Christopher Jarzynski

This professor has taught: CHEM131, CHEM131S, CHEM271, CHEM481, CHEM703, CHPH703, CHPH709B, CHPH718B, CHPH718I, PHYS703, PHYS709, PHYS798Z

Sort By:

Information	Review
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2024	One of the best professors in the chemistry department. I had heard a lot of scary things about this class but I am convinced that Dr. Jarzynski made the difference. He is extremely intelligent but this does not make it so that the class is super difficult and unintelligible as it does with other extremely intelligent professors. He is very good at presenting these complex topics in as simple as possible ways. The lectures are engaging because he uses the notes he writes before class and the blackboard to teach on the spot. There is basically a problem set a week, some easier some more challenging but these problem sets help prepare you for the exams very well. He also gives plenty of past exams to study from. The office hours help greatly with the problem sets. The first exam was harder but still doable (Average was a 61) and the second exam was significantly easier (Average was a 90). In the end, I properly learned thermodynamics and I owe it all to Dr. Jarzynski. If you can, try to take this very difficult class with him.
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/27/2024	I hated this course with a PASSION. Thermodynamics is confusing and dense BUT Jarzynski genuinely feels like the only professor that could've made a difficult awful course into something manageable that I was able to survive. The exams are fairly easy compared to the lecture material and homeworks which was nice. The homeworks are super difficult which worried me for the exams but the exams are nothing compared to the homework (even if some of the exam avgs are lower lol). I never went to office hours though, but it seems that Jarzynski is open and helpful with the homeworks, since he seems to be so on the class Slack. He does make 481 make sense during lecture but it also is such a difficult class to apply. All the five star ratings are incredibly deserved. As difficult as it was for me, it was still an enjoyable engaging course. One downside was no recorded lectures, as this would've been helpful to review lectures that were particularly difficult to understand, but he does post notes that match what he covers in lecture (just not in a lot of detail).
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/23/2024	Hands down the smartest person I’ve ever met. Can put together a lecture out of thin air (I’ve never seen him use lecture notes ever), and knows the in’s and out’s of thermodynamics. Im convinced I could name him a random page out of any physics textbook and he’d be able to tell me what was on it. Not only is he a genius, but he also explains concepts down to the 5th grade level. 10/10 need to take a class with him at least once in your lifetime.
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/18/2023	The dreaded thermodynamics course... This material in this class is a devastating challenge. Prof. Jarzynski's lectures made it worth it though. He is such a clear and eloquent speaker that it was easy to follow all of the material during class. After lecture, he would post his own handwritten notes from the day on ELMS so you could always go back and check. He also made his own Slack for the class and used it for announcements, helping with homework questions, and exam practice. There were about ten homeworks for the class and they would be five-ish problems from the textbook and maybe one that he made up. He would go over the problem that he made up in class to stem any confusion. There were only two exams before the final and they were very challenging (the averages for both exams didnt break 60%) but you were allowed a cheat sheet, front and back, that you could write anything on. He allowed two cheat sheets for the final exam. The class had a FAT curve at the end. He said a a few points during the semester that he rarely gives out D's/F's and he was right as you only needed above a 30% to pass the class by the end. I hope anyone who reads this is lucky enough to take Prof. Jarzynski as their p chem professor as it looks like he rarely teaches (he said the last class he taught was in 2017). He's the man!
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting an A florm 12/24/2022	P chem is an incredibly difficult class no matter who you take it with, but I think Jarzynski did a good job making it as approachable as possible. There were definitely a lot of lectures where he rattled off a ton of different variables and formulas, but such is the nature of p chem so that's not really his fault. He writes everything out on the chalkboard and is usually easy to follow. After class, he'll post his own handwritten lecture notes that he uses, too. He assigned one homework per week of mostly textbook problems and an occasional problem of his own, which weren't too bad for the most part. The exams, however, were both long and hard. The first exam was kind of a shock in terms of the difficulty and length, but you get a bit more accustomed to it by the next exam. He also lets you write whatever you want on a cheat sheet and doesn't make you turn it in. He curved such that the cutoffs wound up being 90 for an A+, 82 for an A, 80 for A-, 77 for B+, 58 for B... Obviously these aren't gonna be the same in the future, but it at least shows that the curve is pretty generous; I think the top 25% get A's, and the next 55% get B's. In short, highly recommend taking Jarzynski if you can, he's one of the smartest people I've ever met. The man has an equation named after him for Christ's sake.
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/24/2022	Very tough class..but he’s a great professor and is extremely passionate. This class was at 9:00 three days a week and was not recorded. The only grades were weekly homework problems , two midterms, and the final. The exams were fair but were also quite long. You were allowed a formula sheet for every exam. You need to spend A LOT of time outside of class to do well (luck also plays a part). I highly recommend using the textbook and looking back at his notes. As for curves for the semester, 82 was an A, 80 was an A-, 77 was a B+, 58 was a B, 50 was a B-, 45 was a C+, and 40 was a C
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM131 Expecting an A- umdstudent3 12/21/2013	This was Jarzynski's first time teaching Chem131. He explains things pretty well but sometimes he doesnt explain the easy hints/tricks. He doesnt use powerpoints, which I LOVE. The first two exams were ridiculously easy, the third was crazy hard, and the final was in-between difficulty wise. But, he gave a curve in the end which was pretty fair. I would definitely take him again, he is a great professor!
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting an A infection530 07/06/2011	Jarzynski was a great professor. Tough class though.
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Expecting an A mreese 04/28/2011	Fantastic teacher. Lectures are interesting, well-paced, and very thorough. Dr. Jarzynski chooses to go through derivations students can already understand (only calc 2 + partial derivatives required) and continually asks questions to make sure anyone who is paying attention can keep up. He takes even the dumbest questions seriously and is always friendly and respectful. Dr. Jarzynski will make the class seem very easy, but do not be misled. This is thermodynamics after all. For me, homework and weekly studying was very time consuming (minimum 10 hours/week). Tests are difficult to do well on, potentially soul-crushing if you're not fully prepared. Despite this, pchem with Dr. Jarzynski is one of the most enjoyable classes I've taken.
Christopher Jarzynski CHEM481 Anonymous 03/02/2011	I am currently taking Chem481 with Dr. Jarzynski and he is a wonderful teacher - he goes through problems in class and explains them so they are relatively easy to understand. He's also very understanding and easy to talk to. I would highly recommend taking Chem481 with him - he knows P-Chem and he knows how to teach it.