Chemistry and Biochemistry

This course was a weird one. AJ is super enthusiastic about the topics, and obviously is experienced and quite talented at the subject, but, at least in my opinion, is pretty hopeless at actually explaining the concepts to us. Her lectures were disorganized and kind of all over the place, spending way too much time on easy things, and then rushing past the difficult stuff. I really found it hard to actually grasp the course material. And then there's her grading system. She is generally a lenient grader, and I ended up doing well in her class, but the exams and HW themselves are often difficult or just straight up confusing with what they are asking. Not that this really matters though, because she also decided to make all her tests completely self-scheduled and take home. Although the exams are technically closed note, but with a notecard, let's be real. This means that to be honest, even if you don't know what's going on, you can still do well. Really don't like the take-home exams as they basically force the student against a moral wall, either cheat (which is made super easy) or try to figure out the problems based off her confusing lecture and probably do badly. I wish she would reorganize things, or at least get a better handle on the fact that for the most part her students don't really know what's going on in Thermo.

This course was a weird one. AJ is super enthusiastic about the topics, and obviously is experienced and quite talented at the subject, but, at least in my opinion, is pretty hopeless at actually explaining the concepts to us. Her lectures were disorganized and kind of all over the place, spending way too much time on easy things, an …Read more

This course was very hard, and the exams were extremely difficult. It is clear that prof. Anderson has a lot of knowledge of the course material but the lectures were nealry impossible to digest and required constant fast-paced not taking. The lab and homework assignments did help to gain an understanding of material but overall this content was just challenging.

Professor Repka is a very kind and effective professor. After my experience in Orgo I, taking Orgo II with her was a refreshing change. Yes, Orgo II was still hard and I still struggled with concepts, but definitely not to the degree I had in Orgo I with a different professor. I think the notes she provided in class were very efficient. I liked how they were simplified, though the con of that was that there wasn't always enough detail for a deeper understanding. However, her office hours were really helpful whenever you needed that extra clarification. Since she is leaving Middlebury, I do think the chemistry department is losing a great professor. She was always accommodating to students' needs, and in class she mentioned that if we "have stared at the homework too long and still don't get it," we could just ask her for an extension the day it was due if we needed more time. Not every professor has that level of understanding. Additionally, the homework was not very time-consuming. There was a problem set due every week and a Google Form to fill out before every lecture, both of which were manageable with the help of the many TAs available on many different days. Overall, this class was not as stressful as past chemistry courses I have taken, though I think that was mainly due to the professor rather than the difficulty of the content itself (as the exams were still challenging). Sad to see her go, but I am happy with the experience I had.

Professor Repka is a very kind and effective professor. After my experience in Orgo I, taking Orgo II with her was a refreshing change. Yes, Orgo II was still hard and I still struggled with concepts, but definitely not to the degree I had in Orgo I with a different professor. I think the notes she provided in class were very efficie …Read more