totally horrible.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2022

Try to take a different professor if you can. I ended up taking her and truly was just not happy with her teaching, let alone her handwriting. She will help you if you ask questions in person to her, but she does not teach super great. You need to read the textbook if you want to have some clue of what is going on.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/15/2022

Please don't listen to these other reviews. Mignerey is not good, but easily the best chem131 professor available. Guest is terrible, Baxter is brand new and gives students no material to prepare for tests with, averages in both classes were 50s and below. Literally just go to class and discussion and GSS if you're still confused and you'll be fine. She posts practice exams a week before each exam that are basically the same as the test. Plus Sam (TA) and Jen (GSS) are so so so helpful. Take this professor I promise.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2022

This professor doesnt even know chemistry. She doesn't even know what shes talking about half of the time. She goes over some powerpoint and expects us to actually understand what shes saying and doing. She has assignments on Achieve which you basically have to figure out yourself since she doesn't even go over any of that material properly. She does curve the class though. If you actually want to learn anything don't take this class. If you end up with her, good luck. Dont lose points on things like discussion worksheets, achieve homeworks/preclass assignments, and clicker questions. Someone take away her doctorate degree ASAP !!

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2022

I feel like her exams do not reflect what she teaches us at all! I feel confident going into every exam, I understand the review guides, did well on the homework, go to lectures, etc... yet do so terribly on the exams??? and It's not just me the averages on the exams are embarrassingly low. I understand this is a difficult course but I'm not sure what else one can do to improve. The only reason I did alright in the class is because of the TA, Sam who is very helpful. He also teaches the discussions and goes over practice problems during those so definitely don't skip! If you ever have to email Dr. Mignerey also email Sam because he will respond within minutes not days.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2022

Out of all the chem teachers Dr. Baxter is the best so far. Tone honest Chem131 is a lot of material so her lectures go by fast however if you do you're work on time, don't skip lectures, and go to office hours you will do fine. On the first test I was shaken up about the time but for the 2nd and 3rd time was not an issue anymore. Her tests are pretty fair and although it can be intimidating with how much content is in each exam, for the most part it will never be anything she hasn't shown in class or in the textbook questions. My suggestion is doing notes prior to class and glancing over the textbook for definitions and guided examples, then in class strengthen it along with asking questions during lecture, and then practice. She is really helpful during office hours too. People say this class is hard but it also depends on how you study and the effort you put into this class.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2022

do not listen to the reviews claiming that baxter's class will have a massive curve. not once has she ever used those words. at most she said there will be a curve to push grades up to a "high c," meaning, most likely, a 77%. this would be useful information, but she refuses to tell us what the actual class average is. as of right now, all the grades in elms are incredibly inflated because she hasn't even put in the weightings yet (15% homework, 20% exam 1, 20% exam 2, 20% exam 3, and 25% final). when she does put the weightings in, i have no doubt that everyone's grade will drop exponentially. does this sound like a professor who wants to be helpful? i'm sure that baxter is nice and accommodating outside of class, but this review is a true reflection of the actual proceedings of the course. exam averages have never exceeded 60% (about 53% for exam 1, 56% exam 2, and 61% exam 3). she doesn't curve exams. only 15% of the grade is homework, meaning that you HAVE to perform well on tests to do well in the class. despite what other reviews claim, three days of casual studying is not enough to do well on tests. i studied for hours everyday leading up to the test, and my test average is still an 85%. the gss discussion are absolutely unhelpful. all the questions are in formats completely different from test questions and the gss leader is not effective in providing help with confusing topics. the gss exam reviews used past exams from dr. guest, whose tests are completely different from baxter's. most of dr. baxter's lectures are fast paced and she explains concepts in the most convoluted manner possible. she teaches the class as if students already have an education in chemistry, even though she claimed in the beginning of the year that the curriculum was made for "beginners." exam material is incredibly concentrated, and any question about exam content is answered with the incredibly vague response: "anything is fair game." for our second exam, professor baxter asked students to submit questions they were confused about so that we could review them in class. instead of truly reviewing in a helpful way, baxter pulled up the questions and proceeded to not do any of them. she would project them and then say "i'm not going to show you how to actually solve the problem or tell you the answer, i'll just tell you how much i think you need to know to find it yourself." in terms of exam review, this wasn't exactly the most helpful. the only reason i'm rating this class 2 stars is because out of all the chemistry teachers, dr. baxter is probably still your best bet. however, these reviews are biased towards baxter's personality and not her class - don't listen to them. the class is still very hard. you'll need to put in a lot of work to do well. just because she's a nice person doesn't mean that her class is easy.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/11/2022

I would definitely say Dr. Baxter is the best CHEM131 professor you can get because I’ve heard such bad things about the other two that I AM glad I have her. That being said, I struggled a lot in this course. For the amount of work I put in before the tests, it was extremely disappointing for my highest test grade to be a C. The averages for these midterms did not exceed 60, and after literally the first one the average overall grade in the class plummeted to a 73. The curve for this class will hopefully save everyone, but meanwhile it’s my lowest grade by far and I’m putting way more work into this than any other class. HOWEVER. Dr. Baxter is smart and competent and I trust she wants us to learn and succeed, but it is extremely hard to do so in this class. Would recommend though.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
pengpenguin
12/11/2022

To everyone thinking of taking Guest for CHEM131 (lecture), DO IT. Let's be real, it's impossible to expect an entirely perfect professor for CHEM131 given the size of the class, but I think Guest is pretty much as good as you can get. It's true that she's not great for lab (132), and that's why you see a lot of negative reviews for her. HOWEVER this does not mean she's a bad prof to have for lecture. She was the only prof this semester (so besides Mignerey and Baxter) to have a zoom option for lecture, and upload recordings of her lectures on Canvas. This was literally so clutch because I could skip that 9am lecture all the time and catch up later, or drag myself out of bed to sit on zoom if I felt productive. Our class averages on exams were also higher than Mignerey's and Baxter's. She always uploaded a study guide and practice exam in the modules of our Canvas page, and sent announcements to remind us that they were there. She has a weekly homework assignment and a quiz, but she's very flexible with deadlines and would always give extensions on these assignments. She likes a lot of class engagement, which can be kind of awkward, but she's pretty nice about it and always reminds us that it's not bad to be wrong and we should just give it a try. When I emailed her to ask her to post a lecture video, she did so at 3am. One negative thing about having her for lecture was that she moves pretty slow (like a week behind the syllabus) so I often had to learn the content in lab myself. However, her lab manual makes that pretty easy. It honestly wasn't very hard to figure things our myself, though I will say I took chemistry 4 years ago in high school, which may have made it easier for me.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a W
Anonymous
12/08/2022

Mignerey was the reason I dropped premed and decided to go into business. She does not give time for students to process the information that they are learning. When lecturing, she messes up her own problems and then the TA has to call it out. The whole class would follow her until someone decides to speak up and she would then fix it. The only good thing about chem are the discussions. Please go to the discussions because those are the reasons why you will pass the exams. Before withdrawing and getting first hand experience from my friends, she would give multiple chapters of reading along with the learning curves and hw that would all be due in a week.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/08/2022

She is a fair and accommodating professor and wants her students to understand the material. Although the midterm averages are all ~50%, she allegedly has a large curve at the end to help people's grades. She also has a policy where your final grade can replace one of your midterm grades, so that can be helpful if you do bad on one midterm. Overall, the class has a lot of material and tests can be difficult, but she seems better than a lot of other CHEM131 options and she tries to help students succeed, so I would recommend her over other professors.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/06/2022

Honestly, a great addition to the University of Maryland's lacking chem/science department. I was initially scared to take chem because I have not heard great things about the professors. However, Dr. Baxter is super understanding and is great at teaching material. I never felt cheated in exams by trick questions or information that wasn't explained during lectures. I will admit her exam averages are quite low compared to other professors I've heard about (about 50-60%). But I honestly think if you take the time to understand the material you will be completely fine. Her exam questions are very similar to those she makes for the discussion sections, so pay very close attention to those.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2022

Class aside, she's so nice, understanding, and flexible. If her class is available, register immediately because she will fill up. As long as you show up to her classes, you will definitely be fine. Exams are straightforward and pretty much just what we go over in class. Highly recommend.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
UMDStudent100
12/05/2022

Do not take Mignerey. Dr. Mignerey is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. She consistently makes mistakes while doing problems and when students are confused, she is condescending and rude. She also consistently skips steps in example problems leaving students lost, and unable to follow without explaining the steps she has skipped. She makes every topic much more confusing than it has to be. She also assigns an astronomical amount of homework that is due Monday nights and sometimes does not teach the material until that Monday leaving those with busy Mondays completely screwed. Dr. Mignerey teaches badly, is condescending, and is never there for office hours.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
laanderson4
12/05/2022

Regularly copies things down wrong or makes mistakes while demonstrating examples, then when everyone is confused acts like we’re all stupid. If she finally realizes her mistake, Mignerey goes around in circles instead of reexplaining. Hostile to people who ask questions during class, but also unavailable during office hours. Pray that you get a different teacher.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/05/2022

everything written about her on here and rate my professors is correct, perhaps even worse. take that as you wish. the exams are whack, she gets her own problems during lecture wrong and then gets fiesty when a STUDENT fixes her mistake. she doesn't answer emails, only reason I might pass this class is because of the TA's and GSS sessions. ATTEND EVERY SINGLE ONE! they're the only place you're going to learn anything. she assigns you 50+ questions a week that are 100x harder than what you've seen in class, and expects you to get that down on top of an exam every 3 weeks and learning the material. her averages ranged from 52-63, nothing ever higher. i don't know one person who has passed one of her exams with an A. i strongly recommend taking ANYONE BUT HER IF YOU CAN! FOR YOUR OWN SAKE!

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2022

Dr. Baxter is absolutely amazing, highly recommend for anyone that needs to take chem 131. She provides guided lecture notes which make lectures easy to follow in highly engaging. Chem 131 is literally my favorite class this semester and the only class I look forward to thanks to her. Super nice individual and very helpful during office hours. Cannot recommend her enough. If you need to take chem 131, take Dr. Baxter.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2022

Terrific professor, explains concepts really well. Exams can be kinda difficult but the curve in her class is ridiculous at the end, I've done so mid on every exam but could still get an A just because of how good the curve is.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/02/2022

Class averages for exams rarely exceed 60%, generally around 50%. Material is incredibly dense. Other professors have split their material into 4 exams, this class had only 3 which makes exam material incredibly concentrated. Most people were unable to complete the exams with the time provided. Could just be the curriculum being too much, but I am a junior and have taken many 300+ level classes, and somehow despite being a 100 level introductory course this class has been the worst experience of my academic career. Majority of people I’ve spoken to have had similar feelings. Just an overall difficult and painful experience.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/02/2022

dr baxter is the best. the ta's are a little janky but not anything you can do about it. I haven't gone to discussion and just look over the discussion worksheet she posts and the answer key to them and her module notes. easily able to pass the class. very fair and would recommend her to everyone who needs to take chem131.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2022

When talking about Dr. Baxter, there is not a better general chemistry professor than her. When I first signed up for this class, it showed up as a TBA. However, I still count my stars to this day that I was blessed with getting a professor as good as Dr. Baxter. She goes in-depth in every important concept that is necessary and makes sure that you are prepared for the exams. She said that she will give around a ~10% curve to the final grade which can bump you up a whole letter grade. However, you should not rely on this curve as 3 days of studying prior to the exam can get you an 80 average on the exams, which is all you need. There are 3 midterms and a final. The final replaces the lowest midterm grade. Definitely take her at all costs if you can. Dr. Baxter the goat no cap.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/01/2022

Professor Baxter is by far the best general chemistry professor in the entire department. If you want a professor that cares about your learning, does not fall behind lecture schedule, and gives fair exams, take Dr. Baxter. Her exams are extremely fair: attend lectures, do all practice problems and I promise you will receive a good grade. Dr. Baxter's office hours are also outstanding. She will sit there with you for hours until you understand the material. She is always willing to help and she is very accommodating. Overall, a wonderful professor I absolutely recommend her to anyone thinking of taking chemistry.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/01/2022

If I could give her a zero, I would. What a horrible experience this has been. No practice material, exams, you can barely understand her in lecture. She briefly reviews complicated topic as though it is not our first exposure to them. Compared to other professors, she gives no resources. I'm saying this as objectively as I can; no matter how much you study, what she gives us is not enough to succeed in her class.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/30/2022

She's a fair grader and has offered extensions multiple times through the semester. I have some background in chemistry coming in, so it's hard to say if her lectures would be difficult for beginners, but I felt they were decent. My main complaint: I don't know if other professors had this, but Guest's class used this auto-purchased e-textbook that was absolutely useless and she gave little to no instructions on how to opt out. Total money grab. Also the homework is super long but I doubt that changes much between professors. Also (for CHEM132), I'm pretty sure all the labs are run by TA's so idk why people are dogging on her for that? It's like that in other subjects too, and you literally just follow the experiment instructions. It's not like our TA was bad either. I'm so confused why people are mad about that.

