Frederick Khachik

This professor has taught: CHEM131, CHEM131S, CHEM231, CHEM232, CHEM232S, CHEM498E, ENES498E

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Frederick Khachik CHEM131 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/29/2015	Out of all the Chem teachers our class seemed to have the easiest exam. He's an alright teacher. He seems to really care about Chemistry and try to explain things simply but sometimes does a poor job of doing so.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A+ forrestgumb 12/21/2014	Mixed bag for me. On one hand his class was a joke and a half, but because of that you don't learn much. I ended up with a 92% pre-curve without going to many of his classes. You just need to go to discussion and do past exams and you're set. My advice is this: if you're pre-med or actually need to understand this stuff don't take him. Sign up for a harder professor. If you're just looking for an A he is your man.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/04/2014	Great class
Frederick Khachik CHEM232 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/06/2014	I had him for lab, so I cannot give an accurate review of him as a professor, but here's what I thought of orgo lab: I hate lab, mostly because the order in which information is learned is completely unrelated to the order in which things are learned in class, and the lab textbook does a really shitty job of explaining concepts, but the professors can’t really do anything about that. Memorize the review guide the professor sends out before the midterm and the final, because they’re hard and the average is usually pretty low. Khachik gave out an incredible curve at the end of the semester, but don’t count on that. I screwed up both my midterm and final but did well on my labs so I still managed to get an A.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A+ Brenden2012 05/26/2014	I will juts give you a summary of Khachik and my suggestions on how to do well. He is an alright professor. He sometimes talks about things that are not important to know. His tests are basic knowledge and he pretty much does not try to trick you (There was a question on the first exam and you would ONLY know the answer if you went to class). The concepts he goes over are not hard and not in depth. With that said DO NOT TAKE KHACHIK IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE ORGO 2. You will have an easier time in Orgo 1, but you will not learn enough to be ready for the next level. You will be setting yourself up for a rough time. He rarely teaches CHEM241, so don't count on taking him then. If you take a different teach for Orgo 1, it will be a little harder, but Orgo 2 will be a lot easier. If you are a non pre-med BIOE major, Khachik is perfect for you. For my class: The class is 750 points. 3 Exams and 1 Final. Nothing is dropped. No Cheat Sheet. Exams are 20% (150 points) each. Final is 40% (300 points) each. Exam 1: Mean = 65.2% Exam 2: Mean = 63.7% Exam 3: Mean = 66.1% Final: Mean = 60.1% Curve: It is rumored that the curve is 10-20%. He will not talk about the curves until ALL grades are in for the semester. If you want to guess the curve as during the class I would recommend making the means of the test between 75-80% and applying that curve to your grade. Tips: Go to every lecture. He might say things that you will not find anywhere else and test you on it. Go to your Discussion. My TA gave problems that were more challenging than Khachiks and he helped us through them and learn. Go to GSS. This is by far the most helpful. The GSS leader breaks down everything Khackiks says and teaches you only the things you need to know. Make a mechanism sheet at the back of your notebook. Whenever you learn a new mechanism, you should write it down in an organized location in the back of your book. You should write the name and other important information like "must be anti-periplanar" or "sin-addition". This is very help as it provides a quick reference to all of the mechanisms in the class. We only had about 3 pages front and back of mechanisms. This is grow significantly in Orgo 2. Studying: Outside of going to lecture, discussion, and GSS every week, I did not study until the exam. I would not recommend this unless you are answering the questions posted in discussion and GSS without assistance. To study for the exams I recommend taking pictures of PAST EXAMS FROM THE CHEM FRAT. They are located in the chem building and have two binders of Khachik's past exams. Then do these exams with as little assistance from your notes as possible. Most of the exam KEYS ARE ON KOOFERS. THIS IS A STRONGLY RECOMMENDED STUDYING HABIT. You learn what you need improvement on and the stile he writes his tests. Good luck.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 01/01/2014	Organic chemistry is hard no matter who you take, but if you have the option take him. His tests are straight forward and he doesn't try to trick you. He tells you exactly what you need to know for the exams.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A blichtbr 12/21/2012	Nicest dude on the planet. He loves helping his students. Not the best lecturer, but if u can teach yourself and go to discussion you'll be fine. Not terribly difficult.