CHEM 1820

Very fast, but very brilliant lecturer. Very approachable in the office. Problem sets take forever but are a major grade boost; not hard if you visit office hours. Hour exams and the final take over 3 hours each but are relatively straightforward; just be awake and don't leave anything blank. Course is graded on a tremendous curve: 75% was the cutoff for an A- and 50% was the cutoff for a B-.

Wasn't sure what to expect after Harman and 181, but Sundberg is a great professor. He's nice, funny, and really knows his organic chemistry. I thought it was going to be miserable, but I learned so much from his class, and it wasn't painful at all. His tests and his grading is extremely fair, as are his problem sets. Lectures are important, so be sure to attend and take thorough notes!

After the first test, this course becomes mechanism memorization and synthesis. Material is connected and well organized for most of the class until the very end when random reactions and mechanisms start popping up (make sure you leave enough to time to review them!) Final exam is comprehensive, difficult, and extremely long. Score 20 points above the average for a solid A. (Interesting grade distribution... all grades between A to B- except 2 F's)

Professor Sundberg is a horrid teacher. If you want to save your GPA and your sanity, drop out of this class immediately. The alleged "generous curve" is a myth. Unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars in tuition to teach yourself organic chemistry from the textbook, my suggestion would be to drop out.

While I think Sundberg is genuinely a nice guy, he is a horrendous professor. Many times he was unable to answer simple questions, was forgetful, and generally seemed confused. I don't feel that the grading was ultimately fair; howvever, I know people who did quite well in the class that feel the same way. Drop out of the 80s series for organic chemistry and come back and take 281 with Harman in the Spring semester of the second year. Good luck.

I had a lot of trouble in this class. I don't think that Sundberg was the greatest teacher and his lectures are very hard to follow because he goes very fast. The exams are extremely difficult and a lot of people leave entire pages blank

This class is a difficult class. It is going to be one of the most difficult classes you take. You will need to work very hard to get an acceptable grade. Luckily most people do, as the grade distribution reveals. Professor Sundberg is a good professor. I think a lot of people don't like him because he's just so different from Professor Harman, but I disagree. It's more the case that organic chemistry, especially at an 80s-series level, must be taught in a different style than gen chem, because there's just too much to cover.

This class takes up a lot of time. Go to office hours and rewrite your class notes multiple time before exams if you want to do well. Still a hard class

Coming from Harmon, Sundberg can initially seem like a nightmare. His lectures are often scattered and he fails make the points he is trying to make. He is a nice guy, but not a great teacher. Tests can be brutal. The textbook; however, is very good and will save you more times than lecture notes will.

The book is clear so helps with understanding where the lectures were rushed. Study for tests by completely understanding each material because its better to really know what you can rather than a little of each. The TAs were extremely helpful.