Ashley Baxter
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/29/2022

I signed up for Dr. Baxter's class on a whim when the Professor's name was in Testudo as "TBA" because I figured that the new professor could not be any worse than the other options for CHEM131 who all had 1-star ratings. I'm so glad I did. Once the announcement came out about who the new professor was, I saw that she was a first-time professor who just received her PhD in the Spring of 2022. I honestly thought this was a good sign because I figured she would try more than some of the more veteran professors, and she really does. Dr. Baxter comes prepared to class every day with good content in-hand. The class itself is great because she provides you with guided notes so that you just have to fill in blanks and do the practice problems yourself. It makes it so that you can get all of the information without struggling to write it down in-time. Dr. Baxter also works really hard to keep the timing of the course on-track. During the first two units, we were ahead of schedule, which may sound grueling, but it's really great because then we're assured that we'll get through everything we need to before moving on to the next level of Chemistry. When she was absent and we started falling behind a little, she would record lecture videos for us to watch on our own. She really puts her students' education first. In regards to grading, I really like how she does it. Yes, the exams do count towards a large portion of our grade, but so does the homework. The homework is graded on accuracy, but you have as many tries as you need, and it just takes off a small percentage for every attempt you get wrong. I know the grades on the exams are mixed, with an average around 52%, but I believe that if you put in the work to study on your own by reading the textbook and doing the practice problems she provides, you can easily score a B or an A. She gives you the resources you need--all you have to do is use them. She is going to do a curve at the end of the semester, which she said will be done by curving the average in the class to a 70%. So, if the class average is a 60%, those people will end up with a 70%. People with a grade greater than 60% will end up with a grade that is greater than 70%. When talking about our first semester chemistry experience with friends, I always talk about how great Dr. Baxter is and my friends say they are jealous. They often fall behind in lecture content and will not get through everything by the end of the semester, and they're not normally at the right place in learning where what they're taught in lecture is what they do in lab. My experience is the opposite. Most of the time, I feel prepared to go to lab because Dr. Baxter has already taught us a lot of the necessary information. Overall, my experience has been great and I'm so lucky that I took the chance with the new professor, Dr. Baxter.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/13/2022

I took AP Chem in high school so this made it easier to get through the class but she is just not good. She doesn't teach anything and she makes you read the textbook if you want to get any knowledge at all. She has awful handwriting and a pretty bad attitude sometimes. She doesn't teach anything and even some of her problems had the wrong answer. Do not reccomend.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/07/2022

Not a friendly person, was an average lecturer at best. Exams were difficult, but she gave practice exams that were very similar to the actual exam. Gives a generous curve at the end of the semester.

Natalia White
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
07/10/2022

To be honest there is no cons with this teacher. She teaches nicely. She lets you know what will be on the exam. She responds to emails. She had a 10-point curve which was really nice. And we had a nice TA. It is chemistry so of course it will be hard. But if you score above average on every exam then you should be fine. The average in this class is probably a B because of her nice curve. I only give her a 4 out of 5 stars because I am an above average student, and I should have gotten an A. I'm the smartest person I know.

Christiana Guest
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/27/2022

Dr.Guest is an okayish teacher. She has a fair grading system in place, 3 midterms and 1 final, but an incredibly generous curve at the end of the semester. (Ours was 11 points on our final grade). She assigns TopHat reading and homework assignments, which are graded really easily so long as you do all of it and at least get 50 percent correct. However, there were a couple of things that I disliked about her class. She tries to do an online zoom class while also being in person, and that was extremely frustrating as she is not a tech-savvy teacher. We wasted almost 20 minutes every class trying to figure out technical issues with the screen. Secondly, she teaches the class, as most people have already had some kind of experience in chem, which wasn't true for most of our class. She would fly through lectures at light speed, and if you were left behind, you pretty much failed. I would definitely recommend taking it with someone else, unless you have a substantial amount of chemistry knowledge, if you do I think it's a free A. Best of luck. -

Michael Pacella
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2022

I have nothing bad to say about Dr. Pacella. His class grades are pretty simple with HW assignments, clicker questions, and exams. You do need to show up to class for participation points, but the class itself is not too boring. His exams can be difficult, but he adjusts the cumulative grade cutoffs accordingly. Dr. Pacella is very easy to contact and will have office hours almost everyday and has a discord server to answer any questions. Dr. Pacella will provide you with past exams and video recorded lectures that will make studying very easy. One of the coolest teachers ever (you can talk to him on just about anything).

Michael Pacella
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/17/2022

Dr. Pacella is AMAZING! He is the best professor the chemistry department has and his passion for chemistry is evident every class. This was a flipped classroom so the course required a lot of work outside of class, but he did this so we can do practice problems during class. He had office hours every single day and was very accessible! He also held review sessions before a test and would spend upwards of 5 hours on zoom with us and wouldn't end the call until all questions were answered! He is seriously the kindest professor I have met and he actually cares about his students. That being said his exams were very very difficult and you won't get the grade you desire unless you work for it! NEVERTHELESS, TAKE HIM!

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/16/2022

I'm sorry but this class was super disorganized and she made the exams harder than they needed to be/harder than the example problems she gave us in class. no wonder why the averages are usually low c's and high d's. we couldn't cover everything in class so we had to watch many pre-recorded videos on our own. she also taught us stuff the week of the final that was going to be ON THE FINAL which was okay, but the thing is, that stuff was 1/3 of the exam and she couldn't even go over all of the practice problems in class. she would put problems on the exam that are 10x harder and more complicated than what she taught us. don't get me wrong, she is super nice but she's just not a good teacher. you have to study really hard for the exams in order to do well. hw is on tophat which u have to pay for, and the questions r sm easier than the problems on the exam.

Michael Pacella
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/13/2022

Dr. Pacella was one of the nicest professors I've had. He's super understanding and very accessible through email or discord. Before each exam, he holds a review session and answers any questions you have, and provides practice exams from past exams. With that being said, the exams themself were very hard. I took the final today and I would say the practice exams weren't reflective of what was on the actual final, which made me want to cry afterward. If you have him, he's not kidding when you have to study 7-9 hours a week, might even be more.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/05/2022

Took AP Chem in high school, so I was not expecting to put a ton of effort into this class. God was I wrong. Dr. Tseng was not a good lecturer, although I was usually able to follow up on the content based on prior knowledge. The Top Hat homeworks were helpful in terms of what to expect on exams, but that was pretty much the only material that helped. She had practice exams that were nothing like the actual exams, so eventually I stopped even doing them. Her handwriting was also horrible, so the exam keys and other keys were impossible to read and frequently had mistakes. Her problems on exams were also really hard for Gen Chem 1- harder than anything I had seen in AP Chem (which combines Gen Chem 1 and some of Gen Chem 2). This was reflected by the averages on exams- which she wouldn't even tell us because they were so low. All I know is there was never an average above a 50- which included the final. There was definitely a curve as I never got an A on an exam and still ended with an A, but when I took the class I had no clue what my grade was till final grades were released. To add, discussions were also graded, so keep that in mind if you like optional discussions. To add to this, as if it could not have gotten worse, exams were scheduled at the worst times possible. Had this class at 8 AM and one of our exams was the day after Halloween, with the other the day after Thanksgiving. Timing literally could not have been worse. Only good thing that came out of this class was the curve and that OChem genuinely feels easier because Tsengs' tests were just that hard. Take her as a last resort.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
04/26/2022

So terrible. Smartest person I know is me, and I could barely pass. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Even if you have to take an extra semester of classes just to avoid this professor - do it. DO NOT TAKE THIS GOD AWFUL PROFESSOR. Whoever allowed her to teach should be sent to the deepest pits of hell. :)

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/23/2022

The reason I did well in this course was because I knew most of the content from high school. The lectures were not that helpful and I found myself relying off of instincts I developed in high school instead of paying attention. The averages on exams were incredibly low (in the 50s and 60s), although the class had a very generous curve at the end (at least 6%). The curve is the only reason Alice is getting more than one star.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
03/25/2022

Mid. I took this chemistry class last fall, the questions are some of the most improperly worded things I have ever seen. Her handwriting is that of a child.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
02/16/2022

I actually cannot think of a single person that consistently passed the exams. The whole semester I had no idea what my grade was. Also, the material on the discussion worksheets, the homework, the lectures, and the exams was all different so just when you thought you knew what you were doing, you didn't. I thought I could do okay despite her terrible UCLA reviews. I was wrong. Please just listen to the reviews and DO NOT TAKE THE CLASS if you are applying to any sort of schooling after undergrad.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
02/06/2022

Professor Mignerey accused me of being a liar when I asked her about inconsistent grading on her test, when a classmate received credit for the same work that I did, when I had not. She is rarely available, pretty rude, and practice assignments do not correlate with the tests provided. You will be relying on Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube for learning this material. Would not recommend unless you have a really strong background in chemistry, and even then you could find a better professor.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/18/2022

Dr. Schech was honestly amazing. She was friendly and helpful and was very clearly passionate and knowledgeable about her subject. She was really kind and understanding and her lectures were always fun and well-prepared for. Her class was a bit of work but honestly less than the other professors at the time. Her exams were reasonable too.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
01/13/2022

Honestly, if you do not have a good background in Chemistry. I would say avoid her like the plague. Unless you have an AP Chem background or feel like you have yourself together and can go above and beyond to get help from outside resources (GSS, Khan Academy, Academic Tutoring, etc.) then this is not the class for you. Her Exams were HARD, the final exam was even worse. Only thing that saved me was the curve. She gives out way too many midterms, the 3rd midterm is most likely to be the lowest grade (If you do decide to ignore this warning and take her class), since it's literally 2 weeks after the 2nd midterm. Mignerey as a person, she's a nice person BUT she can be very rude at times and oblivious to the idea that half of the class can be completely lost and she'll still move on like everything is going 100% well. I studied, went to GSS, looked at online Youtube videos and still didn't do as well as I wanted to, BUT I PASSED. So it's doable, but your stress levels will definitely be through the roof over this one class. But also bare in mind, I did not have a strong background in Chemistry at all.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
01/12/2022

Knows what she’s doing, lectures are mainly her doing practice problems and not going over any actual material. Classes are mainly her proving that she knows how to do the problems. I would recommend doing the readings before the week starts to understand anything during class. Huge curve tho

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/23/2021

Her midterms are unnecessary hard. I believe the test average was below 50. I don't think she's a good lecturer. The final midterm on the first day right after the break was not it man. But I think her grading scale is pretty generous. If you did great AP Chemistry, this class would be ok for you.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/22/2021

Dr. Schech is an amazing professor 10/10 recommend. She is very passionate about chemistry and teaching and it shows in her class. During lecture, she explains concepts clearly, although quickly, but makes sure everyone’s on the same page. Homework and reading are given weekly and they are manageable. There are three exams that are given during lecture. They were a time crunch but very similar to past exams she provides. The final was harder.and we weren’t provided a practice exam. Discussion was not very helpful - GSS was more useful. Nonetheless she is super caring, energetic, and a great communicator. Overall, Dr. Schech is a great choice for CHEM131, especially if you do not have a strong background in chemistry.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/21/2021

To put it quite simply: Tseng is a terrible professor. Her lack of compassion towards students along with her inability to teach makes her class ridiculously hard to pass. Her lectures are incomprehensible and her method as to solving the problems is more confusing and complicated than it needs to be. On top of that, she doesn’t spend too much time on practice problems in class, during the times she did, she either spent too long on a simple problem or breezed through a hard one. Homework and reading assignments were posted on tophat and they were definitely harder than what we learned in class. The practice problems for exams were also posted on tophat and they were misleading in the sense that they were nothing like the real exams. Her grades were also all over the place: some were posted on Tophat, some on Gradescope and some on Elms. It is impossible to calculate percentages in her class and you will never know what you finally get till after she posts the final exam. Throughout the semester, she kept talking about some imaginary curve but never posted it. Very difficult when you don’t know how well you’re doing and then it’s too late to drop the class. Tseng assigned “Exam Wrap-ups” for extra credit, essentially giving us an opportunity to tell her what she can improve on in her teaching and yet, she did nothing to improve the class and blamed students for the low exam scores. Two of her exams were after major holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving) which was very stressful since she also posted homework and reading assignments to do during the break. Even some of my friends who took AP Chemistry in high school had a hard time in her class. You’re better off either self teaching or taking a different professor entirely. 0/5 stars if I could. Send her back to UCLA asap.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/21/2021

It is chemistry so expect it to be hard. When I first walked into class I walked with low expectations for the teacher. All of the chemistry teachers in my life could not teach chemistry very well. So when this teacher would speed by topics and not explain things very well I wasn't surprised. Everything everyone is saying in these comments are true. I just recommend walking in with low expectations.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a D
Anonymous
12/20/2021

This is the absolute worst professor I have had yet if you are registering for courses please stay away. On the first exam she said she doesn't believe in giving out the class average which is something I don't like but it's not a huge deal. After the exam she sent out an email saying how disappointed she is in the student because the average was below a 50%. Nothing since that exam changed with both other mid terms being equally as difficult. For the finial she said it would be the easiest yet, short, and similar to the practice test she gave out to study. This finial exam was the most ridiculous exam I have taken, questions unlike anything that we have seen before. She couldn't care less about her students and won't let you see your grades until the very last week of the semester. STAY AWAY!!!!