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A jenny 12/18/2012	I signed up to take orgo under Khachik because I heard he was the easiest professor. I figured orgo would be a breeze so this class would be an easy A. I found out about halfway through the course that no matter what orgo professor you have at UMD, orgo takes a lot of effort and studying to do well in. Whether you take Ammon, Dixon, Khachik, or whoever else, you will have to work to get an A. Khachik is a very fair man. His exams are very straightforward and can be studied for by reading the book and taking his old exams. GSS sessions weren't that helpful for me (I originally attended two a week in the first half of the semester, then completely stopped) because I found I could just as easily read the book and study the old exams. The trick is to go through the chapters and make a list of all of the mechanisms before you do the homework, then use the list to complete the homework and study. I didn't really READ the book, just looked at the mechanisms and picked out the main points. Khachik goes over examples of every mechanism in class and tells you which ones will be on the exams. In fact, he tells you everything that will be on the exam so you know what to study for and what to not worry about. I know a lot of people don't go to his class because the lectures are very boring; however, I don't really think they could become much more exciting. Khachik tells you useful real world applications of various mechanisms, though he doesn't test you on these. He puts a mix of mechanisms and multiple choice on the exams since this is what the final (between all orgo 1 professors) consists of. The multiple choice isn't completely fair since if you get the question wrong, you lose 10 points, but they aren't really hard... so just don't get them wrong. I never went to my discussion because I was lazy. I heard from other people that they hated the TA because he was mean, so I don't really think I missed out much. You can definitely manage without a discussion. The homework wasn't from the Loudon book that is assigned as the class textbook, but Pearson Education is to blame for this. It made the homework a lot harder since you couldn't really check your answers. Along with this, the program that MasteringChemistry uses marked a lot of mechanisms wrong that weren't because you have to input them a certain way. Because of these two things, Khachik gave us back numerous points on our homework, so even though I missed a lot of points, I still ended with a 100% in homework. The homework is VERY useful in Khachik's class. Khachik is very approachable one-on-one; however, there is a chance he may jump at you in class if you ask a "stupid" question. He calls many a question-asker out because he just went over the material and they don't understand or whatever. I avoided asking Khachik questions in front of everyone, but I would ask him after class and he was extremely happy to answer. Khachik applies a curve throughout his two sections. While this seems unfair to some, I can't really see how... he teaches both sections the same way with the same material and each section has a fair chance at the exams. I'm fairly certain he doesn't change the exams between the earlier and later sections, yet the later sections always did worse than the earlier. The average for the later section was a 67% and the average for the earlier section was a 70%. His curves are fantastic, and low 80%'s tend to end up as A-'s. Summary: - No matter your orgo professor, you WILL have to put in effort to get an A in orgo - That being said, Khachik is a very fair and straightforward professor - Khachik's exams questions come from the mechanisms that are in the book; there are no curveballs. - Read the book and do your homework and you will do great - Study the old exams; there are a LOT of them online and the questions are VERY similar to what will be on the new exam - Khachik is a really great guy that WANTS you to succeed - GSS and discussion aren't necessary to do well
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2012	Khachik isn't a very good teacher but his exams are easy and that's really all you need in Orgo. Do lots of problems, read from the book, study early, go to GSS/discussion if you need help and you'll be golden. You don't necessarily need to go to lecture because he ends up confusing you a lot of the time, but make sure you go to the one before the final because he gives away a couple of the problems on the final. Curve is generous and exam questions are fair.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A btc5105 12/15/2012	He is not a good lecturer and gets very hostile if you try to correct even a minor mistake. His exams are very easy however, so if you want an easy A, he is your guy. However, be warned that if you have to take 241, it will take a lot of work for you to understand a lot of that material because Khachik does not adequately prepare you for it.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/04/2012	Easiest Orgo 1 teacher. Easiest exams and straightforward lecture. You don't need to attend all the GSS but you do need to keep up with the textbook and the second language handbook. I received an A with an 82% but Khachik doesn't reveal his curve. Here are some numbers The averages for my two classes of Chem-231 are as follows: The 10:0 a.m. Class, Section 5200 Exam 1 Average: 65% Exam 2 Average: 74% Exam 3 Average: 47% Final exam Average: 62.5% Average of all exams : 62% The 1:00 p.m. Class, Section 5400 Exam 1 Average: 72% Exam 2 Average: 79% Exam 3 Average: 47% Final exam Average: 61.5% Average of all exams : 65% As you can see the difference between the overall average of the 10 a.m. class and the 1:00 p.m. class is less than 5% and is not statistically significant. Therefore, your scores from online homework (100 points), and 3 exams (each 150 points) and the final exam (300 points) will be added up and divided by 850 to determine your overall average (%). As I mentioned in the class a single curve will then be applied to your overall average. Since I will be extremely generous with the curve, there will be no grade negotiation. Also, I WILL NOT discuss the cut off points for the grades and how I will apply the curve.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 10/12/2012	I have to say, a lot of the stuff I'm reading below is bull. I would not consider myself to be a big chemistry person, I'm not even a life sciences major (math major) and I honestly did not find Dr. Khackik's class unreasonable. I mean, it's organic chemistry so you can't float through it but he is not as bad of a lecturer as everyone says and his tests are very very fair. I think, if anything, his only flaw is that he babies these pussy life science majors too much. Grow a pair and work hard and you'll be fine. That being said, to do well in his class, these are a must: 1. Bring your textbook to class and follow along in the book as he lectures (he usually follows the book more or less). If you don't have to book, you'll miss one thing and be lost the rest of the lecture but if you have it, you can refer to the book with something you don't understand. 