Ashley Baxter

This professor has taught: CHEM131, CHEM131S, CHEM277

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Ashley Baxter Expecting a W Anonymous 11/08/2024	I dropped the course and this ruined all of my hopes and dreams of doing neuro. I know there was a curve but my grade on the first exam was a 38%.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 10/08/2024	The first exam had an average of around 30-40%, and that average remained on all following exams throughout the semester. If it weren't for the curve at the end of the semester, lots of people I know would not have passed at all. She would cancel class frequently, and independent learning was the only way to learn the more advanced topics. Overall I don't feel as though there was any quality teaching half the time, and the exams were taxing on self-esteem.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/04/2024	I didn't attend her lectures frequently because they were at 9 am, but when I did I learned a lot. The slides were detailed enough to get the gist from. I also went to her office hours and she was super nice.
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/29/2024	I had so much hope for this class at the beginning of the semester. I already expected it to be a lot of work, which was not the problem. Dr. Baxter was the problem, we were supposed to meet every Monday of the semester... we met 4 times (one of those being for a mid-term that was horrible) those other classes she would cancel the class an hour before knowing we all had questions about the topics of our lab reports. You might be wondering about office hours, SHE CANCELLED THOSE ALSO so we were often left with our questions while also still needing to do our reports. When completing lab reports Dr. Baxter would not give clear directions in a lecture about how to do calculations with our data which made it very difficult to complete lab reports when you asked her questions she would give very vague answers. Also, expect to print out 20+ paged reports almost every week. The only good thing good about this class is the final lab which you choose what you want to do. I hope this semester she just had something going on and comes back stronger next semester. Good Luck!
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/29/2024	2/10 we had a total of 4 lectures throughout the entire semester. the class contains one lecture and two labs both of which were cancelled at some point due to dr.baxter’s unavailability. I am sure there were things going on in her personal life but she did not share that with us so it just seemed like she didn’t care as office hours were also canceled as well with the lab report still due PRINTED. it was just very clear there were some miscommunications around the TAs and us as often times the lab reports were graded comparatively not on a paper by paper basis. there are 6 lab reports 2 of which are done in a group a midterm and a final which would have been fine IF we had class however the class averaged a 60/70 respectively for both. again the class itself is difficult but survivable dr.baxter made it wayy harder than it needed to be. good luck if you’re taking it you’ll probably be fine but it is taxing on the health.
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/24/2024	If you're a chem or biochem major, good luck. This was the most disorganized class I've ever taken at UMD. The first half of the semester Baxter would cancel her classes just hours before. Then she just cancelled lectures for the rest of the semester, which is very hypocritical of a professor who in her syllabus writes that she "does not think it is too much to ask that you attend lecture." She would also cancel office hours and was constantly changing the lab report due dates. There were no rubrics for the lab reports, and expectations were very unclear. She was supposed to have lectures to go over what to include, but again would either cancel the lecture or post a video way after the lab was completed and skim over relevant calculations because we "already did them." Lab reports took nearly a full twenty four hours of straight work to write every week because you had to figure everything out yourself. Lab procedures were unclear, and there were frequently mistakes with the materials that were provided to us in lab. Baxter would either wait to announce corrections/give us the necessary supplementary data until the day before the report was due or would not do so at all. There was no instruction on how to do lab report calculations. The TAs wouldn't read the entirety of the lab reports and could not explain their grading to students. If you asked a question, they couldn't give you an answer and would say "it is what it is." They gave no feedback and would return the lab reports extremely late (I never got two of mine back at all), so if you got points off you wouldn't know why and didn't have the opportunity to fix the next lab report or to review them for the exam. Baxter didn't decide whether or not there would be a curve (there wasn't) until the very end of the semester, so you don't know where you stand. She was also rude to students and would be visibly distracted during office hours. She seems to be nicer to non majors, but if you're a major she expects you to be able to do everything with no instruction.
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/24/2024	Bchm/chm majors... don't be deceived by her high average right now. trust. If i could give her 0 stars, I would—and I thought 177 was bad. I genuinely have never taken a course where the professor has no regard for their students whatsoever, she canceled lecture for the rest of the semester midway through, and even canceled her open office hours 99% of the time too. I'm pretty sure thats not even allowed. You're telling me she couldn't have informed us about her "appointment" excuses at least the day before? She would send out announcements for cancellations AN HOUR BEFORE. she had no respect for our time. The reports are not given back in time to improve on the next ones, and when we did get the reports back barely any good feedback or explanation was given for the ridiculous amount of points they took off. Not to mention there was no rubric so we didn't have initial expectations, and we didn't have feedback to improve.. so it was a lose-lose situation AND the TAs didn't know what was going on either—because guess what, she canceled virtually all of her professor-TA meetings! Even the TAs complained about her. I was always mad about this class, and I think the department should have done something. If a professor doesn't wish to do their job and teach they need to find a substitute or assistant who can fill in. It was a ridiculous semester. I lost the most sleep over this class for no good reason. this is just a lab its not even supposed to be this complicated. Anyways pray you dont have her.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2024	I struggled a lot in this class if I am being honest. However, Professor Baxter made this class impossible. She was very rude when students would ask "stupid" questions and would just expect us to know what was going on without any explanation. Not to mention the number of times she would cancel class. At one point in the semester, we didn't have class for 2 weeks straight because she canceled all those classes in a row. She would go over basic problems during class but the actual exams were very advanced problems that were completely different from what she taught. If you take her expect to be teaching yourself or getting a tutor. Her exams were pretty difficult for me and the average grade for each exam was never over a 50%. And our final exam was worse with a 42% average. The other chemistry classes had significantly higher averages than us over the exams and final. Overall, this class took 10 years off my life and Ashley Baxter definitely contributed to it.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2024	Dr. Baxter is a horrible professor and I do not recommend her to anyone. Yes, chemistry can be a difficult class but she made it more difficult than it should be. She was barely in class, and would “teach” us through less than helpful video lectures. As well as, like clockwork, cancel her office hours and reschedule them at a time that was not convenient for anyone to attend. She would also cancel class last minute for one reason or another regularly. On the other hand she does curve at the end, and the homework she gives is somewhat useful. But the cons outweigh the pros. We were taught basically by the TA and the GSS leaders, had to teach ourselves, or look for tutors.
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/17/2024	easily the worst lab coordinator. Does not give partial credit on exams, does not disclose rubrics for reports, canceled every lecture after the midterm exam. Writes terrible protocols, canceled all of her meetings with the TA's took off points on final presentations for not having comically large texts even though she chose to sit as far as possible from the projector screen. Reports can take 20-50 hours of work to complete ranging from 15-35 pages while having to do other assignments. Absolutely brutal class not helped by the fact she gives no help.