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/19/2021

Professor Mignerey can be nice but also condescending and its so discouraging to get LAUGHED at when you ask a question about a topic that is obviously hard for someone who doesn't have a PhD in Chemistry like her. This happened to multiple people, oh and she was also extremely rude to people who came in to fix simple technological issues that she could not figure out. This class is so heavily dependent on the exams which makes it so stressful, and the final was hard. Although chemistry is gonna be hard with any professor most likely, you are probably better off with a professor that tries to be understanding so take someone else.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/17/2021

Alice Mignerey is a terrible Professor. I would give her 0 stars if I could. She doesnt know how to communicate her knowledge to the class at all and frequently glazed over the fact that only 20-30% of the class understood in class quizzes. Her exams are difficult and do not match her lectures what so ever. She doesnt post important math equations on her slides which makes questions impossible to understand if you are confused and need to review. If you have to take this course and you have no other option, Im praying you have taken AP Chem or at least have a strong background in chemistry. Avoid this course at all costs.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2021

I did not take AP Chem in high school and came into this class with just taking 10th grade honors chemistry. Here are some of my takeaways from this course - Professor Mignerey is a good teacher and person. Her lectures can be quite dry, but if you pay attention and follow along with her in class, you will have a much better understanding of the topic. Her office hours are very helpful and going to discussion is important to review the material - She gives daily in class quizzes on TopHat which at times can be challenging, but are usually on what we just learned in class earlier. - In terms of Homework, it's a bit on the heavy side but the homework genuinely helped me understand the material better. She assigns usually 2 Chem 101 quizzes per unit and 2 TopHat readings. The Chem101 problems are probably the most similar questions to the ones on her exams. Review those and understand those if you want a chance at doing well on her exams. - Her exams are tough, but relatively fair and cover most of the material in lecture however you do need to put in a bit of extra work and look over the Chem101 problems. - The final exam was long and the majority of the questions were questions we've had on previous exams just with different numbers. She did in fact tell us to study those and posted them with answer keys. - I recommend taking her if you are a chem major or interested in Pre-med and want to have a good base knowledge of chemistry before taking Orgo or any other chem class

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/16/2021

Horrible teacher, good person. Her exams are extremely hard for no reason. She needs to explain topics better. Half of the stuff on the final exam was not on anything we learned in the class. Maybe I am just bad at chemistry but having a better teacher would make things better. I just wish the stuff she teaches would actually be on the exam and not other stuff.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/16/2021

Professor Mignerey is not a good teacher at all. Her lectures go way too fast and she is terrible at explaining things. Her slides also have wrong answers sometimes. She quizzes up on problems that we just learned on TopHat for completion and correctness. Her exams are so unfair. The final exam had questions on it that we didn't even learn. She didn't give us a practice exam for the final and just told us to look at the midterm exams and chem 101. There were like 3 world problems on there that were on the midterms, otherwise all the problems are different and we couldn't even practice them. Do not take her class. Get another professor.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/13/2021

I genuinely do not know how this professor is teaching this course at UMD as she had never taught CHEM131 in her past. She was so ineffective in teaching the course content during lectures that I found myself watching other professors' lecture videos to try and teach myself the content. During lectures, she seemed to be teaching the content to herself as she went along. She also failed to ask students questions during the lecture. I remember a student asking a simple question in solving some sort of conversion and she responded with "I'll have to take you up on that later", leaving the student confused. On top of it all, her exams were ridiculously hard. The practice problems or practice exams did not match up whatsoever. I wish she made it more clear that she wants to see her students succeed, but she really isn't a pleasant person. She also does not input grades into ELMS. So, this entire semester I have felt that I am going in blind. Who knows what kind of curve she is going to give since her exam averages were maybe 50% at the highest. I wish I could have learned chemistry more effectively in this course because as of now, I learned so much more in my high school AP chemistry class than this one. (for anyone even thinking about taking Dr. Tseng please make sure you have taken AP Chem first, or you're screwed) Dr.Tseng seems to assume that most of her students understand the basics and don't need much explanation or demonstration of practice problems. This was an awful course experience.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/13/2021

After the majority of the class failed an exam (mind you, this test was given at 8 am the day we returned from Thanksgiving break) she said that she can only do her job and that we needed to "start doing our job". She usually seems so nice, but this sums up how she is a lecturer; she's unable to see anything from the student's perspective. I wouldn't say "don't take this class" though. Is it stressful? Yes. But I will say that it's supposed to be heavily curved. Granted you won't know your grade until the very end (she doesn't post all assignments in one place), but still, a curve is a curve.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a D+
Anonymous
12/11/2021

She does not explain anything because she often rushes through difficult concepts and doesn't write in a legible manner. Half of the time she gets the question wrong herself. It seems like she does not know the content during lectures, she simply reads off of her slides which are 95% from the tophat homework and she has an attitude in class. She is surprised when her exam averages are below 50. She also then continues to blame you for not doing as well as she expected which is very discouraging in this class when you study as hard as you can and still end up failing the exams. SAVE YOURSELF !!!

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/11/2021

Worst professor I have had at umd so far. Her lectures are pointless because she barely reviews the reading and questions that you do on your own and any practice questions are extremely simple compared to anything done on tests. Also, whenever someone asks a question in class, she pauses to think way too long, which is concerning since you're supposed to be an expert in this, and gives really unhelpful answers. You're better off making study groups rather than going to her awful and boring lectures. Her grading is also terrible. If 0 stars was an option I would've chosen that, 1 star is generous. She doesn't even seem like she knows what she's talking about and just reads off of her slides and still occasionally messes up. I would do a better job teaching AND do so in discussion since no one understands her teaching. I honestly feel bad for the students who try so hard and are still struggling because of her incompetence.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/09/2021

I enjoyed having Schech for chem. She's a great and engaging lecturer and she's very accessible outside of class. If you go to office hours she'll clear things up for you and she remembers names. Goes pretty fast like all the other chem classes but I would disagree with the other reviews saying that her tests were super hard. As long as you studied well (she gave us old exams and GSS sessions) then you should be fine. You need to fully understand the material to get a good grade on the tests. Cons are that we needed to pay to get our homework and grades were pretty test dependent. Had clicker questions but those were graded by completion. Curves are totally based on how well the class does overall on the tests. My class is currently graded by the regular grading scale (93 and up is an A) because we've been having good test averages (~70%) but we haven't gotten our last test back yet so it could be curved. I would recommend her for gen chem, coming from someone who did not take AP chem in high school.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/09/2021

I have never ever experienced such a bad teacher before in my life. She has definitely set the standard for worst professor ever in existence. Her lectures cover simple problems and are somewhat ok, but her exams are something else entirely. For our exam 1, the average was below a 50% (most people flunked it) and there was not enough time to complete it. For exam 2, results were better. But then exam 3 was by far the worst. Not only are you tested on material significantly harder than in lecture and TopHat, you are tested on your English deciphering skills. I have have never seen such horrid wording. Her wording makes the question 200x harder as you waste precious time on wondering what exactly she is asking. For exam 3, the average is definitely going to be in the 15%-30% range. Oh yeah and she put exam 2 the day after Thanksgiving and made me miss a highly anticipated trip I was going on with my friends. She gets high off of the suffering of students. UCLA, please take her back.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/09/2021

she seems like a nice person but is a bad professor. can never answer questions in class, you don't know your grade for like the whole semester because of her grading system, her handwriting is really bad so it's hard to take notes in class. don't recommend if you actual want to know and understand what you're learning and doing.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/08/2021

Dr. Tseng is not a bad professor. I believe the proper way to describe her is strict and highly expectant of her students. She originally worked in UCLA from what I've heard from other students so its not too surprising that her exams are more difficult than the other teachers. Students in this class have lower averages on exams than other students with other professors. If you want to start off in a chem class that challenges you and prepares you for future chem classes, I recommend Dr. Tseng. However, it can often be discouraging in this class when you study as hard as you can and still end up failing the exams. Choose her at your own discretion. Her depicted curve is pretty gracious so far and it will probably be MORE gracious after the final. I don't like the fact that she made her exams after holidays, but I appreciate that she is sticking with the syllabus she made before the first day of classes. The class has a very rigid structure and it is difficult if you underestimate how much studying you need. Always attend discussions because attendance is mandatory and you lose points. She has practice exams which makes the midterms a bit fair. The first and second midterms were very fair because their structure was close to the practice exams. However, the third midterm was not very close to the practice exam which may account for why it was the worst midterm in the whole class. Just be prepared for the unexpected with Dr. Tseng and put good effort in this class and you can manage an A or B with her depicted gracious curve.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/08/2021

Dr. T is an okay lecturer- she adequately teaches concepts however she rushed through difficult concepts. For example she spent two to three lectures on the whole thermodynamic section, but she spent the same amount of time on hybridization. Her tests are unnecessarily hard compared to the practice problems in lecture and homework. Most of the questions, if not all, on the tests are application problems (problems you have never seen before) which would be fine yet she gives very long tests. There simply is not enough time to figure out how to solve all the problems on the exam. Class averages were not high and she does not like to give out curves. If you are not strong in Chemistry or have not taken AP Chemistry before do not take this professor. I am only expecting an A in this course because Chemistry is one of my strongest subjects.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/08/2021

Honestly Mignerey is probably average in comparison to the rest of the chem department which isn't saying much. She consistently says the wrong information in lectures and someone who sits in the front has to constantly raise his hand and correct her. She's very all over the place during class. The TA is even worse. On the first day of class she told us it's her first time in America and if we have suggestions on how to improve her english we should email her. Hearing that the first class I was initially concerned but thought "how bad could she actually be?" The answer to that is terrible. Any time anyone asks a question she just goes back to a random slide that has nothing to do with the question and points to it. Mignerey gives more than double the amount of homework as other professors give. Be prepared to have over 100 problems weekly for homework. I will say that the tests are somewhat fair if you understand what's going on in class. If you didn't take AP chem in high school though, be prepared to learn everything on your own. Also our last class of the semester we have an exam which was just lovely. She is pretty good at communication and responding to emails which is better than most professors.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/07/2021

Terrible. She does not explain anything, she does not write in a legible manner, she should not be teaching period if she doesn't learn to explain what she is doing. Half of the time she gets the question wrong herself. It seems like she does not know the content during lecture, she simply reads off of her slides and she has an attitude in class. Her exam averages are below 50. DO NOT take this class with her because you will not do well.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Expecting a C+
dino821
12/07/2021

Worst professor I have literally ever had. She does not explain anything and the exams are incredibly hard. Discussion worksheets, homework, and study guides have absolutely nothing to do with the exams or lecture material. Her handwriting is impossible and has TopHat clicker questions. Save yourself

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
11/29/2021

Not the worst professor ever but not very good. She is an okay teacher but does not give good answers at all if you ask in class. She also scheduled two out of our 3 exams the DAY AFTER HOLIDAYS. Had one exam the day after halloween and the other the day after thanksgiving break. Very messed up. Our class average on the first test was below a 50%. I would avoid her at all costs unless u want to be cramming for a test the whole time u are finally home for thanksgiving after being at school for 3 months.

Heather Tienson-Tseng
CHEM131

Anonymous
11/28/2021

Overall one of the worst professors I've ever had. It simply seems that she does not know how to answer questions during lecture and rushes through the slides to a point where students cannot even write down any notes. It's frustrating when I go to class and then have to go back and watch the lecture recording to find the slides I couldn't write in class due to how fast she speeds through. Also, making the last midterm in the course to be the day after Thanksgiving break is just brutal. Are we supposed to be spending time with our families or studying chemistry?? Her curves are imaginary and she doesn't believe in averages, don't recommend this.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/29/2021

phenomenal lecturer; extremely organized; and probably the most fair tests I've ever seen in my entire life. Nothing is out of the ordinary or too hard and she gives you more than enough time for the exams. I've only had two midterms so far but for both of them I had 25 minutes remaining out of the 50 allotted to me. Anyone who says her exams are too hard are either dumbasses or they didn't understand the material. So long as you understand what's happening you'll get an A

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Anonymous
10/23/2021

My friends said she's lit.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Anonymous
09/02/2021

I had Dixon for both CHEM131, CHEM241 and CHEM242...let's just say I should have learned my lesson the first semester and never taken her again. Both semesters I had her were completely virtual which I know caused a lot more issues but most issues I had with Dixon were about her personally. I was diagnosed with COVID during my first semester with her and although I was very sick and reached out to her four times requesting a private meeting with her, she never responded or gave me any accommodations even though my absence was University approved. Dixon is notorious for never responding to students which I find unacceptable. In my experience, Dixon did not care about her students at all. As a teacher, Dixon goes extremely fast and never records her lectures so you can't go back to see what you missed. She has makes A LOT of mistakes. All of her homeworks and exams had mistakes on them. On one of my exams, this past semester over 50% of the questions on the exam had big mistakes and she refused to give us extra time to decipher her hieroglyphs of an exam. Dixon also posted almost all homework assignments late but never gave us extra time to complete them. Even Dixon's TAs this past semester admitted how unfair and confusing Dixon and her homeworks and exams were. The TAs even admitted that some of the questions Dixon was giving us were material too advanced to be covered in orgo 1 and 2. I am a junior here at Maryland and I can confidently say that I have never had such a terrible experience with a professor. Throughout my two semesters with her I watched her get reported multiple times my students for her unfair teaching styles. Avoid taking her if you can.

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/28/2021

The lectures were rarely useful. I mostly learned from the software TopHat which had assigned readings and questions. These readings were long-winded and usually convoluted. The exams were fair(no trick questions). However, at the end of the year, he curved down the grades. For example, a 90% translates to a B+. I feel like taking this class in person would be best.

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/17/2021

Not a terrible teacher but make sure you don’t learn too much or they’ll curve down your grade. Wtf

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/03/2021

A very nice professor and you can tell she loves what she does. However, the material we cover in lecture and on top hat does not reflect the exams. The exams are very hard. They have so many steps and people always run out of time.

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting a B
02itonti
04/22/2021

He understood what he was talking about and usually answered questions pretty well. Was not very helpful on the interactive textbook, which has a lot of glitches and answers key issues. Other than that his exams and homeworks are very similar to those in the past. DIfficult material for any freshman I think but if you study a lot you should be fine in his class. However, having him online and in-person are two very different things. Easier to get a good grade in person so I would wait to take his class until the apocalypse is over.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
04/16/2021

Extremely condescending. Not helpful whatsoever during office hours, and her exams are much harder than anything covered in lecture

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/22/2021

He was an alright professor. I chose an asynchronous class and he recorded his lectures. I mainly used the textbook and CHEM101 homework to teach myself. I only used his lecture if I really didn't understand a concept but I only needed to do that once or twice. The class is manageable and the textbook was my main resource. The homework was reasonable and it really helped me in the end. He also is willing to work with students. My class did really bad overall on one test so he let everyone take the make-up but if we ended up with a worse score that would be our grade either way. I think he was better than the other teacher for the semester. Overall the class was fine.

Samuel Lascio
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/17/2021

great Professor and he cares a lot about his students and whether or not they understand the material (which can be hard to do in such a big class).

