Daniel Falvey

This professor has taught: CHEM231, CHEM237, CHEM241, CHEM441, CHEM460, CHEM640, CHEM641, CHEM650, CHEM889C, CHEM889D

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Daniel Falvey CHEM231 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/20/2024	Dr. Falvey was definitely the best option for orgo 1 this semester. Despite his lecture style being a little unorganized and going off on a lot of irrelevant tangents, he did a good job with explanations and real life applications. A good portion of the grade are weekly homework worksheets (graded on completion) and daily clicker quizzes (annoying bc it means attendance is required, but a good grade booster and allows you to comprehend what you just learned). His exam averages were much higher than all of the other professors (his were about 70-75% whereas other classes were in the 50s or 60s). The exams are very fair and there is 15 extra credit points on every exam. Go to discussion section because I swear you learn more there than in lecture. I would definitely recommend him if he is available.
Daniel Falvey CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2024	Great prof take if you can
Daniel Falvey CHEM231 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/14/2024	Probably the best professor this year for orgo 1. The lectures were clear, and the exams were easier than the homework.
Daniel Falvey CHEM460 Expecting an A- ariespink 12/08/2023	honestly love Falvey, He is such an amazing person and a good professor, he is super engaging and cares about the content he is teaching, by far the most passionate professor I've had. I recommend taking this class if you enjoy analyzing spectroscopy and learning more about NMR spectroscopy, it's a good insightful class.
Daniel Falvey CHEM237 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/25/2023	definitely one of my favorite professors at umd so far. i've never taken or had much exposure to orgo, but he made learning the material manageable and enjoyable. i had Robert as my TA and he is literally godsend. we had 3 exams and a final and Falvey was very clear about the format of the exams and what he expected. sometimes he would go on tangents during class, but he never tested us on them. he was always very approachable and made an effort to learn students' names. i went to his office hours constantly and he was very helpful and he took the time to answer my questions thoroughly. would highly recommend!
Daniel Falvey CHEM237 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/25/2023	Listen, the horror stories you hear about orgo—don't let them scare you. Yes, the content of organic chemistry is challenging and there's no getting around that, you will have to put in the effort to study, practice, and memorize. Dr. Falvey is a great professor, he is this jolly burst of energy who makes this class enjoyable and interesting. He does like random calling though, he walked into lecture one day with every single student's name memorized so don't be surprised if he suddenly knows your name and face and starts asking you what the first step of the mechanism is. I think what really makes this 5 stars is the TA Robert (now Dr. Martin! I'm not sure if next semester students will get to have him because he defended his thesis). He leads discussions (never skip discussions!) and hands out tons of practice packets. Honestly, I think he's one of the best TAs I've had, very organized, great at explaining, and always holding review sessions for exams. The only complaint I have is that Dr. Falvey's lectures sometimes felt a bit disorganized and he doesn't have recordings posted so if you miss a class you will have to make-do with posted slides. It's not the end of the world though, discussions are a nice summary of lectures. There is an extra credit section at the end of every exam including the final, and extra credit discussion worksheets. Plus, lab total gets added to your grade instead of showing up separately in your transcript unlike the normal non biochem/chem orgo class, which is a grade booster. Make sure you don't get lazy and go to office hours for lab though if you want good grades on your reports. Overall, highly recommend taking Dr. Falvey he’s awesome!
Daniel Falvey CHEM237 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/10/2022	By far my favorite professor I've had at UMD. Lectures are straightforward and interesting, lots of bonus points on every exam on concepts that were gone over in practice packets, and genuinely wants to help you learn. Exams are predictable and comparably very easy. Does do collaborative quizzes every class, but they're open note and you can work together. I had Robert as my TA, and he was also easily my best TA, he could probably have taught the class better than Falvey did even if it would have been much harder- the man loves orgo. His packets and quizzes were designed in a way that challenged the way you thought about orgo, and there was infinite practice opportunity for those who wanted it. Extra credit was also available in discussions, and he included fun facts and recommended songs on each weekly packet. The combination of Robert and Falvey was the best class I have ever had. His lectures are very easy to follow along and take notes to- he does them Khan Academy style, drawing as he speaks on a tablet that he projects. I highly highly reccommend taking notes during lecture to help you see where your understanding fails and help you ask questions. He and Robert are both very open to answering any question, no matter how stupid you may think it is. TL;DR: Made a class known to be hard very easy, grades fairly (almost inflates tbh), pray you get Robert as a TA for he is a god amongst men
Daniel Falvey CHEM237 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/14/2022	Loved falvey, he’s funny in lecture and is easy to understand. Only downside is he doesnt record lectures (but still posts lecture PowerPoints so i guess it’s manageable). Class is mandatory cause he has clicker questions every lecture, but it’s an easy grade booster so def go to class. Exams are also very fair with extra credit opportunities for all them including finals. Extra credit is usually freebies as long as you pay attention in class. Overall I had a great time in his class.
