CHEM 2411

Do not let these reviews scare you out of taking this class and becoming a chem major. Yes, it is difficult. Yes, you will spend 10-12 hours a week on your lab report. BUT, you will be a better chemistry student as a result. Some of the experiments are outdated, but the concepts (especially in second semester) are SO interesting and learning/applying them in lab will help you out in orgo lecture!! If you are disciplined about going to the lab lecture (put your phone close to Dr. Hunt and record it), and treat TA office hours like a class (go every week with questions!), you will likely succeed on the reports and post-lab questions. If you start studying early and learn the experiments and mechanisms (memorize! everything!), you will be able to do decently on the final. There's no getting around it-- the final is one of the hardest tests you might take at UVa, but it is NOT impossible. Also-- don't be scared or get upset about the rankings. They seem to make very little, if any, difference in determining your grade, and are just a way for Hunt to compare students across TA's who grade differently.

This class was probably the worst class I have ever taken at UVA. The lab reports take at least 12 hours to write (if you care about your ranking and want to do well). It is absolutely necessary to attend your TA’s office hours to make sure you adhere to their guidelines and include all of the material. I was ranked highly in this class (#1) and got a B. The ranking doesn’t really matter and it is all dependent on the final. The final is, without a doubt, the hardest final. I walked out of it feeling like I confidently knew 10 answers. It was the worst. People in your lab WILL fail! It is possible! You have to TRY and STUDY! I wish you luck and genuinely hope you’ll never have to take such a ridiculous course and gpa ruiner

This course is insane. The structure of this class is extremely outdated, and the experiments that we do are so damn old-fashioned most chemists would be surprised that we're doing them. Hunt is oblivious to how terrible his course is, and his lectures are the worst I've ever experienced at UVA, and also outdated! He doesn't even use powerpoint, and instead uses crude, hand-drawn notes that are barely legible. You learn nothing from the lectures and can instead use your textbook and watch online videos about the experiment. He is so condescending and assumes that you know more than you do. I am amazed at how he is still teaching at UVA, and he has one of the most confusing methods for computing grades. So complicated that not even the TAs were able to tell me how to grading scheme worked. And as for the final exam... good luck. You need to know every specific detail about every lab you do and every calculation associated with it.

Hunt is a jerk.

Overwhelming the first few weeks, but Dr. Hunt is great, and it is crucial to understand his lectures. I never went to recitations and got an A both semesters - recitations are pointless unless you're completely clueless. Also, keep in mind that Dr. Hunt makes the final exam, not Michael, the guy who runs the recitations. Biggest key for success is to attend and record the lectures, and put all your eggs into that basket. Having a good strategy is imperative for success on the final, because it is definitely hard. Overall, very worthwhile course, and don't let the reputation get to you. Generally, good students do well, and Dr. Hunt is very willing to help

The stories are true. If you want a decent grade you will spend more than 10 hours or more a week working on your prelab reading, pre lab assignment, lab report and postlab. If youre a premed you should definitely attend Michael Ferracane's recitations because you will learn pretty much nothing in Hunt's lecture. The final exam is way too hard for no reason. It tests on strict memorization and less on understanding of the concepts learned. ABSOLUTELY AVOID and take in the summer or suffer the consequences.

Orgo lab is another one of those miserable chemistry classes. Take time writing your reports and actually try to understand what you're writing and every single reaction and what happens when you change one single thing in a reaction - it's all fair game for the final. GO TO YOUR TA'S OFFICE HOURS. Seriously. That's the only way to know what they expect of you, and it'll help you get good grades on your lab reports. The grading in this class is all black magic though, with rankings and mysterious normalization among lab sections. Do your best to get a good ranking during the semester, and really really focus on the final as it really determines your final grade...or so we think. Take it if you need to, but overall it's another disappointment and frustration from the chemistry department.

Yes this is a hard class, and Hunt might not be the best at teaching but here are some suggestions to get an A in the course....

1. Start you lab reports early. I put in 8 hrs on average to each and started them well in advanced. I had friends who started them the night before...if you want a good rank this is NOT a good idea. The reports get easier as you go along.

2. GO TO TA OFFICE HOURS. Seriously. It doesn't have to be your TA if you can't make it or if he/she isn't as helpful. This is crucial to writing good reports and getting good grades on post-lab question.

3. Read the lab manual, and understand it. If you don't understand get help. Everything in the book is fair game for the final....study as you go along if at all possible.

4. Talk to Hunt. He gets such a bad rep, but he is actually extremely nice and kind and helpful if you go up after class. Don't judge him before you talk to him.

