CHEM247 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Xiaodong Shi CHEM247 Anonymous 02/07/2025	He talks fast through the material. He makes corrections on the exam while taking the exam. There is not enough time for the exam, even though he adds an extra 30 minutes outside lecture hours. You just need to find a good study group and practice to pass!!
Xiaodong Shi CHEM247 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/28/2025	Easiest class I've ever taken.
Xiaodong Shi CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2024	To preface, I am giving a review on his teaching of the orgo 2 section for chem/bchem majors because I am fairly certain he would teach the non-major sections differently. To start, his lecturing is fast-paced, engaging, and to the point. There is not a single dull moment in this class because he talks very loudly to the point he's almost yelling, but that is entirely from enthusiasm. He likes to add in little stories here and there, and he is a funny guy. He explains the content perfectly so that it makes sense the first time you're hearing it; it's obvious that he is extremely smart and knowledgable. One extremely helpful thing he did in the beginning of the year was to go over some basic chemistry concepts like pka for the first two weeks of school. I felt behind compared to my friends who were in the non-major section, but we did catch up (ended up covering more than them, too) and all the basic concepts he took the time to go over came up over and over again throughout all the chapters. It helped make sense of why certain reactions are favorable. His slideshows are not that great if you're thinking of skipping class (and he doesn't record the lectures), so you're going to want to take notes throughout class. Now to the actual assignments that make up your grade. The class is out of 1000 points: 3 exams/midterms worth 125 each, six 5 point in-class quizzes, three 15 point quizzes during discussion, a 300 point final, and 250 points from the separate lab section. The 5 point quizzes were usually the last 5-10 minutes of a class and he pretty much told you the type of reactions or whatnot would be on them. Same thing for the 15 point quizzes, we had all discussion (50 min) to do them, but you definitely do not need all that time because he tells you what will be on them. The lab is handled entirely by the lab coordinator, who also handles the non-majors section. So your section will obviously be with your classmates, but you're doing the same experiments each week as the non-major sections. The 300 point final was a piece of cake because he copied questions directly from the 3 midterms and all the quizzes (which he told us in advanced). CONS: The reason I give him 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the 3 midterms. Our class was MWF from 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM. We had to come in at 9:30 AM so that we could take the exam for 1 hour and 20 minutes (students who had classes at 9 AM scheduled with him to take the rest of the 30 min at another time in his office). This was genuinely ridiculous to ask students to take an extra 1/2 hour to do the exam. I was discussing this with my boyfriend's dad, who is also a professor at UMD, and he said that this would get him in trouble with the department. Point is, he is not allowed to do this, and I regret not reporting it. In addition to the fact that we came in early to take these exams, the averages were unbelievably low. Orgo is a hard subject and the averages even in the easier non-major section will be lower than the standard 75%. But if the average for an exam is 45%, it is no longer the student's nor the nature of the content's fault. In all likelihood, your grade throughout the semester will be very low, but that doesn't matter because he assigns grades based on the distribution of the class. I usually dislike when teachers do this, but unless you are so far behind the lower end of the class, you are walking away with at least a C. My raw final grade (factoring lab in) is a high B, which translates to an A or A+, and I have a pretty good cushion, so I was never too worried about my grade. But my god, seeing the averages for the class was traumatizing. I am not 100% sure as to why the averages were so low, but my guess would be that it is too much content for the time allotted (yes, even after making us come in 1/2 a hour early) because most (if not all?) of the problems came from the textbook chapter problems. The textbook answer key is wrong sometimes, so watch out for that. TIPS: After reflecting on my experience, this is the advice I would give to approaching this class and reducing stress throughout the semester. I procrastinated every exam, and with a subject like orgo where there is a lot of information to process, leaving everything for the last 2 days is going to leave you extremely anxious. I think that as soon as he teaches a subject, do some practice problems (even 5 is fine) on it. Keep up with the textbook problems and his teaching. If you don't understand something immediately, watch a video on it or go to office hours ASAP because a lot of the stuff builds on each other. Just do not fall behind. Taking 1/2 hour max each day to do some practice problems will leave you in much better shape to take the exam. You will retain the information so much better and have solid foundations for future lessons. I think even with a heavy semester load, you can still take this class if you manage your time. If you have no confidence in your ability to do that, take the non-major's section. I believe my understanding of orgo is much deeper thanks to him, but it is a class you have to put the work into.