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2020

In a bubble Professor Mignerey is a cat lady @daisy. But actually. She was not the greatest teacher out there, but also not bad. What she lacks in clarity though she makes up for in good character. For more than one test she allowed students to take a retest. She also was generally pretty good about communication, which I've realized is super important. Some other teachers don't respond to emails ever. It's not a very tough class. If you're some who's solid at chem, you'll probably fly through this class pretty easily. If not, just try to pay attention in class, and (more importantly, I think) do the Homework. The HW is the exact same form and website as the tests, so questions are similar. If you understand the HW, you will do well on the tests.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/17/2020

She cares about the subject and seems like a nice person. However, if you are not doing good in the class or if the class teams up to achieve a better grade she pulls out attitude. The exams weren't that bad for online classes since they were on chem101 not canvas. The last midterm is worse than the final exam. She is understanding and flexible if you have a problem or need to take the exam at a different time. Overall, not a bad teacher.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/15/2020

Her behavior this semester was outrageous to say the least. She made sure our section knew she had a vendetta against us. Her emails towards us were disrespectful and childish. Her online lecture were so bad. She would constantly mess up and for god sake she couldn't use the ERASER tool. I had to spend time looking at her math to try and make sense of what she wrote. It got so bad I ended up self teaching the class for the entire semester with a few friends. I will be the first to say I learned more from my study group than her teaching. Our 3rd exam had a massively low average. It was an outlier compared to the performance on our other exams. The only difference between the 3rd exam and the other ones was the fact that Dr. Mignerey made the questions. Instead of trying to understand what occured on her 3rd exam she decided to insult our section and justify why she placed every question on said exam. Dr. Mignerey is a egotistical and sympathizing teacher. Avoid her and go for Papoian

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/09/2020

Not ideal for online learning. Spends half on the lectures trying to figure out how to make her iPad show on the screen. She is not a good lecturer and constantly has mistakes on her slides which students have to correct. First 2 exams were hard but doable. 3rd exam was so difficult and half of the questions were concepts that we haven’t don’t in class. If you don’t have an extensive chemistry background then I do not recommend.

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/09/2020

The professor mostly went over the same topics we did as homework. Lectures were okay, not very interesting. The workload was by far the worst out of all my classes but its not too hard to get a decent grade, just VERY time consuming. Practice exams were NOTHING compared to the real exam so don't be fooled. Same concept but much more difficult problems. One of the exams ended up having a horrible class average (many 40s) and from many complaints, was curved at least 18 points.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/08/2020

She is a nice person, very sweet old lady, However, her class wasn't as sweet. Since school is online this semester, she just does not know how to teach over zoom. She is all over the place and when she finally lectures you literally only get a broad overview of the material. She isn't detailed in what she teaches which makes it hard to understand what's going on. She is not good at explaining the material. One question quizzes were given during lecture (meaning you had to go) and were quite frustrating. HW on TopHat and Chem101 were long and tedious and difficult( on Chem101). Tests were hard. It was a game of chance if the test was like the homework. It could be the same difficulty or easier, but sometimes the tests were much much harder than what we went over in class and the practice exams given. You really have to take in the time to learn the material so I would highly recommend GSS or Organic Chemistry Teacher on YT. Yeah she's nice but would not reccomend taking her. But if you have, PLEASE go to GSS or review often.

Samuel Lascio
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/07/2020

Lascio really tries his best to make sure students understand the course material despite it being challenging, he's a great guy! He sometimes puts out-of-touch memes all over the place, but he genuinely wants his students to succeed and make sure they understand the subject matter. He's a very approachable guy and a good professor.

Lee Friedman
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/15/2020

Friedman is epic, I had him at 8 am and while I was very tired because of the morning, he would understand and do his best to keep the class lively and exciting. I love organic chemistry because he is such a good professor.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
06/15/2020

Horrible professor. The lectures were fairly easy and the homework assignments were difficult but doable. The exams were 10x harder than what she prepared us for. The constant average was in the D range. I got a C in her class. When I applied the same strategies of work to orgo, I got an A. She is a trash professor, do not take her. She may appear nice but she isn't.

Monique Koppel
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/26/2020

Dr. Koppel was a pretty good professor. She moved very slowly at the beginning, but after we transitioned to online learning she went pretty fast to "catch up". In the beginning she did a really good job at explaining the basics, but possibly too much time. After transitioning to online learning, she uploaded multiple lectures at once sporadically to watch at our own pace, which was nice because her lectures are usually fast paced. Her online lectures very good most of the time. It was much harder to learn online personally because discussions and GSS (which are super necessary!!) were not at the usual times and did not feel the same. There is 8 online homework assignments due at the end of the semester which helped me understand concepts and they were not too difficult Dr. Koppel will tell you that you need to put in the work outside of lecture, which is very very true!! I put in about 3 hours/week in person and probably 6-10 hours/week after the online transition. Organic Chemistry is not as intimidating as it seems if you put in the hard work and Koppel was a pretty good professor.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/12/2020

Solid professor. I was very unexcited to take chem and it was definitely challenging but if you prepare for her exams well (I did the practice tests, went through mastering, GSS, and did textbook questions) then you should be okay. She's a very nice person and is very accommodating.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2020

131 didn't have that much work. The homework assignments were like once a week and took a hour tops. Clickers were mandatory and annoying but expected for a Chem Class so I can't complain. As for teaching, I actually thought she was a really good teacher. Never went to her personal office hours so can't really vouch for her as a person but she always seemed nice in class. Her exams are something else though, they often mix different concepts into one question and it can get really tough. She tries to make questions seem relevant to real life, but this in turn makes questions confusing and wording a bit weird. However, she gives the previous semesters exam which does prepare you pretty well, but you really have to know the material inside and out to pass her exams, can't just skim them (there's no multiple choice and bulk of her points are on long questions with multiple parts).

Diandra Soemardi
CHEM131

Anonymous
04/18/2020

Absolutely amazing TA that genuinely cared about her students. Total mom TA, and put together several practice exam materials for us.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/16/2020

She seems like a nice person. Now that that's out of the way, she isn't a great professor. She's always messing up in lecture and isn't proficient with technology. A lot of the ways she teaches concepts are unnecessarily hard. She makes a lot of mistakes while explaining concepts. That being said, she provides practice exams, which are essentially the real exam. But unless you find yourself going to GSS or office hours a lot, I would advise against taking her.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
03/26/2020

Worst professor I have ever had, if you have an option do not sign up for her lecture. I learned the entire course myself through reading the textbook and watching videos on Khan Academy. Her lectures are unbearable to sit through and she never explains what/why she is teaching what she is. She is smart and competent, but a bad teacher.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
03/24/2020

Fast paced lecturer. She sometimes gets confused as she is doing problems but this didn't happen often. She does lots of practice problems during lecture, but she does do them extremely fast. Exams were very difficult compared to the practice exams it was honestly a joke. She did make the final pretty fair and she curves well. 84% was curved up to an A-.

Monique Koppel
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
02/12/2020

Dr. Koppel is one of the better teachers offered for CHEM 131. Her lectures tend to be slow, but as long as you do the textbook readings, homework, and attend discussions, it should be a manageable class. Exams are fair and accurately reflect practice tests, and what is learned in class.

Monique Koppel
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/09/2020

Great professor for Chem 131! As long as you work for it you’re fine.

Pedro Bueno
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/30/2019

Bueno is a really nice guy! He makes jokes all the time and sometimes slips in a story or two. However, this lead to our class not getting through material fast enough and as a result the last exam we took was almost half of the material of the whole course (the first two exams had 1/4 of the material). Sometimes his lectures were confusing and he routinely made mistakes that other students would have to fix. Overall, a decent class but I took AP in high school so I would not recommend this professor to a person that has not taken a previous high level chem course.

Monique Koppel
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2019

I took AP Chemistry in high school, so this class came easier to me than others. Koppel does a good job of what you need to know for the exams and warns us about what we will need to know for organic chemistry. She comes off a bit sassy at times, but it's important to ask her questions during office hours if you're confused or else you'll fall behind. She does a lot of practice problems during class, which I would pay close attention to because those questions are very similar to the questions on the exams. I recommend doing all the extra practice problems and previous exams that she posts online. The class is curved but only at the end of the semester and it depends on the class average. Overall, if you go to lecture and understand how to do practice problems, you will do fine in the class.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting a D+
Anonymous
12/13/2019

Do not take this professor if you are bad at chemistry. I have to retake this class because she didnt prepare you for the test besides the bare minimum. The TA is the only reason i didnt completely fail

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/13/2019

If you haven't taken AP/IB Chem or are bad at Chemistry, DO NOT take Mignerey. Mignerey is a brilliant nuclear chemist but she is not a teacher. Her slides have many mistakes and she makes mistakes during lectures pretty constantly. She does release practice exams that are helpful for the first two exams but the last two killed me. If you do have to take her, make sure to keep up-to-date with discussion worksheets and find a good GSS session or tutor.

Diandra Soemardi
CHEM131

Anonymous
11/28/2019

Diandra is the best TA I've had and I wish she was the TA for all my classes. She is a total genius who makes everything easier to understand. I don't think I would have passed chem131 without Diandra. Im not a morning person so discussion at 8am was hell but she makes it very engaging and fun.

Elizabeth Griffith
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/10/2019

She is an excellent professor who is very knowledgable and seem pretty excited whenever she teaches, and she is super sweet. However, her exams are tough, and she does in-class clicker questions so make sure you pay attention during lectures. The good thing is that she curves the class by 10 %. Also, everyone that I knew got a B or lower in this course.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
10/31/2019

A very nice person! However, her lectures and practice tests are absolutely nothing like what you might see on exams. The exams are silly compared to your homework assignments.

Amanda Schech
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/23/2019

She's so funny and seems very sweet! However, lectures do move very fast, and sometimes she messes up on her own work in lectures and the TA has to correct her, which is bad when students are trying to learn the material. Tests are very hard.

Pedro Bueno
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/28/2019

Hes a nice guy, but not the most prepared professor. Many times he messed up math problems and ended up spending half the class time trying to figure out where he messed up. He's very approachable however, so take advantage of his office hours. If you're able to understand the process of how to complete problems without correct numbers, you should be fine in his class.

Pedro Bueno
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/05/2019

He really wants his students to succeed in this course and tries to personally know students, so go to his office hours. Sometimes confusing but usually made a point to go back and review topics he was not clear on. Do homework and clicker questions to boost overall average.

Pedro Bueno
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/19/2018

Bueno is a very nice guy, but not the best professor. He often messed up during lectures and confused himself along with the students. He didn't go over problems you'd see on his exams in class, so you have to study those on your own. Go to discussion because TA's will help you with problems. Bueno created a welcoming atmosphere for his students and I loved his jokes, even though some of them were cringey. Study and take advantage of GSS and discussion and you should be fine

Lee Friedman
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/18/2018

Awesome guy, makes class extremely enjoyable. Known for having pretty tough tests, but they are not unreasonable whatsoever. study hard and show up to class and you will do well. its not the hardest class ever, but definitely need to put time in. Professor Freidman is a great guy though, and has a unique sense of humor

Pedro Bueno
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/11/2018

Nice professor, his lessons are though out, and is very open for office hours. His exams are somewhat tough, but he curves everything to make the average an 80%. It was his first semester teaching, and he did a good job.

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/20/2018

Love her! One of the best chem teachers I have ever had. Chem is hard so the class is still difficult but she makes it bearable

Lenea Stocker
CHEM131

Expecting an A
mye
08/14/2018

Amazing professor. She's super nice, teaches material well, and cares about her students. Go to office hours and look at past exams and you'll be set. Also DO HER PROBLEM SETS!!!!

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/25/2018

Dr. Papoian seems like the classic archetype of a professor who understands his material so well that he struggles to teach to people with little to no chemistry background. His lectures were unenlightening but he is a nice enough guy and the class isn't challenging if you just do your work.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
04/02/2018

Had him in the fall. He's friendly and talkative. Lectures are cool he tries to make jokes and stuff.

