Lee Friedman

This professor has taught: BCHM111Y, CHEM131, CHEM131S, CHEM231, CHEM241, CHEM242, CHEM272, CHEM277, CHEM389A, CHEM389B, CHEM391, CHEM399X, CPSP218L

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Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/07/2024	Chem242 is, in my opinion, harder that Chem241, but not too too much worse. Definitely go to office hours though (with the nicest + most helpful TA you can find, not necessarily your TA). Some of those post-lab questions can kick your butt without help. My TA was lowkey incompetent (it seemed like he never read our lab manual, and he thought pH paper worked on dry powder) (it doesn’t) but it was fine anyways. I only met the actual professor one time because I went to his office hours but he was really nice. However, since you don’t have a choice in your prof or your TA, this review is mostly just to inform you that if you survived Orgo 1 lab, you should be fairly ok, and to say one more time GO TO TA OFFICE HOURS!!
Lee Friedman Anonymous 02/23/2024	His horrible rating has nothing to do with orgo being hard at all. He is consistently arrogant, rude, and cannot design fair exams. His exams have completely different questions depending on which copy you get and are very erratic in terms of the expectations. Had an orgo 2 lab exam where everyone either failed or got 50% because he doesn't give partial credit and there were only 5 or so questions. To make things worse he curved the class grade, not the problematic exam grade which causes the exam points to be disproportionately impactful. He also completely ignores university policy.
Lee Friedman Anonymous 01/26/2024	Extremely rude professor. Avoid him at all costs.
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/26/2024	He is rude and arrogant and should be dismissed from the university.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/23/2024	Don't let the reviews fool you, Friedman is an excellent professor! Orgo 1 is a hard class and no professor is going to change that. Friedman's lectures are possibly the best in the department. Sure they're fast, but they are also clear, understandable, and organized. He posts his notes on the Elms page which you can review if and when you miss something. He also posts several previous exams and keys for practice as well as practice problems. He's also extremely helpful in office hours as long as you are there to learn and not grade grub or complain. Orgo will never be an easy A, but Friedman teaches it very well and it is completely possible to get an A as long as you study and practice regularly.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/15/2023	I found this lab to be pretty easy to follow in terms of doing the experiments. He has a bunch of helpful videos. Succeeding in this class is not difficult as the post-labs are completely reasonable. My only complaint is that studying for the practical was a bit difficult because there was a lack of communication about what material was going to be on the test. Additionally, he was completely unwilling to give any late credit on the quizzes so don't miss out on one them.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023	Friedman is incredibly rude and aggressive. He is not understanding at all and extremely critical. Do not take this professor if you can manage it.
Lee Friedman CHEM241 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 07/05/2023	Dr. Friedman is a mixed bag. The negatives: His exams are hard, his homeworks are hard, his class is hard. He very much expects students to stay on top of the material by themselves, he is not the type to give out answers or help, he will ask you what you think and then kind of stare at you, which is probably the right thing to do from an education perspective. Overall, his reputation precedes him and he can come off as intimidating or heartless at times. The positives: He cares about your learning and brings an enjoyable enthusiasm (behind heavy sarcasm and dry humor) to lecture every morning. And yes, his lectures are always in the mornings because he thinks it will scare off the uncommitted students. While his exams are hard, it is all about the curve, so as long as you can consistently perform as well or better than the rest of the class, you can comfortably achieve your desired grade. Also, with 3 homeworks and 3 exams, the workload is at a minimum, but that also makes it easy to fall behind. All in all, Dr. Friedman is a tough love type of professor. Hard work and hard play, if you can keep up, you will do fine.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting a C+ ReakatheGOAT 05/15/2023	My time in Friedman’s class was the epitome of having a professor who does the bare minimum. Dr. Friedman was never around to help students, never visited lab sections and certainly was out of touch with his students. Averages on his finals and midterms were around a D. Prior to the final I had an A- in 242 and that dropped to a C+. Beyond that, the work given was unreasonable for a one credit course. I spent at least 12 hours working on experiment 0 to get a 60% on the assignment. Take 242 at community college if you must but DO NOT take it with Friedman.
Lee Friedman CHEM241 Anonymous 05/12/2023	This course is hard which is why some people really end up hating this class. Besides the difficulty of organic chemistry, Dr.Friedman is a funny guy who actually cares a lot about his students. I really recommend going to his office hours and asking him about material you are struggling on or need some extra clarification, he is always willing to help you out. He most importantly is a fantastic teacher. He doesn't just point out things you should know and memorize but actually explains the how and why in depth. The exams are difficult but if you are a hard working and determined, you will do pretty well. I 100% recommend attending discussion and going to his office hours if you want to do really well. He also gives a lot of extra resources for your disposal. Even if you don't get an amazing grade, this class will immensely improve your studying habits and techniques as well as show you how to persevere.