5. Sit in the very front of the auditorium for lab lecture. Hunt speaks softly!

Hunt is an awful teacher. He uses a poorly written lab manual and reads directly from it during lectures. Your grade is completely based on others in the class and is somewhat bullshit. You honestly have no idea how well you're doing until you get your final grade. The class is hard and the TA's grade completely different. Obviously a required class for pre-med students, but know that you were warned. ALSO - it is probably a good idea to take the class one year and the lab the next year. They don't really correlate together so it would be more helpful to have the class completed first.

Yes, this is a hard class. What are you going to do about it? Let it affect your dream to become a doctor? Put 15-20 hours/week into this class and you can pull off an A. Haha I guess that's easier said than done. You can finish your reports by starting them on the day before they are due but are they going to be good? Are they going to help you study for Hunt's final? No. If you want to do well, you need to start early and spend a solid 10 hours/week on the reports. Go to Mike's reviews and record them even - to say this helps is an understatement. Go to TA office hours. Go to Hunt's office (he is quite friendly in person).

Hunt is a terrible professor. I'm pretty confident that he bases the entire semester grade on the final exam (even though he says it's a mixture of rankings/your final exam score). It's really hard to get an A in this class and impossible to get an A if you don't go to Mike's recitations. Mike's a great teacher, but even he can't prepare you for the utterly stupid questions that appear on the final exam.

Take this in the summer unless you've already taken other premed courses in the summer... this class will take up all your time and suck the life out of you... or you won't get a good grade... or BOTH!

This is by no means an easy class. It takes a lot of time and work to do well; and sometimes it seems as though all of your hard work is not even worth it. Since you are ranked within your lab section it may feel as though you are at the bottom. Some TAs grade harshly and some grade easily, in the end it does not really matter. It is essential that you really prepare for the final because this is mostly what decides your grade. If you find yourself ranked low don't just give up because a good grade is still possible. The first semester I was ranked 4/12 and got an A-. Second semester I was ranked 9/10 and got an A. It all really depends on the final and how your section does compared to the whole class. It is hard and pushes you, but you learn a lot. Also, don't be afraid of professor Hunt. He may seem intimidating but really helpful when you go and see him. Mikes review session each week really prepare you for the reports, most everything he says should be in the report. I found it best to print his notes and then write all of his extra comments and explanations on that.

This course is a huge time steal. Your actual results don't matter at all, so don't worry about them. Write good lab reports and do well on the final. Hunt suggested that good students do well and it seems that that's generally true. If you are a shit student you'll probably get a shit grade, as it is both time-consuming and difficult, and you can't skate by doing minimal work as with many other classes.

This class sucks but the only reason you would be in it is because you have to be. Its possible to get an A but you really have to work your ass off. If you go to the recitations and your TA's office hours you should be ok..

Anybody who says this class is easy is either delusional or lying. You need to work your butt off. Do your homework ( don't wait for the night before the lab report), ask what your TA wants on the lab reports, and ask questions frequently.

Hunt may seem unapproachable, but he'll take your questions and try to explain it. He'll always assume you've tried to understand it best you can yourself with his answer.

The final is tough. He says no time constraint - completely wrong. Be able to regurgitate mechanisms like its your job and know every little detail. It's easier if you take some extra time to understand the chemistry behind it.

Do yourself a favor and take it over the summer. Such a time consuming class and no one understands how its graded. Seriously, worst class ever.

this is the MOST DIFFICULT class available.

Hunt is terrible and his final is even worse. The grading system makes very little sense, so don't be surprised if you get a C in this class. Chris is a great TA though. I wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for him.

Chris was a GREAT TA! Labs are long, but they really do help you understand so don't get too sour. Go to office hours EVERY WEEK. The lab lecture can be overwhelming but it's a good introduction. Ed Lee's recitations are just a review, go if you can but not necessary - he's kind of annoying.

Awful TA. Your grades in lab depend on the final because everyone in the lab section gets bad lab grades because the TA and his girlfriend were fighting all semester. Awfully hard Teacher.

Hunt provides a very specific and applied version of organic chem, which can be really fascinating. If you work hard, you will be rewarded. Go to the TA review session, it's very helpful, and your (or another) TA will likely give you the answers to the post lab questions. The final is very difficult.

Great class. It is difficult, but I felt I learned a lot. Work hard and consistently work hard. If not, the class will not be fun worth it whatsoever.

Hunt was brutal, however the material was interesting and well constructed. Expect to spend at least 6-8 hours on each lab report every week; any less and you're guaranteed to fail the final

The hardest final i have ever taken in my entire life. There is absolutely no point in even trying to do well unless you want to memorize every single mechanism for every experiment. Class is not graded fairly at all. I would definitely recommend taking it over the summer.

My TA, Jason, was very helpful. He would meet me anytime and was very quick to respond to emails thoroughly. The class IS miserable, but if you work at it, you can find a rhythym of doing the lab reports accurately.