Xiaodong Shi CHEM247 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2024	Dr. Shi is incredibly accomplished and unquestionably intelligent. I am incredibly inspired by his journey and his work, however, as a teacher, I think he conducted the classroom in such a way that encouraged competition between peers and "beating out" those doing better than you, as opposed to love of learning or enthusiasm about the content being taught. As a chemistry major, I always found orgo very cool and interesting, however this class was so exhausting that I found myself just trying to get through it and constantly just looking forward to the day when it would be over. 80% of the questions that appeared on exams were never discussed in class and were from the textbook example problems, which there are hundreds of to learn/memorize before each exam. He always states how this class is not about memorization, and then will write exam questions like: "give an example of blank reaction." Although he typically will make the class aware of strenuous mechanisms we should know, it is completely the responsibility of the student to teach it to themselves; sometimes he will say the name of a reaction, never teach it, and then give a quiz on it. This was fine for me, as someone who can memorize easily, however, studying for these exams and trying to cram hundreds of problems in a few days was near impossible. There was not enough instruction provided to know how to do all the test questions and even if there was, the exams were too long to have enough time to figure out all the questions if you hadn't seen them before, therefore you kind of have to have them memorized. I seriously recommend planning around this class, don't take too many credits with it and put off classes like physics 2 or calc 3 (ones that require a lot of time each day) until you are not taking this course. If you are planning on starting undergrad research the same semester as this class, don't. You honestly need like 6 hours a day to study for these exams, and as someone who is in a lab and took a really rough schedule with this class, trust me you will be so mentally unwell and exhausted and have no time to study the amount that Dr. Shi expects you to. Overall, Dr. Shi's lectures were great, he is very good at breaking down concepts and what he chooses to teach in class, you will learn well. However, this class is literally structured like "survival of the fittest" and if you don't have 100% of your time to dedicate to it and teach yourself the majority of what will appear on the exams, you will do poorly.
Xiaodong Shi CHEM247 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/25/2024	Amazing lectures, traumatizing tests, good guy. I have a lot of very mixed feelings towards this man. I learned so so much more chemsitry this semester than I did in orgo 1. Added context is that this was the chem majors section. He truly knows chemistry and knows how to teach it. He took the first 2 weeks of class to go voer some fundamentals (pka being a big big one) that he was able to reference later throughout the semester as we learnt new content. Early on in the semester he was very generous with telling us what would be on the quizzes/exam, and generally he is pretty vocal about what you need to focus on studyign which I appreciate. he is, however, totally allergic to givng people time to take his tests/quizzes LOL. He puts a lot of content on them, to the point where you could know how to do evertthing on it and still not have time to finish. Exam 1 in this class was literally so traumatizingly long. Exam 2 was better and 3 was. well. It's over. Allegedly (and he confirmed this, but I haven't taken it yet) he reuses questions from past exams/quizzes on his final so I do apprecoate that a lot. Be prepared for a little insanity form this man, because he made us come in half an hour early to take his exams. I really like him as a person bc I find him funny and think he's good at dispelling the tension of being in an organic chemistry 2 classroom, but I know not some find him more annoying. The way he will explains certain concepts is, to me, both funny and simple enoguh to make it click.
Lai-Xi Wang CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/07/2024	I mostly agree with the review written on 7/31/24 and I think that this class did take a lot of time and effort to succeed. Personally, I didn't feel that this class had that bad of an environment and I don't believe that chemistry majors are 'unbelievably toxic' (or maybe I'm just a part of that toxic group LOL) because that's just how competitive STEM is and that's just human nature. It'd be great for everyone to help each other, but we gotta focus on ourselves first. Within 237, there were definitely friend groups that formed and I'd recommend forming one yourself and REACH OUT!!! Reach out to your TAs (I had Osma) and reach out to Dr. Wang! They're very willing to help and it's totally ok to reach out to a TA that isn't your own if you're not receiving an answer. Structure of the class: There were 125pt clickers + 125pt midterms (x3) + a 250pts final. Total would be 750 pts. Lab was separate which was 25% of your grade and your class pts were 75%. The clickers were every Monday and Wednesday (we got to vote and said no on Friday) and were 6pts each time. It's similarly structured to Isaacs were you get 3pts default and 3pts for the correct answer. For this clickers, get to know the people in your class or just have a really good ear. Discussions are allowed and even encouraged so just follow the crowd Exams: The exams were fair, pulling a lot from the homework questions and lectures. If you do the HW (albeit very challenging) then you'll do well on the exams. There weren't any practice exams because this was his first time teaching Orgo 1 so the HW is all you can really go off of. There were some questions that were like 'Why is this here?' but it was rarely every more than 2-3 questions. Those types of questions sorta felt like gatekeeper questions from someone getting an 100% on the exam. The exams did have an average around 60%-75% which I feel is pretty typical for an organic chemistry class. Discussions: They were said to be mandatory, but in all honesty you didn't have to show up. I didn't find the discussions engaging or helpful because we just went over HW questions (usually just 