2. Before every exam, do at least 3 or 4 old exams. This will give you a general idea of what types of questions to expect and you'll usually see some similar ones on the actual exams. He also has types of questions he loves to put on every year so you can also pinpoint those by doing old exams and practice them to make sure you get those. 3. Do your exams in pen and check them thoroughly when you get them back. It's not uncommon for the TA's make a lot of mistakes grading because they have so many papers to grade and also take off more than they're supposed to sometimes. You can raise possibly your overall grade by 3-4% by making sure you get the points you earned. Overall, he's actually a really nice guy, very approachable, and a very fair professor. Definitely take him
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B Anonymous 09/20/2012	Terrible professor. Just an awful teacher to boot, nothing more than can be said about him. Run far away and don't look back.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 batman 07/27/2012	Professor Khachik is a primary carbocation--totally unstable. his lectures were all over the place. The initial reason why I decided to take Khachik was because he was supposedly the "easy" organic chemistry I professor. However, his midterms this spring semester were pretty difficult. From looking at his past exams, I can say that his midterms have become more difficult over time. Khachik may have been the "easy" organic professor a couple semesters back, but I wouldn't say so now. If you are planning on taking CHEM231, you should opt for a different professor--you will not learn much about Organic Chemistry from Dr. Khachik.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Sal_man 07/26/2012	Khacick makes the easiest tests compared ot those made by the other professors. That's what you want for Orgo. Other than that, he's an okay teacher but I would not study just what he tells you in lecture... I stayed one or two chapters ahead and did all the assigned problems. This way I could just sit back in lecture and just listen to what he had to say since it was all review for me. I believe this is the recipe for getting an A in orgo and any other class for that matter. I would spend at least 2 or 3 hours each day reviewing orgo, and it definitely paid off. Orgo is a challenging course for sure, but take advantage of the easy exams by Khacick and do work.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 07/15/2012	Dr. Khachik cannot teach. At all. His notes were completely unorganized and was literally all over the place. The reviewer below me is right. His exams have gotten harder over the years so he is not the "easy one". He may say no mechanisms but on the 3rd exam and the final there were full mechanism questions! So basically to do well, u better start scoring the internet to teach you because he sure won't. Really he deserves a 1 but i gave him a 2 because of the HUGE curve he gives. I'm pretty sure a 50% =C and 81%=A. Besides that, not good
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/21/2012	pro: easiest tests in orgo I supposidly (I found them easy, practice old tests bc there are very similar problems semester to semester) cons: had to teach myself orgo I do the textbook suggested homework problems (there are like 15 of them but they are great practice). know and understand mechanisms, they are the building block for everything else youll learn during the semester. there was online homework this semester which provided a nice grade boost, do it with other students, you can easily get above a 90% on every homework. averages on test 1 and 2 were in the low 70s. test 3 was 47%. final was 62%. there was a generous curve this semester, ~70% was a B. GO TO DISCUSSION. the TA this semester went through many problems and explained everything thoroughly. NOT a waste of time. good luck!
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an F Anonymous 05/15/2012	I cannot stress this enough: Khachik is the absolute WORST professor I have ever had the misfortune of having. Anyone who says he is helpful and approachable are lying. Not only did he send me countless rude email, he made people feel dumb for asking questions. His lectures were impossible to follow and the TA's were just as bad. The TA's were just as rude, if not worse. I tried to go in for extra help, but it almost felt as if they wanted you to fail. The amount of work I put into his class was a complete waste of time. Khachik openly told us that me I needed to find a way to drop the class (after the drop date had passed) when I asked him for extra study help for the final exam. He said if I didn't know how to study by now I didn't have a chance at passing his class. DO NOT TAKE KHACHIK.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 05/09/2012	I chose to take Khachik because many older students told me that he's the "easiest." Generally, orgo is a difficult subject for many students so I don't think the professor teaching it should be criticized too harshly. After the first two weeks of school, I basically stopped going to lectures and if I did go, everything went in one ear and out the other. His lectures and notes on the board get very disorganized and confusing so when you're going back to your notes to study, you don't even know what the hell he was talking about. To succeed and get a decent grade in his class, I basically read the book and did past exam problems. He recycles a lot of questions so it's very useful to look at those. Also, in our class, we were the guinea pigs for the new online chem hw (kind of like web assign) and those were annoying...Only helped a little. I feel like everyone just copied one another so that they wouldn't be docked -15% off for a wrong attempt. Overall, if you want a slightly easier, predictable test format, go with khachik. I don't know how Ammon or Dixon teach their class but I haven't heard too many positive things about them either. It's orgo, no matter who you take it with, it'll be a challenge.