Herman Sintim

This professor has taught: CHEM237, CHEM241, CHEM399B, CHEM460, CHEM647, CHEM889C, CHEM889D, CHEM898

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Herman Sintim CHEM247 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/29/2013	Best professor I have had at UMD. He really understands the material and makes it easy to understand. I might have cracked open my text book 3 times during the whole semester (and that was to do practice problems). All of the stuff he does in class is all you need for your exams. I averaged 67% on his 3 exams during the semester for stupid mistakes. I did really well on his final (and he basically gives every question you should expect). I had an 80% in his course and got an A. You do have to study pretty hard for his exams, but his class is well structured so it was really easy to organize my notes and figure out what to expect. There was occasionally one "surprise" question on his exams that were tough to solve, but not impossible and he gives A LOT of partial credit even when you don't understand what you are writing, so you won't miss out on many points anyways. He really helped me understand the material for orgoII and it really helped me do well in the Biology section on my MCAT. I didn't even study for orgo in my MCAT prep because Sintim was such an awesome professor. He is very lenient, approachable, and welcoming. Hands down my favorite professor at Maryland. Definitely take Sintim
Herman Sintim CHEM460 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2012	He might be a good professor in lower level classes, but DEFINITELY NOT if you want to see deep into chemistry (preparing for grad school or research). He was the worst professor ever had in my chemistry years. From this class, I expected to learn concepts of basic techniques such as NMR, IR, EPR, rotational spec etc. Lots of people recommended this class. Not sure about other professors but do not take with him. For entire semester, we only covered NMR and IR that I ended up teaching myself everything from other people or online. He is not good with organizing, so things come from everywhere in his head. In syllabus, he provided guidelines for class such as homework and attendance. NEVER followed. He was out of country for 1/3 of semester which made me wonder why he decided to teach this semester. Reading one paragraph online before the exams was so much helpful than him talking all throughout the semester. Very disappointed!
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting a B tallboyt 03/02/2010	No doubt he knows his stuff, but he's not that good at explaining it (or even finishing in-class examples). Quiet spoken with some jokes. Curve is based on top 5 grades and to pass w. only a C you need >50% on the final, regardless if you've failed every exam. Tests are medium/to okay-hard. Some problems come from lecture (which he'll tell you it'll be on the test) and some are based on lecture (not actually from lecture) but you'd have never expected it/or not even know how to do it. Very few clickers (he considers these EC)
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Semirhage666 12/23/2009	If you want to get through Orgo 2 and only worry about passing, and not learning the material too thoroughly, take him. If, however, you are concerned about actually learning the material well, do not take him. He speaks very quietly. SEVERAL times, students explained to him that the mic was not carrying his voice to the back. His reply was "Oh, I'm just a soft-spoken person." Oh, really? What are you doing teaching in a huge lecture hall, then? He really wasn't even making an attempt, he was speaking in a voice that is more suited to talking to someone 3 feet away. Combine that with his accent, and you're looking at having a difficult time following along with his lectures. He is very generous with grades, though, so if you want an easy C, by all means, take him.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/21/2009	If you want to learn organic chemistry take Dr. Sintim. He is the best teacher I have ever had. He is not really available at office hours but it's worth putting up with it for the education you get. He is strict and expects students to know the material well. Many of the students just expected his class to be easy, but orgo is not an easy topic. He also had a GIANT curve and gave 3% worth of bonus points. I you are a chemistry or biochemistry major, or just want to learn orgo, take him.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2009	Sintim knows organic chemistry very well and teaches decently. I went to every lecture, but I still had to supplement lecture, by reading the book. The course can be challenging, and if you want an A, it might take a lot of studying. Here's the grade distribution for Fall 2009: 1) To get an A (A-, A or A+), your score should be equal to or higher than 81%. [36 students will get A] 2) To get a B (B-, B or B+), your score should be equal to or higher than 58%. [62 students will get B] 3) To get a C (C-, C or C+), your score should be equal to or greater than 41%. [56 students will get C] 4) To get a D, your score should be equal to or greater than 30% [25 students will get D] 5) If your score is less than 30%, then you will get an F grade. [8 students will get F] These grade boundaries change slightly every year, based on how the class is doing.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting a B- 800meters 12/19/2009	Dr. Sintim gave me a B- when my final grade was a 51.3%. I'm not sure how it happened. I scored a 36% on the final exam.... Anyways, his soft-spoken voice and accent are challenging to overcome, so I would recommend getting another professor if you want to actually learn the material. I essentially taught myself this semester. I gave little effort in the class compared to the other students though and ended up with a B-. I studied less than 3 hours for the final exam. I'm not a pre-med student.