3-4 because of how complex some are). If you have time to kill or if you want to meet up with classmates to set up study sessions later, you can go to discussion to meet them. Homework: They're all optional, but in reality they're not. Please please please do your homework. Though, if you find a question that's really difficult to the point of 'I literally never learned this' skip it. Don't waste your time on it because it probably won't show up on the exam. That doesn't mean don't ask for help on it, still try to figure it out, but if you're in a time crunch just skip it. Office Hours: GOOO!!! GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!! They're extremely helpful and it feels like you have to go to really succeed. He'll often use office hours to gauge what to put on an exam. For example, if one homework question really stumped a lot of students and he took the time to explain, he'll most likely put it on the exam or something similar. Office hours last semester didn't work for some students and he did try to move them, but it's impossible to find a time that works for everyone. He held additional office hours near exams (I think only really near finals?) that were late at night for anyone to attend. Dr. Wang cares for everyone's success! Lab: Lab was pretty standard, the same as 232 honestly. The post lab questions were the same and if you can attend office hours for it it'd be the best because they practically give out the answers there. As long as you do what they ask you to do, you'll get an A and it'll probably boost your grade. Dr. Wang: He is an extremely lovely individual and really does care for everyone and he wishes everyone to do well. Though, he does assume that we're smarter than we actually are and puts a little too much faith in us. His lectures were very old school, often drawing on the chalkboard and his slides weren't super useful. He doesn't post his slides before class because he has to edit them to include information that he might have missed before lecture. He does have a heavy accent, which may not work well with some people. I found it easier to understand throughout the semester and it wasn't a problem for me. Reach out to him!!! He's a very passionate person and is always wiling to help so please reach out!!! Study Strategies: I did end up getting an A in the class, but that's probably because of the curve. In the beginning of the semesters I did really well because I had the motivation to do the homework and study with friends. The moments I started slipping were near the 3rd midterm and the final (which I didn't do too good on and tanked my grade by like 6%) because I didn't do the homework or go to office hours or even study that much. It just proves that this class is difficult and you need to study to do well. Set yourself up for success in the beginning because it's brutal near the end and you want to have a cushion. I think that concludes everything I really need to say about this class. Organic chemistry is hard, no matter the professor. You HAVE to put in time and energy into this class to succeed. And as Dr. Wang says, "Do your best and let God do the rest"
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/07/2024	Dr. Sita is not by any means a great ORGO 2 professor, but if you're interested in the applications of organic chemistry IRL then he had some pretty fun bits of information to share. The class is definitely among the harder classes I've taken, but the curve is around the class average, so if you can do better than average, you're fine.
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/30/2023	Terrible professor, doesn't explain doesn't care about the class. He canceled class like 5 times and never held us to the full-time, he acted as if we were some humanities class instead of Orgo 2. Not to mention he never showed up to any of the exams, not even the final. His lectures are pointless.
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/23/2023	He has a tendency to skim through some slides but talk about others, so I'd suggest reviewing them before class. He does seem to want us to actually know the material, and wants us to grow as students as well. For me, his exams were quite difficult, but then again I have always been bad with exams. Exams typically went better for my classmates than for me, even though I would study a lot. But the curve is really good. At first with the curve in the syllabus, I was expecting a C+ (was a couple of points under a B-) because I had been doing average or below on my exams, much to my dismay. But he adjusted the curve and I am now with a B, so I assume many of my classmates have B+ and higher. Overall, I did feel like he cared for us as students, but his exams were quite hard (for me) and I wish he would have other work besides only exams for the lecture part.
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2023	Dr. Sita is not the best professor. His lectures are very unengaging and for a lot people they were not really helpful in learning and understanding the material. A lot of people just used the textbook along with other resources to learn everything in the class. He will either only go off his slides, which are not good for learning things like mechanisms but are good for the general concepts. Or he will completely disregard the slides and start using the white board and for some topics he would only cover maybe half of what was on the slides and end up moving onto the next set of slides. His TAs were decent and they could be helpful. His exams were for the most part fair and he curves this class very well (effectively a 10 point curve) so even with him not teaching the best, if you practice and self study properly, you should be able to do great in the class.
