CHEM232 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Silas Ameshiku CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/14/2024	Overall just a good TA. Willing to help and explain concepts. He's approachable and will chat with students.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/25/2024	I had an amazing TA, so this class wasn't that bad. The TAs run the classes and grade everything. I only saw Koppel once near the end of the semester because one of the machines in our lab wasn't working and the TA asked her about it. The worksheets and pre-labs are easy, but the post-lab questions suck. They have nothing to do with what you learned in lab and yet take up so much time. This class should be worth more than 1 credit since I was spending more time on the post-labs at some points than my core classes. To get a good grade on the post-lab questions, use Google and attend TA office hours. Also, make sure to watch the videos going over the lab procedure before lab because it will make doing the experiments much easier. Overall, lab was fun but the PLQs were not.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous_2018 08/22/2024	I took 232 Orgo 1 lab in Spring '24, which was honestly better than expected, definitely better than Gen Chem 1 lab. Like the other reviews, this one is more for the course itself than for Dr. Koppel. Overall, MOST of the labs weren't time-consuming and sometimes fun but the post-lab questions offered nothing but annoyance because they often had little to do with what we did in labs. I STRONGLY recommend going to office hours EVERY week, whether for the worksheets or post-lab questions. Either way, this strategy relieves unnecessary stress and guarantees a decent score on the questions. If your TA is great (like mine was), optimize their time sections. You need to maximize your points on ALL the lab reports as much as you can because THERE IS NO CURVE. Since Dr. Koppel removed midterms and finals, she no longer fancied one. Now there is only a practical "quiz" at the end of the semester, which is generally easy if you study well, BUT it can plummet your grade too since there are only two questions worth 25 points each, so don't take it lightly! Overall, complete all your assignments, study well for the practical, and most importantly go to office hours.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/31/2024	This class was just ok. My TA was amazing but other TAs were very rude and condescending. The worksheets are not hard but the post-lab questions are very annoying. You can never really tell what Koppel wants from your answer (also half the time I just paraphrased what was in the manual and got full points). But on some questions it was so hard to tell what she wanted and I lost a lot of points because of that. It also depends on the TA who grades it, some are very harsh other not. I will say tho, the curve (for me anyway) was non existent which kinda sucked because I ended with an 87 and expected the curve to bring me to an A- but it didn't, so don't rely on any curve for this course. I would advise you to go to as many office hours as possible and avoid Monday lab.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/18/2024	i have never seen koppel or contacted her the whole time, its mainly the TAs doing everything. for a 1 credit class, it is a bunch of work. every week you have to do a pre lab write up & worksheet(s) for the current week and then the post lab questions & worksheet(s) for the previous weeks. the PLQs are so hard and long, sometimes the worksheets are confusing as well but the pre lab write ups are fine. i learned this later on in the semester (wish i started in the beginning), but you HAVE to go to the TAs office hours to make your life easier. especially find a TA who will just give you the answers bc some are stuck up and will only help if you attempt the question. there was a curve, i dont think any other reviews really mentioned this but my 78 got rounded to a B.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/17/2024	Never met her, you only interact with the TAs. The work for this class is actually insane considering it’s only 1 credit. You have to do the pre lab write up and pre lab worksheet for the current weeks lab but then another post lab worksheet and post lab questions for the previous weeks lab. Pre-labs arent that much work and sometimes the pre lab/post lab worksheets arent bad either, but the post lab questions are so long and tedious. The TAs lowkey grade harsh too. Go to the TAs office hours for help on the PLQs and sometimes the post lab worksheets too. Find a TA who will give you the answers bc some are stuck up and wont help you unless you attempt it first. If youre wondering abt the curve I got a 78% rounded to a B.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/17/2024	ok so you actually never interact with Koppel unless you go out of your way to. the post lab questions are sometimes mad hard and she expects so much writing from stuff that isn't even mentioned int he question so rlly make sure you hit all the bases when answering and over explain yourself. also the labs you actually have to prepare for so just read the stuff and watch h the videos and you ill be fine
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/17/2024	Honestly, she isn't as bad as people say she is. Don't get me wrong, orgo lab is a LOT of work, and her post lab questions are made to trick you and confuse you. However, if you go to office hours, and actually put in effort you should have almost no problem getting at least an A- in this class. I put in maybe 1-2 hours a week (not including the actual lab time), and managed to get all of the work done and get an A in the course. Overall not a problem, and she's actually kinda nice when you meet her, unlike some of the reviews below will tell you.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/30/2024	Ok the lab sucks, and the PLQs suck more. My TA didn’t really know what he was doing and told our class the wrong instructions more than once. PLQs took me maybe 2-3 hours average (though later ones were definitely longer). Don’t take Monday/Tuesday labs if you can help it, as you’ll be limited in office hours since data was not usually released until just before the weekend. However, 10x better than CHEM136 so I’ll take it
