CHEM 1811

I hated the final project with all of my being! But Palmer was very generous with his extra credit options. But the way I wrote lab reports in this class is NOTHING like how I wrote them in organic chemistry labs (1821 and 2811), but it is an okay start.

Very confused by this course. You are not graded on your ability to write a lab report but whether or not you can suck up to your TA. The only reason I went to the Sunday review sessions was for the scavenger hunt. Palmer tells you one thing and your TA tells you another, and at the end of the day your TA is the one that grades your lab reports so rather please them.
I can't say enough how important it is to do the scavenger hunt. Easy, easy opportunity to get a B to a B+ or an A- to an A. I kick myself for missing a background check and not getting enough scavenger hunt items to get my A- up to an A but it is very possible for every student to take advantage of this opportunity to help your grade. My advice is to do the scavenger hunt items before reading days because you can't get those back.
The final was bizzarre. I've never heard of a final that asks questions about things you've never heard of but ok. It is a take-home final, open everything and only 3 questions. I spent a majority of finals week on this take-home. I don't even think it was graded, I never found out my final exam grade and if I got a good grade it would have bumped up my grade. I think he just looked to see if it was submitted and then kept your grade the same.
Final summary: do scavenger hunt, kiss your TA's butt, and work hard and you will do well.

This course was really frustrating. You're caught in the middle of molding your writing to fit your TA's style to achieve a good grade but then adjusting to Palmer's grading for the midterm. Palmer gives a weird vibe throughout the semester and it's hard to tell who he is and what he's really like. The labs were really fun and engaging and allowed you to develop your understand for chemistry along with Harman's class. While the lab is three credits, I found myself constantly putting more time into it than all my other classes combined. It's a lot of work but it is easy to achieve a good grade. Palmer makes it so EVERY student can get an A (really though). Make sure to do the scavenger hunt, go to the Sunday review workshops (he basically tells you what he's expecting in the lab reports and even helps to start the writing process), and put time into the DMP (easy grade that's 10% of your overall grade).

Also Lynn was a great TA. She was willing to help anyone and meet on your schedule. Not only did she care about your grade in the class, she wanted you help you overall in your path throughout college, whether that include chemistry or not.

Palmer is not always clear on what he wants. His expectations for the lab reports are different from the TAs', but his are even more subjective and seem to change on a whim. He shows up at a few labs, but his explanations make less sense than the TAs'.

He seems like a nice person, but can be quite tactless when writing comments on your lab report.

The class is focused so much more on following how Palmer thinks you should write your reports rather than if you understood the material. It's pretty annoying how the TAs and the professors had a different set of grading standards.

This class was incredibly time consuming, but overall it was worthwhile in that I learned a lot about how to write scientific reports. Vijay was the best TA I could ask for, and was the one who ran the lab and graded papers. Palmer is a smart guy for sure, but his lab lectures are not very helpful. The write-ups also take forever to do...

This class can be incredibly difficult if you have the wrong TA. And the professor doesn't really do much during lectures but personally can be helpful. Good Luck!

I really like CHEM 1811 but there is a lot of busy work. It is easy to earn a good grade if you do your work on time and do the extra credit activities. I would recommend taking this class if you are also in 1810. The TA Vijay is great too if you can get him as your TA.

Don't take this class unless you're in the 800 series and you have to take the lab. Horrible class

Dr. Palmer is great. Go to his office, and there's no way you will not understand the chemistry. However, the TAs can be real point Nazis. Just get all the effort points, put time into the DMP, and don't bomb the final too badly, and you should be fine.

Professor Palmer is really nice. He lets the TAs run the lab (which most if not all professors do) and you mostly only see him in lecture. Sunday review sessions are a good chance to ask questions and he is available for any other help. I would recommend talking to TAs since they do most of the grading anyway.

I wouldn't recommend this course unless it's required. It was so much work outside of lab (lab reports and understanding the material). The material here didn't really seem to correlate well with chem181 material, making it harder to understand. Lecturer was nice, but I wouldn't say he was fair, especially with the final that was very unexpectedly difficult.

Palmer is really nice! I learned a lot in the class- it really prepared me for future labs.

Absolutely a worthwhile course. The T.A.s can be very harsh graders, but through a poor grade (or two), you learn so much about scientific writing, particularly in research reports. The labs were generally very interesting ? you do a lot of cool things with a molecular modeling computer program, and the wet labs teach you various lab techniques.

Palmer is a great professor, and his class is well structured. The lab reports, while few, are heavily weighted in comparison to other work. There is no curve, which can be a problem if the TA grades harshly. This is a lot of work, and a lot of writing, with a project and final.