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 04/23/2012	He's a pretty good professor and wants his students to do well. The first test was kinda scary but orgo is orgo and takes time and hard work to become good at. Khachik's exams are very fair and again, if you put in the time necessary, they are doable. One exam problem was EXACTLY an example we had done in class, so it doesn't get easier than that. I can not emphasize this enough: no matter what professor you get, please put in lots of time if you want to do well. The summer before class started, I learned arrow pushing and resonance to get a head start, and if I hadn't done that, I would have failed the first exam. There's a curve, and he tells the class what the curve's gonna look like midway through the semester. Wow, look at these reviews, they're all over the place! If you really want to know what he's like , just sit in one of his lectures one day and get to see him for yourself.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/26/2012	Professor Khachik is interesting. Cons: On one hand, he isn't a very good teacher. He gets confused and misinterprets questions from his students very easily. He is also extremely disorganized in lecture, which causes his students to become easily confused themselves. He is very unhelpful if you go to his office hours, and emphatically refuses to make any sort of accommodation for his students (I had a genetics exam and orgo exam back to back, and he didn't allow me to take the same exact exam with his second class because "then everyone would do it") Pros: His exams are usually straightforward. Seriously, that's it. He can be nice sometimes too, but that's it. I enrolled in Khachik because I heard he was the easiest Orgo professor. His exams weren't as difficult, that's true, but that also means his curve isn't as high. My friends who had previously taken his class said that 80+% is an A, but don't rely on it. For my year, he curved about 9%. Class One: Exam 1 Average: 112/150 points, 75% Exam 2 Average: 111/150 points, 74% Exam 3 Average: 84/150 points, 56% Final exam Average: 173/300 points, 58% Average of all exams : 472/750 points, 63% Class Two: Exam 1 Average: 125/150 points, 83% Exam 2 Average: 111/150 points, 74% Exam 3 Average: 90/150 points, 60% Final exam Average: 184/300 points, 61% Average of all exams : 503/750 points, 67% "Please note that the overall averages of the two classes were 63% (12:30 p.m.) and 67% (2:00 p.m.), respectively. In the final exam, the 2:00 p.m. class performed slightly better (by 4%) than the 12:30 p.m. class but the difference was not statistically significant. This was also the case in exam 3. Therefore, your scores from 3 exams (each 150 points) and the final exam (300 points) were added up and divided by 750 to determine your overall average (%). As I mentioned in the class a single curve was then applied to your overall average." So, even though the first class didn't do as well, they still got the same curve as the second class. Just make sure you're on your toes if you decide to take Khachik. You can't afford to do poorly on a single one of his exams, because it could screw over your orgo grade. For studying, I attended GSS, and starting from the chapter with the synthesis and elimination reactions I did all the problems in the book. In addition, my TA, Lenea Stocker, was amazing and I would sometimes attend multiple discussions in a week. In addition, get the tests from the chem frat upstairs, but make sure you don't rely on them solely. On the exam that everyone failed, he said 90% of the kids repeated exactly what was on the old exams, and that was incorrect for the specific problem on this year's exam. Good luck everyone taking this class. I wrote this review because I wanted to offer whatever help I could to any kids taking this in the future.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/17/2012	As a person Dr. Khachik is a pretty nice guy. As a teacher, he is probably the worst teacher i have ever encountered. How anyone could learn anything from his lectures is beyond me. Everything I learned from this course was completely self taught. However, his tests, while extremely difficult, are probably the easiest of all the chem231 professors. That being said, if you want to come close to passing the course your going to have to devote countless hours to studying and realize this is one of those courses that will occupy nearly all of your time all semester with the very strong possibility you'll still get a C. I dont for a second believe the grade distribution this website gives. This past semester he gave over half the class C's or below. I was one of the extremely fortunate ones to receive an A in the class. To earn my A, I pulled around two dozen all nighters throughout the semester and probably put an average of 60 total hours of studying into each exam. My tips to passing the course: 1. Sit in the front of the class 2. Make as many friends in the class as you can (to study with) 3. Go to every GSS offered 4. Learn to enjoy pain and suffering
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A TerpGuy 01/15/2012	Dr. Khachik is a very kind man who truly wants his students to succeed in his class. His notes can be messy but it follows the book and it always helps to re-write his notes. His exams are straightforward compared to other Orgo professors. He has no office hours and has an open door policy. So you can visit him at your own time. However, I noticed that he is very bad at answering questions. Also, if you ask him a lot of questions during lecture, he gets a bit frustrated. He was very good with lecture for most part but towards the end he tended to blaze through the lectures and go really fast. Practicing his old exams help a lot, but just studying his old exams and studying the day before the exam will not help you succeed in the class. A post below has already posted the grades for each exam in Khachik's class from last semester. If you are willing to learn and put an effort, take Khachik. If you really want to learn the ins and outs of Orgo Chem, I would recommend taking Dr. Dixon but her class is considerably more challenging than Dr. Khachik. If you have to take Orgo II, I would recommend taking Dr. Dixon because she prepares students well compared to Dr. Khachik. Overall, Khachik's class is doable if you put effort, study beforehand and DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS HE ASSIGNS.