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/16/2024	I believe Baxter might be let go of due to her lack of attendance. I’m not sure how the gen chem 1 students are faring but I genuinely don’t remember the last time I had a lecture with her as she’s always canceling class. The assignments were lengthy and required a lot of critical thinking— the TAs were fortunately generous with grading since I think they’re aware of our lack of guidance.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/16/2024	I only took chemistry once in the 10th grade and never really took it again lol. Now coming into this spring semester, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect and I can say there is A LOT that goes into this course. I will say this: Dr. Baxter is fairly organized and her slides pretty much have all the information you need for all the midterms and the final exam. I will say for me personally, I did slack off after the first exam and was having trouble grasping content as time went on so I can only blame myself for how poorly I did on the exams. But one thing I would say that has really helped me improve is: only taking notes of the practice problems she does in class and repeatedly doing different versions of them (which you can find in the online textbook), our TA during discussion always had worksheets that were approved by Dr. Baxter to help us grasp the content and practice the topics we needed to know, and GSS. I was never able to go to GSS as much since it always had class or other obligations but the times I went were really helpful. I will say I like that Dr. Baxter would clarify specifically how to solve the problems she always went over in class because there were times I was confused this semester and majority of the semester she was out of class so everything she couldn't go over in class was recorded, which made it even more difficult for me. But I will say that you don't have to be afraid to ask her questions. Lots of people are afraid to reach out to their teachers because they feel like their teachers will consider them dumb or the teacher won't help out as much but I'm telling you it doesn't hurt trying. You can't succeed in this course, especially chemistry and science classes in general if you're not asking for help and Dr. Baxter made sure to accommodate people the best she could. This past semester she curved it to 13% which really became helpful because I really thought I was going to fail. But that's just my experience, so hopefully this helps for anyone considering taking her in the future!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/16/2024	I’ve been waiting to write this all semester. Alright we all know 8am classes suck… the semester started of ok, the slides are JAM packed with info and this course goes extremely fast. I had numerous panic attacks. There is a homework due every two weeks or less that will take you hours to do, it’s good practice through and tends to be helpful for exam prep. I absolutely recommend doing ALL the gss worksheets and organic chemistry tutor videos. She is very vague about what is on the exams, unfortunately you will need to study everything she taught u leading up to the lecture, and do NOT just study the lecture problems, they are helpful but she tends to switch it up on the exam. Halfway through the semester things on fishy. She cancelled class literally 7 times and doing recorded lectures was awful and I agree it had to do with my down fall in my grades. The final was hard as hell, it is on what she doesn’t test you on in the exams, so study strategically. Unfortunately my test grades were a 67/100, 88/100, 38/100 and 121/200. I was shitting bricks with my 67% in the class, BUT she does replace your lowest midterm with your final if helpful, and there was a 13% curve because averages ranged from 40-55% on every midterm and the final. Infact our class did so bad she gave a 20 point extra credit quiz for exam 2, which boosted my score from a 75 to an 88. I studied for 30+ hours for finals and I tried so hard. Unfortunately not having a study guide for this class makes it impossible to be prepared for exams, there is so much content. Just be above the average in the class, and you should get a B. I went from a 67 to an 85 after a midterm replacement and the curve. Good luck!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/16/2024	The material of the class is extremely difficult, and I guess she tries to give you some resources to make it work. However, her exams are unnecessarily difficult and even after each exam had a class average of about 50%, instead of altering exams or giving us more study material, she simply gives around a 5 point curve to make herself look better (actually she only did this once and just left the other exams with the scores they had). We are not allowed to ask any questions during exams, we are not given any sort of practice exams and she does not give us any sort of tips to on how/what to study. So if you spend 2 hours studying a more difficult topic that's part of exam material, chances are it may not even show up on the exam and you will have wasted your time. Our class average on our final exam was a 46%, while other chem131 classes had an average of about 75%. Her solution to this- a 13 point curve. Her lectures were also at 8 am, and I cannot count the amount of times she has canceled lectures at 7:45 AM right before class because of some dismissive reason... whether that be a headache, stomach not feeling well, etc. We also had GSS sessions throughout the week that were always getting canceled without explanation.This class is ridiculous.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/14/2024	Professor Baxter is pretty chill, takes time to work through problems during lectures so you can get a feel of how to use the information. However, she doesn't post answers to the lecture problems anywhere, so woe upon anyone who misses lecture because you will miss at least half of the content. Not sure if this a common occurrence, but she cancelled about seven lectures in my semester, which was pretty annoying, because then we had to catch up using panopto videos. Homework is leniently graded, so is a good boost for your grade, and your worst midterm is replaced by your final grade, so that helps too, along with a pretty hefty curve. You will make it through this class with an acceptable grade.
Ashley Baxter Expecting a D Anonymous 05/14/2024	Dr. Baxter is the worst chem professor plz dont take her. This semester she barley showed up and if she wouldnt show up, she would just post recorded lecture videso to watch and it is not helpful at all. Her office hours were okay kinda helpful but not as much. This was a 8am class and there rly wasnt any "mercy" If you asked her a question in class, she would answer it but she wouldnt explain it properly. The exams were okay, but the final exam was horrendous- other professors allowed their students to ask questions during the exam, but Baxter didnt allow it. We only got 60 minitues for the 3 midterms and I did not completely finish some of the questions on them. She just has powerpoints and those are the lecture notes which arent really helpful. The homework is a killer because it can be very tedious and there are alot of questions. The grade in the class is just based on the 3 exams, the homework and the final. She will offer extra credit for the exams but rarely. The class average for the exams were around a 50%. Some of the questions on the exams she never went over how to do them, and on her powerpoints she gives easy examples and the homework is just different and hard. The TA's are understanding but they can just do what they can do. Most of the class I had to watch my Organic Chemsitry tutor. I have had to get 2 tutors to help me understanding what I was doing and it honestly sucks. She never really explains how to do the problems and if she did, they would be so different on the exams and homework. Main thing is she doesnt put the exam questions on the final, the final is other topics we learned just not on the exams so it came down to not knowing what to study and bombing the final. She is not helpful at all, this class has murdered me but I am glad I am done done done with it. Thanks guys dont take her at all:)
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/13/2024	Dr. Baxter canceled 7 of our ~27 sessions this semester an hour before their start times at 8:00 A.M., for frequent sickness or "car trouble." Underprepared would be a tragedy of an understatement, as Dr. Baxter published zero resources to assist us in studying for our final exam, and not only was she largely unhelpful in the classes leading up to the final as all she did was teach us new material that didn't even get tested on the exam, but she refuses to answer questions during the exams. Please, for your own sanity, take someone else.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/13/2024	Dr. Baxter is nice, but that does not make up for the fact that she missed around 7 classes this semester and still expected us to keep up with the content at her pace. Video lectures were posted online, but the amount of missed class time was unacceptable, especially since CHEM131 is such a difficult course and the class was only held twice a week. Our third midterm had three extremely challenging topics on it, and two of those topics were taught entirely online. That may work better for some students, but I prefer in-person learning. It was also inconvenient that each time she canceled class it was only an hour before the lecture began (7 am.) I understand that things can uncontrollably come up in all of our lives, but apparently, this has been a trend in past semesters. The averages for each midterm were 61.31% for Exam 1, 51.5% for Exam 2 (before she gave the opportunity to gain up to 20 points in extra credit), and 55% for Exam 3. She says that she expects these types of grades. Personally, I do not understand why she can't just give exams with easier content that will not result in such poor grades overall... Especially since she plans to curve the class average up to a 77% (adding 10-12% to our final grade this semester.) It kind of just seems like a cover-up for how badly the entire class is doing. During the final exam, my class was in a room with another section. They were allowed to ask their professor/TAs questions, while our class was not. I glanced at their exam and could instantly see how much easier their content was. It's upsetting to have done so poorly in this class. I feel so discouraged; I am an extremely hardworking student and take pride in my abilities. I feel that if I had taken this class with another professor, I would have gotten a much better grade. I'm in a group chat with fifteen other students, and we all feel equally about this course. Some of us may even need to retake it. If you do end up in a section with Dr. Baxter, do not miss lecture. Go to Guided Study Sessions, and don't miss your discussion. Things will snowball if you're not on top of it. Best of luck.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/13/2024	DO NOT TAKE HER!!!! SHE IS ABSOLUTELY AWFUL. She put things on the exams that she never went over. Her final, she gave us nothing to study with and continued to teach final material 4 days before... she puts all new concepts on the final and has the mindset of "well ive alr tested u on this so no need to put it on there". if u care about your mental health, don't take her. she does not care about her students