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/24/2024	TA's run the lab and make or break your grade. (I got lucky) Labs are based on completion. Hardest part was the PLQ's, office hours saved you if you were concerned on a response. Koppel only appeared like once and it was for GC analysis.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/22/2024	Your success in lab is entirely dependent on the TAs because you pretty much never see Koppel. Thankfully, you're never graded on the accuracy of your results in the lab. The workload is a lot for a 1 credit class but it's not hard if you go to office hours. Her post-lab questions are sometimes things you have never even learned and would have no way of knowing, so it's better to just suck it up and go to office hours. Just figure out who are the good TAs and go to their office hours for everything and you're pretty much guaranteed a a 90%+. I have messed up literally EVERY single experiment we've had so far but I still have a 96% because I just got all the answers from office hours. Benjamin Kim is the GOAT if he's still TA-ing.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2024	You never see Koppel, only your TA, so this review is just for the class itself. It took more time outside of class than some of my 3 credit courses, so definitely make sure to have time in your schedule dedicated to it, and also make sure to have time to go to office hours every week because YOU WILL NEED TO - because sometimes the post lab questions just don't make sense. Sometimes even the TA's had trouble answering the questions, but even then they're helpful to talk to when there's anything you aren't sure about. The labs themselves are fun and not too hard, just be careful with those PLQs and don't be afraid to ask for help as much as you need it.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/28/2023	This class was not my favorite. The only thing that helped me survived was having a good TA and going to the right office hours. The PLQS literally had 0 connection to anything that we did in lab. Going to office hours for them was a must and even the TAs barely knew what they were talking about. Why would she make the questions in such a way that even the TAs can barely answer them? The directions in the lab were very poorly written, leaving everyone confused all the time. The labs were extremely stressful, and Koppel should seriously consider going paperless because the amounts of paper we have to turn in is ridiculous. I don't understand why we can't just upload them to gradescope or ELMS. The lab practical literally destroyed my grade, but the grading cutoff/curve (?) helped. This class probably took up the most time out of all of my classes.
Mariadelia Arguello Acuna CHEM232 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/17/2023	An amazing TA with so much knowledge about the subject of Organic Chemistry. She is someone with so much kindness, compassion, and intelligence and made Organic Chemistry I lab so interesting and manageable.
Ziyan Ahmed CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2023	Ziyan is an exceptional TA. He puts a lot of effort into making sure that his students feel supported during this notoriously difficult lab. Every week leading up to the lab, Ziyan sends an email detailing the assignments and tasks needed for the upcoming lab. Lab requires a lot of various worksheets every week, so this is super helpful in making sure we are prepared. Ziyan is also known to have exceptionally good office hours. He is very organized and explains topics in a way that makes a lot of sense. Keep in mind that people love his office hours and they can be very crowded. (Sometimes every chair is seated, so extra students have to sit on the floor.) This goes to show how super helpful Ziyan is. But try to get there early to get a seat.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/26/2023	People are generally pretty dramatic about lab professors, especially when they perform poorly in the class, but Koppel definitely sucks. I can’t speak to her lecturing abilities but in terms of lab, Koppel leaves you stranded with a poorly written lab notebook and TAs that are just as helpless, often citing how unhelpful she is themselves. Particularly terrible are the Post Lab Questions. Almost never written in a way which even loosely connects to what you did in lab, these garbo time-drainers are beyond difficult even with a comprehensive understanding of whatever you learned in lecture. They are not difficult because the content is hard, but mostly in that they are confusing and contain needlessly tricky and unrelated BS, so my biggest recommendation is to SHOW UP TO OFFICE HOURS. This class will make you feel stupid, because it is stupid, so a good grade will only result from a lot of time and a lot of talking in office hours with TAs who are slightly less confused than you are. Good luck.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/14/2023	This lab has been the absolute worst part of my semester. Even though it is only a 1 credit course, it is definitely the one I have to do the most work for. In addition to the 3 hour weekly lab, you'll likely have to find time to get to TA office hours because the lab reports are beyond challenging and loosely connect to what we did in lab. The pre-labs and everything else is fine, but the post-labs are so horrible and they take off points for any little mistake. The ELMS page is helpful though and the pre-lab videos make it clear what you are supposed to do during the actual lab.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/18/2023	Horrible rude professor who makes you purchase her lab manual which is riddled which errors LOL. She is a complete joke who fails to convey any concepts yet asks you extremely difficult questions on lab reports, for which you have to go out of your way to cram TA office hours into your schedule so that they can do the teaching that she failed to do
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/07/2023	Office hours are essential to getting a good grade on the lab reports! The TA's are there to help you! Attempt the questions yourself, but then go to office hours and go over them. For Spring 2022, Koppel stopped having a midterm and there was just the practical, which wasn't too bad, it tests you on the lab set ups you've already done. It's a chem lab, so it's not gonna be a great class, but I would definitely say it's the hardest lab I've had so far.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/22/2022	Not a fan of her lab. However, if you want to do well then go to office hours, the TAs will essentially tell you what you need to know to get an A on the post lab questions, which sometimes are impossible to answer correctly without a TA because the information necessary was just not taught. The exams are designed to lower the average, and it's very clear that they are. The questions are written to trip you up and go into aspects of the lab techniques that are not mentioned at any other time. The lab practical is also 50 points but only two questions and only 10 minutes long. The two questions are randomly given so each student is basically taking a different practical, and you have to hope you get a question thats simple. I can understand making a lab difficult, but she just doesn't prepare her students or test them on what she teaches them.