Daniel Falvey CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/10/2021	Seems like he must have been great for orgo 2, actually the worst for orgo 1. He skipped quickly over brand new and difficult topics, but went into extreme detail explaining things we've been taught since 8th grade. Falvey flat out refused to record zoom lectures or slow down when people asked, and his notes are usually posted late and full of mistakes. He always acted annoyed anytime someone asked a question, and called on any people who have their cameras on on zoom randomly. Exams weren't too bad (mostly bc they were open note) but I wouldn't have come close to passing this class without the TA. Diandra was my saving grace - go to her office hours and GSS if you want any hope of understanding half the crap falvey spouts in class.
Daniel Falvey CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/23/2021	Great professor for Orgo 1. Exams were fair and exactly what you would expect. He made a hard class enjoyable :). Highly recommend!
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/08/2012	definitely take orgo II with falvey. he gives you practice problems before the exam that are exactly on the exam. you need to go to class for extra credit clickers which can boost you from say a b to a b+ if you get enough points. he even curves the clickers! he also discusses some real life problems in class and 1 usually shows up on each exam. if you just memorize the practice problems he gives you before the exam you are good to go
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A haqrab123 05/31/2012	Dan Falvey is a legend. If you have the opportunity to take him, TAKE HIM. The guy is amazing for orgo II. Exam Format: -Two pages of straight-up reactions. One is usually not straightforward, the rest are easy. -Two mechanisms, pulled directly from the practice problems, or very similar to the practice problems. One is usually a simple one that he's shown in class, and the other is usually a complicated one from his practice problems. -Two syntheses. Pulled straight from the notes or the practice problems. Instead of copying exactly what he gave you in the practice test, he might just include the "tricks" in the problem but not the exact same molecule or something. -A short answer. This is what separates the men from the boys. Half the time, you have no idea what he's going to ask. Look at old tests. He loves asking questions about acidity, and for the second test its almost always about Oxygen18 labeling The tricks to get an A: 1 Know absolutely EVERYTHING on his practice test he puts online. Seriously, look at other reviews, what they're saying is true. He pulls so much from the practice test, and the rest is variations of the stuff he has on there. There is maybe one question that won't be on his practice tests that are pulled from the book, but if you understand the concepts behind what you're being tested on, you'll be fine and you really don't need to do the book problems unless you want more practice 2 Keep a few separate pieces of paper at the end of your notes dedicated to copying down the synthesis problems he shows you in class. Almost always, at least one will appear on the test (he usually shows about 4 or 5 per exam). 3 Keep another couple pieces of paper for the mechanisms he shows you in class. He'll probably ask about an easy one that he showed you in class. 4 Make sure you look over the emails he sends out. They're really annoying, but I know in previous years he's pulled short answer problems from the stuff he sent out. This year, he didn't really pull anything from his emails for the tests, but they did make the stuff we were learning seem less dull. In class, he goes over a LOT of theory that's pretty much unnecessary to do well in the course. Just copy down the syntheses and know the mechanisms of the reactions he goes over. Mainly focus as much as you can on the practice tests, and start reviewing for the tests a week in advance. He usually hosts a review session the Friday or Thursday before his exam, make sure you've attempted all his practice problems before then, so that you can get the answers for the ones you don't know at that time. ^^ Do that stuff, which seems like a lot written out but isn't all that much to do well in an Orgo course, and you'll get an A guaranteed. Clicker questions aren't worth studying for in my opinion, when you can just do the four things listed and get a easy grade. To do well on clickers would require a lot of studying before class and constant review and doing the book problems and staying up to speed in the book with respect to lecture, and its just not worth it. I didn't do any book problems the entire semester. I