CHEM 3410

Metcalf is a lot of fun and makes physical chemistry bearable. That being said, this class is no joke, the problem sets and out of class exams are time consuming. Thankfully they are open book/notes/internet

Metcalf is a great guy. He's just not that great of a professor, at least for those who aren't too good with math. He spends majority of the time on deriving equations and relationships, but doesn't really sit down and work examples; the homework he gives typically isn't something that can be done without using the internet. Honestly, the course would have been a lot more manageable if he took the pace a bit slower, as personally I was dealing with a lot more than just PChem.

Metcalf is a great professor - he's very helpful and approachable. That being said, he really knows what he's talking about and doesn't always dumb it down for students - making it difficult to understand/grasp some material. Lectures can be a bit tedious but Metcalf's enthusiasm makes them more bearable. The internet is an extremely important resource for homework assignments and other material.

Metcalf is not a good teacher. Beware.

I highly recommend Metcalf as the Pchem Quantum Professor. Although some people hated him for gen chem, he definitely knew his stuff for both Physical Chemistry courses: Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics. His book, McQuarrie and Simon, was very readable, and Metcalf followed it very well. The book also included brief math reviews before any math-heavy chapters to help students brush up on any calculus-- lifesaver, honestly. The practice problems and solutions manual were also really helpful; I know the practice problems were not helpful in other courses but these were very good questions. Since I took it over the summer, the class was extremely fast-paced, but we still covered a decent amount of material. Metcalf's lectures were not hard to follow, especially if you read the book before class. And he is a professor that would write out all of the derivations on the board rather than just show it on a lecture slide, which I find helpful in following a derivation and learning the thought process.

For his summer lectures, I didn't have any take-home exams, but I heard he had them in the school year. We didnt have a few problem sets. At first, the problem sets seemed really crazy and difficult, but with some thought and visits to the TAs, I was able to get almost full points, minus 1 or 2 points here. With quantum, you get a feel when your answer is wrong. I thought they were easy point boosters.

Cons: Metcalf's tests can be a complete whirlwind. He likes to include derivations and conceptions on his test. But the whole test is only 4-5 questions long, and can ask a very specific question about one tiny subject. His tests were only 10-15% of what we actually studied and covered. I got a B+ in this class due to, I believe, his arbitrary tests. You mess up Question 2, and that entire question screwed you over.