CHEM 4320

Absolutely the worst class I have taken at UVA because of the horrible professor. Avoid at all costs.

She is a terrible teacher. The lectures were very bad and uninformative. She is unwilling to help her students and doesn't even seem to know the topic well. In fact, she referenced wikipedia daily in her lectures and recommended it when she didn't know something. The text was also terrible with many inaccuracies.

I don't know what the other reviewers were complaining about. I didn't think Professor Fraser was that bad. There were several times when she admitted she wasn't sure about something but on the whole she did a good job. The lecture itself is boring but I found it helpful since the book is kind of useless. Prof. Fraser is willing to answer questions and I always felt she answered them to my satisfaction. I had also heard that tests would be random and not related to the material but I thought they were fine. I wish we had spent more time on the applications of inorganic chemistry since that is what is more interesting and relevant but I think I learned what was important. If you aren't interested in Chemistry then I wouldn't recommend this class but if you are serious about chemistry then you can learn something.

Disregard the April 2011 comment. Probably the same person who went up to her on the last day of class to thank her for such a good semester. Fraser is the worst chemistry professor I've had at UVA. And there have been a lot of them. This class was the final nail in the coffin of what has been an awful degree program. If you have the option to choose a major that does not involve taking this class, do it. She doesn't know her material, frequently cites wikipedia (and in fact may base her whole lesson plan on it, seriously, follow along on the wikipedia page during her lecture and you'll be surprised how similar they are), and "bumps" questions from students to the end of class where she can "run out of time" and not answer them. Problem sets and tests are an order of magnitude beyond what she teaches in class. Don't expect help from office hours either; during one problem set, each person in our group had an answer that had been independently "confirmed" by either her or the TA. Avoid at all costs. The only way you can possibly enjoy this class is if you've already been accepted into med school and just don't care. Actually, I'd recommend it.

As far as I know, she is a successful researcher, but a horrible professor. If the department is going to make this class mandatory for all students, at least it should bother to make it relevant to Biochemistry. She doesn't care about her students, although she does her best to pretend to. Her cheery e-mails will not make up for the fact that she can't teach, and expects her students to go to Wikipedia and learn. And to the person who didn't think she was that bad, more power to you.

TOTAL WASTE OF MY TIME. I didn't have high hopes for the class and it lived up to expectation. This is the worst class I've ever had (and I've taken PChem!). Professor Fraser doesn't seem to have a handle on what is happening. I feel that the material could have been presented in a better way. So if you have to take this class please brush up on Wikipedia and Web Elements. Tell me again why did I buy the book? I've had conversation outside of class with Professor Fraser and she seems genuinely nice but she couldn't teach if her life depended and it and if Wikipedia website crashed. Needless to say I hated this class (and am not saying this because I'm getting a bad grade, because I'm not). On a good note, Steve was more helpful than she was.

I cannot believe I paid money for this class... Unbelievable. This was a horrible ending to a horrible major (BSc. Biochem). It's not even worth writing bad reviews for her; Fraser is tenured and apparently is teaching even more classes next year. Great job Burnett and colleagues for listening to your students' reviews.

I forced myself to attend this class on the sole basis that I am paying out of state tuition for it, so I may as well get my money's worth. I would have been better off staying at home and reading wikipedia. Professor Fraser is a very nice person and seems to have a genuine passion for inorganic chemistry, but she is far and away the worst professor I have at UVa. Cannot believe this is what I, and my family, pay for. I worked an inordinate amount for this class, yet had zero interest in it. The lectures are neither exciting nor useful, and you can expect about a 10% attendance rate. Don't expect an automatic good grade either, especially if you don't want to spend hours outside of class figuring out the material on your own. Overall, horrendous course that was not relevant to my major. Like others have said, avoid taking this course at all costs.