only used my book to go over mechanisms that he drew kind of confusing in class. I don't recommend studying from the book, you'll go over a lot of material you don't need to know. So, the man basically gives you everything you need to do well on a silver platter. All you need to do is review the practice sheet about eight times and understand everything on it and you already are guaranteed a high C without the curve. Do everything else and you have an A. Dan Falvey is the man. He's always joking in class and points people out by name. He teases everyone and makes fun of himself, and is a downright genius when it comes to Orgo. He eats paper and makes sure no one feels stupid. Great teacher, great guy. Take him.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/28/2012	Dr. Falvey is an energetic and knowledgeable teacher. I highly recommend taking Organic Chemistry II with him. He sure makes the topic interesting! Tests consisted of matching structures with names for interesting compounds, identifying reagents/reactants/products, mechanism problems, synthesis, and qualitative problems. To get an A in his class, you have to go to lecture, take good notes, read ahead, and demolish those clicker quizzes. He has a straightforward grading policy and he grades the exams VERY quickly. Dr. Falvey is certainly a good teacher to take if you have Organic Anxiety and need someone who can make this otherwise tasteless subject somewhat palatable.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 jcp5383 05/20/2012	Falvey is definitely the man to take for Organic II. He is relatively easier than MS, who has NMR on every exam. Falvey teaches you interesting drug molecules, and such. His tests are almost identical to his practice exams. His averages for three exams were 70, 70, and 63. These are extremely high for Organic class. He also gives extra credit for doing well on clicker questions. The first top five grades are the basis for grade distributions.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/20/2012	He is Great. If you ever see him as an option to take for organic chemistry, DO IT. His exams were fair and decent grade doesn't even require reading the textbook. Just pay attention in class, and other online resources can really help. He has plenty or resources available and there is no shortage of review material posted. Don't think he's going to let you BS the class though, any organic chemistry class requires effort, with Prof. Falvey you just don't feel cheated after every exam.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/15/2012	Dr. Falvey is one of the best professors I have been taught by at UMD. He really cares about his students and he does whatever it takes to pass this course(or ace it, depending on your goals). He posts plenty of practice problems on ELMS which frequently show up on midterms and final exams. Falvey takes the time to learn a lot of people's names and will call on you in class. He is very funny and entertaining. Very knowledgeable which explains why he will go off on tangents from time to time because he is so passionate about organic chemistry. You must work hard in this class though. Organic II is not meant to be easy but it is certainly doable. There are 3 midterms (150 pts each), 1 final (300 pts), 1 diagnostic exam (assesses orgo 1 background), and clickers (extra credit). Overall, very enthusiastic and caring professor who will do whatever it takes to get you an A or B.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Anonymous 04/08/2012	Awesome! He is definitely the guy to take Orgo II with. Great lecturer, really funny and entertaining, and the lectures seem to move a lot faster than with other chem professors'. He really cares about his students. There is both an upside and downside to this. Be prepared for class, because by that, I mean he goes through the roster on the first day, tries to get to know everyone's name, and in class, he WILL call on you at least once. It doesn't matter that there are 200 other people in the class. You will be called on.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting a B Anonymous 07/11/2011	Prof. Falvey is a great professor. He is funny, cares about his students, and extremely knowledgeable. Exams are fair and looking over previous exams really helps. The only thing that didnt work for me is the curving system. 10% below the 5th highest score will earn you an A. Unfortunately, the 5th highest score was somewhere around a 94% this semester. That means messing up on one exam will cost you. So Falvey's averages tend to be higher than other classes, but his curve is almost always lower. Very easy to get a B, the A cutoff will depend on that 5th score...