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2022	I hated this class. I had the best TA and I made friends which made it a little bit bearable. You must go to office hours to get above average on the lab reports. We literally have no knowledge on how to do the post lab like idk why she even made those questions. Our lecture doesnt cover what the lab cover. What the heck is an E1CB mechanism anyways? what happened to e1/e2/sn1/sn2??? But dont sweat this class. I got a 18% on the midterm and a 37% on the final. They are both way below average btw which is like a 50. And I still got a B. LOL. The curve is something else man.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	Labs (particularly the post-lab questions) are hard. Make sure to go to office hours!! Everyone says that because it is truly imperative for getting a good grade. The midterm and final are hard - I got ~60% on the midterm and ~50% on the final. But, all of my lab grades were high Bs or As, which saved me. There is a big curve. I had an 82% before the curve and I ended up with an A in the class, which is +/-. Don't rely on this curve, though. Work hard to keep your grade up, but don't cry if you do badly on the midterm and final, because almost everyone does. Also, lab reports are graded by all TAs, so your grade on them does not depend on one TA's grading tendencies. Good luck!
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2022	Lab reports are graded harshly and even if you go to office hours and work through problems with TAs and other students, you can still fail the reports. Instructions aren't always clear. Midterm and final want students to have a deeper understanding of the material that you cannot get from the lab book or Koppel's prelab videos.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/23/2022	Labs were pretty organized, but the midterm and final were brutal, especially the midterm. There were some free points but this class was so much work for one credit. Hated that the exams also had no partial credit, just 8-point multiple choice questions. Your lab report grades also heavily depend on your TA, and same goes for the pre-lab quizzes since TA's get to pick the questions. You kinda just have to get lucky, with your TA and on the exams. I personally did better in lecture than this class, but I will say the class does have a huge curve which is the only benefit. Good luck!
Diandra Soemardi CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/14/2022	Diandra was the best TA I have had. I was so so lucky because I got Diandra as my orgo lab TA, and Shannon as my lecture TA. I honestly cannot say how great it was to have Diandra. She always knew so much about the material and was able to explain it in ways that made sense. I know that she significantly helped my grade because the one week I couldn't make it to lab, I was completely lost. She is extremely helpful, does so much to make sure we get the quality of assistance she thinks we deserve. Honestly just 12/10 TA. I don't know how else to put it in this review. She had 6 lab sections and still managed it all. I'm sad she is leaving.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2021	I personally never actually met with Dr. Koppel- labs are run by your section TA. I will not review my TA here, though he was awesome. Other than the ten labs you will complete, there are two separate assignments (literature and IR spectroscopy), which are basically 60 free points. The lab manual is your saving grace. Almost everything you need in the semester is in there. Labs are straightforward- just follow the manual. Post-lab questions are the only difficult parts of the labs, and sometimes you will have to attend office hours in order to understand them. Otherwise, the labs constitute 490 of your ~860 points in the semester, so they are very important. Why? See the next section. The rest of the points come from the midterm and final exams. Each exam is 128 points, and the average is always around 50%. My TA told me that these exams are designed to bring the class average down, which makes sense. After taking the exams, they feel like they were designed that way. You will be fine, as long as you work hard on the post-lab questions. Again, all you can really study off of for the final is the lab manual. Good luck :)
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2021	While I'm not sure how Dr. Koppel is with lecture, I can say that her lab is difficult, but also passable. I do think that this course was too difficult for a 1 credit course. The actual lab manual is not difficult, but her post lab questions are extremely difficult, and you will need to go to TA office hours for help. I think the most frustrating past of the post labs were the article searches, as it seems pointless to make students waste their times finding a specific article that she could just attach to the assignment. Along with that, she decided to stop giving the TA's answer keys, which meant that it was very difficult for students to get help. Not all TAs knew what to do for all of those post lab questions. Her exams are known for being unpassable, especially the midterm. However, for the final, she will have an in-person review session, and that was extremely helpful in my opinion. I really like her lecture style, she is actually very easy to listen to, and she does a great job of keeping the lecture on topic. Don't panic if you do poorly on the midterm -- everyone does (including me). You will learn a lot from this class, but the class can be very frustrating at times. To be honest, your enjoyment of this class will be determined by your TA. Make sure not to miss any labs!
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Anonymous 12/18/2021	Lab coordinators are usually barely involved with the actual lab, so I can't really fault Koppel for that. However, she still made this lab far more difficult than it needs to be. She's essentially the only person who teaches CHEM232, so there isn't really a chance of avoiding her, it's more about knowing how to approach her lab. The number one thing is that her post-lab questions are ridiculously difficult. These are the questions that she will post on ELMS in addition to the post-lab questions that are already in the lab manual. They will ask hard questions that barely relate to the content of the lab and ask about content that most students don't learn in lecture. Usually, it's not hard to get full points on every other part of the experiments. Those are always graded by your TA (so it's pretty nice to have a chill TA in the class). A lot of times, the pre-lab component is only graded on completion. The post-lab questions (PLQs) are graded on rotation, so they're graded by different TAs every time. Every TA grades a little bit different, and they all grade at different paces, so