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2023	this class by far was the worst class i've ever taken. at the beginning of the semester, he lectured from slides, didn't write anything on the whiteboard, and didn't give out any practice or do any practice in class. our exams were unfair given how much he taught in class. actually he didnt really teach, he just read off slides that were not helpful in explaining any concepts. he's also so boring to listen to. after our second exam, many people gave him feedback about the class and the exams, and he had a temper tantrum during class for 25 min where he basically got mad at us for not doing well on his exams. he also does not take feedback well and is not responsive to it. he does have a set curve so an 80% is at least an A- and the plus/minus cut off is determined by the class. the averages for our exams were 69, 70, and 58, with a bonus question worth 10pts, so the exams did not go well. the only thing stopping me from giving sita 1 star is that his final had like 5 questions that were previous exam questions and was incredibly easy.
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2021	Dr. Sita as a professor is not the best. He cares a lot more about his research than about teaching, but he is very accommodating/understanding and his lectures have all the necessary information that you need for his exams. His TA, Charlotte Wentz, was the best TA that I have ever had and helped us understand the material so much better. Sita is the type of lecturer to go off on tangents about unimportant information (he talks a lot about real-life applications) and then rush through the slides that have information that will be on the exams. If you go to lecture and lab, you will most likely get an A. He curves the class really well and his test averages are higher compared to other orgo professors. If you're a Chemistry/Biochemistry major and debating taking CHEM247, do it! It is so much better than regular Orgo II, especially since your lab grade and lecture grade are one.
Myles Poulin CHEM247 Anonymous 11/26/2019	He's a great teacher. Passionate about what he's teaching - he tends to drop random pieces off information about "interesting" information related to what we're learning. I'm sure most people in class don't really think that enzymes catalysing keto-enol tautomerization is that interesting but It's really nice watching him get so excited about. His tends to recycle old questions from past exams so go over those exams- don't just go over the answers go over the questions to and the reaction conditions from the question cause sometimes he be switching them up. I think after orgo 1, orgo 2 is more mellow cause you're kinda used to the oddity of the whole subject. IF you been through 1 you can definitely work through 2 , just study and practice a lot. I know everyone says practice, practice, practice but its true. Practising will make you more comfortable with the subject.
Myles Poulin CHEM247 Anonymous 01/29/2018	Hes really nice, but messes you up towards the end. Heavily based on biochemistry than organic. Didn't really know what he was doing during the first semester teaching, but ranks you at the end.
Jeffery Davis CHEM247 Anonymous 05/24/2015	Dr. Davis is a great professor. He is certainly one of the most animated and passionate instructors I've ever had. He would run around, throw chalk at the wall, and talk really loudly while teaching. Also, he is excellent at explaining difficult concepts and reaction mechanisms, something that other Orgo professors struggle with. We got through chapters 1-13 (but skipped most of 8), so we were responsible for A LOT of information on the final. That said, I feel really well prepared for Orgo 2. The one downside is that his lectures tend to be disordered. If you require highly structured lectures to learn the information (like I do), then this might be a problem. After the first couple of weeks, I learned how to use the textbook to organize all of the material in my mind. All in all, I'd recommend taking Dr. Davis! Also, Taylor is a great T.A.!
Lawrence Sita CHEM247 Anonymous 12/18/2014	Literally, the best professor I have taken so far. No... he IS the best professor that I will ever have. Dr. Sita is charismatic, approachable and a very good lecturer. I went to his office hours once and I completely regret not going to him more often. He is the nicest man you will ever meet and his exams ARE fair. If you EVER have the chance to have him as your professor, take him before the seats fill up!!!
Herman Sintim CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/29/2013	Best professor I have had at UMD. He really understands the material and makes it easy to understand. I might have cracked open my text book 3 times during the whole semester (and that was to do practice problems). All of the stuff he does in class is all you need for your exams. I averaged 67% on his 3 exams during the semester for stupid mistakes. I did really well on his final (and he basically gives every question you should expect). I had an 80% in his course and got an A. You do have to study pretty hard for his exams, but his class is well structured so it was really easy to organize my notes and figure out what to expect. There was occasionally one "surprise" question on his exams that were tough to solve, but not impossible and he gives A LOT of partial credit even when you don't understand what you are writing, so you won't miss out on many points anyways. He really helped me understand the material for orgoII and it really helped me do well in the Biology section on my MCAT. I didn't even study for orgo in my MCAT prep because Sintim was such an awesome professor. He is very lenient, approachable, and welcoming. Hands down my favorite professor at Maryland. Definitely take Sintim
Lyle Isaacs CHEM247 Expecting an A sillyputty184 04/19/2010	moderately animated. go to lecture, go to disc, read, do problems. I know a guy that works in his lab, pretty neat stuff in practice, not so much in theory. has a naming section, conceptual, box problems, synthesis. Study old exams. I had a great TA which helped a lot. I love orgo because it seems to click for me, the concept questions were hard though. I never seemed to give him what he wanted. that's the only place i really lost points.

