CHEM 2420

The TA, Natalie, was awful and did not even provide many review sessions second semester before tests. HOWEVER, Dr. Burnett was THE MAN! Just as he promised on Day 1, he will make organic chemistry understandable, easy, and sometimes, enjoyable. If you study the textbook, do all the end-unit suggested problem sets and Self-Tests from the back of the solutions manual, come to class, and go to recitation, then there is no reason not to get an A in the course. Besides being an awesome professor, Dr. Burnett is a great mentor who guides you and provides experienced wisdom to his students. I was honored and proud to have Dr. Burnett as my orgo professor.

This class is definitely more difficult than first semester, but Burnett makes it manageable by giving homeworks. The final was much much easier than the tests, and the tests were very similar to older tests. It's a lot of material but if you use his chapter notes and go to class, you'll be fine.

Gotta take orgo with Professor Burnett

Burnett is the best professor I've had at UVA hands down. He makes orgo easy to understand and he truly cares about his students. The class still requires a fair amount of work, but if you put in the time you will be amazed at how well you do in the class and how well you understand the information.

Tells you everything you need to know and doesn't waste your time on frivolous material. Half of the test is pretty easy multiple choice (as long as you do the multiple choice that's in the solutions manual) and some straightforward synthesis with one or two concept problems that are hinted at in class. He even posts up his own set of notes on collab that you just have to print out and bring to class. There's also a "weekly" quiz (we only had 6) on Friday's that is a pain to study for but keeps you on top of the material. That being said, you have to do well on the tests, because when I spoke with him he said that the cutoff for an A was a 95, so there is a tradeoff with respect to easier tests and stricter grading. Nothing too horrible though...if you put in the work the final will be easy. I studied the night before and got a 98 on it. Grade breakdown for us was 3 tests, 20% each, 15% quizzes and homework, and 25% final. Even though the grading is a little strict, he puts in each grade himself so if he sees improvement he'll bump you up. Burnett will also talk to you about other things non-orgo related, such as pre-med stuff and major advising, etc. Great guy and great professor.

Burnett is fantastic. He not only clearly loves the topic he teaches, but he obviously cares about his students and wants to see everyone do well. That's not to say this is an easy course, you still have to work, but he really tries to make everything applicable and interesting.

Burnett is by far the best professor that you could ever have for this class. He makes it real and applicable and makes you actually want to learn about organic chemistry!!

Burnett is the absolute nicest, most helpful professor I've had at UVA. The material is hard, but he makes every effort to teach it on an understandable level. He emphasizes the conceptual ideas more so than details.

Lectures are hard to learn from but study on your own and it should be okayl

great teacher ever!