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/10/2024	Chem 131 is not an easy class and Baxter does little to make it easier. I should start out by saying that she missed about 3 weeks of lectures altogether-make sure you check canvas before you go to class because there is a 50/50 chance you will have to go. She did post videos going through the slides but if you dont understand the videos,she said and I quote 'rewatch until you get it'. Her lectures are mostly going through problems and you're basically going to have to teach yourself the content. Be prepared to spend hours teaching yourself and asking others for help. She doesnt put out any kind of practice exams or study guide. Your best bet is finding someone who has taken her class previously. There surprisingly was extra credit this semester after the second exam bc the class did so terrible-i think the average was a 41% for it. Exams consist of ~20 multiple choise questions and 6-10 written answers. This should be your last choice for chem 131.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/08/2024	Did not really like her teaching style or lectures. Whatever problems were on the exam, she provides little examples of. Did not feel very welcoming when asked questions. Exam averages are so low but the curve at the end is good. She replaced your lowest exam with your final and curved so the average grade was a C+/B- which really helped my grade.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/07/2024	I took Baxter because she was the only available professor when I signed up for classes. She speeds through lectures, so you really need to pay attention and even missing one lecture will cause you to fall behind. If you take your own notes, you will miss most of the information because of how fast she goes, so I would recommend using the provided outlines. She only gives 1-2 practice problem per theory/concept, so you need to do a lot of practice outside of class. The practice problems in class are similar to the ones found on exams, so it is important to understand these because she does not provide any past or practice exams. There are 1-2 homework assignments per week that each take between 90-180 mins. Discussion sessions are optional and mostly a waste of time, it's better to just look for the worksheet key after class. She does curve, but she curves final grades and not specific exams so you won't know your final grade until after the final exam, which is annoying. I went to a few of the GSS sections, but the leaders were not very helpful and even made me more confused with some problems. Not sure if this is every semester, but she cancelled class so many times (like 8 times). She taught an 8am this semester so waking up early and finding out at 7:30 that there is no class is very annoying. We only had about 3 classes in between exam 2-3, so the averages were much lower than normal. She gave videos to watch, but I did not sign up to self-teach chemistry. Overall, she's not the worst chemistry professor, but if you can take someone else I would recommend it. If you are good with chemistry or are very dedicated to the class, you should be fine with her.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 04/30/2024	Honestly, I do not know what majority of these people are talking about. Baxter is a terrible professor. For starters, she does not provide her students with enough resources to succeed in her class. On the first day of class, she told us that she doesn't offer study guides despite her own professor when she took chem providing her with one because "she didn't use them". She has no compassion and does not care about whether her students learn or not. She rather cancel classes for a whole month straight over a simple migraine than show up and do her job. Even after canceling classes for about a month straight, she still expects students to take midterms based on a few 30-minute videos she uploads to Canvas randomly. The average for my class's first exam was 60 and she decided to make the second exam longer simply because many people left too early during the first exam. However, she failed to realize that this was probably because people gave up on the exam due to it being extremely difficult. Not to even talk about her homework, each week expect nothing less than about 40-70 questions that take up your whole day. Her teaching style is so monotone. Attending her office hours does not help much as she is not a good teacher and does not know how to break down information. Gss session leaders try their best, but it is hard when Baxter barely provides information until like the last minute. I am warning all of you guys who are thinking about taking Baxter, DON'T!!!!! My friends warned me and I didn't listen. Don't be like me and end up crying everyday after each exam.
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Anonymous 04/13/2024	I don't know what she has gone through in life to be acting like this, but I have never had a professor like her. As a disclaimer, this class, in general, is hard, but I think she made it harder than it needed to be. There is no reason for me to be submitting a full length lab report almost every week while also submitting a big final project the same week the final for the class is. There was no rubric, and a lot of the procedures had vague directions on what steps to take, if I'm going to be working with chemicals, I personally would prefer to know which ones I should and shouldn't be mixing. I will say this class itself is horrible and completely unreasonable, so it's not just her; there is no way in hell that any professional chemist is submitting lab reports with minimal time in between to properly prepare.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/27/2024	She is very organized with her lecture slides and notes. She only goes over a certain type of problem in class and then the rest, you learn over homeworks. The content on the midterm is manageable and consists off mcqs, short and long answer. And the lowest midterm grade is replaced by the final exam grade if it helps your grade which is very nice. The curve at the end is very accommodating, so if you score above the class average for the midterms, it should be very easy to end with a B or higher.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/16/2024	I took at 8am with Baxter to avoid taking Rainbolt and I do not regret it at all. She was very good at teaching, always to the point. She is very helpful during office hours. The class goes very fast (no matter who your professor is) so make sure to stay on top of it. She does give like 50 homework questions a week which can take a lot of time. Her guided notes are extremely helpful. If you use those and the lecture practice problems to study you will be fine!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/10/2024	She is nice and very organized. You will not learn how to do Chemistry by her because she will only go over one practice problem and then move onto a completely different topic. However, she is very in-depth explaining how to do that one practice problem. You will mostly learn how to do the different types of problems through the homework, discussion and GSS sessions.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 02/01/2024	From what I can tell, the people rating Dr. Baxter so low have a hard time with chemistry, not Dr. Baxter. This is my second time taking chem. I dropped it 5 weeks before the final because I couldn't give this class the time it requires to get a passing grade. Retaking it now, and when I tell you Dr. Baxter makes it so easy for you to pass, she really does. Just do the homework and get off your phone in lectures. Pay attention, go to GSS. Chem is hard but Dr. Baxter gives you a really good shot at passing.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/28/2024	She was nice, ig, but that's her only plus point.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/24/2024	Dr. Baxter is a wonderful teacher for General Chemistry. She is very organized and wants you to succeed in the course. She is always available to answer questions during office hours and before and after her lectures. She is very considerate with grading and curves at the end of the course, but you are expected to put in work to get a good grade. The course is structured with Homework assignments through an online ebook included in the course, which is 10% of your grade, and Exams make up the rest of your grade. Since exams are a huge part of the grade, you have to do a lot of practice problems and pay attention during her lectures to succeed in the course. Your worst exam score is also replaced with your final exam score if it is lower than the final exam score. I would recommend not slacking off for her first exam because it can put you behind in the class, and it's harder to catch up later in the course. Overall, it is definitely possible to get an A in this class if you attend all the lectures and do TONS of practice problems.