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/08/2011	Dr. Falvey is a great professor! He is funny, straight forward and teaches pretty clearly. The only thing is that his hand writing was not too good for me though. I recommend to read before going to lecture (even though I never did). Since there is not much time, not everything is covered clearly. The book is kinda helpful in explaining stuff that I didn't get in class. The books problems don't really help in my opinion but more practice is better. His exams were ok if you study. He gives out practice exams before each exam and about ~50~60% is from the practice exam! And sometimes he gets a bit lazy and steals the problems that our TA Derek(One of the best TAs ever!) made up and gave us for practice. For practice exams, I remember he gives them out 2 weeks before the exam and gives out hints via email. He gives out the answers 2 days or so before the exam. I recommend start doing the practice exams right after and make sure you understand each question instead of looking at the answers the night before. I think it's important to understand and know how to draw the mechanism for every reaction instead of memorizing them. I don't really remember the averages but I think they where around 65~70%. For me I got high Bs in all of them, got a A on the final and had a A without the curve. For the final, redo all his exams, practice exams, practice sheets that the TA gave. Go over notes and clicker quiz questions. It's a lot of work but as long as you understand all those. You will do fine. Dr. Falvey is a really nice professor, although I never went to his office hours (he calls on ppl in class if he remembers you from his office hours so be careful!) The shocking thing about him was once when we were talking about cellulose, he ripped a piece of paper and started chewing O___O
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Anonymous 06/14/2011	Coming from someone who is awful at organic, he's a very good professor. He is very nice and extremely enthusiastic He likes to go off tangents, but they normally relate to the topic. His exams are things we've seen before. Half the answers are already in the notes he gave in class. As long as you understand the topic and don't just try to memorize things you should do well. However, I hated his grading system. Top 5 grades gets an A+, next 10% gets an A and so on. Oh yeah, he has clicker questions that are considered extra credit at the end of the semester
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/22/2011	Good professor. Very nice, tends to ramble from time to time but gets the message across. Go to office hours, he's very helpful and he puts up old tests to study from. No matter who you take orgo with it's gonna be hard so study for it every day, no joke. Tests are fair.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2010	FANTASTIC lecturer. He is Santa Claus. (you'll get this on the first day if you take him). He's genuinely a nice person and teaches very well. There's definitely a reason why there was a 40 pt discrepancy in averages between Falvey and Issacs during this semester. Falvey does NOT throw in any low blows on his exam - he tests you on what he teaches and what he asks you to practice. I highly recommend him for Orgo II!
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2010	I did not do so well in his class because I completely panicked on the final exam like a punk. Too bad the final exam was everything we had already been tested on. Go to every lecture, every discussion, and study the practice exam problems, synthesis, and mechanisms. He doesn't surprise you on exams, which is great. I would have gotten a B had I been a better student. Overall, he is a great professor!
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A UMDfutbol3 05/17/2010	Best orgo professor out there, really just makes the material easy to learn. Exams are variations of the practice exams, with a few curve balls here and there, but if you follow the logic of the practice problems, and understand them, you'll be fine. Similar to Dixon in that he really enjoys the material and enjoys teaching, unlike some of the other orgo professors here.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A aralchen 05/15/2010	Phenomenal professor. He's clear, succinct, and extremely engaging. He emphasizes the WHY and the HOW of organic chemistry and less of the WHAT. Memorization in his class only takes you so far. Overall, I can't even count the times I completely lost track of time when listening to him. Coming out of the class I REALLY felt I knew organic chemistry. Let's put it this way: by popular standards Dixon is supposed to be a great teacher. She really isn't worth the chalk he writes with. His exams are not easy, as shown by the relatively low averages. However, they're very fair and will reward those who study for them. He likes to send out lots of practice problems. They're really not a waste of time, considering he pulls about 60% of the exam material directly from them. I really agree with the below review - Falvey actually tests you on what you learn in class. There are no surprises going into the exam. I did have one small issue with him - his curving system is really wacky. Basically, 10% below the 5th highest score in the class in an A. You can imagine just how problematic it can get when the 5th highest score is over 90%. Overall: I will take any possible class he'll teach in the future.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/05/2009	Falvey is a great professor! At times, the work does seem overwhelming, but he explains everything very well. As long as you do all the homework and practice problems, you should be fine. About 60% of the exam questions come directly from the practice problems, and the others are slight variations. Unlike other professors, he actually tests you on what you learn in class, and does not try to trick you.
Daniel Falvey CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/18/2008	Very enthusiastic BUT he can be TOO much sometimes and unorganized. Tests are okay. Make sure you study for them.