do not expect to receive your labs back periodically/be able to use your graded labs to help with the future ones. If you want to ensure that you do well on the PLQs, GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Or find a friend who does. A lot of the questions are near impossible to answer unless the TAs tell you the answer. Also, the TAs for my class (Fall 2021) had the answer keys for each lab, so the literal answers were given out at office hours. Koppel eventually realized this and stopped giving them the answer keys, and so the TAs stopped being as helpful, but they were still better than nothing. I always saved doing my lab stuff until the night before, which I really regret. This lab has SO much more work than a one-credit course should have, and it's a good idea to get started on that stuff early so you have time to go to office hours. Also, try and find a TA you like or that other students like, they're likely to be more helpful. I never personally found the pre-lab videos that helpful, but definitely try to watch them, especially for the more complicated labs. Just read the manual closely for each lab and know the directions, it'll make everything go a lot faster (you're gonna wanna get out of those labs as fast as possible, some of them WILL take the full three hours). Besides the lab, there are a few additional assignments, which aren't hard. The midterm in this lab is excessively difficult. There is simply no way to study for it. Koppel published a review guide and it didn't help in any single way. As for the final, Koppel, hosted a review session for the exam, and it was so, so helpful. If she does that again, GO TO IT!! The final felt a lot easier than the midterm for me, and it also wasn't cumulative (just on the second half of the experiments in the course). In a way, there isn't a way to control your grade in this lab. It's impossible to answer questions exactly how Koppel expects. You just have to get through it, unfortunately, there isn't really a way to avoid Koppel.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Anonymous 12/13/2021	the lab this semester was a mess, and she kept making decisions that made it more so. this class is meant to supplement what we're doing in 231, which is a great idea in theory. in practice, all of the professors are covering the concepts on a different timeline. which would be fine, but there is hardly an explanation of the concepts in the lab manual. sometimes you get videos to watch before the lab, which are really helpful, but they can range from being over 2 hours in total to maybe 5 minutes for the week. and sometimes they don't even cover theory, just how to do the actual lab. a ta also called the recommended textbook useless. which would be fine since we can just go to office hours. but halfway into the semester she's limited how much the ta's can say when they answer a question. which would be fine, you don't want your ta's just giving out answers. but it's to the point where i've seen people ask basic questions on theory and the ta's still can't answer. there's literally not a single source to find the theory we NEED to know, considering it's almost all of what's on the midterm/final/PLQ's, which are HUGE parts of the grade. the lab is ran so poorly, for being just 1 credit i find myself putting in a stupid amount of effort for disappointing results. if the lab manual that she wrote was just slightly more extensive, that would be so helpful. if the ta's weren't kept away from explaining even basic theory, that would be so helpful! i know there's no other choice for the lab, but be prepared for a really difficult, frustrating semester if you do have to take it.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/29/2021	The labs were generally fair and she modified them well to let us get out early. There were tons of office hours with the Tis, which are essential to getting the Post Lab questions answered. However, you should try to good really good on the lab reports, because the final is very hard. Since it is multiple choice (for chemistry), you can lose a lot of points quickly and it will bring your grade down. There was a pretty good curve at the end (4%) though, to account for this.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/25/2021	Labs were difficult but TA office hours were very helpful. I was on track to receiving an A this semester, but went down to a B with the absolutely unnecessary final. The final was extremely difficult and it was very disappointing to be assigned one despite the fact that we have been home for a year due to the pandemic. Koppel was very reluctant to give any sort of leniency. Try to do well on the labs, because the final will bring you down a few percentage points. Again not sure why it was at all necessary, especially considering the fact that we were able to demonstrate our understanding of the material with our labs.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/22/2021	Labs weren't too bad however the TAs could be very picky with answers to post lab questions. Overall not too bad, the final is challenging so make sure to study and get a high enough score so it doesn't completely ruin your grade. Office hours are very helpful for any confusion to labs. Make sure to do the prep work for labs because it will make everything easier for you.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2021	The online lab was a mess. Super disorganized and whenever people were confused she had a lot of attitude.
Monique Koppel CHEM232 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/24/2020	Dr. Koppel's lab was a mess! The lab videos were not helpful. You had to go to several office hours to understand how to do the labs. The final was AWFUL (less than 50% average) and not on anything we covered. She's super strict so don't think about cheating. Thankfully she did a huge curve at the end because she knew everyone failed her final.
Emily Luteran CHEM232 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/17/2019	Absolutely incredible in every possible way
Frederick Khachik CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/06/2014	I had him for lab, so I cannot give an accurate review of him as a professor, but here's what I thought of orgo lab: I hate lab, mostly because the order in which information is learned is completely unrelated to the order in which things are learned in class, and the lab textbook does a really shitty job of explaining concepts, but the professors can’t really do anything about that. Memorize the review guide the professor sends out before the midterm and the final, because they’re hard and the average is usually pretty low. Khachik gave out an incredible curve at the end of the semester, but don’t count on that. I screwed up both my midterm and final but did well on my labs so I still managed to get an A.

