CHEM BC1601

Homework is on the Achieve platform, which you have to pay for. Do NOT pay for the textbook — she never uses it, and you can easily find it free online. For the midterms, they actually did a good job posting a clear list of everything that would be tested. You should rely on external websites and YouTube to learn the material; if you do that, you’ll do very well on the exams. There are three midterms, the lowest one is dropped, and there is a final.

3 exams + weekly hw assignments, each exam has a ton of long questions (MCQ, fill in and equations). I 100% recommend to really try on your first exam, it was not as complex as the next two. Lowest grade gets dropped.

The workload of this class isn't the problem. The director is.

Its Doable, and you dont have to stay up til 2 am every morning to finish it. Once a week should be enough. i guess im kind of kidding, however you need to DO IT, it will save your ass. Every problem she gives is excellent practice for the exams. Stay on top of things I urge you, otherwise you will get confused. Put effort into the problems, and make sure you understand them, it will pay off. If you dont get it, go see her, she has office hours dedicated to the problem sets. get into the habit of doing it from the beginning, its for your own good, you either see her or cry when you have to figure it out on your own. Also go to the review sessions for the exams, going in i felt like i had no clue about anything yet came out an hour and a half later feeling pretty confident. The book is really good too, it helps fill in the holes and clears up loads of confusion, plus its simple, concise, kind of interesting, and pretty humorous at times. Lab is hell, I won't lie to you. apparently it helps lift most people's grade up. god knows how, but it does. the first 6 are pretty horrible, so go get help for them, trust me about 15-30 minutes will bring you from a c to an a. im not lying, ive done it myself. Do the experiments correctly, they are totally into accuracy, as my D+ will attest to. you dont have to memorize the manual, just get an idea of what on earth you are doing, youll get…

lab (36%), 3 midterms (24% total - 12% each, lowest one dropped), homework (12%), classwork (8%), final (20%)

OWL HW's, 3 midterms and final (worth 2x a midterm), recitation quizzes, lowest 100 point equivalent is dropped

Problem sets every week. Hard. Several exams and a hard ass final. Use OFFICE HOURS and you'll do well. But it's a DEFINITE GPA killer, so beware.

I went into this class expecting to build on what I learned in AP Chem, but it ended up being a huge disappointment. The course was terribly organized and taught using crappy lecture slides that sometimes even had incorrect information. Lectures were basically useless. Professor Austin seems like a nice person, but she is a terrible teacher and should not be teaching general chemistry. She consistently made simple, introductory topics way more confusing than they needed to be by using convoluted, nonsensical analogies. I stopped going to lecture because it honestly made the material harder to understand, not easier. It was painful to watch people get confused over topics that were actually not hard at all. If you took AP Chem, this class will be a complete joke. Overall, it felt like a massive waste of time and easily the most useless lecture I’ve sat through.

Marisa was extremely nice and open to answering any questions. Each lecture had balanced content, but not explained fully in detail. What is explained is usually broad and I would often learn much more outside of the class with videos or tutors than in class.

-Somehow a senior lecturer -Somehow STILL employed in this school, let alone in academia in general Strap in your seat belts children, because its gonna be a rough ride. General Chemistry lab is one of the worst, most uncomfortable experiences you will have in STEM at Barnard. Absolutely the worst way to begin any track in Chemistry (or STEM in general, because the class is required for many other STEM tracks such as Bio, Biochem, Neuro, etc.), not even because of the coursework itself but because of this man alone. He complicates EVERYTHING. He is not transparent (no grading rubric for the lab report grades, no consistency between graders, not willing to explain why a grade was given, and the list goes on), EXTREMELY passive aggressive (or straight up aggressive), tells you to attend office hours and then doesn't help you AT ALL (you will come out of that room more confused than you've ever been), doesn't know how to structure or organize anything (the archaic black and white notebook system needs to GO), and ultimately just fosters an environment of anxiety, depression, confusion, and isolation. Barnard always tells us to "Be well." Not possible when this man is around. A fair warning to all my fellow STEM homies: DO NOT let the attitude of this man and the environment of the gen chem lab he directs influence your image and ideas of Barnard's Chemistry Department or STEM dep…