Xiaodong Shi
CHEM247

Anonymous
02/07/2025

He talks fast through the material. He makes corrections on the exam while taking the exam. There is not enough time for the exam, even though he adds an extra 30 minutes outside lecture hours. You just need to find a good study group and practice to pass!!

Xiaodong Shi
CHEM247

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/28/2025

Easiest class I've ever taken.

Xiaodong Shi
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/19/2024

To preface, I am giving a review on his teaching of the orgo 2 section for chem/bchem majors because I am fairly certain he would teach the non-major sections differently. To start, his lecturing is fast-paced, engaging, and to the point. There is not a single dull moment in this class because he talks very loudly to the point he's almost yelling, but that is entirely from enthusiasm. He likes to add in little stories here and there, and he is a funny guy. He explains the content perfectly so that it makes sense the first time you're hearing it; it's obvious that he is extremely smart and knowledgable. One extremely helpful thing he did in the beginning of the year was to go over some basic chemistry concepts like pka for the first two weeks of school. I felt behind compared to my friends who were in the non-major section, but we did catch up (ended up covering more than them, too) and all the basic concepts he took the time to go over came up over and over again throughout all the chapters. It helped make sense of why certain reactions are favorable. His slideshows are not that great if you're thinking of skipping class (and he doesn't record the lectures), so you're going to want to take notes throughout class. Now to the actual assignments that make up your grade. The class is out of 1000 points: 3 exams/midterms worth 125 each, six 5 point in-class quizzes, three 15 point quizzes during discussion, a 300 point final, and 250 points from the separate lab section. The 5 point quizzes were usually the last 5-10 minutes of a class and he pretty much told you the type of reactions or whatnot would be on them. Same thing for the 15 point quizzes, we had all discussion (50 min) to do them, but you definitely do not need all that time because he tells you what will be on them. The lab is handled entirely by the lab coordinator, who also handles the non-majors section. So your section will obviously be with your classmates, but you're doing the same experiments each week as the non-major sections. The 300 point final was a piece of cake because he copied questions directly from the 3 midterms and all the quizzes (which he told us in advanced). CONS: The reason I give him 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the 3 midterms. Our class was MWF from 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM. We had to come in at 9:30 AM so that we could take the exam for 1 hour and 20 minutes (students who had classes at 9 AM scheduled with him to take the rest of the 30 min at another time in his office). This was genuinely ridiculous to ask students to take an extra 1/2 hour to do the exam. I was discussing this with my boyfriend's dad, who is also a professor at UMD, and he said that this would get him in trouble with the department. Point is, he is not allowed to do this, and I regret not reporting it. In addition to the fact that we came in early to take these exams, the averages were unbelievably low. Orgo is a hard subject and the averages even in the easier non-major section will be lower than the standard 75%. But if the average for an exam is 45%, it is no longer the student's nor the nature of the content's fault. In all likelihood, your grade throughout the semester will be very low, but that doesn't matter because he assigns grades based on the distribution of the class. I usually dislike when teachers do this, but unless you are so far behind the lower end of the class, you are walking away with at least a C. My raw final grade (factoring lab in) is a high B, which translates to an A or A+, and I have a pretty good cushion, so I was never too worried about my grade. But my god, seeing the averages for the class was traumatizing. I am not 100% sure as to why the averages were so low, but my guess would be that it is too much content for the time allotted (yes, even after making us come in 1/2 a hour early) because most (if not all?) of the problems came from the textbook chapter problems. The textbook answer key is wrong sometimes, so watch out for that. TIPS: After reflecting on my experience, this is the advice I would give to approaching this class and reducing stress throughout the semester. I procrastinated every exam, and with a subject like orgo where there is a lot of information to process, leaving everything for the last 2 days is going to leave you extremely anxious. I think that as soon as he teaches a subject, do some practice problems (even 5 is fine) on it. Keep up with the textbook problems and his teaching. If you don't understand something immediately, watch a video on it or go to office hours ASAP because a lot of the stuff builds on each other. Just do not fall behind. Taking 1/2 hour max each day to do some practice problems will leave you in much better shape to take the exam. You will retain the information so much better and have solid foundations for future lessons. I think even with a heavy semester load, you can still take this class if you manage your time. If you have no confidence in your ability to do that, take the non-major's section. I believe my understanding of orgo is much deeper thanks to him, but it is a class you have to put the work into.