Silas Ameshiku
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/14/2024

Overall just a good TA. Willing to help and explain concepts. He's approachable and will chat with students.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/25/2024

I had an amazing TA, so this class wasn't that bad. The TAs run the classes and grade everything. I only saw Koppel once near the end of the semester because one of the machines in our lab wasn't working and the TA asked her about it. The worksheets and pre-labs are easy, but the post-lab questions suck. They have nothing to do with what you learned in lab and yet take up so much time. This class should be worth more than 1 credit since I was spending more time on the post-labs at some points than my core classes. To get a good grade on the post-lab questions, use Google and attend TA office hours. Also, make sure to watch the videos going over the lab procedure before lab because it will make doing the experiments much easier. Overall, lab was fun but the PLQs were not.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous_2018
08/22/2024

I took 232 Orgo 1 lab in Spring '24, which was honestly better than expected, definitely better than Gen Chem 1 lab. Like the other reviews, this one is more for the course itself than for Dr. Koppel. Overall, MOST of the labs weren't time-consuming and sometimes fun but the post-lab questions offered nothing but annoyance because they often had little to do with what we did in labs. I STRONGLY recommend going to office hours EVERY week, whether for the worksheets or post-lab questions. Either way, this strategy relieves unnecessary stress and guarantees a decent score on the questions. If your TA is great (like mine was), optimize their time sections. You need to maximize your points on ALL the lab reports as much as you can because THERE IS NO CURVE. Since Dr. Koppel removed midterms and finals, she no longer fancied one. Now there is only a practical "quiz" at the end of the semester, which is generally easy if you study well, BUT it can plummet your grade too since there are only two questions worth 25 points each, so don't take it lightly! Overall, complete all your assignments, study well for the practical, and most importantly go to office hours.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/31/2024

This class was just ok. My TA was amazing but other TAs were very rude and condescending. The worksheets are not hard but the post-lab questions are very annoying. You can never really tell what Koppel wants from your answer (also half the time I just paraphrased what was in the manual and got full points). But on some questions it was so hard to tell what she wanted and I lost a lot of points because of that. It also depends on the TA who grades it, some are very harsh other not. I will say tho, the curve (for me anyway) was non existent which kinda sucked because I ended with an 87 and expected the curve to bring me to an A- but it didn't, so don't rely on any curve for this course. I would advise you to go to as many office hours as possible and avoid Monday lab.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/18/2024

i have never seen koppel or contacted her the whole time, its mainly the TAs doing everything. for a 1 credit class, it is a bunch of work. every week you have to do a pre lab write up & worksheet(s) for the current week and then the post lab questions & worksheet(s) for the previous weeks. the PLQs are so hard and long, sometimes the worksheets are confusing as well but the pre lab write ups are fine. i learned this later on in the semester (wish i started in the beginning), but you HAVE to go to the TAs office hours to make your life easier. especially find a TA who will just give you the answers bc some are stuck up and will only help if you attempt the question. there was a curve, i dont think any other reviews really mentioned this but my 78 got rounded to a B.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Never met her, you only interact with the TAs. The work for this class is actually insane considering it’s only 1 credit. You have to do the pre lab write up and pre lab worksheet for the current weeks lab but then another post lab worksheet and post lab questions for the previous weeks lab. Pre-labs arent that much work and sometimes the pre lab/post lab worksheets arent bad either, but the post lab questions are so long and tedious. The TAs lowkey grade harsh too. Go to the TAs office hours for help on the PLQs and sometimes the post lab worksheets too. Find a TA who will give you the answers bc some are stuck up and wont help you unless you attempt it first. If youre wondering abt the curve I got a 78% rounded to a B.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/17/2024

ok so you actually never interact with Koppel unless you go out of your way to. the post lab questions are sometimes mad hard and she expects so much writing from stuff that isn't even mentioned int he question so rlly make sure you hit all the bases when answering and over explain yourself. also the labs you actually have to prepare for so just read the stuff and watch h the videos and you ill be fine

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Honestly, she isn't as bad as people say she is. Don't get me wrong, orgo lab is a LOT of work, and her post lab questions are made to trick you and confuse you. However, if you go to office hours, and actually put in effort you should have almost no problem getting at least an A- in this class. I put in maybe 1-2 hours a week (not including the actual lab time), and managed to get all of the work done and get an A in the course. Overall not a problem, and she's actually kinda nice when you meet her, unlike some of the reviews below will tell you.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/30/2024

Ok the lab sucks, and the PLQs suck more. My TA didn’t really know what he was doing and told our class the wrong instructions more than once. PLQs took me maybe 2-3 hours average (though later ones were definitely longer). Don’t take Monday/Tuesday labs if you can help it, as you’ll be limited in office hours since data was not usually released until just before the weekend. However, 10x better than CHEM136 so I’ll take it

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/24/2024

TA's run the lab and make or break your grade. (I got lucky) Labs are based on completion. Hardest part was the PLQ's, office hours saved you if you were concerned on a response. Koppel only appeared like once and it was for GC analysis.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/22/2024