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous_2018 01/21/2024	This fall was my first college semester, and I hadn't even touched chemistry since 10th grade. I was a little nervous, but after taking this course with Dr. Baxter, it went better than expected. I thought Dr. Baxter lectured well, for the most part. Yes, she does cover a lot, so you have to attend EVERY lecture, or you will fall behind. But that's pretty much the case for all college courses; all of them are fast-paced. Don't bother making your own notes because Dr. Baxter already gives you lecture-based guided notes, which are super helpful for review. Sometimes, it can be hard to follow, but Dr. Baxter always pauses for questions after every mini-topic or practice question. She'll even re-explain a concept if you just ask. You can also ask her questions or express concerns before the lecture or during office hours. Always ASK if you're confused about something. That's literally what professors are there for. For homework, I suggest starting it early and breaking it into chunks. Depending on the topic, there can be 30 - 60 questions with conceptual or math problems. Do a few problems every day, and try to finish a few days or even a week before the deadline, so you have enough time to review it again for exams. Even though it's not worth much, homework is going to be one of your primary study resources because the problems tend to be a bit harder than on the exams. Alright, everyone's favorite: exams. Dr. Baxter has three mid-terms and one final with MCQs, Short-response, and Long response questions. Around a week before the exam, she provides some info about the exam and might pop in a hint or two. The exams were a bit difficult for most people, and the class average for all of them didn't get past a high 60, which is the lowest I've ever seen, to be honest. However, they are doable, and some students did get A+s. The number one strategy is practice, practice, practice. The more practice problems you do (discussion WS, GSS, etc.), the easier it will be for you to recognize a question and solve it quickly. Some students, if not most, couldn't even finish the whole exam because of time. But, the exams are worth like 85% of your grade - which is A LOT - so you have to do your best. If you don't know a question, put something on the paper even if it's rubbish. You can expect to at least gain a few points because TAs tend to grade with tenancy. The final was long and brain-frying but overall fair. Some questions even came from the lecture, which was great. After the exam, Dr. Baxter also gives you three free points if you collect all your previous exams. In addition, she'll replace your lowest midterm score with the final if it benefits you, which helped a lot of students. Does this class have a curve? Yes, and it's a fat one: 10%. She literally bumps your grade by a letter if the class average is in the 60s. A final word. Overall, even though I never liked chemistry, taking this course with Dr. Baxter made it tolerable and sometimes even fun. She's really understanding, will try to help out in any way she can, and wants her students to succeed. But you'll have to reach out and care about your performance. This class won't be a breeze, and you can't really expect it to be, but, in the end, you'll have to be willing to put the effort and time into this course if you want to get an A. Hope this helped, and good luck.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 01/12/2024	Gen chem was a difficult class that required a lot of studying outside of class. Since her lectures are super early, it can be easy to skip but I recommend going to every lecture to retain the information and learn how to solve the practice problems on her lecture slides. The exams are pretty fair but the long answer questions can be difficult but as long as you do the GSS worksheets, lecture slide problems, and discussion worksheets: it's basically like the exam. The homework assignments were very tedious and took a few hours so chunk it up over the course of a few days. Baxter was sassy and if you asked "dumb" questions, she would have a little attitude behind her response. Her curve was pretty nice, being around 10% but that is the average for most science classes. Also, she provides extra points for the final if you collect all of your exams which was nice. She's an okay professor, just put in the work early in the semester so you don't have to play catch up because the final exam was pretty difficult.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2024	Before reviewing Dr. Baxter for this course, note Gen Chem won't be a breeze for most. I never enjoyed chemistry in high school, so I can't say I was anticipating this course. With that said, overall, Dr. Baxter was a great professor. Let's talk about lectures. I know some people say that she lectures too quickly, but isn't that the case with all college semesters? While Dr. Baxter finished topics in about a week or two, she always paused for questions after each sub-topic during lectures. She's friendly, and understanding and will repeat concepts even if she repeated them already. In addition, she had office hours throughout the week for additional help on homework or questions. She also replies to emails quickly. I would recommend printing out the lecture guided notes (super helpful in reviewing) and filling them out throughout lecture periods. With homework, we only had around one per week, which consisted around 30 - sometimes 60 questions that take 2-3 hours, depending on the topic. Now this same seem like a lot, but it's not so bad if you split questions in different sittings throughout the week. I liked to finish them around a week in advance to get a head start on the next topic. Don't try to leave it last minute! Even though they may not support grades as much, they're an excellent source of review and help for exams. Alright, exams... Dr. Baxter has 4 exams total for Gen Chem: 3 mid-terms and 1 final. For all the exams, she provides information and the format around a week before and sometimes pops in a hint or two of what to expect. Now, all the exams had pretty low-class averages in the 60s, which I never experienced in high school. However, the exams are fair and doable. I mean each exam had multiple students getting As and even A+s. Dr. Baxter also has a policy that your final exam will replace your lowest midterm score, which often helps a lot for most students. For instance, if you bomb the first exam, you still have a chance. However, you will need to work hard to succeed in this course. My best advice would be to practice, practice, practice. The more questions and problems you do, the easier it will be to recognize concepts on the exams. Review the guided notes, homework, discussion worksheets, and GSS worksheets. I never liked a textbook, so I didn't use it. But if that works for you, you can use that too for more problems. The final was pretty long and brain-frying, but it was fair. Try limiting dumb mistakes, and don't overthink lol. For this recent final, Dr. Baxter even included some questions we did in lecture, which was super helpful. In addition, if you collected all your previous midterm exams, you got 3 free bonus points, which was great. If you're still worried, well, this may ease some nerves. Baxter has a really generous curve at the end of the semester, which can literally bump your grade by a whole letter. (It was 10% for this last semester.) Overall, Dr. Baxter is a great professor and wants her students to succeed. But you have to be willing and ready to put the work and effort in. I hope this helped, and good luck!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/26/2023	I came into this class thinking it would be my easiest, it was definitely not. This class is difficult, it will take a lot of time to study for, and you can't underestimate the exams because she loves trying to trip you up with little details on the exam and taking points off when she gets you. With all that in mind she is an extremely fair professor; the exams are on what was taught in class (besides 1 or 2 more complex questions which she puts in), the final is easier than the 3 midterms and the final replaces the lowest exam if it helps you, and yes their is a nice curve so don't freak out like I did. On top of that she is a great lecturer, helpful with questions, and readily available. I'm giving her 5 stars because even with the tricks and the quick pace, if you study, and listen, you will actually come out having learned a lot and feel good about the material.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/23/2023	Chemistry is just a very confusing topic on its own, but Baxter is honestly such a well organized professor and one of the few teachers that does a great job when it comes to teaching and explaining topics within gen chem in a way where you can better understand and have any questions properly addressed.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/19/2023	As someone who hasn't taken chemistry since 10th grade, I was able to do fine in this course just from attending lecture, doing homework, and reading a little bit of the textbook. She fits lots of information into every lecture, so if you miss even one you'll fall behind pretty easily. She does lots of practice problems during the lectures which helps with understanding how to approach the problems. The exams are challenging, but if you do the homeworks, redo the practice problems, and even look online for extra practice you'll be fine.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131S Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2023	Average teacher. Tough class. No extra credit. Runs through material so fast, and it is so hard to understand and catch up. This class was the most painful, time-consuming, stressful class I took the whole semester. Chem department needs better teachers.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ terp2027 12/17/2023	Dr. Baxter is a young woman with a lot of sass. Her lectures are just her reading off of the slides however she is incredibly helpful during office hours. She is nice and sometimes you'll even think she cares about how you do on her exams. Her exams are usually manageable but she does through in one curve ball long response question. Also, the multiple-choice can be quite tricky. However the final is fair, I even think that she drew some problems from the lecture slides. Overall, I would recommend her, but just understand that she will not change or break any rule for you and that your outcome in the class is entirely dependent upon how well you study chemistry (the textbook is extremely helpful).
