CHEM 1421

Pretty similar to the first semester of Lab (CHEM 1411). The Mathematica pre lab assignments were a lot easier and didn't take nearly as long in my opinion. However, the post lab assignments required more work (2 partial lab reports and 1 full lab report). Again, the lab quizzes were pretty difficult in my opinion, but it is not that big of a deal because they barely count towards your grade. Hope for a good group and a nice TA because that will surely improve your experience. I'd recommend doing the readings before the lab so that you have some semblance of what is going to be happening in the lab, unlike the majority of the class and most likely your group. Overall though, it is not that hard to end with an A.

The class is so bad the TAs are not on the same page, your grade depends on the TAs atitudes one class will average out 95s on post lab while another class will average 20s. This class is so much work for one credits. The TAs are the reason this class is really bad.

chemistry lab really depends on the TA some are really good and some are not as good. The lab is not that hard sometimes it is a bit of work but never more than a few hours.

Hands down the hardest lab I've ever taken, not just because the lab reports were long and tedious, but because my TA (Renna) didn't set clear expectations for any of the assignments (kinda wanted you to guess how to do things and then graded very harshly) and was very unaccommodating (when I was absent due to health reasons). Renna wasn't nice enough to make up for not telling us how to do anything and then taking tons of points off of the formatting of the post labs (which she graded completely differently from the samples provided by Lisa). Lisa was amazing and super kind, but she's always extremely busy, so I wouldn't recommend going to her office hours for lab stuff. However, it's not hard to make an appointment to meet with her, so I'd definitely do that if you're struggling and she will help you out!!

This course is a lot of work, but you likely have to do it because it's a requirement. I would recommend starting lab reports early because they can be long and complicated. Also, I recommend being careful on the lab quizzes, because it is easy to lose a lot of points. Overall, this course will be a pain, but getting an A is not difficult as long as you keep up with the work.

This lab was significantly harder than last semester. First semester lab was doable, but this semester definitely threw some curveballs at me. My TA was not extremely organized or knowledgeable regarding the subject matter, and the expectations for the lab write up were not very clear. It was definitely annoying having to figure everything out on our own. The quizzes were also ridiculously difficult and made a major negative impact on my grade; this whole semester was very frustrating and the experiments were difficult to get through due to lack of organization.

Lab this semester sucks more than usual. Lisa added a whole extra experiment compared to 1421 in previous years so now it's 4 experiments each with 2 parts. You do an experiment plus a plan for next week almost every week. Try and prepare for the quizzes and go to office hours for help with post-labs. A lot depends on your TA but with a lot of hard work you should be able to overcome a bad TA. Also, try and get along with your lab group, mine was horrible, and because the lab is longer you have to spend 2-3 hours together every week, a bad group makes it even more miserable.

I took this class during the covid-19 pandemic, so my experience may be a bit different. How well this class goes ultimately depends on your TA. My TA was very chill and reasonable, but I had friends whose TAs had very high and strict expectations and did not communicate them well. Who ever you have, make sure to ask them what they want specifically because some TAs have different expectations than what is on the assignment overviews that go to all the lab students. This class has a lot of outside work for a one credit class. Go to office hours!! If you are struggling with the programming or writing for any of the assignments the TAs are very understanding and will look over your work. If you do this, you should do well. Watch out for the quizzes, though, because they are difficult and its easy to lose points.

A lot of people only take this class because they have to (i.e. being on a pre-med track), and that makes sense because this class is awful. Everything truly does depend on your TA. Fortunately, I had a very sweet TA who I would argue was the best one this semester. It truly is a risk game in getting a good TA, and the chances aren't good. This class is NOT worth 1 credit considering how much effort it takes. Especially with online lab, there were like 5 different assignments due on one day, and they would be big ones (like a prelab for one expt and a postlab for another). The scheduling for online lab was not great at all and it was truly overwhelming. Doing it in person was a little better, fortunately. I only did well in the because I put so so so much effort into this class, which makes the only 1 credit part really annoying. Definetly go to office hours to save yourself some time. The quizzes were the bane of my existence and tanked my grade. They have no right being that hard and worth that many points. They're so easy to get a bad grade in. The only tip I can offer is to straight up memorize the experiment overview and know every little part of the experiment for any chance of getting higher than a C.

My TA Marc Bennett was great. Unlike many of the other TAs, he is not a harsh and petty grader. I got an A+ in the course (if I lost just one more point, I would have gotten an "A" instead LMAO). He gave me full credit on everything except post-labs and quizzes. He was very helpful whenever my group had questions. Only take this course if you have to (e.g. PREMED). As many others have mentioned, it is a lot of work for a one-credit course. The key to success in the lab courses is to go to your specific TA's office hours to show that you are a committed student. I would go to TA office hours every week and ask very specific questions. Warning: some of the TAs are irresponsible (sometimes, they show up late or not at all). Some of them also give vague answers. I would recommend showing up early because there is ALWAYS a crowd.