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/09/2012	Dr. Khachik is an awesome professor. He is also a great person. You can approach him with any problems or questions you have after lecture and the man will stay there for 20 minutes answering them. He cares about his students and wants them all to succeed in this course. Don't pay any attention to the very few negative posts on this wall, Khachik is not evil. If anything he is a blessing as an organic professor because he is straight forward and does not expect you to go above and beyond his classroom. On his exams there might be one curve ball but even that still encompasses what he told you in lecture. The man does not even ask you to draw the mechanisms of reactions, he just expects you to know products, this saves a lot of time both when studying and when taking the exam. His exams are not very difficult, especially the first one! Do yourself a favor by preparing early for this course because it will pay off big time down the road. He recommends "Organic Chemistry as a second language" as a supplemental text and this book helped me succeed in this class, I definitely think it was the best investment I made. Three tips: 1. Take advantage of his kindness and willingness to help. He has an open door policy and he is also always available before and after lecture to answer your questions, so be aggressive and ask for his help. Show him you care and he will make note of it. 2. Rewrite your notes and follow along in the textbook for clarity if needed. He lectures straight from the textbook. His syllabus is very clear on what he will cover and not cover, he stays true to that, so you can feel free to eliminate sections knowing they wont show up on the exams. 3. Practice his old exams, but don't merely practice his old exams to succeed. He does change them! Study what he says in lecture and study your textbook for clarity, this will be the key to your A. However, do look at his old exams so you can get a feel for his structure and approach to questions are. This course is doable. You can get an A, but you must go to lecture and take down good notes. Nothing will be handed to you, he does not give out A's to be nice. This is still organic chemistry! It is up to you to study. The bonus of taking his course is that his exams are not as hard as others and there is still a very generous curve. 3 Midterms: 150 points (T/TH sections) 100 points (MWF sections). 1 Final: 300 points
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 01/02/2012	Khachik is incredibly unorganized and makes it clear that he doesn't care about his students. He is there for research and makes himself completely unavailable towards the end of the semester. He also uses the same curve for both of his orgo 1 classes. So, if you have the misfortune of being in the class with lower test averages then you're fighting an uphill battle and will get a B when you would an A compared to your own class. If you have a choice don't take khachik!
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2011	Yes, Organic Chemistry is perceived as one of the harder classes. If you take Khachik , it really won't be. Everyone below me who complains about how bad he is are the same type of people who need the professor to teach them things in order to do well. Yes, he sucks at teaching. But he teaches directly out of the book. Each test is on three or so chapters, and on the syllabus he tells you directly what sections of these chapters you need to know. If you read them, study them, and learn them, and you will be just fine. I never cracked a book once for this class except for the night before each exam and I think I am walking out with an A. While I would recommend studying more than that before a test, it isn't that big of deal. In short, Khachik is the easiest Orgo professor there is, and if you are having a hard time with him, then you need to realize that this is not high school and you need to be able to teach yourself. All you have to do is read the book.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/18/2011	Given the limited number of 1st Year organic chemistry professors, you most likely will be stuck with khachik which is not a bad thing. He is Armenian-persian (thick accent yet understandable) and he has some sense of humor from time to time. His lecture style is just him writing on 10 chalkboards with his shirt covered in chalk dust at the end of the lecture! Your notes can get pretty messy given the ridiculous amount of reactions you will cover in class. This class is not easy and you certainly must spend sufficient amount of time reviewing your notes and textbook (which khachik follows very nicely). His exams are not as difficult compared to other professors and most of khachik's old exams are on koofers which are helpful. There is about a 7-8 percent curve at the end of the class but don't let that let you slack off b/c this class certainly will be your most challenging of the semester. But an A is certainly possible. Good luck!
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 12/17/2011	Orgo definitely isn't hard, you just have to put time into it. Khachik's lectures are very scatterbrained, but the textbook for this class is great, so it's not too big of an issue. His exams are pretty easy and straightforward, and the final was easy. His TA, Lenea, is a gift from god for all struggling orgo students - she is AMAZING. She should be the one teaching the class. Dont make the mistake of going into this class trying to memorize anything - I don't think I memorized anything the whole semester, you just have to understand. An interesting class overall!