Garegin Papoian
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/21/2017

Dr. Papoian is a good teacher for what is usually a difficult class. His lectures are clear and helpful. He spends time going over quantitative problems and makes it clear what will be on the exam via practice exams. The exams are relatively easy compared to other 131 profs (esp. Friedman). The average overall grade for our class was 81.9.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/11/2016

This professor cannot teach. All Ondov does is ramble on and on and on. Most of my daily sleep probably happens in his lectures--"Thank you for my beauty sleep, but no thank you for the mediocre teaching." His monotonous rambling only circles around his own thoughts. And he spends LECTURE time trying to figure out what he did wrong or what information he got wrong. He just doesn't have it together at all. Very unprepared and awkward. Just thinking about his lectures makes my blood boil. Sometimes, I just leave and take the tophat quizzes from my dorm or somewhere else because he predictably gives them either at the beginning of class, or at the end. So, yea... don't have Ondov. He will harm you more than help you. Just saying.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
leon_li
10/08/2016

Dr. Eichhorn was really knowledgable. His style of presenting lectures is helpful. You also have to study a lot for this class, though. It's not one of those classes where you can just attend the lecture to get a good grade.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2015

I recommend taking Dr. Eichhorn's class. He is good at explaining concepts and showing how to do problems in lecture, but I felt like a lot of the material on the test came from the textbook, not his lectures. If you read the textbook and do practice problems from it, you'll definitely be prepared for the tests. He barely curves (this semester it was ~2%), but it's definitely possible to get an A.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/17/2015

I went into this class thinking he was a nice, considerate teacher (like many reviews said). Boy, was a I wrong. First of all, sometimes he was a little condescending when students would ask questions that he might have felt were stupid or obvious. We are students for a reason--we came to class to LEARN and ask questions. Anyways, he's a complete asshole when it comes to getting points back on tests. I showed all of my work on a test and got the CORRECT answer but got a considerable amount of points off because I didn't do the work **exactly** how he had done it on the answer key. I showed him my work and he tried to say that I hadn't shown certain major things in my work. I POLITELY pointed out that I in fact had. He acknowledged that I had shown the correct work. AND THEN GOES "yeahhh i don't think I'll give you the points though..." Excuse me????? he says on his answer key that if we got a correct answer but approached it a different way, it was a valid reason to get points back. It just doesn't make sense. I've seen students come up to him and ask him a question, and when he doesn't want to answer, he just looks at them, smiles, and turns the other way. That's just rude, inconsiderate, and shows that you do not care. Especially in a Chemistry class, every point is important and he just doesn't care about the student, in my opinion. ALSO HE DOES NOT CURVE. When averages on the tests are in the 60's, you would expect an professor to curve. But, no. He REFUSES to curve. I don't know if it's because he's tenured now or is just jaded but it just doesn't seem like he cares whether or not we do well. Then, he gives you practice tests BUT NO ANSWER KEY. what is the point????? i have never understood professors that do that.In addition, he said he would ask a little over 40 clicker questions this semester so we could get a possible max of 10 extra credit points. INSTEAD he asked a little over 19 questions. With each clicker counting as 0.33 points, it was impossible for anyone to get the max of 10 extra credit points. We needed at least 30 clicker questions for that. Those points could have really helped, but again, doesn't seem like he cares. He might be a nice person outside of school, but I was not impressed with his teaching at all.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/17/2015

Mignerey is a difficult teacher to get an A in. Don't follow the book religiously but more as a small supplement since her powerpoints are better. Her exams are a lot like the practice ones so be sure to do them. As a professor, she's not very good. Her answers aren't always clear and her explanations aren't always clear as well. I'll be following her explanation and then suddenly she makes some drastic jump that leaves everyone confused and wondering how to do the problem. She also does tend to get a little flustered when students keep asking questions. Don't rely on Mignerey for learning, go find a good study group or GSS session.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
11/13/2015

Honestly, she is a very nice lady outside of class, and I actually have never ever written a review about a professor before. But I warn you, please please please don't take her as your professor. Every class she screws up at least one or two problems therefore making it incredibly hard for anybody to follow what she is saying, because if she is screwing it up how does she expect us to understand it? If you try to ask a question she gets incredibly sassy and doesn't understand why you don't get what she is saying..probably because she doesn't even understand what she is saying. If you want to actually learn concepts and understand the material and you HAVE to take her, don't go to class and just use the book. But I would encourage all reading this that honestly, every class theres about 8 hands raised in the air and people are always looking around trying to see if anyone understands and what is going on, and the averages on the tests are embarrassingly low. Don't take her. Ever.

Frederick Khachik
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/29/2015

Out of all the Chem teachers our class seemed to have the easiest exam. He's an alright teacher. He seems to really care about Chemistry and try to explain things simply but sometimes does a poor job of doing so.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

indoleEntheogen
06/10/2015

eh... her lectures are a little difficult to follow and annoying. there is a decent curve at the end of the semester but the final exam was unreasonably long an therefore difficult to finish in the 2 hour time frame. she does masteringchemistry which is helpful but other than that Id consider another professor for Genchem 1 if I were you. I get the feeling she's a much better professor for more advanced courses, genchem 1 just isnt her thing

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/06/2015

Mignerey is an interesting teacher to say the least. While you do not want to miss any lecture you also have to read in order to keep up. She blew past material really fast and also covers material that will not be on exams because she finds it interesting. In all seriousness, she is a very intelligent woman, but you have to have an interest in science in order to do well in her class.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/27/2015

Dixon is one of the best teachers I have ever had. Her class is based mostly on 3 exams and a final, with clicker questions and homework as a small part of the grade. Pros: -She is very passionate! -She is funny, and nice! -Her teaching is very very very clear. She will make you know your stuff. -She really cares about students and is very helpful. - You will be well prepared for orgo. Cons: -This class is hard, but it's chemistry so it will always be hard. -She is tough.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Cpowers
01/30/2015

LOVE Dixon. She's sassy and very honest. She told me straight-up when I went to her office hours (which are 9-5 btw) that as long as I went to lecture I probably didn't ever need to open up the textbook. That being said, the class isn't easy. No chem class will be. But if you have Dixon, you will enjoy lecture and have an insane support system. She's very passionate about helping her students learn, so don't be afraid to visit her!

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/08/2015

BONNIE IS BAE <3 <3 <3 I was super scared to take her...and I was so nervous coming into the first day of class. But, I am so glad that I took her! She is such a fun and crazy (in the best way possible) teacher, and she made chemistry so interesting. Don't be fooled though. This class isn't a walk in the park. She does go through the material at a fast pace, but just ask questions in class if you are confused and she will stop and answer them! I took AP Chem in high school, and I guess that helped, but Dr. Dixon was such a good and clear teacher that I think I would have been fine if I hadn't taken AP Chem before coming in. ALWAYS TAKE THE EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITIES!!! She gives a good amount of extra credit (about 30-40 points), but you do have to work for it. She also doesn't do a plus minus system, which is really awesome. If you are borderline and you do all the online assignments, there's a chance you will be bumped up to the next letter grade! so take advantage of that! CLICKER QUESTIONS! She has 40 clicker questions. I don't know if she always does this, but for us, I feel like there were more clicker questions in the beginning of the year than at the end. So in the beginning half of the year, I would recommend just always being ready for her to spring a clicker question or two on you. She doesn't give you a lot of time to answer it. If you don't know what you're doing, you're kinda screwed. I was lucky enough to surround myself with a group of friends and we worked through each one together (which she is fine with). She also does like 5-7 clicker questions before each exam to give you some practice. Those helped a lot and gave me some idea of what topics would be on the exam/what kind of questions to expect. Some clicker questions are meant to trick you. But she goes over them if most of the class doesn't get it right. And hey! Better to get tricked on a 1 point clicker question than to get tricked on a 8 point question on the test! Before each exam and the final, she tells you exactly what she is going to test you on. Personally, I never had a problem with timing on an exam. But that might be because I just write really fast.i dunno. But I always finished with about 20 minutes to spare, which gave me time to check through my work at least 3 times (and usually I made a lot of little stupid mistakes so those 20 minutes gave me time to redo some problems) Make SURE you study for the extra credit pre-test because it is an awesome grade booster. This may not be the case every year, but for me, I thought the first two exams were significantly easier than the third one. BUT! The third exam is still do-able. I studied probably around 3-4 hours for each exam. I just looked through my notes, clicker questions, and old exams (she has a bunch in her office). Her homework is not that bad. I got an A on every single one, but that required a couple hours of work. The homework questions aren't impossible, but I think everyone just wanted to make sure they got that 10/10. She has AMAZING office hours. There are always a bunch of students in her office, either asking her questions, or sitting around working on homework or studying for an exam. I didn't really go to GSS The girls who taught GSS for us were super nice and helpful. I didn't go often because I like to study at my own pace. But if you are a person who likes to have someone teaching you stuff and working through problems with you, then definitely go! OVERALL...TAKE THE CLASS! You will have to put a decent amount of work into it, but hey...challenge yourself. It's worth it.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2014

Dr. Dixon is a great teacher. Her class is extremely difficult and her tests are really hard. I took her for gen chem with the mindset that I wouldn't get the best grade but would have a good base for all the other chemistry classes I have to take. GO TO EVERY LECTURE! First of all if you dont, your going to be totally lost. Also she does clicker points. Her homeworks are a giant pain in the ass. They are way to hard. Ask people who have taken her to help you so that you dont end up working on it for 3 hours and only getting a 3/10. I had a mixed expereince with her office hours. Sometimes she was extremely helpful and friendly but other times she was kinda *****y and just told me to go figure it out. Goodluck!

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

sfrail
12/16/2014

Dr. Dixon is legitimately one of the best professors I have ever had. She's a fantastic and fun person (she plays music at the start of class), she knows exactly what she's talking about all the time, she's really helpful and caring, honesty perfect. Probably one of the things I'm the most grateful for is that she tailors her course material directly to what she tests you on. If you do the work, and you study what she says, you won't see anything on the exam that you weren't expecting. She lets you know exactly what she wants, exactly the format to put it in, and exactly what you need to do. The way she grades is also great, a lot of teachers will take off for small arithmetic mistakes and annoying things like that. Dr. Dixon will grade you for getting each step of the problem right, so if you set it up you get some points, if you move on to the next step you get some points, and the final answer is only worth some of the credit, it's great and it makes the class feel really fair. She had fantastic TAs and she communicated with them really well, they were all willing to adjust their schedules and help us out as best they could and even do some extra GSS's. I have no idea how Dr. Dixon manages her time with the amount of stuff she does for us. One time this semester her TA had a medical emergency so she ran almost all the discussion sessions herself, I can imagine any other teacher just canceling them and apologizing but not Dr. D. After all those compliments, legitimately the ONLY downside to this course is that it is extremely difficult. The tests are hard, the homework is hard, even lecture is pretty rigorous (I missed a single lecture and I felt way behind). I devoted the majority of my time and emotional effort this semester to this class in order to keep up. Also, time is a huge issue on exams, she makes them so you can just barely finish in the time given. The thing about Dixon is that she makes you really want to do well in her class. This is the first serious chemistry class I've ever taken and it's made me love chemistry. It's so interesting and the way Dr. Dixon talks about it makes me like it even more. I know I already said this but I just want to emphasize that she is such a fun person, Chemistry is probably one of the only classes I have this year that I actually really enjoy going to. I think I'm going to get an A or a B. After every test Dr. Dixon will check in with how many points you should have to be on track for an A, B, C, etc. Also, word of advice, use the chat page on elms before an exam. People are usually in there working on the practice test and sharing answers and methods, it helped me so much. Unless you're honestly just looking to breeze through a gen chem class (is that even possible?) take Dr. Dixon. You will not regret it.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/18/2014

She's a fair teacher. Mignerey is not a bad teacher but she could have been better with her lectures. I didn't do good on the final. Con: Her TA, I think he replaced Mara. His name is Paul Diss and he is a snob! He's impatient and has an attitude that could throw anyone off.You will find it hard seeking help from him. Don't ever deal with him but only if you don't got a choice

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Blinded.Institution
04/16/2014

To start in all fairness - this professor is smart in her own right. She studies nuclear chemistry which is quite advanced compared to the introductory Chem 131. So i can't review how she teaches other chem courses. However! Even the smartest people can be the worst of teachers. Mignerey is one poor professor. Her lectures are read off of less than descriptive power points. Her shinannagins in class result from her inability to demostrate concepts correctly. Furthermore, asking questions to her in the middle of class is a joke. She gets mad so easily and instead of elaborating on a concept she just says "it's like this right?...see right." She assumes the student knows the very questioned they asked about, which is silly because then why would they ask. The most frustrating part! In her minimal effort to explain things she uses her stupid catch phrase "boot strap ourselves through it." This is a cop out as a professor who is basically is using a poor analogy to explain a concept in chemistry. She also has some ghoulish henceboy named Paul Diss who has inhereted Mignerey's inability to teach effectively, not to mention her snotty attitude. These two combined really make the class an uncomfortable learning environment because they are always looking down their noses at students. It's sad they functionally exist in a teaching capacity. Testing: The tests are probably equivalent to other chem131 courses in terms of difficulty, but the professor does little to provide fundamental information in a coherent manner. Her class averages are depressingly low. The results you see on this website are most likely used after <50% of the class drops the course. The TA's are the saving grace of Mignerey's career. Without them the class wouldn't do so well(minus the top percentile of students who just accel at any class they take) I wouldn't trust anyone who thinks this professor is good. Chances are they have a passion or understanding of chemistry already and rely little on the professor. Thy are basing their judgments off of the tests which is not a true reflection of the professor's teaching abilities. If you are a Chem major or interested in nuclear chemistry or anything close to that then this might be the professor for you. If you are a student who needs to take Chem with a relatively different major and hope to be enlightened with coherent knowledge of the subject then you might want to take a different professor #Mignereysucks

Christopher Jarzynski
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
umdstudent3
12/21/2013

This was Jarzynski's first time teaching Chem131. He explains things pretty well but sometimes he doesnt explain the easy hints/tricks. He doesnt use powerpoints, which I LOVE. The first two exams were ridiculously easy, the third was crazy hard, and the final was in-between difficulty wise. But, he gave a curve in the end which was pretty fair. I would definitely take him again, he is a great professor!

John Ondov
CHEM131

Anonymous
03/09/2013

I love chemistry, and all the gen chem stuff I learned in high school is the reason I became a chem major. However, if I were paying 100% in Dr. Ondov's lecture, I would be constantly depressed every time I attended. I don't believe Dr. Ondov is a bad person, but I agree with the reviews that as a professor with an intent in imparting information to his students, he's not doing it right. It's more like his throwing information at you instead of challenging you to think about why things are the way they are in chemistry. Without constantly asking his students questions, they aren't being engaged in the learning. There's also the problem of students not being sure what the take-away/main points are after listening to his lecture. A student can do well in his class if they're keeping up by reading the textbook and learning concepts as they do the online homework. The exams aren't particularly difficult and are for the most part fairly straight forward. He'll throw in one or two trivia questions that no one ever told you but you might be able to make an educated guess. Students probably struggle the most with understanding when to use certain equations or interpreting the meaning of the question. As for the homework assignments, I have some issues with the type of problems he picks to be assigned. Often times, the level of understanding goes beyond what I would expect an introductory student to grasp. My second complaint is since the homeworks due weekly, there are times when he does not get to cover concepts which students are expected to know in order to complete the homework. I think this goes to show students are really on their own and struggling to learn by this method. TL;DR: If you want to enjoy learning science, look for a different professor.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
yumyumshisha
12/14/2012

Averages for the exams: Exam 1: 71 Exam 2: 80 Exam 3: 71 I'd recommend Dr. Eichhorn. If you do the practice problems in the book, you will be over-qualified for the tests i.e. the practice problems are harder than the actual exams. Also, Brad is the nicest T.A. you will ever meet.

