CHEM 1420

If you must take this class, take it with Metcalf not Leung. Leung's class will make your life miserable.

If you really want to learn Chemistry well and for the sake of learning, Leung will take you there and you will be rewarded. The work you put in will honestly be reflected in your grade. People who get to know him will realize that he really wants you to do well and will help you in any way he can. Chemistry is a hard course in general; I don't think its fair to blame your faults on the teacher if you don't work.

This is the WORST class I have ever taken in my entire life. Prof. Leung is a horrible representative of the kind of education you will receive at UVA. If you are taking his course first year, do not give up hope. There are better teachers out there at this University and you will receive the education you deserve coming here; just not from Prof. Leung in this class. Prof. Leung's lectures as well are awful. Listening to what he has to say in class is more confusing than teaching yourself. So that is what you will end up doing: teaching yourself. As well, the amount of work required just to complete a never ending homework cycle has been the reason for many of my all nighters. Aleks is the most frustrating software you will ever encounter. Prof. Leung makes negative and rude comments in class that are said solely for the purpose of lowering everyone's academic self esteem. Most importantly, however, His tests are the hardest tests I have ever taken, they belong in a 4000 level course. Not an intro class. They do not test your knowledge on the subject material at all. So do not feel bad if you are getting 60% or lower on them, your grade is not a representative of your intellect in the subject material, for instead, his tests test on how minute of details can you remember, how well can you decipher what Prof. Leung's questions are asking you, and how well can you not fall for the trap of trick questions. AVOID taking Prof. Leung at all costs. No matter what teacher you have for lecture, if you are in general chemistry there is no escaping the awful nature of Leung's tests. However, the rest of your year can be a whole lot less miserable, and your homework and participation grade saved, if you do not take this class from Prof. Leung. Again may I reiterate, worst teacher ever?

Ok, everyone hates on Terry. He has a thick accent and makes chem 1 and 2 very difficult. I have grown to appreciate this, being premed. Terry wrote for the mcat and teaches in such a way that will prepare you for that test (he assumes most people in chem 2 are pre-med). What he says about learning and not memorizing is completely true. While this often means that this class will be much more work, it will pay off for the mcat and it will make future chem classes (orgo, biochem) significantly easier. So, if you're premed, it would be a huge mistake to not take Terry's class. If you're not premed, its not worth the extra effort.

The hardest part about taking part in Leung's Intro college chemistry is adapting to his teaching style. Many people don't want to buy in to how much he expects of his students. Once you buy in, you not only perform better in the class, you gain skills that you will use in the rest of your life as well. Leung emphasizes hard work and you will thank him for it.

The course is pretty difficult. ALEKS is extremely time consuming, and the tests are pretty hard as well. Professor Leung knows the material very well but is not very flexible and sometimes not very nice.

Chemistry is an extremely challenging class. It, however, is a great experience. I think the class is harder than it needs to be though.

I think this class is probably a good intro chem class compared to other school's intro chem classes. However, it's a really hard and difficult class compared to most other UVA classes. Leung is a good man but not always a great teacher because he understands the material at such a high level. If you're considering science majors/pre-med I would definitely take it, but just know that it may be a big time suck and stress inducer. Honestly though if you do everything you can, you'll probably get a B- minimum; there are a lot of GPA booster moments built into the semester.

This class was the source of 80% of my constant stress, anxiety, and misery the entire semester. I often ask myself why I was unable to do better in Chem, and I think it's a mix of chemistry just never clicking with me and the obnoxious level of difficulty of this course. In a sense, Prof. Leung is generous in that if you do all of the completion work/put forth the effort, it'd be pretty easy to get a B-. Any higher, however, requires a LOT of work.
Professor Leung is a great guy, and I would highly recommend going to office hours. He's patient, wise, and will explain the questions to you step-by-step. He's a strong believer in hard work, and I think I probably could have done better in this class... if I didn't have 12 other credits and my sanity to worry about. I know it's not just me that's the problem, b/c I was consistently right there with the average, and the average was always demoralizingly low. It just sucks to constantly feel like your best will never be enough in this class.
The only advice I can really give, to fellow people who don't naturally get chemistry, is just to mentally prepare yourself at the beginning of the semester - this is the definition of a pre-med weed-out class, and I, myself, am on the brink of dropping pre-med because of this class. And don't fall behind on the readings/lecture notes; lectures will make a lot more sense that way. Pay attention to his explanations for every clicker question; there's an important lesson he wants you to learn from all of them.
This class is a real beast, so prepare yourself for a semester of hating life.

Chemistry is hard, and this course shows that. Only key ot succeed: do your ALEKS, read before coming to class, go to discussions, and focus A LOT during lectures and ask questions afterwards. In short, do everything Terry tells you to do. I mean it EVERYTHING. He is here to help you. Not only will you understand better, but also you will like chemistry more.