Your success in lab is entirely dependent on the TAs because you pretty much never see Koppel. Thankfully, you're never graded on the accuracy of your results in the lab. The workload is a lot for a 1 credit class but it's not hard if you go to office hours. Her post-lab questions are sometimes things you have never even learned and would have no way of knowing, so it's better to just suck it up and go to office hours. Just figure out who are the good TAs and go to their office hours for everything and you're pretty much guaranteed a a 90%+. I have messed up literally EVERY single experiment we've had so far but I still have a 96% because I just got all the answers from office hours. Benjamin Kim is the GOAT if he's still TA-ing.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/24/2024

You never see Koppel, only your TA, so this review is just for the class itself. It took more time outside of class than some of my 3 credit courses, so definitely make sure to have time in your schedule dedicated to it, and also make sure to have time to go to office hours every week because YOU WILL NEED TO - because sometimes the post lab questions just don't make sense. Sometimes even the TA's had trouble answering the questions, but even then they're helpful to talk to when there's anything you aren't sure about. The labs themselves are fun and not too hard, just be careful with those PLQs and don't be afraid to ask for help as much as you need it.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/28/2023

This class was not my favorite. The only thing that helped me survived was having a good TA and going to the right office hours. The PLQS literally had 0 connection to anything that we did in lab. Going to office hours for them was a must and even the TAs barely knew what they were talking about. Why would she make the questions in such a way that even the TAs can barely answer them? The directions in the lab were very poorly written, leaving everyone confused all the time. The labs were extremely stressful, and Koppel should seriously consider going paperless because the amounts of paper we have to turn in is ridiculous. I don't understand why we can't just upload them to gradescope or ELMS. The lab practical literally destroyed my grade, but the grading cutoff/curve (?) helped. This class probably took up the most time out of all of my classes.

Mariadelia Arguello Acuna
CHEM232

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/17/2023

An amazing TA with so much knowledge about the subject of Organic Chemistry. She is someone with so much kindness, compassion, and intelligence and made Organic Chemistry I lab so interesting and manageable.

Ziyan Ahmed
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/12/2023

Ziyan is an exceptional TA. He puts a lot of effort into making sure that his students feel supported during this notoriously difficult lab. Every week leading up to the lab, Ziyan sends an email detailing the assignments and tasks needed for the upcoming lab. Lab requires a lot of various worksheets every week, so this is super helpful in making sure we are prepared. Ziyan is also known to have exceptionally good office hours. He is very organized and explains topics in a way that makes a lot of sense. Keep in mind that people love his office hours and they can be very crowded. (Sometimes every chair is seated, so extra students have to sit on the floor.) This goes to show how super helpful Ziyan is. But try to get there early to get a seat.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/26/2023

People are generally pretty dramatic about lab professors, especially when they perform poorly in the class, but Koppel definitely sucks. I can’t speak to her lecturing abilities but in terms of lab, Koppel leaves you stranded with a poorly written lab notebook and TAs that are just as helpless, often citing how unhelpful she is themselves. Particularly terrible are the Post Lab Questions. Almost never written in a way which even loosely connects to what you did in lab, these garbo time-drainers are beyond difficult even with a comprehensive understanding of whatever you learned in lecture. They are not difficult because the content is hard, but mostly in that they are confusing and contain needlessly tricky and unrelated BS, so my biggest recommendation is to SHOW UP TO OFFICE HOURS. This class will make you feel stupid, because it is stupid, so a good grade will only result from a lot of time and a lot of talking in office hours with TAs who are slightly less confused than you are. Good luck.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/14/2023

This lab has been the absolute worst part of my semester. Even though it is only a 1 credit course, it is definitely the one I have to do the most work for. In addition to the 3 hour weekly lab, you'll likely have to find time to get to TA office hours because the lab reports are beyond challenging and loosely connect to what we did in lab. The pre-labs and everything else is fine, but the post-labs are so horrible and they take off points for any little mistake. The ELMS page is helpful though and the pre-lab videos make it clear what you are supposed to do during the actual lab.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/18/2023

Horrible rude professor who makes you purchase her lab manual which is riddled which errors LOL. She is a complete joke who fails to convey any concepts yet asks you extremely difficult questions on lab reports, for which you have to go out of your way to cram TA office hours into your schedule so that they can do the teaching that she failed to do

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/07/2023

Office hours are essential to getting a good grade on the lab reports! The TA's are there to help you! Attempt the questions yourself, but then go to office hours and go over them. For Spring 2022, Koppel stopped having a midterm and there was just the practical, which wasn't too bad, it tests you on the lab set ups you've already done. It's a chem lab, so it's not gonna be a great class, but I would definitely say it's the hardest lab I've had so far.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/22/2022

Not a fan of her lab. However, if you want to do well then go to office hours, the TAs will essentially tell you what you need to know to get an A on the post lab questions, which sometimes are impossible to answer correctly without a TA because the information necessary was just not taught. The exams are designed to lower the average, and it's very clear that they are. The questions are written to trip you up and go into aspects of the lab techniques that are not mentioned at any other time. The lab practical is also 50 points but only two questions and only 10 minutes long. The two questions are randomly given so each student is basically taking a different practical, and you have to hope you get a question thats simple. I can understand making a lab difficult, but she just doesn't prepare her students or test them on what she teaches them.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/21/2022