Natalia White
CHEM131

Expecting an A
kalama
08/21/2012

Really fun, vibrant, kind respectful professor. Gives extracredit which come in handy 30+ credit. 2 really fair exams 100ea, final exam 200 pts. 5 easy quizzes, 20 pts each. Out of 500 pts.. loved the class, learned a lot,, super impressed..

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a C
krun
05/17/2012

Ondov is a pretty poor teacher and kind of a jerk. He knows what he is talking about for the most part, but no one else in the lecture hall does. If you've taken Chem before you'd probably understand, but he doesn't really teach anything. He just does examples, which he screws up half the time. Reading on my own and doing the homework was the only way I learned anything. He doesn't use any lecture slides, but uses a bunch of blackboards, so you can't go back and visit the notes unless you spend the whole class writing them down. But I'm finally done with the class and when I asked him about the curve he had a sassy reply and reminded me how happy I am to be done with him. Overall chemistry is a pretty hard class and you don't need to take this prof to make it any harder. Avoid him if you can. Oh, and the average exam score was about a 60%. I did better than the average overall and still got a 73%. There's not much grade padding, so don't expect a B if you get the average or even better.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/09/2012

DO NOT TAKE HIM. don't do it unless he is the last teacher available. even then you might want to wait a semester. i took ondov because the other teacher taught at 8 am which i did not want but i would have so much rather been in that class. he sucks. his lectures are him writing in a disorganized mess on the board and its hard to follow along. the only way you learn is the book. then when he gives exams the averages are about 54% and he either doesn't curve them or curves them 1% point. and he has told us he will not be curving our end grade. compared to other professors for chem131 who curve 10% or more for an exam this is horrible. he is so disorganized, doesn't show up for office hours, and doesn't respond to emails. i spent 3 times more time on this class than any other and still might not be able to get a c. just don't take him and maybe the department will fire him and save everyone their money.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/30/2012

An excellent teacher. A nice guy and sometimes makes some good jokes in class. More importantly, he has a knack for going through problems clearly and methodically. Studying those lecture notes go a long way to doing well on exams. His exams are fair and really not too terrible. The only downside is that I didn't feel as prepared for Orgo I as other students did. Still, I would recommend him for Gen. Chem. I. Oh and if you Brad as a TA, take advantage of him. Go to discussion. He's awesome.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
04/05/2012

Pretty much what others have said. He's not a bad guy from what I've seen, although I haven't interacted with him much. I'm in the class now so I'm not sure what my final grade will be - currently I'm hovering around an 80%. The curve on the first exam was about 4 points out of 100: not terrible, but as the class average for the first exam was a 55% it certainly could have been better. Let's get something straight: I was an excellent student in high school and in other science classes at UMD, and have no problems with science in general. But Ondov is one of those teachers who manages to make the subject ridiculously, hideously complicated even if it's simple to begin with. He goes off on long tangents about material that's more suited to graduate students than to an intro course, constantly makes mistakes and corrects himself, and just generally makes a mess of everything he's trying to teach. I ended up not going to classes at all except for exams because my grades went UP that way instead of down, even with the extra credit clicker questions at the end of class. Studying out of the book is much more manageable than trying to decode the gibberish he's spouting at the front of the class. Even the exams themselves routinely have multiple mistakes on them, and he reads out corrections as people point out the mistakes, which is extremely distracting and very unprofessional. The one good thing I can say about his teaching is that he clearly lists the topics covered by each exam, making them easy to study for. It's clear that he's a doer instead of a teacher - not a problem in and of itself, but he REALLY shouldn't be teaching an introductory course. I realize that yes, this course is for science majors and thus is going to be difficult, but there's no reason to make the material more confusing than it already is. jcp5383 below says "he knows what he's talking about," and that's the problem. HE knows what he's talking about, we don't. That's why it's a class and not a discussion. He's supposed to be TEACHING us the material, not confusing it further. He might be a professional, but he's certainly not a professional teacher except by definition. Let's face it, we have to judge teachers on how well they teach the material, not how well they know it, and while Ondov knows his stuff he's an absolutely terrible teacher. Definitely not recommended, one star.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a C
mchives
03/27/2012

Honestly if I had not dropped this professor for another I probably would have failed. He is aging and it clearly shows when he starts rambling during lectures in like a whole nother language. Nobody had a clue what he was saying! If you read the book then you could kind of understand him, but really who has to time to read so many chapters before the next lecture? Also his slides sucked! I was willing to drop this class for an 8AM, that's how bad it was. Avoid this professor at all costs, chemistry is hard enough as it is.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
btc5105
03/16/2012

He is a very good lecturer. His class really is not hard if you read the book a little bit and understand the concepts. I recommend this professor for anyone really.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/22/2011

Make sure you understand the material when you come into lecture. She'll point out all the little things you need to know but you have to go back to the book and read up on it, thankfully the book is really easy to understand. Her tests are basically what she gives you on the practice exams, understand the concepts, memorize the equations and you'll do well on the tests. Be wary she's not to approachable. Yes she does want you to do well but it's best to understand when she raises her voice at you it's not because she's mad. I could have gotten an A in this class. In fact I got an A on the final. I wish she had a policy like Dixon's where if you get an A on the final you get an A in the class.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/22/2011

Guys don't take her. Take Eichorn. I would suggest this. Go to two of her lectures, and go to two of Eichorn's, you will figure out four yourself. I knida' did it, but I did too later to drop Mignerey's class and go to Eichorn's. So, yea. Trust me. Take Eichorn. A better professor from every angle. >Mignerey doesn't teach you concepts, Eichorn does. >Mignerey puts everything in the powerpoint and everything is organized so she goes really fast over the material and loses a lot of her students in the middle. So, after she does every question, there would be 10 hands up by the students asking what she did. >Eichorn puts questions up, doesn't put steps up. Does on the board. So goes slowly. You get the concepts and understand how to approach the problem, and solve it slowly. >Mignerey faces board and powerpoint while teaching. Eichorn faces you. >Mignerey doesn't tell you the conceptual background of the question. Eichorn does. >Eichorn, in general, just gets more student's attention because he is animated. Makes stuff interesting. Mignerey, not any of that. Etc.. Eichorn > Mignerey

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a C-
Raikou-Neko
12/14/2011

While I'll admit I failed the course, I don't feel like it's Mignerey's fault. I'm just really bad at the math in the course. She tries her best to convey the material and is probably one of the better teachers in the course. She seems to try her hardest to get people to pass the course, which is typically used as a drop course. Do the homework and the quizzes - she gives you extra credit for it. I MIGHT be able to scrape a D from the EC, despite getting really low exam grades. ---Edit--- I ended up with a C- due to the massive curve. Lucky me.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/28/2011

Dr. Eichhorn may night be the best professor in the world, but I'm confident that he is one of the best (if not the best) professors for general chemistry. People that give him low ratings probably weren't happy with their grades. Chemistry itself is a very hard subject, you have to put a LOT of effort in it. However, Dr. Eichhorn is a good instructor that does multiple problems until everyone is able to understand it. The exams for Dr. Eicchorn are fairly easy. The average for exams for Eicchorn is usually the highest compared to other professors. I definitely recommend this professor for those who are taking general chemistry (CHEM 131) because he's the better one out of the other professors.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting a C
jlynn895
10/31/2011

Dr. Eichhorn is a very nice professor, but he is not that great at teaching. He zooms through the material in lecture which is definitely not enough to complete the online homework. Reading the book is a necessity for this class. If you want to go back to examples done in class, you can't because he doesn't post any notes or examples online. Homework is quite difficult, but not hard to do well on which helps with your grade. He posts pasts exams online to review but don't rely on them. They are nothing like the actual exam that he gives.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
06/20/2011

Mignerey was not a bad teacher at all. Her exams were very straight forward. The only thing is that, I wouldn't go to her for office hours because she spoke to me with a condescending tone. But her TAs really wanted us to do well so I went to them often. The class wasn't hard but do not ever wait until the last minute to do your mastering chem. But for chem131, I recommend her

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

aplane
05/14/2011

Dr. Mignerey is a very nice and interesting person. I just could really get interested or engaged in that class. She knows her material very well, but conveying it to the general public is not her strong suit and is very hard to follow along with when she gets lost in her own thoughts. Her exams are interesting. She posts a practice exam along with an answer key, but when the actual exam comes, there are several questions that were talked about for one lecture slide. Things like that make the averages of the exam around a 55. I think that in this case, either you lover her or you hate her.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a 65
Anonymous
05/13/2011

Let me start with this, I have never been motivated enough to review a teacher or class in my life. The fact that Ondov was such a pathetic excuse for a professor is testament to his ability to inspire righteous anger in even the most uninterested students like myself. Where to begin? First, his lectures. Allow me to sum up every Ondov lecture you will ever attend: He will use a combination of powerpoint slides and blackboard work to teach. The powerpoint slides are ripe with mistakes and errors that students point out merrily every class, as finding one of his ever-present screw-ups usually results in extra credit. This is also known as "bribing students to not talk about how many times I mess-up" When he turns to further explain the complicated problems on the blackboard, you might as well turn off all your senses because he is about to start sprouting gibberish and incoherent nonsense for about 5-10 minutes. Whenever you see him turn around, rest assured he is actually entering his own little world where everything he says makes perfect sense and unicorns fly across the sky on rainbow bridges. Trying to follow his thought process is almost as challenging as mustering your will to go to his class at all. In addition, his droning monotonous voice combined with the difficulty of following his spastic "teaching" results in the lecture essentially becoming a way to catch up on sleep. I'm telling you right now, the only reason to ever attend his lectures are for the clicker questions that his TA will give at the end of class as a quiz grade. Thank god for those TA's. Although some of them are extremely incompetent at grading your exams (which results in you having to meticulously go over your every test to get back your much-needed points) they literally carry the class on their backs with their discussion sections. Pray for a good one. His office hours are really great if you love being talked down to and falling asleep in a chair. Here's a personal experience from me: I emailed him after the second exam asking to go over it with him. He responded a speedy month later. When I went there to learn how I made my mistakes, he assumed I just wanted him to look over his test for mistakes the TA's made when grading (a testament to the number of problems they cause and his disinterest in helping his students). He looked over my first couple problems and determined that my TA had actually given me more points then I should have. He then proceed to LOWER my grade on the exam on his computer when I came to him for HELP in UNDERSTANDING THE MATERIAL. A more obnoxious thing to do to a student who comes to you for help I cannot imagine. I shouldn't end this review without saying at least one positive thing about him as much as he deserves it. Unfortunately, I can't think of one yet. Another one of his great habits is changing the classroom and not telling the students until the last minute, or not at all. As much fun as going back and forth across the campus is, I just want to learn Chem. I don't want you to think I took this class with no effort on my own either. It was the second time I was taking the class, and I have had a private chem tutor for a year and a half. I still was getting 60's on his exams. My best advice for taking is class is this: I hope you are good at teaching yourself material because he sure won't. Read the textbooks, do the practice problems and maybe you won't be completely lost. That guy who posted beneath me may have the right idea about it not being high school anymore, but that doesn't really help when you're professor is incapable of getting the material across to you. He is right about another thing too, Ondov knows his chemistry. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean jack when he might as well be teaching the class in another language due to his total inability to teach. Also he might be Ondov himself. Don't take him unless you are a natural at chem who can teach yourself the entire class.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Anonymous
05/02/2011

Professor Ondov is a brilliant guy but should not be the general chem professor. I have no idea what is going on in class because HE knows what he is talking about but WE don't. He goes on these tangents about an equation and does not explain what he is doing clearly. I recommend getting a tutor early in the semester if you find yourself drowning in chem. Once you have someone explain the concepts, his lectures are easier to follow and make sense. Clicker quizzes on Thursdays are great for bonus points. You can talk to your neighbors about the answer. Overall, it's an obnoxious course with a lot of studying but if 131 is necessary for your major go for it, and get a tutor.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting an F
Anonymous
04/14/2011

honestly i have never seen a worse teacher...hes adorable dont get me wrong but his lecture is like another language. he starts a problem without explaining what it is and continues to talk about other things as he solves problems...if your good at chem you might be able to just teach yourself...but if youre as bad as i am youll fail if you wanna learn it

Neil Blough
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/13/2011

I did not find this class to be that hard. My basic chemistry knowledge from high school helped me out for the first couple of months and then we started going in depth. Blough just reads straight off the powerpoint slides. He is not really helpful as a professor. However, my TA (Chris Simms) was by far the best TA I ever had. Discussion sections are vital! GO TO THEM! It is very hard to depend on Blough when he rehearses the textbook verbatim. Overall, easy class, take good notes, and everything will go well. I even though CHEM 132(lab) was harder than CHEM 131, but thats a different story...

Amy Mullin
CHEM131

Expecting a b+
Anonymous
03/27/2011

bad lecturer. although professor mullin is very knowledgeable, she does a very poor job of explaining simple topics of chem131 to her students. her lectures are confusing, and she quickly jumps back and forth between topics. she also goes way into detail of upperlevel topics that are not needed for the exams and that are too complex to understand in a gen chem class. you must be very self sufficient in this class to learn and hopefully get a good TA.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting a B
rose11
12/20/2010

I really liked Dr. Eichhorn. Chemistry is a difficult class no matter what professor you take, so working hard is implied. There were three exams throughout the semester, and the material becomes harder as the course progresses. I did ok on the first exam, but not as well on the last two. Material from lecture will most likely not be enough to help you prepare for the exams. Attend guided study sessions (GSS), go to discussion, and form study groups if you can. That's how I made it through this class. Discussions are extremely helpful to clarify concepts. There is homework on MasteringChemistry, which is difficult but also helpful. And homework helped boost my grade immensely. As long as you study in advance for exams and get help outside of class to clarify concepts, you should do fine in the course.