Ashley Baxter Anonymous 12/17/2023	bro dont take this professor like actually i took ap chem and there was stuff i had no idea on she is not a good teacher bro trust.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/15/2023	Dr. Baxter is a great professor but chem is going to be difficult no matter what. She moves through stuff in class quickly but the homework is pretty helpful. If you stay on top of studying the course will be okay. She curves the class and drops the lowest exam for your final exam score if it benefits you. Overall, I recommend her as a professor but not this course in general.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/08/2023	Dr. Baxter is a good lecturer, however goes over the content very quickly. I would suggest taking notes on the powerpoint prior to lecture. Once I started doing this, I began to understand concepts quicker. Dr. Baxter is very helpful in office hours also. Go to lecture and do the homework.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 06/04/2023	I really enjoyed taking Gen Chem with Professor Baxter. I think that this class is definitely challenging and there is no way to make this class a breeze. With that said, I think that Professor Baxter is an amazing teacher. Her lectures are filled with information and she does a lot of practice problems during lecture which are really helpful for studying for the exams. There is a homework assignment due every week which covers the information that was taught in class that week which are also really helpful to study from for the exams. I thought all of the exams were hard but they all were fair. By the end of the class, she curved everyone's grade by 10% so the curve for the class is also pretty generous. I think that Professor Baxter is an amazing professor and really wants her students to do well. She always has office hours and is willing to answer any question that you have. I really am not so good at Chemistry but Baxter made it possible for me to do understand concepts and know the material. As long as you go to every lecture, do the homeworks, go to office hours when you need, and study hard for the exams you will be fine. She really is a GOAT and a great person.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/23/2023	I had very HIGH expectations for her considering the fact that she had a 4 out of 5 rating on here, however, I quickly realized that she is a pretty average teacher. Although she is a very nice person, she runs through the material during class as if we already know what it is. At the beginning of the first class, she emphasized how you do not need a strong background in CHEM to do well in the course, however, the way the class is set up makes me strongly disagree. Overall the cons for her class is that she goes very fast in lecture, there are no study guides provided for her/old exams, she typically teaches the classes very early in the morning, and there is only about a 10% curve. The pros for her class are that she is a super nice/understanding individual, she is typically good with communication (emails back fast, etc.), she offers homework assignments as a boost for our grade, and for my specific class, she gave us 3 extra credit points on the final if you collected all your exams from throughout the semester. Hope this helped :)
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/22/2023	Yes, chem is going to be hard either way. You're going to have to study in order to do well, but out of all of the gen chem 1 professors, Baxter makes it the easiest. Lectures and discussions are not mandatory, but I highly advise attending. Personally, I just have a really hard time picking up what's being taught in lectures (but it's not Baxter's fault, I just understand more when I'm able to go back to the dorm and walk through a problem on my own). I say that because if you find that you're having a hard time keeping up with Baxter during her lectures, I still strongly advise attending class. A lot of the time I wouldn't understand (completely) why a certain step was done in a problem or why some conversion has to be done in step 2 instead of step 4, but once I got back to my dorm and was able to walk through the problem myself, I would then understand/remember "oh yea, Baxter said this because of this" and then everything would fall into place. So yea, Baxter is probably the best choice to go with. The homework definitely takes time so try to do it in chunks day by day, it's way too stressful to do it the night that it's due. The software we use for homework only takes about 0.03% off of a question when you get it wrong, so you have A LOT of chances to get it right. There are 3 midterms, 1 cumulative final. Her exams are extremely fair, listen to what she tells you to study, redo the practice problems are her slides (which is another reason you should go to lecture because she doesn't post the answers on Canvas), and do some of the learning curve practice questions on the homework software (this is a really good studying starting point) and you'll be fine. The TAs also provided a practice exam, those were extremely helpful and provided a good reflection of what the exam would contain. She gave us a 10% curve, so at the very least, just try to stay above a 60%, and you should pass with a C- or higher. Last thing, try to do really well (well = on average) on the midterms, it sucks trying to bring your grade back up with the final. Much easier to do well on the midterms and have cushion room, than to not do well on the midterms and be forced to do well on the final (while juggling other finals).
Ashley Baxter CHEM277 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/20/2023	Dr. Baxter is a great professor! She used a lot of Dr. Kahn’s old materials since it was her first time teaching this class, but she explain concepts well in lecture and posted her slides in ELMS to help us out. All of the resources she gave really helped! The TAs in this class are also pretty good and make themselves available to help us, but they can grade harshly. Only negative thing is she and the TAs take a while to grade our reports and assignments, so by the time we’re working on the next report we still haven’t gotten feedback from the one before and might make the same mistakes. Also the way she curves is completely based on ranking in the class so you need to be in the top 40% for an A, but there’s no way of knowing where you stand.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/19/2023	Honestly this class is hard and it takes up all of your time, if u want to get an A. Getting an A is achievable though. Out of all the teachers, she definitely is the best, teaching wise. Her exams aren't significantly harder than the other teachers' exams. But, she doesn't curve as much as the teachers, so keep that in mind. The curve is around 10%. If you actually want to learn something from this class take Baxter. Lectures and exams at 8 am are horrible but she posts guided notes and slides. However, she doesn't record her lectures or upload past exams, which would be extremely helpful if she did. Also, her final was based on material that we weren't tested on in exams, so you have to study strategically. Averages were in the 55s-65s. She also crams a lot of random stuff in, in lecture, the day before the exam. Which is extremely stressful.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	She is an extremely good lecturer. She explains things clearly and has really helpful practice problems during lecture. You have to put in work for this class to do well, but that's the case with every professor. She was very organized and although the homework was long, as long as you understand how to do it you're guaranteed to do well on exams. The exams were not harder than the homework, and GSS offers practice exams that can help you study as well.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	Chemistry is hard but doable in Baxter's class. Although I definitely struggled a bit, the effort I put into the class by going to GSS, office hours, and studying really helped me. Baxter was a really nice and approachable person in my opinion. Her homework was sometimes a bit difficult and time consuming, especially if we didn't go over how to do it in class specifically, but it was doable and making mistakes had little to no impact on my grade. The homework definitely helped me learn the material more in depth and I found it to be helpful most times. She also responded to emails quickly, so if you couldn't figure out a homework problem, she would help. The most important and helpful thing I did was going through all the practice problems before the exam because if you know how to do all of them and understand them to a certain extent, you will do fine on the exam. The most difficult imo was the multiple choice which was a bit difficult to study for and sometimes ended up just being lucky guesses for me. The most frustrating thing about this class was how chaotic things would get right before the exam. Baxter would often try to cram the most amount of content possible in like the last lecture before the exam which made things frustrating and stressful. She also gives little to no resources to help study for the exam which was also frustrating because I always found practice exams to be so helpful with preparing for the exams, and I felt a little overwhelmed and so so stressed coming into the first exam since I didn't really know what to expect. However, after the first exam it become less stressful since I had a better idea of what to expect. Her exams are a bit difficult, but the topics that are on them are pretty clear. The final was also easier than the other exams in my opinion, and she tends to test on things that she taught but did not show up on previous exams, which she is pretty open about. The discussions were not mandatory but super helpful and the TA was so amazing.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/18/2023	Really good professor and easy to understand. She posts all her slides and practice problems with the answer key which is very helpful when it comes to studying for tests. There are 3 exams that were pretty fair, however, her final was much harder than all the other exams and had the lowest average.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/11/2023	Dr. Baxter did a really good job at explaining complex concepts in an understandable way. Her slides were incredibly helpful for understanding and organizing what information I needed to know for the class. This was an incredibly difficult class for me, and I went to her office hours when I was struggling and she was always patient with me and eager to help me understand my mistakes. Professor Baxter really cares about her students and believes in our ability to succeed. She made this class doable. I would highly recommend her to other students.