Donald Hong

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Donald Hong CHEM231 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/03/2025	DO NOT TAKE DR. HONG. As soon as you enter the class, he treats you like youre a breaking-bad fanatic and know the ins and outs of orgo. The only upside is that his worksheets occasionally have practice problems that show up on the exam. Otherwise, he speeds through notes in class, ALWAYS goes overtime, is disorganized with notes that are hard to follow if you happen to miss class, and refuses to post certain resources on canvas. At the beginning of the semester, he said he was going to teach the course like it was a "summer class," forcing us to rush through topics and be ahead of every other Orgo 1 lecture by 1-2 weeks. He also ends the topics taught for the midterm exams WEEKS before the exam actually happens and gives no review day, so by the time you actually take midterm 2 you're already halfway into content for midterm 3. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt since it is his first time teaching but it is clear he would be better suited as a TA rather than a lecturer. The one day we had a different orgo 1 professor sub our lecture was the only day content made sense. The only way to possibly succeed in his class is if you are retaking Orgo 1 and already generally know the info of the class before walking in. If you can take another professor or hop on the waitlist, do it.
Donald Hong CHEM231 Anonymous 12/02/2025	I am honestly surprised by the other reviews I have seen of Dr. Hong so far. He talks extremely quietly and fast in lecture. There have been multiple times when students have to raise their hands and ask him to either speak up or slow down (this happens at least once a lecture). A TA of this class told us to actually stop taking notes because it is impossible to keep up and understand at the same time. I have had to teach myself every topic in this class through tutoring and YouTube videos. Dr. Hong does not record his lectures and only posts the notes which he writes as he goes during the lecture making them often confusing. His weekly homework worksheets are very difficult and are on the same level of difficulty as the exams. There is extra credit on each exam, but the questions make no sense and are usually unrelated to the topic (ex. He will ask about a random Nobel Prize winner) while the other classes had simple extra credit like “what did you dress up as for Halloween?” I usually do not get any of the extra credit and neither does anyone else I know taking the course with Hong. He also does the curve based off class average, so the curve is not as big as the other classes. Right now, an 87 is an A in our class whereas other classes have an 80 as the A which seems unfair due to the difficulty of the subject. Organic Chemistry is a difficult subject no matter what, but I did not feel prepared for it from the lectures with Dr. Hong. No student should have to entirely teach themselves a class of this level of difficulty.
Donald Hong Anonymous 11/19/2025	Have him for organic chemistry 1. Its his first time teaching the actual class I believe but he is actually a really good teacher, especially from what I've heard compared to other teachers. His exams are extremely fair, pulling questions from the homeworks and practice exams. He does talk very fast and moves/writes very quickly, but I do think that is just because of how much content is in the class. He posts all his notes (does not record lectures) and the textbook is free. He is very nice and has a dry sense of humor (dad joke core) and will definitely help with any questions you have. Out of all of the orgo teachers, I think he is definitely one of the better options
Donald Hong CHEM231 Anonymous 09/22/2025	Good teacher, very nice -> first time teaching the class collectively but is genuine and cares for his students to succeed. Not sure about curves right now but the way he's teaching it makes a lot more sense (coming from a person retaking Chem 231 -> f*ck Dixon). He tends to go a little fast and past lecture time but it's not the end of the world. You also get plenty of resources.
Donald Hong CHEM231 Anonymous 09/12/2025	Nice but moves very fast
Donald Hong CHEM241 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/22/2025	Super cool, very fun, passionate about chem. Provided condensed notes to better keep track of big topics and many helpful practice worksheets. He is very lighthearted and class was enjoyable and constructive.
Donald Hong CHEM231 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/06/2024	Donnie was undoubtedly one of the BEST TA's that I have ever had. He was my TA for Dr. Falvey's CHEM231 course. Donnie is very passionate and truly wants to help you to learn what is going on. I hope that one day he becomes a professor, he would make a great one.