Amy Mullin
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/18/2010

where do i start?? oh i start by saying SHE SUCKS! she is one of those professors that destroy your self esteem and then give you a C as a consolation price to make you think she is doing you a favor! I went into the class with high hopes and after the first test, i knew i had the wrong professor! to start with, her class is an uphill battle and you will spend the rest of the semester fighting to stay alive! i attend over 90% of her lectures and i can count the number of times i actually learned something in one hand, over 90 percent of the work was done by myself, self learning. Our TA, Lenea Stocker was also really helpful. and when you think you got the material down and are prepared for the test? she hits you with something that is not even in the book! To do good on her tests, you have you go inside her head and think the way she thinks! After reading my review and that of others on this page, you'll be a fool to take her. SHE IS A SELF ESTEEM KILLER AND SHE CANNOT TEACH. and most likely, your grade in her class is not justified and will not reflect what you know. SHE is only gets that one star because we are required to give a minimum of a star.

Amy Mullin
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/16/2010

Dr. Mullin is seriously not a bad professor like other people have said. Yes, you WILL have to do readings outside of class by yourself. She does not assign readings for you. You can read the chapter if you feel like it (which I recommend). Do practice problems. The homework on Mastering Chemistry is really not terrible. You have 3 tries for each problem. Yes, you do lose points for getting the wrong answer, but you can still miss quite a few and still get a good grade for the homework. PLUS, the lowest homework score is dropped and your homeworks together will combine to one test grade. There are extra credit clicker questions and this class is generously curved. I got an 88% or so in the class and still got an A+. You need to study on your own when you have to. There are office hours and you should go if you need to. Dr. Mullin has a very friendly personality, so don't be intimidated. Grading is not bad like what people have said. I have made some pretty poor mistakes on my tests and there are certain things I deserved. But also, I did get partial credit when I deserved it. I liked the tests since there were no multiple choice questions. Just four 25 point questions. The wording of the question may catch you off guard, BUT if you read very carefully, they are really not that hard to understand. You need to think outside of the box since they are not straight questions from your textbook, but she DOES cover the concepts in class. She lectures mostly by writing on the chalkboard and there aren't powerpoints for you. I think it's easier for her to draw and solve stuff on the board, then to give you a powerpoint of notes, but by writing on the board, she takes a little time to erase the stuff, which makes it seem as if there isn't enough time to cover all the material. I honestly don't prefer chalkboards, but I can't think of a better way to teach chem. Don't sit in the back of class, you won't learn. Too many people talking back there and it's hard to see the board. Good luck.

Amy Mullin
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2010

By far one of the worst professors i have had in a while. She cannot teach at all. in an applied science like chemistry you can't say that you go from point A to point B without explaining the process of how you got there. She seemed nice at first but, first impressions can be misleading, i have had some very mean spirited teachers in the past, and they at least give 1 pt partial credit if you at least give a feasible attempt at a question, not Mullin. Harsh grading, poor teaching skills, tests are one giant curve ball after another, avoid if you can...

Neil Blough
CHEM131

Expecting an A+
cmoore16
12/15/2010

This class was pretty simple and you don't need to do too much to do well. He's a good guy and cares about his students, but he isn't very engaging when it comes to lectures. However, going to lecture is worth it since he gives out extra credit through clicker questions. All of his powerpoints are straight from the book, and his tests are fairly easy if you just study and practice. Easy class!

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/15/2010

I don't recommend his class. Don't be deceived by all these great rating about him. He's an okay professor, but a lot of the work you have to figure out yourself because he does like one problem and expects you to understand the concept. All he does is problems on the board and he DOES NOT CURVE. even when our third exam had an average of 60/105 (I think that average says something about the way he teaches). Some of the material that was on the exam was NOT covered in lecture. I would recommend another professor that actually cares about his students and curves.

Neil Blough
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/13/2010

Dr. Blough is alright. Nothing special. His tests aren't too bad if you know the material. The first test is mostly conceptual, and the 2nd and 3rd are all solving equations. He gives 20 extra credit points through clickers at the end of class. Make sure you go to class and do them. Overall, if you work you can get whatever grade you want.

Amy Mullin
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2010

Horrible professor. She can't teach and her exams are ridiculous; four 25 point questions that are unlike any in the textbook, so even if you teach yourself the material perfectly you could end up screwed.

Neil Blough
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/10/2010

Prof. Blough uses Powerpoint slides with examples (directly from the book). He went through the slides incredibly fast...you'd be lucky if you could jot down one or two things on the slide. So he wasn't all that helpful in learning the material but basically if you can read the book, you're good to go. Honestly, I thought he was awful at teaching, but his exams were fairly easy and he gave "extra points" through clicker questions.

Neil Blough
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/05/2010

There is nothing particularly good or bad about this professor. His lectures are not very engaging but informative and I found myself getting distracted. However, he posts all his presentations online so the only reason you would want to go to lecture is to get extra credit with the clicker questions which are abundant. The exams are not overly difficult. Just know your stuff and you're good. Just doing the homework is enough to get you through the exams. I'm not crazy about this class but I don't mind it at all and recommend it because it is easy with this professor. I cannot say much about his explanatory power becaue I never really listened to his lectures but I am getting an A which says a lot about the amount of effort you need to put into his class! :) Hope this helps!

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

homgprd
11/03/2010

Read the book thoroughly before lecture, otherwise you'll have some trouble. He's a pretty cool guy who I definitely recommend.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/02/2010

Prof. Vedernikov is a pleasant professor who cares about his students. He responds to emails quickly. Don't worry about his accent; it's completely understandable. The exams are extremely do-able since they are nearly identical to the previous years' exams (which he posts on Blackboard). The online homeworks aren't too bad. It isn't too hard to get an A (85% and above) or a B (75% and above).

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
TerpGuide
06/08/2010

The class overall isn't that hard. If you took high school chem it's about the same material. When I had him an A>85, B>75.. and so forth. It's a pretty fair class; you get what you put in. But if you have him for an 8am its brutal. He talks with an accent and has a monotone voice so you have to be somewhat alert. If you can avoid taking him at 8 do it. But overall he isn't a bad professor.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/06/2010

Dr. Dixon is a great teacher. She's definitely challenging, but she knows how to prepare students for Organic, which is really important. Be prepared to work and study. You may get low percentages, but don't forget she does curve a little. Go to every lecture to get clicker points. If you need help, go to her office hours because she really wants to help you. TA was also great

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a c
Anonymous
03/16/2010

He had an accent so I was not always able to understand him. His handwriting was horrible so if you didnt understand what he said would would also not understand what he writes on the board. My TA was great and did a wonderful job of explaining the concepts.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
acgonzal
02/08/2010

I didnt find that his accent was much of a problem, tho he does tend to talk a bit softly, so do sit near the front. His exams were EXACTLY like those of past years, just with different numbers. The curve is also quite generous. Homework was a bit annoying, but easy. As some have said, sometimes his explanations are not the best, but hopefully you will have a good TA, mine last semester was great. Most of the time, though, stuff was pretty clear, and discussion was unnecessary. The professor himself was very approachable, and was just very sweet and uber helpful. I most def recommend him.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
01/27/2010

not a good prof.. he didn't teach just did problems on the board fast!!!

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
eshupe
01/26/2010

Like most other reviews have said, Vedernikov is a pretty decent teacher. His accent isn't too bad, and his practice exams are really helpful to prepare for the real ones. However, if you aren't really a science/math person, this class might be somewhat challenging. I put a lot of work into the course and maintained a B. And also I almost never took notes in lecture because he tends to go all over the place; I took notes from the book (following the topics covered in the syllabus lecture schedule).

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
01/10/2010

Eichorn was a great Chemistry teacher. He broke down the concepts so anyone was able to understand the basic rules and equations. Has graded clicker questions almost every lecture but a lot of them are repeated or are from a problem he just went over so if you go to all the lectures, you will get easy points. He has three midterm exams, online homework that is pretty easy to get a 100 on since he allows 2-3 attempts, and the final.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting a B
umd3890
01/07/2010

Emily is probably one of the greatest TA on the college park campus. She was very helpful and easy to understand that she clarified every problem the professor didn't explain very well or go over very much. If you have her, you are in good hands. Eichorn is a little bit above average chem professor. He explains the concepts fairly well. And compared to Verdernikov(sometimes hard to understand his explanation) and Dixon (hardcore exams that you might as well put your pencil down before you began) he was definitely the happy medium. This was my second time taking this course after failing it the first time and I got a B.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
01/07/2010

He's a fairly easy professor, but not all that good at lecturing. He'll teach you exactly what you need to know for his tests, and his tests are pretty fair. The class itself should not be hard at all - keep up with the work and go to lecture, and you're virtually guaranteed an A. If you're looking for an easy class, his is the one to take. However, if you're looking to actually learn a lot about chemistry, try Dr. Dixon. She's a lot harder, but teaches you a lot more about the foundations of chemistry.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/30/2009

Take another professor. Very nice lady. But if you care about getting an A or B, not the person you want to take. Class is challenging.. but too challenging unless you want to be a chemist. Take it if you are passionate about chemistry. If not take another professor. I also had her Organic Chemistry 1, it was awful as she moved way too fast so I did not absorb much. Phil DeShong is a much better professor and actually teaches much more concisely and gives examples, which she does not do enough of.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/28/2009

Like others have said, his accent is slightly distracting and his handwriting can be difficult to read at times. However, his exams are extremely easy, his class is graded on a curve, and 3 of the lowest hw grades, 10 clicker questions are dropped.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/27/2009

I will attempt to be as objective as possible. Dr. Dixon knows her stuff and forces you to do so as well. By the end of the course, you will feel like you can teach general chemistry. Her real trick is to intimidate you and force you to understand chemistry. She gives very difficult exams which require you to apply what you know. To do this you must review her lectures daily and really devote time to the class. Thus by giving such hard tests she is pushing her students to study a lot in order to understand the material. I spent a lot of time for this class and ended up with a B+. If you are up for the challenge then take her. Yes she is very tough but it all works out in the end. If you put in the effort you will get the grade. That being said, I do believe that she can stand to move a little slower and not try and scare her students so much. I along with many other freshman, felt that she demanded too much of her students who were not used to thinking the way she wanted us to. Additionally, her pace/exams can discourage many people. Overall, it's tough to rate this professor because I'm glad that I understand chemistry at the level that I do, but I know I would've received an A with another professor. Therefore, I am still trying to figure out how I truly felt about the course. I don't know if I want to challenge myself again and take her for organic.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/26/2009

Really nice guy, pretty good professor. His lectures/notes are kind of disorganized; also his handwriting can be kind of difficult to read. His accent, for me at least, took some getting used to. Sit near the front and you'll do better understanding him and reading his writing. An 85 is an A and a 75 is a B which is nice. He drops the 3 lowest of 13 homeworks. The homework isn't usually too hard, just annoying to do. I don't really feel like I understand chemistry all that well after his class, but it really doesn't matter because I'm a business major. Partly it's probably because I didn't put in all that much effort. He posts a practice exam online before each exam, and it's basically the same as the exam, just with different problems. My only issue was that I felt after each test that I had done really well and then I usually found that I had scored ~10 pts lower than I thought, for whatever reason. Go to every lecture--there's clicker questions. I often slept through my 8 am class and missed the CQs, bringing my grade down.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a B
tero4life
12/23/2009

Effective teacher.. but too much information and extra info that it was hard to keep up. For sure I would take someone else. Her exams discourage you because the questions are so warped and time consuming!

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/22/2009

Damn, listened to you guys down below saying how great she was, wtf?! She goes so damn fast in the damn class like a damn car. "Grades will not reflect what you learn"....that's all everyone cares about, the grades!!!!!!!!!!! my gpa got killed, and I'm not even from america damn this country, how unlucky this semester i have dixon and gold at the same time

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/20/2009

Good professor. His exams are decent, the average was around 70% for the first two, though our third exam had an average of 50%. Sometimes he'd make a student feel dumb during lecture if they asked a question that was obvious to him (to be fair, sometimes it WAS a really bad question). He's a nice guy and pretty funny (in a cheesy way). Graded clicker questions each class, though sometimes they were freebies (what do you eat on thanksgiving? turkey). I'd take another chem class with him.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
aralchen
12/20/2009

Giving him three stars is a little too kind considering his bad teaching. His lectures are incredibly dry and poorly put together. He frequently makes mistakes but does offer extra credit if you catch him. I missed more than a few lectures (I had him at 8 AM), but read the textbook and did practice problems religiously. That said, I'm definitely not advocating skipping class. But, if you'd rather not go, read the book as I did, and you'll likely get an A. He gives a small curve at the end of class only, so you never really know how well you're doing until the end. The online quizzes are meant "to help you" rather than "hurt you," so I guess they're like an extra credit.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2009

She is the best CHEM131 teacher. She truly cares a lot about her students and wants everyone to do well. She is engaging and teaches the material in a good way (unlike some other teachers, she does not use just the examples from the book-she makes up her own so you can understand the subject better). There are three exams and a final in this class. You do have to put effort in this class if you want a good grade. If you do your homework assignments, do the readings, and take notes in class, you will do fine. Just study effectively. Dr. Dixon is also there to help you during her office hours. Also, go to the discussions because the TA really helps clear some concepts up. There are also many, many opportunities for extra credit, so you can easily raise your grade if you do not do that well on the exams. She also takes the extra credit problems created by students and makes it into a packet for students to complete if they need extra help. Also, the curve isn this class is insanely high (this semester, a 70-75% was an A)

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2009

Dr. Eicchorn was a great professor. He cracked some jokes and tried to make the material interesting. He also used real life examples of some chemical reactions so we can relate to the material. His tests aren't that terrible. The first 2 were pretty easy and the third one was hard. Overall I had no problems with him. 1 time he wasn't there and the substitute professor, Verdernikov (or however you spell it) sucked and made me appreciate him more. Emily is also a great TA and made herself available and went over everything. Some things she didn't know but for the most part she was great as well.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2009

She is very knowledgeable and is a really good teacher! But her tests are impossible to finish in the time period given and are difficult. The averages on the tests were usually in the 50-60% but since the class was heavily curved overall, it helped out a lot! If you had 75% of the total points by the end of the semester, you got an A in the class!