I hated this class. I had the best TA and I made friends which made it a little bit bearable. You must go to office hours to get above average on the lab reports. We literally have no knowledge on how to do the post lab like idk why she even made those questions. Our lecture doesnt cover what the lab cover. What the heck is an E1CB mechanism anyways? what happened to e1/e2/sn1/sn2??? But dont sweat this class. I got a 18% on the midterm and a 37% on the final. They are both way below average btw which is like a 50. And I still got a B. LOL. The curve is something else man.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Labs (particularly the post-lab questions) are hard. Make sure to go to office hours!! Everyone says that because it is truly imperative for getting a good grade. The midterm and final are hard - I got ~60% on the midterm and ~50% on the final. But, all of my lab grades were high Bs or As, which saved me. There is a big curve. I had an 82% before the curve and I ended up with an A in the class, which is +/-. Don't rely on this curve, though. Work hard to keep your grade up, but don't cry if you do badly on the midterm and final, because almost everyone does. Also, lab reports are graded by all TAs, so your grade on them does not depend on one TA's grading tendencies. Good luck!

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/19/2022

Lab reports are graded harshly and even if you go to office hours and work through problems with TAs and other students, you can still fail the reports. Instructions aren't always clear. Midterm and final want students to have a deeper understanding of the material that you cannot get from the lab book or Koppel's prelab videos.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/23/2022

Labs were pretty organized, but the midterm and final were brutal, especially the midterm. There were some free points but this class was so much work for one credit. Hated that the exams also had no partial credit, just 8-point multiple choice questions. Your lab report grades also heavily depend on your TA, and same goes for the pre-lab quizzes since TA's get to pick the questions. You kinda just have to get lucky, with your TA and on the exams. I personally did better in lecture than this class, but I will say the class does have a huge curve which is the only benefit. Good luck!

Diandra Soemardi
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/14/2022

Diandra was the best TA I have had. I was so so lucky because I got Diandra as my orgo lab TA, and Shannon as my lecture TA. I honestly cannot say how great it was to have Diandra. She always knew so much about the material and was able to explain it in ways that made sense. I know that she significantly helped my grade because the one week I couldn't make it to lab, I was completely lost. She is extremely helpful, does so much to make sure we get the quality of assistance she thinks we deserve. Honestly just 12/10 TA. I don't know how else to put it in this review. She had 6 lab sections and still managed it all. I'm sad she is leaving.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/24/2021

I personally never actually met with Dr. Koppel- labs are run by your section TA. I will not review my TA here, though he was awesome. Other than the ten labs you will complete, there are two separate assignments (literature and IR spectroscopy), which are basically 60 free points. The lab manual is your saving grace. Almost everything you need in the semester is in there. Labs are straightforward- just follow the manual. Post-lab questions are the only difficult parts of the labs, and sometimes you will have to attend office hours in order to understand them. Otherwise, the labs constitute 490 of your ~860 points in the semester, so they are very important. Why? See the next section. The rest of the points come from the midterm and final exams. Each exam is 128 points, and the average is always around 50%. My TA told me that these exams are designed to bring the class average down, which makes sense. After taking the exams, they feel like they were designed that way. You will be fine, as long as you work hard on the post-lab questions. Again, all you can really study off of for the final is the lab manual. Good luck :)

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2021

While I'm not sure how Dr. Koppel is with lecture, I can say that her lab is difficult, but also passable. I do think that this course was too difficult for a 1 credit course. The actual lab manual is not difficult, but her post lab questions are extremely difficult, and you will need to go to TA office hours for help. I think the most frustrating past of the post labs were the article searches, as it seems pointless to make students waste their times finding a specific article that she could just attach to the assignment. Along with that, she decided to stop giving the TA's answer keys, which meant that it was very difficult for students to get help. Not all TAs knew what to do for all of those post lab questions. Her exams are known for being unpassable, especially the midterm. However, for the final, she will have an in-person review session, and that was extremely helpful in my opinion. I really like her lecture style, she is actually very easy to listen to, and she does a great job of keeping the lecture on topic. Don't panic if you do poorly on the midterm -- everyone does (including me). You will learn a lot from this class, but the class can be very frustrating at times. To be honest, your enjoyment of this class will be determined by your TA. Make sure not to miss any labs!