Lee Friedman CHEM241 Expecting a B- sramsl 05/08/2023	I don't know about other orgo 2 professors but friedman was a really good lecturer. As somebody who hates teaching myself from a textbook, that was really helpful for me. There were only 3 homeworks which was good and bad because I felt like I didn't have a lot of practice but it was less work. The practice exams are essential to doing well because he has very specific ways of writing exam questions. He's reachable during office hours, over email, and also in class. He has a bit of a sarcastic sense of humor which made the 9 am lectures a little more bearable. He has a VERY generous curve at the end of the class depending on the averages of exams. The thing that was a bit annoying was the excess lectures on sugar proofs that weren't really relevant to the course or in the textbook, I'd rather have done more practice problems in class than learning metabolism pathways. Overall though this is a really hard class with very tough exams.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2023	Success in this lab depends on your TA. They're horrible at grading. He dropped the midterm and final for this class and it was significantly easier than how bad it would have been with them. Labs were clearly organized and were pretty long but it's 3 hours a week so it wasn't that bad. Most of the orgo labs are really bad but this wasn't as hard as I expected. The post lab questions could be tough, though.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Anonymous 12/20/2022	This 1 credit course may have taken up more of my time than lecture did. Labs always take ~2-3 hours (except for like the 2nd week of Grignard which takes about an hour) and lab reports took me about ~3 hours to complete (going to TA office hours, figuring out the answers, then writing them down). Then, I would probably spend another hour completing pre-lab stuff (watching videos, reading, pre-lab writeup, and pre-lab quiz). The midterm and final have obscure questions and the past exams he provides are not very helpful since there are always new types of questions that show up on the real one. However, that is the case with every lower-level CHEM lab. The practical was pretty fair except for the hard spec question. He loves putting spec everywhere including post-labs so knowing how to work with IR, NMR (HEAVY on NMR), and mass (not as prominent, but still shows up) is crucial if you want to do well in this class. I honestly enjoyed the experiments in 242 more than 232 and Friedman is VERY organized. He responds quickly to emails and has a very nice ELMS layout so it's really easy to find everything you need. The lab manual is also really well written. He also curves at the end of semester which really helped everyone's grades. Friedman definitely knows what he's doing which is why I'm giving him 3 stars, but this was one of the hardest classes I have ever gone through. Basically, I would never want to go through this class ever again. However, Friedman is a pretty decent lab coordinator. Good luck and always go to office hours!
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/20/2022	Listen, I got a C-. I don't blame anyone or anything but myself. It wasn't until the very end that I realized that Dr. Friedman is willing to help if you ever have difficulty with the material and that there are endless resources at your disposal. He posts prior exams and answer keys, which are fantastic study tools. Yes, his exams are difficult, however if you wish to be prepared for Orgo II, he's a good bet. I quite regret not appreciating his resources sooner, but quite frankly I'm not taking Orgo II, so it is what it is. He's misunderstood, and I realized well too late.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2022	Orgo is hard, which is why Friedman has a low rating, but honestly I really liked his class. He tells you exactly how to prepare for exams and has helpful office hours. Lectures were easy to follow and had a great structure. The discussions weren't as helpful but that's just my personal learning style. This is a class where you have to go to lectures, you have to study outside of class, and you have to go to as many outside resources as possible. Most people's issues with Friedman come from his exams being incredibly difficult, which is very true, averages were around 50%. However he does end up curving everything at the end, so it'll end up being fine. If you get a lot of anxiety about grades being curved and not knowing your grade, I'd take somebody else. Friedman is very easy to reach out to outside of class and he genuinely wants you to understand the material. In all of my classes this semester he was the only one who knew people's names when they asked questions in class. This is a very difficult class and the bad reviewers blame it on the professor, when in reality it's just the material that's really difficult. Get ready to buckle down and learn some tough but interesting concepts, as well as develop better study habits and problem solving skills.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Anonymous 12/16/2022	The lab reports are not hard to do but the exams in this class are ridiculous. Insanely tough spec questions, and a lot of free response on midterm and final that are all or nothing. I wish there was an option to take another professor, but he's the one lab coordinator