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 melhalee 12/13/2011	Please be careful if you decide to take this course with Khachik. Yes, his exams tend to be easier than the other professor and he is a pleasent person at face value. But after looking back at the other factors from this course, I would not take organic with this professor again. His syllabus states that he has an open door policy. It sounds nice but it is actually a co-out because he is not there most of the time and when you do find him he complains that he has no time and blows you off. I asked him when the best time was to ask him questions and he told me to come talk to him before and after class. Even when I do go up to him before and after class he complains that he needs to go home and answers one question grudgingly. His teaching is scattered. He glosses over things and does not get across his points clearly. Therefore, I had to spend hours teaching myself the material. In a class of 200+ people, these things should not be. Please spare yourself and do not take this professor.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 12/09/2011	I am a pre-med student, Neuroscience and physiology major. Let me start with saying that I enjoy chemistry quite a bit, General chemistry came easy to me and I enjoyed learning it. Before the course I briefly reviewed Organic Chemistry contents and found mechanisms and the course in general fairly engaging and interesting. I knew Orgo was going to be HARD and was ready to study a LOT (as I did during the semester). Khackik, however, makes this course an absolute hell. He is the worst, and I mean by far the worst teacher I have ever had EVER. He is an extremely incompetent teacher who skims over the material never truly explaining it. The result of this is that really you do not understand the concepts during lecture and get to the exam completely unprepared and clueless about the material. I soon realized that I had to basically teach myself the class (and I went to almost every single lecture this semester. The only reason the grades seem "higher" in his class is because he is the easier grader and his exams are on the easier side compared to other teachers. But do not fool yourself, he is incompetent and very unreachable. I immensely regret taking this teacher, especially because Orgo is a very very hard subject and teaching yourself is really not what you want to do here. Take anyone else, they WILL be better. While Khachik may be easier than the other teachers, this is a material you need to thoroughly understand, and a good teacher is the way to go. I have always understood chemistry. For the first time in my life I feel clueless and reaching for heavy outside help. If you can avoid it, don't take Khachik.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B erika_14 12/07/2011	Khachik is an okay professor. He was very funny and personable in class and had a nice personality. His exams were mediocre, but mostly were off his lecture notes and exampless from the books. I suggest do NOT take him if you want to learn a lot.. He was not that great a professor. His writing on the board was scattered and he made lots of mistakes during lecture. He explained things in a weird way that doesn't allow you to understand it right away. There are other professors who allow you to understand the material better. So, if you want to do well in CHEM241, take someone else. But otherwise, Khachik is an okay professor.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B somemelvin1 11/28/2011	I made an account on Ourumd so that I could write a review on Khachik. I have probably never had such a horrible professor in my life. Orgo is a difficult class and I do not have a problem with it as a subject, but Khachik made it worse. 1. He did not seem to know how to teach. He merely stated "facts" and did not explain why they are that way. The only way one could understand what is happening in lecture is if they read the textbook before, during and after class. If you are the type of person that can teach themselves and has the time to do so, then you may do ok in Khachik. 2. He was extremely dry and hard to follow. It is almost worthless to go to class yet if you miss one, you will be very lost. 3. He does not care about his students. Many professors are juggling both teaching and research. Khachik makes it obvious that we are not his priority and we are almost wasting his time. With this, he is very unresponsive and not helpful if you have problems. 4. The TA was a far better teacher than the actual professor. I can't stress enough how bad this teacher is. If you are the type of student that likes to learn in class and learns best from a teacher, instead of individual study, avoid Khachik. I am not making a bad review because I hate the subject, i love chemistry, he ruins it.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/15/2011	I really liked Dr. Khachik. A lot of people complained about him but if you are looking to both learn organic chemistry and have fair exams, take him. I was very nervous about orgo but taking him made orgo easier than I thought. There is nothing amazing abut him, he makes some jokes and teaches the material in class letting you know exactly what he expects. He does not go into so much detail like the other teachers. The tests should be no surprise. If you pay attention and do a bunch of previous tests you will know exactly what you need to know for the exam. The tests look so similar every semester but he uses different molecules. I did however put work into the class by doing the readings, attending class and not leaving it to the last minute. If you are willing to keep up with the work you will do very very well.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 jcp5383 11/01/2011	Very good professor. Makes Organic seem pretty easy at first, but he does have fair tests. His past exams are very similar to his current exams. I mean it's usually the dumb ones who always complain about the teacher, and quite frankly, I am not even that smart. However, I still understood the material almost every single lecture. Don't be a loser; Stop complaining
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a C Anonymous 07/12/2011	I am thankful that he created a lot of practice problems and several of his past exams were available online, but those are the only positive qualities the class had. My notes from class were unreadable and provided no explanation for why the reaction happened. Not only was the lecture seemingly unprepared it was also difficult to understand his accent and if you werent in the front row it was difficult to focus. His exams were basically copies of ones from his past which is why so many people are successful in his class without learning anything about orgo. I recommend Dixon in order to understand the material. Plus the TA I had was just plain awful
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 horselady89 05/16/2011	An excellent professor. Follows the exact outline of the book, so if you have questions you know right were to go in the textbook. Not that great at answering questions in class, but his exams are FAIR and that is the most important for such a difficult class. Never asks for mechanisms on the exam. A very fair professor! Curves generously.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 05/16/2011	Do not take Dr. Khachik unless you can understand new concepts by reading a dense textbook. Dr. Khachik's notes during lecture are very disorganized and hard to understand. When it came down to studying for tests, I couldn't understand my own notes because they were all over the place. Also, his "office hours" really were not helpful, and 2 out of the 3 times I went, he was rude and just confused me more. Personally, I would never take a class with Khachik ever again.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B+ NeuroSciX 05/16/2011	Not a extremely hardcore class in my mind. Go to discussions and look over previous tests and you'll have at the very least a C+/B. No minuses in his class. Practically impossible to fail in my opinion as he curves a 50% to a C. Overall a very pleasant and nice man, with overall not too bad tests. Grading criteria: A= 80=< B+ = 69.5-79.5 B= 60-69.4 C+= 55?-59.4 C= 45-54? D= Everything below that E = Not given.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 05/10/2011	He is one of the worst teachers I've ever had. Do not take him or orgo unless you're willing to teach yourself. He is also really rude when you ask him about regrades, and stuff like that. I wish I had taken Dixon. Take Dixon! She is a much better teacher than khachik. Avoid him!