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a D
made4tv09
12/18/2009

This class was extremely difficult. Dr. Dixon is an awesome professor. She's very engaging and entertaining and she knows her stuff. On the other hand her exams were very difficult. If it had not been for the curve I would have failed this class. If you have to take Dr. Dixon I recommend attending her office hours as many times as you possibly can. She loves to help her students and offer extra problems. Good luck...

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/16/2009

This class is entirely what you make of it. I personally thought it was the hardest class I ever took in my entire life and failed every midterm with about a 45% and got a 60% on the final. However you WILL learn more than you would with any other Chemistry professor at this university. Bonnie Dixon is quite possibly one of the best professors, period! Though the exams ARE hard she does provide lots and lots of review. In my class we had two guided study sessions (reviews) a week and then holds a review before each exam. She holds office hours througout the week and if you catch her in her office outside of office hours she will be more than happy to talk to you then. She also gives extra credit throughout the semester which are very helpful. She also does clicker questions worth 40 points so go to class. As for the curve, she said that this semester around 50% is a C and then about 65% is a B and 80% is an A. To top that off if you're failing and get a C on the final it is an automatic C in the class. I would highly recommend her because as long as you study and put alittle effort into it, you will at least get a C.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2009

Dr. Dixon is amazing! She is an awesome professor and will do her best to help you succeed!

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/09/2009

Professor Vedernikov is a good professor. He is friendly towards his students. But, his lectures are a little disorganized. The notes he writes on the blackboards are sometimes all over the place, so sometimes it is hard to follow what he is writing or saying. Usually, he likes to use a lot of examples to explain what certain terms mean, but I wish he would give us the definitions first rather than going straight to examples to make it more understandable. The exams are fairly easy as long as you review the sample exams because they are very similar. There's a 5 point bonus question at the end of every exam. Clicker questions at the start of class every morning are easy because he explains what they are going to be before we actually answer them. They are based on what we learned at the last lecture. The online homework is tedious, and he drops the lowest 3 out of 13 total.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A-
sdavies2
11/15/2009

He is definitely an awesome professor. I would recommend him to anyone. His exams are fair, and his lectures are engaging. He has a good sense of humor, and tries to incorporate real-world examples into his lectures. If you go to all the lectures and do your homework, you should do fine in the class. (Also, if Emily is still the TA for the class, she is fantastic)

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/21/2009

Vedernikov is a really nice professor, he really seems to care about his students, and he answers emails very quickly. The class doesn't have a curve, however that's only because an A=85% and above and a B=75% and above. The tests are easy, and are exactly the same as the practice exam that he posts. The only problem is lectures. His accent is totally understandable, there are no problems there, however you have to go to every lecture because he gives clicker questions every single class. So I usually go and then fall asleep. The homeworks are easy, just use your textbook, the answers are like directly in there. If you want a A take Vedernikov.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Anonymous
07/23/2009

Even though Vedernikov may not be the best lecturer, he gets concepts across to the students. The additional work he has including homework and clicker questions definitely boost your grade and REALLY help with the tests, as do the practice exams he posts. If you want an "A", take him!!

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
qa197
04/29/2009

I have Ondov at 8 am for an hour and 15 minutes. It is nearly impossible to stay awake during his lectures because he has such a monotone voice. In addition, he makes lots of mistakes on the blackboard; we are continually correcting him - - although he does offer extra credit for that. The class in itself really isn't that hard. Going to discussion is more helpful for me than going to lecture, because it is so hard to pay attention. The book is slightly confusing, but has all of your needed information. Read it. If you manage to pay attention in lecture, power to you. I suggest not taking it at 8 am if you don't go to bed before 11 pm.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/27/2009

Overall, the class wasn't too hard. There were three midterms, online homework, clicker questions, and a final. I didn't ever take notes in class, I just read the book. Vedernikov is an okay professor, although his accent is distracting. The class is supposed to be for science majors, but I'm a non-science major and I did just fine in the class.

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
04/14/2009

You will learn a lot about General Chemistry with Dixon, but you probably won't get the grade you want. In the beginning of the semester she boasts a huge curve but by the end that curve is much smaller than she originally said so be careful.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
PossePrincess
04/12/2009

Professor Ondov may not be the most interesting lecturer, but you will come away knowing what he was talking about. His powerpoints are well done, and he moves at a good pace. His tests are a fair mix of concepts, applications, and difficulty levels. He is open to questions, and will give you extra credit if you catch a mistake.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting an A
DN12
01/01/2009

My advice is to definitely take Chem 131 with Dr. Eichhorn. He is a wonderful teacher. A bonus is that if you took AP Chem and understood it (but maybe got a 3 like I did - no credit), he goes in the EXACT order as they do in AP, so you are not entirely lost. Throughout the course I used notes from regular and AP Chem in highschool, in addition to his notes and I have done quite well. Dr. Eichhorn is funny in class and helpful. He is willing to work with you during office hours, or will make time for you if you have class during his hours. His exams are fair and he lectures well. He works many examples to make sure you understand. He also does clicker questions for points that are very easy to get. Also, sit in the front. You learn better that way in his type of class. Just work hard (as with any class) and you will do well.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

kieri126
12/27/2008

so i have been going through these reviews in hoping i could make a good decision about my organic chem professor next semester. Not really satisfied with the reviews so I decided to write some aboutt he professors I had this past semester. HOPEFULLY, I can be of some real help in helping you decide on what professor to choose. Dr. Eichhorn as he likes to be addressed is all in all a pretty good professor. His lectures are pretty interesting and he teaches the material very well. His exam<----if this a big issue for you!! are really easy!! Just make you that you stay on top of the material and do alot of PRACTICE!!! he post past exams in an exam bank(no solutions) for practice.the curve he had on the exmas were not even worth it. 2 or 3 pts. But, again its because they were so easy. His lectures were actually interesting. He always cracked some jokes or had some story to tell. I personally did not completely DREAD going to class. He made it bearable. He has clicker questions almost every class. But, near the end of the semester you never know when he is going to throw in another. So, you could two clickers in one day. I actually liked these because the clicker ques were essentially FREE PTS!! so this alone was like a boost to your grade. even if u get it wrong, you get half a point! homeworks are the one thing i must say were horrible though. They are really really HARD! but, he does give you two attempts at getting the best grade possible. I don't know how he is going to do it next semester but for fall '08 in the beginning he allowed three attempts but each attempt had 10 NEW ques. and then near the end he finally changed it and allowed the two as i said with the SAME 10 ques. one last thing i have to add is Dr.Eichhorn does make you feel like an idiot if you ask an obvious or stupid ques. But, then again what is the definition of a stupid ques?? i don't think in CHEM there is such a thing but apparently he does. So, if your iffy about asking DON'T. because he will make you regret it infront of 300 other people. Just wait til after class or ask a peer or TA. saves you the embarrassment. So, if this is your first time taking chem or you have taken it before Eichhorn is a good professor to choose!!! Many did very well.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting a B
tallboyt
12/22/2008

Good teacher and makes some funny corny jokes, lol. uses a clicker ~3-4times/week. 3 tests: each of which are fairly easy;however, you must come prepared (unlike myself). gives prac tests which are good. online ARIS hw is really hard compared to book work or in-class work. go to lec to get worked out problems. writes own final. curve.."depends"

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Expecting a B-
makinmoney
12/20/2008

Solid Professor. the class notes are not enough to do well in his class. Become VERY familiar with your book. Test are easy if you STUDY FROM THE BOOK.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
800meters
12/19/2008

He posts all the previous year's midterms with answers, and the midterms we actually take are the same midterms, only with different numbers and slight variations. He really likes to have people understand the material, so he wants people to attend office hours and whatnot. His lectures are boring at 8AM, but if you took AP Chem, you will do well. I put little effort into this class. Dr. Vedernikov is much easier than Steffek or Dixon from what I hear from friends who took the others. His accent is not too hard to understand after acclimating to it.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2008

Vedernkov is a terrible lecturer. His powerpoints do little to explain the concepts and his lectures in general did little for me in terms of understanding class material. I basically had to teach myself from the book and picked up a lot from lab rather than lecture (I got an easy A in lab). The only good thing about his class is that his tests are fairly easy, but the class doesn't have much of a curve compared to other professor's classes and since he doesn't teach the material well, having easier tests doesn't go too far...

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2008

Hands down--THE best Chem professor on campus. She always starts off class with an oldies song from her Itunes! But in all seriousness, you have to go to lecture and ask questions. She will tell you what's on the exam and will do one of those last-minute day before reviews IN CLASS where she will tell you what to expect. Also, although her exams are not as straightforward as other professors, you are here to learn and think....so go ahead and take her, get your money's worth, you will have a good time working with her. She's funny and energetic and can definitely keep you awake. The curve is very very very generous. I believe a 72% or higher is an A!! Good luck!

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/11/2008

Dr. Vedernikov is a good Professor. However, his lectures can be all over the place sometimes. But, overall he is able to explain the concepts well. If you read the book and go to lectures, you will be fine. He is easy to get a hold of and always answer emails quickly. He is easy to approach If you have a question or a concern about the class or material.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/11/2008

Kept lectures interesting with jokes and anecdotes. Overall, he's a really good teacher and his lectures are easy to follow. Homework is online and you get multiple attempts and a week to do them. Clicker questions pretty much every class. Tests aren't that bad, and he posts old ones online (no answer keys though); you do have to study hard to get a good grade though. The only thing bad I can say about him is that if you ask an obvious question during lecture, he might make you look a little bit dumb.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/01/2008

Dr vedernikov is a great teacher. his class is fair and the clicker questions are easy IF you come to the class before and PAY ATTENTION. i havent really put a lot of effort into doing well in this class which is why my grade expected is a "C". his tests are fair and easy, i didn't study for them much and got a C. so you can listen to the students with the expected grade A that say hes awesome. or you can listen to the failing student complain about the work... point is He's a good teacher if you pay attention and take notes. the homeworks can be really hard and the exams are pretty easy. if you have a 85% thats' an A. if u have a 75% thats a B.. etc. hope this helped. (i took him for chem131. P.S i have gone to tutoring and heard students complain about dixon and the other teachers being difficult.. and most wish they'd taken vedernikov...

John Ondov
CHEM131

Expecting a B
jwhite89
11/10/2008

knows what he is talking about....mainly because hes been teaching this course for a while. uses powerpoint alot. expect a decent curve.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Anonymous
04/07/2008

This class has been terrible for me! The online homework took hours to complete, but wasn't worth many points. The practice tests weren't always accurate depictions of the actual test. I am doing poorly, and have to drop the course! Do not ignore these reviews. Some people don't mind her, but she didn't work for me. Be cautious when choosing this professor!

Bonnie Dixon
CHEM131

Expecting an A
jjberman
04/03/2008

Dixon's great. She gives a great lecture, and is always receptive to questions and helpful during her ample office hours.

John Ondov
CHEM131

Anonymous
03/16/2008

Makes very good, understandable slides, but his explanations are a little awkward. It is not necessary to attend class if you can understand what's on the slides, though if you can't his explanations can clear things up. He seems a little out of it and has trouble with technology and understanding questions, as well as answering them. He's worth it, though, because the material is understandable

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Anonymous
12/16/2007

He does not explain concepts very well. It would best if you can take your own notes, and practice problems at the end of each chapter. His practice exams are somewhat helpful, but he gives different problems in his tests, so its better not to depend completely on his practice exams. I have also found that this year's exam are much much harder than last years.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
Myanus
12/03/2007

I agree with most of what LHaggerty said. He sometimes strays during the lecture onto somewhat related tangents which eat up valuable lecture time. On the positive side, he makes sure to explain difficult concepts in different ways to clarify things. His accent becomes easy to understand after about 10 minutes, so do not let a foreign accent discourage you. He was fair and friendly in dealing with me when I missed an exam. It is annoying to have to purchase a 40$ clicker and OWL access to do the graded assignments. He grades attendance and the homeworks can be long and tedious. I would recommend, as it can be an easy A.

Bryan Eichhorn
CHEM131

Anonymous
11/21/2007

He was a pretty good teacher, and the fact that he posted old exams online really helped. In front of the class he was funny and kept your interest. The only thing is that whenever I would try to talk to him one on one, he always made me feel like an idiot.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Expecting an A
LHaggerty
11/20/2007

Approachable and friendly, I found him relatively easy to understand despite his accent. Gives online homework assignments that help a lot when test time comes around and it's easy to score well on these if you put in the time. Tests are very reasonable if you take advantage of the practice tests he posts. Participation points are earned by attending lectures and answering a clicker question at the beginning of class. Lectures are not particularly clear, so it's best to take your own notes and go to lecture as review of your notes and to pick up extras not in the book.

Andrei Vedernikov
CHEM131

Anonymous
11/19/2007

The thing I found most difficult about this professor was how he did not explain the concepts very well, and his thick accent makes it all the harder to understand. Uses Power-points for lectures.

Alice Mignerey
CHEM131

Expecting a B
kbe12478
11/14/2007

A very sweet lady, but unless you really need or love to take chemistry, do not take this class. Mignerey did not know how to work the equipment in the room, and after wasting ten minutes of each 50 minute class, she presented bare-bones powerpoint slides that she just read off of the whole time. Also, you had to show up at the beginning of class to answer questions with your clicker, and many people just left immediatewly afterwards (which disrupted the class even further). Three tests and a final. And the accompanying lab is awful (Chem 132).

Reviews for CHEM131