Chemistry and Biochemistry

The class material was not super difficult and definitely an intro class for the major. There was a lot that contributed to the final grade so there are many chances to improve on grades etc. The most fun experience from the class is definitely the final project where you get to write a paper and also do a poster session for the final class.

I took AP Chemistry and found this course significantly harder than AP Chem. Yes, the course covered fewer materials than AP Chemistry, but the concepts they did dive into had less depth. Lab was especially difficult. Lab class took up 80% of my time in Chemistry and made it very difficult for me to get my other classes done.

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