Seyun was a great TA and helped out tremendously with the post-lab question and writing labs if you go to the office hours. Hunt is terrible though and the most boring lecturer you'll ever have. The final is nearly impossible and you must know the lab manual front to back to do well on it. I'd recommend taking it in the summer.

This is more advice than a review. Don't worry about actually getting good results during lab; its irrelevant. Your grade is based solely on well your lab reports are written + the final. In the lab reports, explain the theory/chemistry behind every single step of the procedure and you'll get a good grade. For the final memorize the procedure, the chemistry behind the procedure and MECHANISMS!!! Memorize every proton and electron pair in the mechanism, and you'll do well on the final.

Lab lectures are a total waste of time. Hunt either condescends to students or talks over their heads. He's just an atrocious lecturer. He makes the class way harder than it has to be. My TA, Ben Ball, was great. He was very clear and helpful both at office hours and during lab.

Overall, the class was just as bad as everyone said that it would be! The final was killer, but I have to say that it was more than fair. Yes, it is hard, and I definitely not recommend it unless you are Pre-Med or a Chem Major. This being said, Hunt is not as evil as he is made out to be. Yes, the grading system is pretty awkward but 50 percent get A's and B's so work hard and hope for a great lab TA who grades kind of Harsh. It will help in the end

Make sure you get a TA that speaks English. (I am dead serious.) Donald was funny and made cute little jokes. And you need to learn each lab as it comes and not try to cram everything within the last week before the exam. If you think you can learn all of orgo lab within a few days, good luck. You're probably going to fail.

Thankfully, you're not graded on your quality of work. Often there were different results between sections on different days, and sometimes an entire section received no results. The exam was really tough and was a huge factor in the final grades.

It's required for pre-professional work, so just push through it. The grading distribution is based both on your lab section ranking and yoru entire section's grades. Pray for a good TA, go to their office hours, and hope for a decent rank.

Having tried harder than I ever have for a course, I ended up disappointed after the roulette of a final --and I say that because everyone technically fails (average = 50%)-- arbitrated my grade based on a normal distribution. Depressing.

Dr. Hunt is a polite and sometimes humorous professor. His arbitrary grading scale that no one understands and the absolute killer final makes this class the worst class to take of all sciences at UVa. Your TA makes or breaks you.

wait till he dies to take the class. or take it in the summer.

AWFUL!!! take it over the summer. the grading is completely arbitrary. basically do well on your lab reports and help others do well on the final.

Total d-bag

The labs themselves, all 10 of them are intimidating but if you check your steps with your ta as you go and pay close attention to the (mistake filled) lab manual it shouldn't be too hard. The degree of difficulty of the lab reports is dependent on your particular ta. You have to put in the time and effort at the beginning of the semester to go to as many different ta's office hours to figure out who works best for you. Stick to a schedule. Forget the final, seriously, the ta's themselves say that if they took it they would all fail.

The labs themselves weren't terribly difficult just long and exhausting at times. Depending on your TA, they are usually willing to help you with the labs. Dr. Hunt's lab lectures were next to useless yet still important to attend. The final was insanely difficult.

Jesse Sabatini pretty much taught this course and I would recommend him over the professor any day. Sabatini helped everyone understand the material a lot better and provided very knowledgable yet also entertaining lab lectures to us.

The lab seems pretty daunting at first but the key is to be as relaxed as possible. Alot of times, results don't matter so it's best to understand what is happening so you can get points where they do matter, the lab report. Also, you don't have to go to your TA's office hours but you should go to some especially for some tips on post lab questions. I recommend Jesse Sababtini although he does go on alot of tangents.

No one know how grades are dettermined in this class. The final exam was really really hard and I felt the more unprepaired for the final exam than I have ever felt on any other exam (I thank the professor for that).

Best way to do well in this class is to go to office hours each week and get to know your TA so that you know what they expect to see in your reports. If you do that, and put a reasonable amount of time into it, you can do well. And study your *** off for the final exam.

this class was only manageable because of my TA April...otherwise it totally sucked

Dr. Hunt is the most difficult professor I have known and the most unapproachable as well. He requires to do post labs, which no one has any clue how to do. The grading system is the weirdest I have ever known as well. Plus, the final, way too hard for an undergraduate course. Plan and simple, Professor Hunt is too intelligent for this course and needs to resign from it. The T.A.'s are the reason why I made it through the course.

Really hard course...requires a lot of preparation and postlab work.

Professor assumes you know much more than you do and covers things way to fast and provides no way for you to catch up. Discourages the asking of questions because of his assumption that you know everything without considering that most of the class is lost...TA Jesse Sabatini is really good

A very un-fun class. No one is really sure how the grading system works, which makes everyone super-competitive and on-edge all semester. The final is the hardest you'll take.