CHEM 3420

Prof Herbst was fantastic. Probably one of the top 3 professors I've had so far at UVA. He taught the material very clearly and the textbook wasn't really needed. Pchem with Herbst kinda felt like an AP calculus class in my high school where the book wasn't really needed except that pchem is a lot harder than calc. The class, however, was at 9am and more than half the 15-ish person class would skip like every day. Luckily, he put his class notes on collab so that you can see what you missed that day. Discussions were helpful in the beginning bc they helped go over math topics, but towards the end of the semester, the only useful discussion sections were the ones where Herbst went over how to do the HW or how to prep for a test.

Homework (30%)

Homework was very fair. Problems weren't necessarily from the textbook, but you were allowed to work with other people/use the internet so that made the work better. Some of the problems came from variations of examples shown in class. Also, Prof. Herbst would point you in the right direction at office hours if you were completely stuck and he would give extensions for good reasons.

Metcalf's HW sets were a lot harder than Herbst's when all 3 sections were still together. 40% of the problems came from the textbook, but there would often be a couple of crazy annoying problems. These problems weren't covered in class and you'd have to teach yourself how to do them, which was just a bunch of busy work.

Tests (20 %, 20 %, 30 %) and Grading:

Our first test, which was had an in class part (40%) made by Metcalf and Gahlmann and a take home (60%) made by Herbst, was pretty bad. The avg for Herbst's section was around a 50%, the avg for Metcalf's was around 60%, and the avg for Gahlmann was around 70%. Idk why the spread was so weird, but afterwards Herbst's section split from the other two sections. Then, Herbst was the only one in charge of making tests and HW for his section. Grading for Metcalf's test was stupid as well. I got points off a problem I got right except I didn't convert to picometers, which the problem didn't ask for (it was 0.5 points out of 3, so it was pretty significant imo). Herbst's grading is very fair and he is willing to correct mistakes on grading as well if you show him what happened.

The second test was very fair. The avg was an 80% and Herbst went over basically how to do most of the test in the review sessions. Also, most of the problems were analogs of HW problems, so that was nice.

The final was fair with an avg of a 67%. Again, it was mostly a repeat of HW problems and wasn't too terrible. The final grade distribution was really good with like more than half the class getting A's an B's. So if grades are a concern, take Herbst's class.

Overall:

I'd say that pchem as a subject was pretty terrible, but Herbst made the subject understandable. He also didn't give us pointlessly hard problems (like one Leung or Metcalf would make) on the HW or on tests. The nice grade distribution was a plus as well. You still need to put in a lot of time in this course. I got an A by constantly looking over the class notes and clearing up stuff using the book and by spending a lot of time on the HW.

If you have a car, bite the bullet, wake up early, park at O hill, and go to class or you'll be lost. You can go back to sleep after class. If not, then I'd recommend carpooling with someone who has cell bio or another 9am class.

Tl;dr: If you want to learn pchem from a fantastic professor, get an A or B, and have more reasonable HWs and tests, take Herbst's class. But the 9am time really sucks.

Professor Herbst is one of the best teachers I've had at UVA. Attendance to lecture is highly recommended - he is very thorough but makes the material understandable. Tests are fair if you study. Even though Herbst says that the book isn't that helpful, reading reinforced the test material. Professor Herbst is very friendly, enthusiastic, and understanding. Great class!!!