Xiaodong Shi
CHEM247

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2024

Dr. Shi is incredibly accomplished and unquestionably intelligent. I am incredibly inspired by his journey and his work, however, as a teacher, I think he conducted the classroom in such a way that encouraged competition between peers and "beating out" those doing better than you, as opposed to love of learning or enthusiasm about the content being taught. As a chemistry major, I always found orgo very cool and interesting, however this class was so exhausting that I found myself just trying to get through it and constantly just looking forward to the day when it would be over. 80% of the questions that appeared on exams were never discussed in class and were from the textbook example problems, which there are hundreds of to learn/memorize before each exam. He always states how this class is not about memorization, and then will write exam questions like: "give an example of *blank* reaction." Although he typically will make the class aware of strenuous mechanisms we should know, it is completely the responsibility of the student to teach it to themselves; sometimes he will say the name of a reaction, never teach it, and then give a quiz on it. This was fine for me, as someone who can memorize easily, however, studying for these exams and trying to cram hundreds of problems in a few days was near impossible. There was not enough instruction provided to know how to do all the test questions and even if there was, the exams were too long to have enough time to figure out all the questions if you hadn't seen them before, therefore you kind of have to have them memorized. I seriously recommend planning around this class, don't take too many credits with it and put off classes like physics 2 or calc 3 (ones that require a lot of time each day) until you are not taking this course. If you are planning on starting undergrad research the same semester as this class, don't. You honestly need like 6 hours a day to study for these exams, and as someone who is in a lab and took a really rough schedule with this class, trust me you will be so mentally unwell and exhausted and have no time to study the amount that Dr. Shi expects you to. Overall, Dr. Shi's lectures were great, he is very good at breaking down concepts and what he chooses to teach in class, you will learn well. However, this class is literally structured like "survival of the fittest" and if you don't have 100% of your time to dedicate to it and teach yourself the majority of what will appear on the exams, you will do poorly.

Xiaodong Shi
CHEM247

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/25/2024

Amazing lectures, traumatizing tests, good guy. I have a lot of very mixed feelings towards this man. I learned so so much more chemsitry this semester than I did in orgo 1. Added context is that this was the chem majors section. He truly knows chemistry and knows how to teach it. He took the first 2 weeks of class to go voer some fundamentals (pka being a big big one) that he was able to reference later throughout the semester as we learnt new content. Early on in the semester he was very generous with telling us what would be on the quizzes/exam, and generally he is pretty vocal about what you need to focus on studyign which I appreciate. he is, however, totally allergic to givng people time to take his tests/quizzes LOL. He puts a lot of content on them, to the point where you could know how to do evertthing on it and still not have time to finish. Exam 1 in this class was literally so traumatizingly long. Exam 2 was better and 3 was. well. It's over. Allegedly (and he confirmed this, but I haven't taken it yet) he reuses questions from past exams/quizzes on his final so I do apprecoate that a lot. Be prepared for a little insanity form this man, because he made us come in half an hour early to take his exams. I really like him as a person bc I find him funny and think he's good at dispelling the tension of being in an organic chemistry 2 classroom, but I know not some find him more annoying. The way he will explains certain concepts is, to me, both funny and simple enoguh to make it click.