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/05/2023	I chose Baxters 8 am instead of Guests 11am class because baxters reviews assured me she is a good professor who can help me do well in the class. However, if I could, I would go back to choose Guest. I attended every single lecture and put forth effort in studying and attending discussion and GSS but I could only do so well because of her difficult exams and just how she taught. She is very good at reading slides which gets boring but also we don't get underlying explanations for the material which is important. I do like how she tries to answer questions during lecture is is pretty nice, but other than that, she emphasizes u have to go to office hours. Mind you, she had to reschedule or cancel them almost every time. About her lecture: she doesn't record or nothing just post slides. For exams, she doesn't provide any practice exams, which is soo important for chem. Her exams are also difficult compared to other classes. Her average was always around 50-60. They are also very strict with grading. There is rarely any partial points for long questions that are worth minimum 10 points. However, she does curve, but only at the end of the semester so you really have no idea what to expect. Honestly the entire chem department sucks. And chem alone isn't even hard, it just matters who teaches you. With any professor, utilize tutoring and gss resources!!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 04/11/2023	If you’re looking for a nice and easy ride through 131, know that it simply does no exist. I feel that many of the reviews for Professor Baxter are more for her class than her teaching abilities, which is a bit unfair as making this class enjoyable/easy is pretty much impossible. All things considered she’s the best you could get between all your other options for this class, helpful lady who will genuinely make time to boost her class and makes lectures certainly more interesting than they might otherwise be. Provides no practice exams but guided notes will carry you through long and fast lectures. Absolute Queen.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 03/12/2023	Baxter was probably the best professor out of the options I had. Chemistry is miserable. I hated every second I was there. But she tries hard to answer questions well and make lectures interesting. She also provided fill in the blank notes which I LOVEDDD. To be honest if I tried harder I probably could have gotten an A or at least a B+. She doesn't offer practice exams or anything which was kinda annoying but if you put in the work you can do okay. She doesn't post lectures, but she does post her slides/notes so if you miss class you're fine. I had an 8am section so I relied on those v heavily! Attendance is not mandatory (thank god). Overall would recommend over other chem profs
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/17/2023	Terrible doesn't give us practice exams. Great lecturer terrible teacher.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C- Anonymous 02/03/2023	I hated CHEM131, and I got the grade I deserved considering the work I put in, which was very minimal. Baxter is a really good professor. She's very organized and explains things well in class. I'd like to point out that CHEM131 is HARD, so having a good professor doesn't mean you'll do well. Do your homework, go to lecture, and use her office hours if you need them. She's really accessible outside of class, so take advantage of that if you're struggling. Note that she doesn't give out practice exams or study guides, which I believe some other CHEM131 professors do. If you know how to do the problems in the lecture notes, you should probably be fine. Also note that she doesn't curve individual exam grades, but she does one big curve (~10%) at the end of the semester, as well as replaces your lowest exam grade with the final grade. She does her best to get your grade looking prettier on your transcript than it does on ELMS. Overall, if you have to take CHEM131, she's a great bet.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/08/2023	Baxter is a lovely professor, who comes to class organized and prepared to teach. She is super accessible outside of class hours because she holds many office hours as well as responds to her emails frequently. She doesn't overcomplicate any concept beyond what we need to know in order to do well on her exams. Exam averages were pretty low, but that's to be expected of Gen Chem imo. If you are worried about grades, there is a very generous curve at the end of the course. If you do practice problem before exams/go over your homeworks, you will be fine!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2023	I feel like a lot of students mistakenly rate the class and not the professor. Obviously CHEM131 isn't easy, chemistry can be miserable. How well you do really depends on your own study habits and effort to learn the material. Professor Baxter herself is a great professor. Out of all the CHEM131 professors (and the others actually suck), she's the one to have. I think the absolute best part of this class is that she gives you guided notes to fill out during lecture. It makes note-taking so much easier, and I seriously wish all my professors did that. She doesn't curve exams, but she does curve the overall grade. For my class it ended up being 10 percentage points. She doesn't record lectures, but she does post her slideshows and notes keys on Canvas. Also, the other CHEM131 professors give four midterm exams, but Baxter only gives three. Do what you will with that information.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ wild 12/27/2022	meh class - got an A+ though so that was cool the exams are pretty easy but lengthy so people tend to lose a lot of points simply to not finishing. exam averages were in the 50s and although this may seem quite concerning, it is very easy to do well. studying a few days before the exams is sufficient - go through all her slides and discussion questions to be in very good shape for the exams. i went to discussion a grand total of 0 times this semester and although this is very very bad for a first semester student, it all worked out. I also skipped class the majority of times and this is the basis of my reasoning for 4 stars. I didn't particularly need her to do well in the class so to rate her as a professor, it is quite hard for me. the other thing which made me rate her a 4 stars is the final was intentionally made to be full of questions not made in the past. she told us this and it was funny at first but it also meant we had to review all the material and not just past exams. otherwise, her teaching was probably good because her slides were sufficient for an A+ along with some discussion worksheets. you'll do well taking Baxter and it was a risk taking her because this was her first semester teaching but I have no regrets looking back. being like a month ahead other classes was a blessing for lab and just simply being a bit more chill at later points in the semester. good luck though!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131S Expecting a B Anonymous 12/24/2022	This class was extremely difficult and went at a much faster pace, with more detail, than any of the other chem professors. I had to pray every exam to pass, and I had to study till failure. There are no practice exams, and no real way to know what will be on the exams. However, Baxter is extremely nice and a really good teacher. Her exams will be very difficult, but most of the times have lenient partial credit. She is by far the best option if you truly want to learn chemistry. As far as I know, she is the only chem 131 professor who cares. This will be harder than the other profs arguably, but you will learn more and have a much better relationship with her. Take her over Guest please.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/24/2022	This is coming from someone that slacked off in this class and came into the year with an extended case of senioritis. I truly believe Baxter is probably the best CHEM131 professor in terms of getting you ready for the content. Guest had easier tests and was more lenient with HW and also recorded her lectures, Baxter will get you prepared. Baxter is a great lecturer and very helpful in office hours. You will have to attend class in order to stay on top of things, which I did not, which resulted in me having to cram a few nights before each exam. The exams are a little bit more difficult than other classes, but there aren't really any curveballs or anything you haven't seen before, whether it's with Achieve homework or class discussion worksheets. However, there are no study guides or review guides before each exam, so you're gonna have to rely on your own notes and the slides she posts on Canvas. The class is curved at the end, with about a 10 point curve (Class average of 65 -> 75), but she has broadened grade cutoff ranges, so if you're borderline by like 2-3% to the next grade range, it will mostly likely be curved up to the next grade (Example: 87 would be a B+, but most likely will carry over to an A-) Keep in mind that the class is weighted, your ELMS grade most likely will be inaccurate by a lot, so do some manual calculations so you know what grade you actually have. I managed to grind it out to a B with a curve, but I truly believe I probably could've gotten an A in this class if I just cracked down early enough. The only gripe I had with this class is that the final exam is based on content she hasn't put on other midterms and new content, which is a very vague description on what's actually on the exams. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars, she's a new teacher, but honestly pretty good overall.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2022	It was a pretty painful experience. She didn’t give out any practice tests or study guides and the class moved at a really fast pace. And I know in college lectures do move at a fast pace but the fact that we were about a month ahead of another class was ridiculous.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2022	Dr. Baxter is the best chem131 professor you can get! She does cover the content pretty fast and lectures are usually jam-packed with content. Her tests are also challenging but fair. After getting used to the content-heavy tests, the class became easier. Unlike other classes, we only had 3 midterms instead of 4, so take note of that. Fewer tests, more content on each one. I came out of her class actually being able to do chemistry, which is something I can't say about any of my highschool profs. The curve ended up being 10%, which is pretty normal for UMD gen-chem courses. Just remember to really study for those tests and you'll be fine!
