CHEM 3811

Prof. Pate is quite possibly the most knowledgeable and best professors I've ever had. He lectures for hours with absolutely no notes, and knows the course material as well as any other professor I know. He is a very engaging lecturer, and takes time to teach you about what he really think is important. He is incredibly fair and made the avg. course GPA about a 3.4, even though only 5/40 or so students only got a solid A. During the lab lectures, Prof. Pate also sets aside time to talk about other important and interesting happenings in chemistry and physics. He is a great guy, and chose TAs who were very helpful. With that being said, I don't think anyone knew what we were really doing while in lab most of the time. There isn't a lab manual, like for orgo lab, only somewhat vague instructions as to what we are actually supposed to do. The material somewhat follows the material in the actual pchem class. The lab reports generally take 6-10 hours to write, and there are 3-4 of them, including 1-2 group projects with a group paper and presentation. The lab reports are very difficult because no one knows whats going on half the time, and there is no real rubric to follow. I would still strongly recommend Prof. Pate if you have to take this class

Brooks Pate is great and he really cares about your learning. Lab reports are time consuming a.f. but you end up learning a lot. Not easy but def more chill than organic chem labs

Professor Pate is brilliant at what he does, but he can be disorganized. It’s an interesting course, but pretty rough.

I don’t know why everybody hates this class so much. This was probably the best lab I’ve ever had. The lecture is pointless, but the labs are pretty short. The lab reports can be annoying/suck up a lot of your time, but start early, go to office hours, and work with others , and you can get an A. Professor Pate is super helpful at explaining concepts, but because he is so thorough, he will give you a very long explanation. Working with others, but NOT copying answers, is key because it’s very easy to get stuck on a question. Also, NEVER choose Monday lab. Thursday or Friday is probably the best. You also get 7 late days to use if you’re having a tough week. Also, there’s no final.