CHEM 3410

Honestly, this is the worst class that I've taken here at UVA. Professor Egorov, while an intelligent guy who is very sweet, is not a good lecturer. He speaks mostly to the board and mumbles at best so trying to understand what he is writing on the board, and decipher what he is saying is near impossible. The grade is made up of three categories: problem sets, midterm and final. The problem sets are easy enough. Word for word, everything can be found in the textbooks. The midterm and final are more difficult but everything is open book and open notes so it is more manageable. I was never able to understand the content of the class, and even though the exams are open notes, that can only do so much good when nothing else makes sense in the class. I cannot say much about the other class, but if understand lecture is very important for you, then Harrison might be a better option for you. I only took this class because of my CHEM major but if I could, I would avoid it entirely.
#tcFF23

Would not recommend taking this class unless it's required. The lecture is unhelpful and attendance was ~15-25% for our section. The reason for this is that Prof. Egorov just copies prewritten notes from a piece of paper onto the board at lightning pace and explains them at lightning pace before erasing them at lightning pace without stopping the entire lecture (He has the fastest speech and chalk writing skills I've ever seen). Due to these, it was impossible for anyone to understand his lectures at all and everyone attending resorted to taking screenshots of his notes with their phones.
The TAs definitely carried this class during discussion and everything students learned was during this time and/or by reading the textbooks. All the homework and exam problems are open book/open notes/take-home and directly taken from the textbooks, so most students get a good grade without really learning the content.

Taking this class with Egorov had its pros and cons. Egorov is clearly smart, but not the best professor. He talks incredibly quickly and can scribble equations on a chalkboard faster than anyone I've ever seen, so it was very difficult to follow him during lectures. However, the class was much easier than it could have been. All the problem sets and exams were open book, notes, and internet, and they were graded fairly easily as well. Collaborating with classmates on the problem sets and going to office hours for help worked well for me. To be honest, I think a lot of students were getting good grades in the class, but it was clear from discussion, office hours, etc. that most people (including myself) didn't really understand the material. If you just have to take this class for a CHEM major/minor requirement and want to get it over with, Egorov is fine, since the class itself was very doable and not too much work. However, if you actually have an interest in Quantum Mechanics, I would try to take this class with another professor.

Professor Egorov is not a good lecturer. He is really smart and knows what he's teaching, but he speaks to the board instead of to the students and has one of the most horrid handwriting I've ever seen. I didn't really learn anything from the course but then again, I want to say about 90% of the class had no idea what's going on. He gave us 3 problem sets, a midterm, and a final. They are all take home and open notes so it's not hard to do well grade-wise. I just wish I actually learned something. I hope you guys have a good TA because Viranga saved my life. Not that anyone would take quantum for fun but would not recommend unless it's required.