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Anonymous
12/18/2021

Lab coordinators are usually barely involved with the actual lab, so I can't really fault Koppel for that. However, she still made this lab far more difficult than it needs to be. She's essentially the only person who teaches CHEM232, so there isn't really a chance of avoiding her, it's more about knowing how to approach her lab. The number one thing is that her post-lab questions are ridiculously difficult. These are the questions that she will post on ELMS in addition to the post-lab questions that are already in the lab manual. They will ask hard questions that barely relate to the content of the lab and ask about content that most students don't learn in lecture. Usually, it's not hard to get full points on every other part of the experiments. Those are always graded by your TA (so it's pretty nice to have a chill TA in the class). A lot of times, the pre-lab component is only graded on completion. The post-lab questions (PLQs) are graded on rotation, so they're graded by different TAs every time. Every TA grades a little bit different, and they all grade at different paces, so do not expect to receive your labs back periodically/be able to use your graded labs to help with the future ones. If you want to ensure that you do well on the PLQs, GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Or find a friend who does. A lot of the questions are near impossible to answer unless the TAs tell you the answer. Also, the TAs for my class (Fall 2021) had the answer keys for each lab, so the literal answers were given out at office hours. Koppel eventually realized this and stopped giving them the answer keys, and so the TAs stopped being as helpful, but they were still better than nothing. I always saved doing my lab stuff until the night before, which I really regret. This lab has SO much more work than a one-credit course should have, and it's a good idea to get started on that stuff early so you have time to go to office hours. Also, try and find a TA you like or that other students like, they're likely to be more helpful. I never personally found the pre-lab videos that helpful, but definitely try to watch them, especially for the more complicated labs. Just read the manual closely for each lab and know the directions, it'll make everything go a lot faster (you're gonna wanna get out of those labs as fast as possible, some of them WILL take the full three hours). Besides the lab, there are a few additional assignments, which aren't hard. The midterm in this lab is excessively difficult. There is simply no way to study for it. Koppel published a review guide and it didn't help in any single way. As for the final, Koppel, hosted a review session for the exam, and it was so, so helpful. If she does that again, GO TO IT!! The final felt a lot easier than the midterm for me, and it also wasn't cumulative (just on the second half of the experiments in the course). In a way, there isn't a way to control your grade in this lab. It's impossible to answer questions exactly how Koppel expects. You just have to get through it, unfortunately, there isn't really a way to avoid Koppel.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Anonymous
12/13/2021

the lab this semester was a mess, and she kept making decisions that made it more so. this class is meant to supplement what we're doing in 231, which is a great idea in theory. in practice, all of the professors are covering the concepts on a different timeline. which would be fine, but there is hardly an explanation of the concepts in the lab manual. sometimes you get videos to watch before the lab, which are really helpful, but they can range from being over 2 hours in total to maybe 5 minutes for the week. and sometimes they don't even cover theory, just how to do the actual lab. a ta also called the recommended textbook useless. which would be fine since we can just go to office hours. but halfway into the semester she's limited how much the ta's can say when they answer a question. which would be fine, you don't want your ta's just giving out answers. but it's to the point where i've seen people ask basic questions on theory and the ta's still can't answer. there's literally not a single source to find the theory we NEED to know, considering it's almost all of what's on the midterm/final/PLQ's, which are HUGE parts of the grade. the lab is ran so poorly, for being just 1 credit i find myself putting in a stupid amount of effort for disappointing results. if the lab manual that she wrote was just slightly more extensive, that would be so helpful. if the ta's weren't kept away from explaining even basic theory, that would be so helpful! i know there's no other choice for the lab, but be prepared for a really difficult, frustrating semester if you do have to take it.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/29/2021

The labs were generally fair and she modified them well to let us get out early. There were tons of office hours with the Tis, which are essential to getting the Post Lab questions answered. However, you should try to good really good on the lab reports, because the final is very hard. Since it is multiple choice (for chemistry), you can lose a lot of points quickly and it will bring your grade down. There was a pretty good curve at the end (4%) though, to account for this.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/25/2021

Labs were difficult but TA office hours were very helpful. I was on track to receiving an A this semester, but went down to a B with the absolutely unnecessary final. The final was extremely difficult and it was very disappointing to be assigned one despite the fact that we have been home for a year due to the pandemic. Koppel was very reluctant to give any sort of leniency. Try to do well on the labs, because the final will bring you down a few percentage points. Again not sure why it was at all necessary, especially considering the fact that we were able to demonstrate our understanding of the material with our labs.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/22/2021

Labs weren't too bad however the TAs could be very picky with answers to post lab questions. Overall not too bad, the final is challenging so make sure to study and get a high enough score so it doesn't completely ruin your grade. Office hours are very helpful for any confusion to labs. Make sure to do the prep work for labs because it will make everything easier for you.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/05/2021

The online lab was a mess. Super disorganized and whenever people were confused she had a lot of attitude.

Monique Koppel
CHEM232

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/24/2020

Dr. Koppel's lab was a mess! The lab videos were not helpful. You had to go to several office hours to understand how to do the labs. The final was AWFUL (less than 50% average) and not on anything we covered. She's super strict so don't think about cheating. Thankfully she did a huge curve at the end because she knew everyone failed her final.

Emily Luteran
CHEM232

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/17/2019

Absolutely incredible in every possible way

Frederick Khachik
CHEM232

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/06/2014

I had him for lab, so I cannot give an accurate review of him as a professor, but here's what I thought of orgo lab: I hate lab, mostly because the order in which information is learned is completely unrelated to the order in which things are learned in class, and the lab textbook does a really shitty job of explaining concepts, but the professors can’t really do anything about that. Memorize the review guide the professor sends out before the midterm and the final, because they’re hard and the average is usually pretty low. Khachik gave out an incredible curve at the end of the semester, but don’t count on that. I screwed up both my midterm and final but did well on my labs so I still managed to get an A.

Reviews for CHEM232