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	Dr Baxter is absolutely amazing. Coming into gen chem, I had no proper foundation of chemistry (I did not take AP Chem and I only had 2 normal quarters of chemistry in 10th grade because of the pandemic). But on the first day, Dr Baxter made herself very clear that we do not need prior knowledge and that she wants us to succeed as long as we meet her half way. I was completely testify that this is true. She is very reasonable with the HW (which is an easy A by the way) and the due dates and if she makes a mistake she always acknowledges it and apologizes. Her course page is so so organized and it makes other students jealous. Literally, in September she made a calendar for the whole semester that showed what lecture would be covered and when the specific HW would be due and when the next exam is. She makes guided notes for the lectures that go hand in hand with her presentations and they also serve as a study guide for when there are exams. She also posts answer keys to the guided notes after the lecture is over to ensure we have accurate information. I highly suggest printing them out before the lecture (as she does post them beforehand for us to do so). She also makes the discussion worksheets which are usually similar to the exams she gives. She is also always at her office hours and will always notify us if she cannot make it. At office hours she was so kind and nice to talk to and I was easily able to ask any question about chemistry that I wanted. I've been told that Alice Mingery (the other chem professor) is so condescending when asked questions, but Baxter has never been that way. She will explain everything so methodically and ensure that we get the proper answer. Now, she does expect us to practice and will emphasize us doing the practice problems given to ensure our mastery of the topic. She always says that the best way to master chemistry is through practice problems which I completely agree. Now I will be honest, going to lecture is not enough for this class. She does go at a very fast pace and there are many days I leave that class being completely confused. However what I did that I thought was really helpful was rereading her lecture notes (which are very clear) and finding the corresponding online textbook page that corresponds to that topic and doing the practice problems. That really helped. Going at a very fast pace for the chem lectures is nice because (A) it helps with the chem labs which may cover topics not covered in lecture and (B) It lets the information sink in more before the final. One thing that baffled me was that the exam averages were 50-60 for all three. However I managed to get a C on two midterms, a B on another midterm, and a B on the final (average was a D for the final). She also said that the final can replace our lowest midterm exam grade. Her exams are completely straightforward and there are usually no tricks to them. They are very similar to the discussion worksheets too. The one tricky part is the time limit which I admit can get some people (but that can be easily fixed with practice trust me). The final that I just took last week was identical to how her midterms were and they had no tricks to them Its clear that Dr Baxter cares about her students and just wants us to have a strong foundation of chemistry. My TA was honestly not that great and I left her discussion after the second week and stopped going. I just used the discussion worksheet and the answer key and If I had a question, I would just go to office hours. Also don't trust the GSS because they do not follow Baxter's structure for the exams. Baxter is not an easy professor as per say, but if you put in the work you will be able to do well. I am so glad I took her class
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/21/2022	Amazing CHEM 131 professor considering the other options. Do not listen to the reviews below in which people whine about the low averages for each exam. This is college, not high school. Not everyone can get an A. Also, as someone who has taken orgo, the high C/low B average across all exams with the curve is pretty standard, so get used to that if you are going to take more chem courses at UMD. Also, the GSS leader was amazing. Like the person below said, definitely go to his regular sessions if you can. People usually don't attend those, and there is a lot of individualized help available. Exam review sessions were crowded though. I felt that the past exams were challenging in their own right. Again, don't listen to the people who complain that they didn't resemble Dr. Baxter's exams. This was her first time teaching, so how can you expect the past exams to be similar to hers when literally no one has seen one of her exams before? Some practice is better than no practice, and if that isn't good enough for you, just don't attend.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2022	When I first took this Prof, it was TBD. I was so scared. Then, I met her and realized she was friendly, understanding, and kept her students in mind. Her lectures are fast, so read her notes ahead of time (like she recommends!). Also, read the textbook. It helped me with the multiple choice A LOT. Honestly, everything is excellent but the tests. The tests are long and you barely have enough time to process the question. But, she replaced the final w the lowest grade and gave us a 10% curve based on the class averages at the end, so she truly wants us to succeed. I would take her again if I had to do it all over again. Just know that you need to put in the work, but I think her teaching and test style set me up for success for future science classes.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/20/2022	DO NOT TAKE HER THESE PEOPLE ARE LYING TO YOU
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/19/2022	The fact that no test average has been higher than a 61 and the only people rating her are expecting an A should tell you that these accounts aren’t indicative of her average student’s experience. I will say off the bat that if you do not spend a significant amount of time on this class—taking thorough notes, attending gss sessions, going over the textbook—you will fail. This is because Professor Baxter is far too disorganized with the content to provide you with a concise, accurate view of what you need to know. As others have said, her exams include questions students have never seen before and could have no way of knowing how to solve because she refuses to teach them how. Her entire guiding philosophy is “here’s a textbook, figure it out yourself.” Fine if you have 20 hours a week to blow on chem, bit of an issue if you’re taking 3 labs. My biggest gripe with her is that she refuses to accept that things other than hard work and studying can have an effect on your grade. She offered a grand total of 3 points of extra credit on one test and that’s it. I wound up getting super sick at the end of the semester and didn’t have much time to prepare for the test. I still wound up taking it because I figured it was nothing more than a cold and some nerves that were fogging up my head and making it impossible to study. So I still took the final and ended up bombing it. I found out the day after that I had been suffering from Mono and a nasty ear infection in my left ear. I let Professor Baxter know this. I owned up to my grade but asked if I couldn’t redo an assignment or two just to offset some of the points I might have lost. Her answer was flat out no, that the only extra credit offered was 3 total points for picking up tests from her office. I understand I’m not entitled to a good grade in the class, but when a teacher has repeatedly shown that she doesn’t care a lick about your grade, your out of school life, and your wellbeing as a whole, it’s hard to have any shred of respect for them. Easily the worst teacher I’ve had at this university. If I’d had any interest in chemistry going into this class, she would have put me off of it.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022	Out of all the chem teachers Dr. Baxter is the best so far. Tone honest Chem131 is a lot of material so her lectures go by fast however if you do you're work on time, don't skip lectures, and go to office hours you will do fine. On the first test I was shaken up about the time but for the 2nd and 3rd time was not an issue anymore. Her tests are pretty fair and although it can be intimidating with how much content is in each exam, for the most part it will never be anything she hasn't shown in class or in the textbook questions. My suggestion is doing notes prior to class and glancing over the textbook for definitions and guided examples, then in class strengthen it along with asking questions during lecture, and then practice. She is really helpful during office hours too. People say this class is hard but it also depends on how you study and the effort you put into this class.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/11/2022	do not listen to the reviews claiming that baxter's class will have a massive curve. not once has she ever used those words. at most she said there will be a curve to push grades up to a "high c," meaning, most likely, a 77%. this would be useful information, but she refuses to tell us what the actual class average is. as of right now, all the grades in elms are incredibly inflated because she hasn't even put in the weightings yet (15% homework, 20% exam 1, 20% exam 2, 20% exam 3, and 25% final). when she does put the weightings in, i have no doubt that everyone's grade will drop exponentially. does this sound like a professor who wants to be helpful? i'm sure that baxter is nice and accommodating outside of class, but this review is a true reflection of the actual proceedings of the course. exam averages have never exceeded 60% (about 53% for exam 1, 56% exam 2, and 61% exam 3). she doesn't curve exams. only 15% of the grade is homework, meaning that you HAVE to perform well on tests to do well in the class. despite what other reviews claim, three days of casual studying is not enough to do well on tests. i studied for hours everyday leading up to the test, and my test average is still an 85%. the gss discussion are absolutely unhelpful. all the questions are in formats completely different from test questions and the gss leader is not effective in providing help with confusing topics. the gss exam reviews used past exams from dr. guest, whose tests are completely different from baxter's. most of dr. baxter's lectures are fast paced and she explains concepts in the most convoluted manner possible. she teaches the class as if students already have an education in chemistry, even though she claimed in the beginning of the year that the curriculum was made for "beginners." exam material is incredibly concentrated, and any question about exam content is answered with the incredibly vague response: "anything is fair game." for our second exam, professor baxter asked students to submit questions they were confused about so that we could review them in class. instead of truly reviewing in a helpful way, baxter pulled up the questions and proceeded to not do any of them. she would project them and then say "i'm not going to show you how to actually solve the problem or tell you the answer, i'll just tell you how much i think you need to know to find it yourself." in terms of exam review, this wasn't exactly the most helpful. the only reason i'm rating this class 2 stars is because out of all the chemistry teachers, dr. baxter is probably still your best bet. however, these reviews are biased towards baxter's personality and not her class - don't listen to them. the class is still very hard. you'll need to put in a lot of work to do well. just because she's a nice person doesn't mean that her class is easy.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/11/2022	I would definitely say Dr. Baxter is the best CHEM131 professor you can get because I’ve heard such bad things about the other two that I AM glad I have her. That being said, I struggled a lot in this course. For the amount of work I put in before the tests, it was extremely disappointing for my highest test grade to be a C. The averages for these midterms did not exceed 60, and after literally the first one the average overall grade in the class plummeted to a 73. The curve for this class will hopefully save everyone, but meanwhile it’s my lowest grade by far and I’m putting way more work into this than any other class. HOWEVER. Dr. Baxter is smart and competent and I trust she wants us to learn and succeed, but it is extremely hard to do so in this class. Would recommend though.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2022	She is a fair and accommodating professor and wants her students to understand the material. Although the midterm averages are all ~50%, she allegedly has a large curve at the end to help people's grades. She also has a policy where your final grade can replace one of your midterm grades, so that can be helpful if you do bad on one midterm. Overall, the class has a lot of material and tests can be difficult, but she seems better than a lot of other CHEM131 options and she tries to help students succeed, so I would recommend her over other professors.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/06/2022	Honestly, a great addition to the University of Maryland's lacking chem/science department. I was initially scared to take chem because I have not heard great things about the professors. However, Dr. Baxter is super understanding and is great at teaching material. I never felt cheated in exams by trick questions or information that wasn't explained during lectures. I will admit her exam averages are quite low compared to other professors I've heard about (about 50-60%). But I honestly think if you take the time to understand the material you will be completely fine. Her exam questions are very similar to those she makes for the discussion sections, so pay very close attention to those.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2022	Class aside, she's so nice, understanding, and flexible. If her class is available, register immediately because she will fill up. As long as you show up to her classes, you will definitely be fine. Exams are straightforward and pretty much just what we go over in class. Highly recommend.