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/14/2011	Dr. Khachik isn't the best teacher. He gets confused and is really unorganized. But he tries to make it as easy as possible for students. His tests aren't that bad, and he always tells you what the average and how well you should be doing on the exams to get an A B C or whatever. Take it with him, but if you really want to learn then take someone else.
Frederick Khachik Expecting a C Anonymous 04/13/2011	He is a very nice teacher and knows alot about organic chemistry. However, the subject is very difficult and the class is not fun at all.
Frederick Khachik CHEM241 Expecting an A premedkid123 12/25/2010	I agree that Dr. Khachik wants people to do well. That being said, he does not have official office hours nor can he convey the material well to the class. I basically taught myself everything from the book. My Ta was amazing and I used his office hours in addition to study groups to pass with an A. Some people like me, can rely on the book, but others need a professor that can teach well. You will not learn a lot of organic from this class but then again you won't need it ever again except for mcats and unless you want to be a chemist. Khachik does teach you the main concepts so don't fret for the mcats, but you want get any higher level understanding from this course. He tries, and he is very knowledgeable, but the guy simply cannot teach. People gave up and stopped coming to lecture. His tests are fair though and if you learn from the book+do practice problems, you should be fine. He also curves. I believe an 83 percent and up was an A for this semester.
Frederick Khachik CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2010	Professor Khachik is very different from most other Orgo 2 professors. After taking him for both Orgo 1 and 2, I got the impression that he really wants his students to do well and is in fact a really nice and funny guy. Some may say that his lectures are very disorganized (which holds some truth) but the thing is, all of his material is straight from the book. So it really didn't matter that my lecture notes were somewhat jumbled because I studied straight from the book for all my exams and hardly utilized my lecture notes. With that said, his exams are extremely straightforward and fair. He emphasizes important topics to know for the tests and never puts any tricky questions on them. However, you have to start studying for them at least a week in advance if you want to do well. The GSS Sessions and weekly discussions were also very helpful (if you can get discussion with Matt Hurley, he is the best Chem. TA I have ever had). So, if you're good at learning from the book, I would strongly suggest Khachik. His tests are known to be the easiest of all Orgo 2 classes and his end of the semester curve is very generous. I have no real complaints about this course and am glad I took it with Khachik.
Frederick Khachik CHEM241 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/17/2010	His teaching style is extremely confusing. He tends to write down extensive reactions with different pkas and equilibrium constants, but then says we dont need to know numbers at all and leaves us not knowing what we need to understand about the problem. I don't attend lecture and solely stick to reading the book and going to discussion; so far I've gotten atleast 10% above the average exam scores. If you can take another professor I would recommend doing so.
Frederick Khachik CHEM241 Expecting a W PossePrincess 11/08/2010	I had to drop this class in order to save my other classes. His style of teaching is too unorganized for my taste; his example problems all blend together on the board and he goes off on drawn tangents that you are never sure if you should copy down or not. For the first exam, much of what was on the exam was not really emphasized in class. He often says how he thinks the book is wrong about this or that, but it is still important to do those practice problems. I recommend Orgo II as a Second Language by Klein, a very small, extremely helpful, straight-forward book. It might just save you if you're struggling.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/12/2010	So Dr. Khachick is suppose to be the easiest orgo proffessor..in some aspects he is..but in others he isn't. The 1st exam was not what I expected. Altho I got around a 70 and the class average was a 59, it still was harder than I heard his exams usually are. The 2nd exam was straightfoward, but then the third was horrible again. Oh and let me not talk about the final...lets just say I did an all nighter just for this class and BSCI 105, focusing more on this class, and I end up doin beter on the bio final. I went into Khachick's final confident and came out wanting to shoot myself for even wasting my time staying up the night before. In the beggining of the semester the class was ok, thanks mostly to gss sessions. However, as the semester went on,this guy sped thru material n didn' really care whether the class understood or not. I ended up getting a B because of the stupid final, but if I were to take this class over knowing what I know now, I probably would have picked a different proffessor where I feel I would have received the same grade and understood more material. That is all.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an F Anonymous 05/18/2010	ok guys. His curve for Organic one was like 4 percent, believe it or not. I did average on all exams and found myself getting an F for the class. Your grade is based on only 3 exams! I would recommend Dixon, yes you will fail but she gives tons for points for other activities and such and she does not fail as many!!
