CHEM BC3333

There were three lab reports. I'll just say that there is no transparency or clear rubric in the grading to be honest, and even if you were to dissect the lab manual and sample lab reports (which you should because it contains all the nitty gritty details on what to include in the lab report/the format) they will still take off points because of things they didn't mention. Pretty much every week give or take, we also had a small lab quiz. I found these particularly annoying because they never once taught us the material we needed to know BEFORE the quiz, so you are expected to study for a quiz, prepare, spend 4 hours in lab, and then write up a lengthy report after. It was nice this semester because the experiments were multi-week experiments, so it wasn't like we had to do pre lab or post lab every week.

Since this was the second semester Organic Chemistry lab class, I knew from previous experience in Orgo I lab last spring that this probably wouldn't be a stellar experience. In general, Orgo Lab classes are stressful and laborious, but this class this semester was uniquely unorganized and quite annoying, to say the least. Since Altschul is going under renovation, all of the Barnard instructional labs have to be taught at Columbia, so the space and time limitation is tough. The direct effect of this was that they gave us NO pre-lab lecture and constantly expected us to learn the material by ourselves. Really, it is insane to think about the lack of teaching the Mod Tech instructors gave us. Dr. Rao is a really interesting professor, in that I respect her for being so knowledgeable and at times she is really funny and great at explaining tough concepts like NMR spectroscopy. But in the lab, she's honestly quite intimidating and creates a hostile learning environment - I know I was a little scared if I messed up and at times it felt like she was interrogating students instead of teaching us. Even the other lab instructors seem to be clueless and like they are just following Dr. Rao's unclear instruction which is quite annoying, but at least they weren't as cold. I think that she is just a bit stuck in her ways from what classic chemistry education is like, and thinks that being…

The assignments were few and far in-between but when assigned, we were provided vague instructions and even more obscured rubrics. The professors has inconsistent grading schemes and I spent around 8 hours minimum on each lab report and around 15 hours on the midterm.

Going into the class, I was excited for a semester of organic chemistry lab as I have loved both semesters of organic chemistry lecture. This lab, however, was a source of major stress every week, exhausting, and one of the most frustrating classes I have taken. This lab professor makes me question the integrity and value of the Barnard Chemistry Department. If you can avoid it, though unlikely, avoid this professor if possible.