Ashley Baxter Anonymous 12/05/2022	Dr. Baxter is a pretty good professor. Her lectures do go by rather quickly and I would be lying if I said I didn't struggle, however relative to other professors she is more than likely your best option. She is always happy to answer any questions you may have and she provides you with resources to help you at least to okay in the course. PLEASE use her guided notes. CHEM131 is a "weed out" course so there is a ton of material covered in a short amount of time so lectures seem to fly by. I made the egregious mistake of not using them and I struggled to keep up with notes. Also, I highly recommend going to the GSS sessions and discussion sessions. Unless it was the session right before the exam there was usually less than 10 people in them so you can get a lot of individualized help and the worksheets there are a great resource to study. I'm not the biggest fan of there only being 3 exams other than the final, because there is so much material taught this semester but the final exam can replace your lowest test grade which will be helpful. The only caveat being that the final is cumulative, but will only contain material that you were NOT tested on previously, which is making my preparation for it a lot more difficult. Allegedly there's a curve because test averages are always in the 50s so I'll update about that. Overall CHEM131 is difficult, especially if you are like me and have zero prior experience in chemistry, but Dr. Baxter is likely your best bet so long as you remain vigilant, spend a considerable amount of time studying, and utilize GSS and other resources.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022	Dr. Baxter is absolutely amazing, highly recommend for anyone that needs to take chem 131. She provides guided lecture notes which make lectures easy to follow in highly engaging. Chem 131 is literally my favorite class this semester and the only class I look forward to thanks to her. Super nice individual and very helpful during office hours. Cannot recommend her enough. If you need to take chem 131, take Dr. Baxter.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022	Terrific professor, explains concepts really well. Exams can be kinda difficult but the curve in her class is ridiculous at the end, I've done so mid on every exam but could still get an A just because of how good the curve is.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/02/2022	Class averages for exams rarely exceed 60%, generally around 50%. Material is incredibly dense. Other professors have split their material into 4 exams, this class had only 3 which makes exam material incredibly concentrated. Most people were unable to complete the exams with the time provided. Could just be the curriculum being too much, but I am a junior and have taken many 300+ level classes, and somehow despite being a 100 level introductory course this class has been the worst experience of my academic career. Majority of people I’ve spoken to have had similar feelings. Just an overall difficult and painful experience.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/02/2022	dr baxter is the best. the ta's are a little janky but not anything you can do about it. I haven't gone to discussion and just look over the discussion worksheet she posts and the answer key to them and her module notes. easily able to pass the class. very fair and would recommend her to everyone who needs to take chem131.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2022	When talking about Dr. Baxter, there is not a better general chemistry professor than her. When I first signed up for this class, it showed up as a TBA. However, I still count my stars to this day that I was blessed with getting a professor as good as Dr. Baxter. She goes in-depth in every important concept that is necessary and makes sure that you are prepared for the exams. She said that she will give around a ~10% curve to the final grade which can bump you up a whole letter grade. However, you should not rely on this curve as 3 days of studying prior to the exam can get you an 80 average on the exams, which is all you need. There are 3 midterms and a final. The final replaces the lowest midterm grade. Definitely take her at all costs if you can. Dr. Baxter the goat no cap.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/01/2022	Professor Baxter is by far the best general chemistry professor in the entire department. If you want a professor that cares about your learning, does not fall behind lecture schedule, and gives fair exams, take Dr. Baxter. Her exams are extremely fair: attend lectures, do all practice problems and I promise you will receive a good grade. Dr. Baxter's office hours are also outstanding. She will sit there with you for hours until you understand the material. She is always willing to help and she is very accommodating. Overall, a wonderful professor I absolutely recommend her to anyone thinking of taking chemistry.
Ashley Baxter CHEM131 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/29/2022	I signed up for Dr. Baxter's class on a whim when the Professor's name was in Testudo as "TBA" because I figured that the new professor could not be any worse than the other options for CHEM131 who all had 1-star ratings. I'm so glad I did. Once the announcement came out about who the new professor was, I saw that she was a first-time professor who just received her PhD in the Spring of 2022. I honestly thought this was a good sign because I figured she would try more than some of the more veteran professors, and she really does. Dr. Baxter comes prepared to class every day with good content in-hand. The class itself is great because she provides you with guided notes so that you just have to fill in blanks and do the practice problems yourself. It makes it so that you can get all of the information without struggling to write it down in-time. Dr. Baxter also works really hard to keep the timing of the course on-track. During the first two units, we were ahead of schedule, which may sound grueling, but it's really great because then we're assured that we'll get through everything we need to before moving on to the next level of Chemistry. When she was absent and we started falling behind a little, she would record lecture videos for us to watch on our own. She really puts her students' education first. In regards to grading, I really like how she does it. Yes, the exams do count towards a large portion of our grade, but so does the homework. The homework is graded on accuracy, but you have as many tries as you need, and it just takes off a small percentage for every attempt you get wrong. I know the grades on the exams are mixed, with an average around 52%, but I believe that if you put in the work to study on your own by reading the textbook and doing the practice problems she provides, you can easily score a B or an A. She gives you the resources you need--all you have to do is use them. She is going to do a curve at the end of the semester, which she said will be done by curving the average in the class to a 70%. So, if the class average is a 60%, those people will end up with a 70%. People with a grade greater than 60% will end up with a grade that is greater than 70%. When talking about our first semester chemistry experience with friends, I always talk about how great Dr. Baxter is and my friends say they are jealous. They often fall behind in lecture content and will not get through everything by the end of the semester, and they're not normally at the right place in learning where what they're taught in lecture is what they do in lab. My experience is the opposite. Most of the time, I feel prepared to go to lab because Dr. Baxter has already taught us a lot of the necessary information. Overall, my experience has been great and I'm so lucky that I took the chance with the new professor, Dr. Baxter.