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Anonymous 12/12/2022	Dont take this professor, it is simply just not worth it.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2022	First off, orgo is difficult. No matter what teacher you have, it will always be challenging. Dr. Friedman is nice. Although I never attended office hours, his lectures were easy to follow. I think his exams reflected what he taught in lecture, but it is still challenging and makes you think critically. At first he doesn't curve, but in the end he will take final grades into account.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022	Friedman is fine! He gets a bad rep because his exams are tough, but if you have him for Orgo and are willing to put in a decent amount of work, you can do well in his class. He gives clicker points, is extremely helpful, and his exams are usually fairly similar to his old exams, though they usually have tricky questions. He also had a very good curve when I took him- I ended up with an A and had a two As and one C on the midterms and a B on the final.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Anonymous 11/30/2022	Dr. Friedman is misunderstood in my eyes, there are a lot of people who simply don't like him because he gives hard exams and grades unfairly. I don't agree he has never once turned me down when I had a question, he makes lectures enjoyable and makes funny remarks. Even though he does not curve, you want to learn orgo the right way to set yourself up for success in orgo to and MCAT material.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/01/2022	First of all, this is a very difficult course no matter what professor you have, it is a weed-out course and you should expect to work very hard if you want to do well. That being said, I think Friedman was a great professor, he explains every topic in-depth and offers different ways of getting points beyond just exams. I will say that Friedman goes much more in-depth on some topics than he needs to for this course, but I actually appreciated understanding why some things work as opposed to simply understanding that it works. Friedman's exams also tend to have very low averages, most of which were in the low 50%s. However, do not be scared away by the low averages, the exams were really not particularly difficult, and if you were properly prepared, it was honestly not that difficult to stay above the averages; many people just underestimate the difficulty. Additionally, there is a massive curve in this class, I believe I had an 83% in the class before curve and ended with an A. The exams are normally around 6-8 questions, most of which allow for partial credit. If you want to do well in this course, my advice is to go to every class, go to discussion every week and definitely take advantage of GSS, there is a lot of material in this course, so you are never really going to see practice questions in class, but you will in discussion and GSS. There is almost no way to predict how some material would get implemented into exam questions just going to class alone. Also, do practice (previous year) exams that Friedman provides on canvas to help prepare for exams. In terms of homework, my class had a total of 10 homework assignments, which were generally 15 questions, taking normally about 2 hours total, and you should do all of them, they are designed to be easy points and are just good practice. Additionally, you should try and know small details about different topics, just read over your notes as there is usually a technical short answer question on each exam. Finally, KNOW RESONANCE, I can not stress enough how important it is to understand resonance and how it affects different parts of chemistry. If you receive a technical question, I would say there is a solid 90% chance the answer is somehow resonance. Overall, get points wherever you can, prepare for exams, a lot of people went into the first exam underprepared, not knowing what to expect and dug themselves a hole, the first exam has probably the easiest material, don't miss the opportunity get those points and prepare more than you think you should. If you keep up with material, this class honestly will not take as much of your time as you are probably expecting. I probably spent 3-5 hours on a normal week (outside of class and discussion) on this material and then probably around 10 hours on the weeks leading up to an exam. Either way, I enjoyed the way Friedman taught, if you actually want to learn chemistry (which will help you do well in this class) than I think Friedman is a great professor. Friedman is also super helpful and actually really wants you to succeed, I promise you he notices when you are putting in an effort, I am fairly certain that he keeps track of who actually goes to class (through clicker question points) and he somehow manages to remember an entire lecture hall's worth of names despite having only interacted with each person maybe once. He is also very passionate about the material and knows how to at least not make it completely unbearable to pay attention to at 8:00 in the morning. Friedman actually made me enjoy the material, and I think that his grading was completely reasonable considering that this is meant to be a difficult course, so that is why I am giving him 5 stars.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2022	Didn't really interact with Friedman but the mid-term and final are balls hard but that's a constant no matter who the prof is. TA Victoria Hayes was goated. Practical was pretty easy. PLQ's are borderline impossible but idk if that even changes with the professor. Go to TA office hours for sure.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/21/2021	go to office hours to help you complete the PLQs, carefully read the prelab to take the prelab quizzes. Also, there are a lot of components to the lab, observations, procedure, PLQs, and calulations. SO MAKE SURE YOU HAND EVERYTHING IN BEFORE THE LAB, you don't want to miss out on any points. The midterms are impossible, redo the practice ones, but they're so hard. The practical is not terrible, bt understand how to set up important procedures. Good luck! it will be fine!
