General Chemistry
General Chemistry In this course we will introduce students to the fundamental theories and concepts in chemistry. We will consider matter at the electronic level and build up to various bonding theories, apply thermodynamics to explore physical and chemical processes, and study fundamental concepts of equilibrium and kinetics. Class time will include short lectures and group-based problem-solving sessions. Lab work includes qualitative and quantitative analysis, kinetics, and acid-base chemistry.
I absolutely loved Professor Bredar! She always wanted to help students learn in any way she could even will late hours for test review sessions. Lectures consisted of detailed slideshows (that were later posted) and practice questions. There was plenty of practice questions given for exams and exams were very fair.
This course was essentially a review of AP Chem, and honestly it was significantly easier. The homework was usually pretty easy, and the quizzes were basically impossible to do poorly on. I personally never had to do the readings since it literally was all review, but this depends on your previous chemistry experience. I suppose I'd take the course again, considering I basically am. Lab review is completely different (found elsewhere).
This course was essentially a review of AP Chem, and honestly it was significantly easier. The homework was usually pretty easy, and the quizzes were basically impossible to do poorly on. I personally never had to do the readings since it literally was all review, but this depends on your previous chemistry experience. I suppose I'd …Read more
Prof. Bredar is AMAZING! There's a lot of content to cover and the class size is pretty big because so many majors require it, but the workload is manageable and exams are fair. The Achieve homeworks are honestly a nightmare (the system is finicky and questions aren't very clear sometimes), but I would say just go to office/TA hours and work through the problems there so you can ask questions as they come up.
Prof. Bredar is AMAZING! There's a lot of content to cover and the class size is pretty big because so many majors require it, but the workload is manageable and exams are fair. The Achieve homeworks are honestly a nightmare (the system is finicky and questions aren't very clear sometimes), but I would say just go to office/TA hours …Read more
Professor Bredar is awesome, and made this class so much better. It was definitely fast paced and sometimes a little overwhelming, but her office hours were great, and she was very good at explaining things I missed. The Achieve homework was a lot, but very helpful for tests, and the tests were hard, but fairly graded and not too bad.
Professor Rahn is incredibly energetic and passionate—she literally hops around during lectures! However, the pacing is very fast. She prioritizes group problem-solving during the 1h15min sessions, which is great for engagement but means she sometimes brushes over complex theoretical concepts. To succeed, you absolutely need to do the pre-reading and budget about 5-8 hours a week for the Achieve homework.
Professor Rahn is incredibly energetic and passionate—she literally hops around during lectures! However, the pacing is very fast. She prioritizes group problem-solving during the 1h15min sessions, which is great for engagement but means she sometimes brushes over complex theoretical concepts. To succeed, you absolutely need to do th …Read more
Professor Rahn is very enthusiastic about chemistry! The bulk of the overall grade comes from the 2 in-class exams and 1 final exam. We have Typical Test Question quizzes once a week on the material learned within the past week. Each quiz is worth 1% and the lowest score is dropped. The Achieve homework is time consuming and while she does emphasize group problem solving, you may have to spend time learning the material she did not cover extensively in class to do well on the Achieve homework.
Professor Rahn is very enthusiastic about chemistry! The bulk of the overall grade comes from the 2 in-class exams and 1 final exam. We have Typical Test Question quizzes once a week on the material learned within the past week. Each quiz is worth 1% and the lowest score is dropped. The Achieve homework is time consuming and while sh …Read more
I took this course with Professor Bredar and really enjoyed it. She is very enthusiastic, always available, and happy to help during office hours. This course was fast-paced with a lot of reading and content during lectures. The Achieve homework usually took a while, but was helpful for practice problems when studying for the exams.