Lai-Xi Wang
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/07/2024

I mostly agree with the review written on 7/31/24 and I think that this class did take a lot of time and effort to succeed. Personally, I didn't feel that this class had that bad of an environment and I don't believe that chemistry majors are 'unbelievably toxic' (or maybe I'm just a part of that toxic group LOL) because that's just how competitive STEM is and that's just human nature. It'd be great for everyone to help each other, but we gotta focus on ourselves first. Within 237, there were definitely friend groups that formed and I'd recommend forming one yourself and REACH OUT!!! Reach out to your TAs (I had Osma) and reach out to Dr. Wang! They're very willing to help and it's totally ok to reach out to a TA that isn't your own if you're not receiving an answer. Structure of the class: There were 125pt clickers + 125pt midterms (x3) + a 250pts final. Total would be 750 pts. Lab was separate which was 25% of your grade and your class pts were 75%. The clickers were every Monday and Wednesday (we got to vote and said no on Friday) and were 6pts each time. It's similarly structured to Isaacs were you get 3pts default and 3pts for the correct answer. For this clickers, get to know the people in your class or just have a really good ear. Discussions are allowed and even encouraged so just follow the crowd Exams: The exams were fair, pulling a lot from the homework questions and lectures. If you do the HW (albeit very challenging) then you'll do well on the exams. There weren't any practice exams because this was his first time teaching Orgo 1 so the HW is all you can really go off of. There were some questions that were like 'Why is this here?' but it was rarely every more than 2-3 questions. Those types of questions sorta felt like gatekeeper questions from someone getting an 100% on the exam. The exams did have an average around 60%-75% which I feel is pretty typical for an organic chemistry class. Discussions: They were said to be mandatory, but in all honesty you didn't have to show up. I didn't find the discussions engaging or helpful because we just went over HW questions (usually just 3-4 because of how complex some are). If you have time to kill or if you want to meet up with classmates to set up study sessions later, you can go to discussion to meet them. Homework: They're all optional, but in reality they're not. Please please please do your homework. Though, if you find a question that's really difficult to the point of 'I literally never learned this' skip it. Don't waste your time on it because it probably won't show up on the exam. That doesn't mean don't ask for help on it, still try to figure it out, but if you're in a time crunch just skip it. Office Hours: GOOO!!! GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!! They're extremely helpful and it feels like you have to go to really succeed. He'll often use office hours to gauge what to put on an exam. For example, if one homework question really stumped a lot of students and he took the time to explain, he'll most likely put it on the exam or something similar. Office hours last semester didn't work for some students and he did try to move them, but it's impossible to find a time that works for everyone. He held additional office hours near exams (I think only really near finals?) that were late at night for anyone to attend. Dr. Wang cares for everyone's success! Lab: Lab was pretty standard, the same as 232 honestly. The post lab questions were the same and if you can attend office hours for it it'd be the best because they practically give out the answers there. As long as you do what they ask you to do, you'll get an A and it'll probably boost your grade. Dr. Wang: He is an extremely lovely individual and really does care for everyone and he wishes everyone to do well. Though, he does assume that we're smarter than we actually are and puts a little too much faith in us. His lectures were very old school, often drawing on the chalkboard and his slides weren't super useful. He doesn't post his slides before class because he has to edit them to include information that he might have missed before lecture. He does have a heavy accent, which may not work well with some people. I found it easier to understand throughout the semester and it wasn't a problem for me. Reach out to him!!! He's a very passionate person and is always wiling to help so please reach out!!! Study Strategies: I did end up getting an A in the class, but that's probably because of the curve. In the beginning of the semesters I did really well because I had the motivation to do the homework and study with friends. The moments I started slipping were near the 3rd midterm and the final (which I didn't do too good on and tanked my grade by like 6%) because I didn't do the homework or go to office hours or even study that much. It just proves that this class is difficult and you need to study to do well. Set yourself up for success in the beginning because it's brutal near the end and you want to have a cushion. I think that concludes everything I really need to say about this class. Organic chemistry is hard, no matter the professor. You HAVE to put in time and energy into this class to succeed. And as Dr. Wang says, "Do your best and let God do the rest"

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/07/2024

Dr. Sita is not by any means a great ORGO 2 professor, but if you're interested in the applications of organic chemistry IRL then he had some pretty fun bits of information to share. The class is definitely among the harder classes I've taken, but the curve is around the class average, so if you can do better than average, you're fine.

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/30/2023

Terrible professor, doesn't explain doesn't care about the class. He canceled class like 5 times and never held us to the full-time, he acted as if we were some humanities class instead of Orgo 2. Not to mention he never showed up to any of the exams, not even the final. His lectures are pointless.

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/23/2023

He has a tendency to skim through some slides but talk about others, so I'd suggest reviewing them before class. He does seem to want us to actually know the material, and wants us to grow as students as well. For me, his exams were quite difficult, but then again I have always been bad with exams. Exams typically went better for my classmates than for me, even though I would study a lot. But the curve is really good. At first with the curve in the syllabus, I was expecting a C+ (was a couple of points under a B-) because I had been doing average or below on my exams, much to my dismay. But he adjusted the curve and I am now with a B, so I assume many of my classmates have B+ and higher. Overall, I did feel like he cared for us as students, but his exams were quite hard (for me) and I wish he would have other work besides only exams for the lecture part.

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/21/2023

Dr. Sita is not the best professor. His lectures are very unengaging and for a lot people they were not really helpful in learning and understanding the material. A lot of people just used the textbook along with other resources to learn everything in the class. He will either only go off his slides, which are not good for learning things like mechanisms but are good for the general concepts. Or he will completely disregard the slides and start using the white board and for some topics he would only cover maybe half of what was on the slides and end up moving onto the next set of slides. His TAs were decent and they could be helpful. His exams were for the most part fair and he curves this class very well (effectively a 10 point curve) so even with him not teaching the best, if you practice and self study properly, you should be able to do great in the class.

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2023

this class by far was the worst class i've ever taken. at the beginning of the semester, he lectured from slides, didn't write anything on the whiteboard, and didn't give out any practice or do any practice in class. our exams were unfair given how much he taught in class. actually he didnt really teach, he just read off slides that were not helpful in explaining any concepts. he's also so boring to listen to. after our second exam, many people gave him feedback about the class and the exams, and he had a temper tantrum during class for 25 min where he basically got mad at us for not doing well on his exams. he also does not take feedback well and is not responsive to it. he does have a set curve so an 80% is at least an A- and the plus/minus cut off is determined by the class. the averages for our exams were 69, 70, and 58, with a bonus question worth 10pts, so the exams did not go well. the only thing stopping me from giving sita 1 star is that his final had like 5 questions that were previous exam questions and was incredibly easy.