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2009	Don't make the mistake I did and take Sintim for orgo 2 solely based on his grade distributions. This is his second semester teaching this class, and he made it a lot more difficult than his first semester of teaching. The grade distributions for this semester are: 19% A; 33% B; 30% C; 13% D; 4% F. These are the numbers he provided in his e-mail. Note the significant decrease in B and increase in C in comparison to his first semester. I also did not like his teaching style. He would write things on the board and while everyone is scurrying to copy down everything, he starts erasing the board. The students start complaining, and he just smiles and says "it's ok, it's in the book". He is soft spoken, so you need to get a seat in the front of the room to adequately hear him. He is also very unresponsive to students' concerns. Throughout the semester, I sent him probably 8 e-mails, trying to arrange a time to meet with him or with a question that I needed help on. He did not respond to a SINGLE email. He also has office hours once a week- it was on Friday from 3-5. I bet he picked those hours because he knew that no one would make use of his office hours. Keep in mind that Sintim is a researcher. He is in UMD to conduct research, and teaching is just a side job that he was forced to do. It shows that he does not really care much about how well his students do. I definitely recommend Dixon over him, but if you must take him, here is some advice: look over his old exams because he likes to use similar questions. Also, redo all the problems in your notes because one of them is bound to appear in your exam.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2009	He's a very nice guy who love Orgo. But he can't teach for his life. His class is organized pretty horribly and to be honest, it doesn't seem like he puts much effort into planning his classes. He's pretty brilliant and I think that's how he gets away with having bad lectures. But he does want the class to succeed. if I had to take the class again, I'd go with Dixon or Khachik.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A- aberk 12/16/2009	Dont listen to what the negative comments written here, most of these people were the ones that never attended class - which could be why they failed and didnt list their grade. I also struggled in orgo 1, but Sintim made orgo 2 seem a lot easier. Sintim is a great prof if you go to class. Hes very nice and gives you a big heads up on whats going to be on the exam. Study what he went over and do his post tests. He loves to reask questions so if you know the answers to those, you're guaranteed to get at least one question correct on the exam. His curve is very nice as well...its pretty hard to not a C since all you have to do is get a 45% and whatever the class average is = a B. His A's are a little bit more difficult but definitely not as hard to obtain as an A in Dixons class. I would highly highly recommend Sintim for orgo 2. You might not exactly learn as much as you would in Dixons but youll definitely get a better grade.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2009	previous post is not true. Class was very easy for an Orgo 2 Class. Lectures were easy to understand and everything on tests we went over in class. Discussion was very helpful with AB as a T.A. I Didnt put much time outside of class and expect an A. I struggled through Orgo 1 and this was a cake walk. Average was a 55% for the class but that is a B. Just look at the grade distribution. It is impossible to get anything less than a B. I got a 342/400 on the final by just studying the lectures for a couple of hours
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Anonymous 12/16/2009	He has made this course so much more difficult than compared to previous semesters... His lectures are interesting with life lessons inserted. However, it's really hard to hear him in lecture and his tests cover very complex material, far from what is taught in lecture. I learned more from the GSS than the lectures itself. A very time consuming class. Average for the class was a 55%....
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 09/04/2009	I can already tell Sintim's going to be a good teacher. I must add, however, that after dealing with Ammon for a semester of Orgo 1, ANY other professor would seem like a frickin genius. LOL...but I must say, I enjoy his teaching style. He does a lot of writing on the chalkboard, explaining everything as he goes (as opposed to Ammon's powerpoint lectures, which did not show a logical flow of events, but rather a bunch of formulas and arrows going every direction). Take Sintim if you can! Negatives: only thing is sometimes his voice trails off and its hard to hear him if your not in the front. Try to get a good seat in class.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting a B jwong89 04/20/2009	I would take Sintim over any of the other organic chemistry professors based solely on the fact that his tests were easier than the other professors' tests. He doesn't try to trick you with the test questions; they are pretty straightforward and in lecture he teaches all the material you will need to know for the tests. The grade breakdown for the class was A-80%, B-60%, C-40%. In the end he even dropped the cutoffs a couple of percentage points based on how you did with clicker questions.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/28/2009	Take him if you can!! His teaching isn't amazing but he gets the major points across. His exams are not VERY difficult because he always tells you in advance what you should know and be able to do and emphasizes it when he says "POSSIBLE EXAM QUESTION". His final consisted of prior exam questions that gave most of the class trouble and a couple of brand new questions.
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting a B+ sIckYNar-nar398 01/09/2009	Prof. Sintim loves to explain complex organic material with his "life lessons" in which he tries to get a laugh out of the class...and he is usually sucessful in doing so. As a professor, he teaches at a steady pace and tries to answer questions to the best of his ability. Most of the time his exams were str8 up copy and pasted from previous years...having said that, focus on what he wants you to know! You do this, and ur well on ur way to doing well in his class
Herman Sintim CHEM241 Expecting an A- accwow 12/26/2007	A mediocre professor. I had him while he was a new professor and in the beginning, he was completely clueless, but he got better as the semester progressed. Very easy to get a B, because the cutoff was a 60, and impossible to fail, because the cutoff for a C was a 40. Tests were pretty fair, but I felt I learned nothing from this class.