Frederick Khachik CHEM241 Anonymous 12/18/2009	Khachik is a very nice professor. He does lecture straight from the book yes, but I think the book gets the point across pretty clearly so, it kinda worked for me really. I do agree that his exams were a little too simple and nothing like the shared final, but I actually did better on the final than some of my midterms. The problem is mentality. Don't be lulled by his teaching style. He knows what he's doing, he's just trying to help us by writing straight forward tests. Don't go to lecture just to ace tests, go and really sit down ready to learn.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 07/10/2009	I totally agree with the anonymous review below. Like that reviewer, I also had Khachik and Dixon's class. Khachik is generally an extremely nice guy who tries to make class interesting. However, he teaches straight from the textbook with examples from the textbook. Consequently, you are screwed if you cannot grasp concepts from the book. His class is more memorization than understanding concepts. If you are great at memorization and can learn easily from the textbook, take Khachik. If not, take Dixon's class; you will actually understand organic chemistry and be able to apply it in different classes! Overall, a fair professor, but you must understand his teaching style in order to do well.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/17/2009	AWFUL TEACHER and very impatient man. I took orgo 1 with him and then orgo 2 with Dixon... boy was there a difference. I actually did better in Dixon's class than I did in Khachik's because Dixon actually teaches the material so you can understand it, rather than just memorizing reactions for Khachik. If I could do it over, I would have waited a semester to take Orgo 1 with Dixon so I would understand it better for CHEM441.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/26/2008	Khachik is a decent professor. However I stopped going to class mid way through the semester being that he doesn't test on what he teaches. He does however throw in hints during lecture sometimes. DO all the assigned book problems and his practice problems he sends you. He tests on your knowledge and his exams are very fair. He is open to questions and likes it when you go to his hours and talk to him. I would definetly recommend him for Orgo.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/25/2008	Dr. Khachik is the best orgo 1 professor you could ask for. He's really straightforward- goes through examples from the book & some he makes up & explains them slowly that people really understand. His exams are doable too. He doesn't ask for mechanisms and only has simpler synthesis problems so really you just have know the basic idea of things. If you do all the homework and understand it then the exams will seem much easier in comparison. Since the exams aren't too difficult most of the class does very well in it so there's not a huge curve. But the final exam Ammon wrote most of it so it was a lot different than Khachik's- maybe a little harder. So make sure you take advantage of Khachik's regular exams because they're easy to grasp if you pay attention in lecture and do the homework.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 12/24/2008	Don't make the mistake of not going to class. Even if he just teaches the book verbatim. You will not pass (trust me). The TAs are go. The moment you do bad on the second test drop the class (trust me again). This class will be near impossible for you if you have a heavy course load. The first test is a rehash of gen chem but after that it's all mechanisms and reactions and if you don't take the time to learn those before the eve of the exam you will bomb hard. As my friend told me you'll probably need to see the material twice in order to grasp it fully and if not more power to you.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2008	A really nice guy usually. Sometimes he's irritable during lecture when questions are asked. Lectures are really helpful because he gives hints as to what is going to be tested to reward the people who actually do show up to lecture. He might say "oh there's no curve" in the class, but there's definitely a curve (a really huge curve, just not as big as Ammon's). That's just him playing mind games to get people to not expect one and study more so they do better on exams.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Anonymous 12/03/2008	i think he tries to make this course fun and interesting and explains things well but i sometimes feel that he's in his own little world. if you're a chem buff this is a good class but you'd be pretty much left in the dust at the pace this class is going. he seems a bit aggravated when he answers questions.
Frederick Khachik CHEM231 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/17/2008	Dr. Khachik is the best orgo professor there is. He teaches very clearly with lots of examples and explaining, and his tests are pretty easy and straightforward. He puts problems from the book on the test. The only grades in the class are the tests and final though, so you have to do well on those. Discussion is very useful for understanding the material. Dr. Khachik's flaw is that he is really bad at answering questions and usually doesn't understand what the student is asking.
Frederick Khachik CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous Terp 04/30/2008	So here's the deal. Dr. Khachik teaches straight from the book. I just bring my book to class and follow along. He goes through almost every example. The pros are that the class goes through the material slowly, so not much information (compared to other orgo teachers) is covered on each test. However, class can get really boring. There are three exams throughout the semester (150 points each), and then a final (300 points). No quizzes or bonus points. Because he only tests on reactions and synthesis problems, there are a good chunk of students that do well every exam. That translates into no curve at the end of the semester. However, he doesn't test on mechanisms in CHEM241 even though he goes over them in class. Overall, it's a doable class if you memorize the reactions at the end of the chapter and do the problems in the book. If not, you won't have a prayer, especially when it comes to carbonyl compounds. Also, he's very lenient when it comes to regrades. He's a very nice guy and really does know his organic chemistry. He is almost always available to go over questions or problems. I wasn't sure how well his teaching style would prepare me for the MCAT, but was pleasantly surprised that he had covered what I needed to know.