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2021

Dr. Sita as a professor is not the best. He cares a lot more about his research than about teaching, but he is very accommodating/understanding and his lectures have all the necessary information that you need for his exams. His TA, Charlotte Wentz, was the best TA that I have ever had and helped us understand the material so much better. Sita is the type of lecturer to go off on tangents about unimportant information (he talks a lot about real-life applications) and then rush through the slides that have information that will be on the exams. If you go to lecture and lab, you will most likely get an A. He curves the class really well and his test averages are higher compared to other orgo professors. If you're a Chemistry/Biochemistry major and debating taking CHEM247, do it! It is so much better than regular Orgo II, especially since your lab grade and lecture grade are one.

Myles Poulin
CHEM247

Anonymous
11/26/2019

He's a great teacher. Passionate about what he's teaching - he tends to drop random pieces off information about "interesting" information related to what we're learning. I'm sure most people in class don't really think that enzymes catalysing keto-enol tautomerization is that interesting but It's really nice watching him get so excited about. His tends to recycle old questions from past exams so go over those exams- don't just go over the answers go over the questions to and the reaction conditions from the question cause sometimes he be switching them up. I think after orgo 1, orgo 2 is more mellow cause you're kinda used to the oddity of the whole subject. IF you been through 1 you can definitely work through 2 , just study and practice a lot. I know everyone says practice, practice, practice but its true. Practising will make you more comfortable with the subject.

Myles Poulin
CHEM247

Anonymous
01/29/2018

Hes really nice, but messes you up towards the end. Heavily based on biochemistry than organic. Didn't really know what he was doing during the first semester teaching, but ranks you at the end.

Jeffery Davis
CHEM247

Anonymous
05/24/2015

Dr. Davis is a great professor. He is certainly one of the most animated and passionate instructors I've ever had. He would run around, throw chalk at the wall, and talk really loudly while teaching. Also, he is excellent at explaining difficult concepts and reaction mechanisms, something that other Orgo professors struggle with. We got through chapters 1-13 (but skipped most of 8), so we were responsible for A LOT of information on the final. That said, I feel really well prepared for Orgo 2. The one downside is that his lectures tend to be disordered. If you require highly structured lectures to learn the information (like I do), then this might be a problem. After the first couple of weeks, I learned how to use the textbook to organize all of the material in my mind. All in all, I'd recommend taking Dr. Davis! Also, Taylor is a great T.A.!

Lawrence Sita
CHEM247

Anonymous
12/18/2014

Literally, the best professor I have taken so far. No... he IS the best professor that I will ever have. Dr. Sita is charismatic, approachable and a very good lecturer. I went to his office hours once and I completely regret not going to him more often. He is the nicest man you will ever meet and his exams ARE fair. If you EVER have the chance to have him as your professor, take him before the seats fill up!!!

Herman Sintim
CHEM247

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/29/2013

Best professor I have had at UMD. He really understands the material and makes it easy to understand. I might have cracked open my text book 3 times during the whole semester (and that was to do practice problems). All of the stuff he does in class is all you need for your exams. I averaged 67% on his 3 exams during the semester for stupid mistakes. I did really well on his final (and he basically gives every question you should expect). I had an 80% in his course and got an A. You do have to study pretty hard for his exams, but his class is well structured so it was really easy to organize my notes and figure out what to expect. There was occasionally one "surprise" question on his exams that were tough to solve, but not impossible and he gives A LOT of partial credit even when you don't understand what you are writing, so you won't miss out on many points anyways. He really helped me understand the material for orgoII and it really helped me do well in the Biology section on my MCAT. I didn't even study for orgo in my MCAT prep because Sintim was such an awesome professor. He is very lenient, approachable, and welcoming. Hands down my favorite professor at Maryland. Definitely take Sintim

Lyle Isaacs
CHEM247

Expecting an A
sillyputty184
04/19/2010

moderately animated. go to lecture, go to disc, read, do problems. I know a guy that works in his lab, pretty neat stuff in practice, not so much in theory. has a naming section, conceptual, box problems, synthesis. Study old exams. I had a great TA which helped a lot. I love orgo because it seems to click for me, the concept questions were hard though. I never seemed to give him what he wanted. that's the only place i really lost points.

Reviews for CHEM247