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A florm 12/18/2021	There are some good things that Friedman does in 242 that prevent me from giving him one star, so I'll start with that. The lab manual is very clear and easy to follow. He posts videos of him doing each of the labs, which are very useful and often have small tips to help you do better that aren't in the lab manual. There are online prelab quizzes each week with 3 easy questions about the protocol or the basic premise of the lab. Grading on the lab reports was lenient, just don't forget to attach your calculations. Unfortunately, though, there are a lot of bad things about 242. First, the post lab questions are very difficult to figure out, and often make you come up with some complicated mechanism that seems to have no relation to the experiment itself. Secondly, the first assignment consists of four monstrously challenging spectroscopy problems, with highly complex structures and abnormal splitting and chemical shift patterns. Friedman knows that all his spectroscopy problems are hard, he intentionally makes them that way for no apparent reason. My orgo 1 professor spent almost no time on spectroscopy, so a lot of students are already at a severe disadvantage right when the course starts. Next, the midterm. Oh, how woefully unprepared we all were. Yes, he gives us a couple practice exams, but are they really that helpful? No. The midterm is taken in the lab, before the experiment with nylon/bakelite, and has 15 questions, 5 points apiece, with virtually no room for partial credit. Most are multiple choice, but a couple will have you draw a molecule or do a calculation. Now when I say multiple choice, don't assume that there will be only 4 or 5 options. Some questions will have up to 10 different choices, with some answers being combinations of previous choices, meaning no process of elimination. There will always be some questions on spectroscopy (IR, NMR, and mass), some on mechanisms, some on stoichiometry (generally the only easy ones), some on lab protocol, and some on general chemistry theory. You also have to memorize several pKa values, which was particularly frustrating. The questions on theory are almost comically difficult, requiring a level of intuition that no second-year student could possibly possess. The sheer variety in the questions he could ask render any amount of practice exams useless, because there is no way Friedman would ask the same or even a similar question from a practice exam. The average on the midterm was a 40.5%. The lab practical is very different; it tests your general lab skills, like setting up glassware or taking measurements, which isn't too bad. But of course, Friedman has to put a spectroscopy problem on it that yes, is very difficult. Not everyone gets the same problem, though, with some being notably harder than others. The average here was slightly higher, at 70.8%. Lastly, the final exam. The format and types of questions asked are identical to that of the midterm, but are about the latter half of the labs. The final is not taken in the lab, but rather in a filled lecture hall. Again, there are practice exams but Friedman will put some very weird theoretical questions that you simply cannot prepare for without being clairvoyant. The final was marginally easier than the midterm, but that was likely just due to random chance. The average on the final was a 47.3%. Friedman is basically the only professor for orgo 2 lab, so good luck.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/22/2021	Friedman is an okay professor. Personally, I feel he gives too much invaluable information when teaching and focusing on things that aren't the most important for us to know. Going to GSS and being somewhat consistent in reviewing information is important to succeed. Making sure you understand concepts and practice consistently before exams are important. Putting in the work and learning the foundation is important.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A- blue_footed_booby 05/15/2021	His labs and post labs are very doable if you go to his office hours or just keep in touch with your TA. This course lines up well with the lecture which allowed me to further apply what we learned. He also responds VERY quickly to emails and has a very witty and sarcastic humor which not everyone might enjoy, but keeps things interesting. If you put in the time and are interested in chemistry, you can learn a lot from him.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Anonymous 12/25/2020	I think Friedman is a dedicated professor who teaches a difficult class. CHEM242 online was highly organized, and assignments and grades were posted promptly. He was very helpful in office hours and responds promptly to emails. But his exams hardly test you on the experiments, instead they test whether you've been paying attention in CHEM241/231/131 lecture. Yes, he tests some material from prior classes. In other words they're not really reflective of what you're supposed to learn in CHEM242. Although he curves to compensate for his exams, they're just hard to study for. Good luck.
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/02/2020	I took this class online, and let me just say he acts like a child. He is so unprofessional, and when students would email him with valid concerns, his responses would be snarky and demeaning. His exam was completely unrelated to the class material, and frankly, if he took it himself, I don't think he would have passed. It seems that he wants to see everybody fail, and in a time where our world is quite literally falling apart, he seems to think his class is the only thing that matters. Buckle down for a semester of immaturity and irrationality if you take this class.
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/15/2020	Friedman is epic, I had him at 8 am and while I was very tired because of the morning, he would understand and do his best to keep the class lively and exciting. I love organic chemistry because he is such a good professor.
Lee Friedman CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/18/2018	Awesome guy, makes class extremely enjoyable. Known for having pretty tough tests, but they are not unreasonable whatsoever. study hard and show up to class and you will do well. its not the hardest class ever, but definitely need to put time in. Professor Freidman is a great guy though, and has a unique sense of humor
Lee Friedman CHEM242 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/11/2018	The first time I met this man was asking for help understanding NMR for CHEM242, as my Organic Chem I class did not cover it (I transferred the credit). I brought the assignment with me (I received a 20/40) to go over the things I did not understand by frantic Google searching. He quickly became frustrated with all of my questions, because I did not understand any of the terminology he was using. He started being very short with me as he was re-explaining things, until he started ignoring my questions all together for another student who walked in with the same assignment. I ended up crying in his office and he told me to hope for a curve. The other student actually hugged me in the hallway. That was my first semester at UMD and it caused a lot of anxiety just going to lab after that incident. His office is full of memes, but he has very little bedside manner or empathy.
Lee Friedman CHEM231 Anonymous 11/15/2018	Probably the most dedicated professor there is for Orgo1. He is so passionate about the material and super funny. However, his exams are extremely tough... so you definitely have to put in the work and effort for this class. Pretty sure averages are in the low 50's or so. Make sure you're on top of things and never study the night before his exams.