Christian Rojas

Rojas is probably the best Professor I've ever had. So knowledgable and enthusiastic, very clear, manageable workload, and incredibly supportive.

Prof. Rojas' notes are amazing, they give you exactly enough background information to actually understand everything and not simply memorize. I honestly thought this was a pretty easy course purely because of how good those notes were. After the 1st test, I only showed up to midterms and just read the notes a day or two before and still got an A in the class. The one thing I didn't love was that he didn't post the averages for midterms, which I would have appreciated knowing so I could understand how I was doing relative to the class.

Professor Rojas makes Orgo a fun and engaging class! He's incredibly clear in his explanations, funny, and a really good teacher. He assigns a write up for every class explaining the concepts and then sometimes has a video and usually a set of 2-5 problems to work through. He's been teaching this course forever, but still seems excited and enthusiastic for every class (and not jaded by teaching introductory material.) Class time was a lot of working though problems, with him explaining things. I took this because it was a major requirement and was a little scared because,... orgo, but it wound up being one of my favorite classes! If you need to take orgo, do it with Rojas!

Profesor Rojas is an absolute genius at explaining. He is especially good at explaining Organic and making it come to life in ways that it may have not before (outside of the lab). He has a great attitude, clear expectations, and urges you to think outside the box -- allowing you to apply your knowledge to practical laboratory and real-world situations. I felt very lucky to be one of Dr. Rojas's students. I would say he is the best teacher I've had so far not only at Barnard, but at Columbia. He is kind, very open to questions, and eager to make sure you understand what it is you are doing in lab. He doesn't want to make parrots, he wants thinkers and hard workers as his students. I learned so much in this course -- it really helped me learn to love working in college labs (as opposed to research laboratories). It also helped me fall in love with organic chemistry because YES IT IS THAT COOL :o) If you are reading this because you have him for ORGANIC CHEMISTRY II you are IN LUCK! There are some of us who had Doubleday, as many of you did for first semester. All I have to say is, I envy you deeply! I cannot imagine how fun and clear and interesting Orgo II will be with Dr. Rojas. You lucky ducks!

Professor Rojas is a saint. He makes himself available to his students (office hours every day of the week!) and he really cares. His class is completely fair and while the exams are difficult he is a gem about partial credit. This man deserves a gold nugget.

Rojas is awesome. He teaches Organic Chemistry in a way that is not scary and he genuinely believes that all of his students have the ability to succeed in a difficult class. He makes class enjoyable and makes the material interesting, and you can tell that he is a person that teaches out of the love for it and the care for his students. It is so ridiculously impressive that Rojas can take such a terrifying class and turn it into such a positive experience. Don't get me wrong, this is a tough class, but he is the absolute best professor for it and he will set you up for success in every way he can.

I can't say enough good things about Professor Rojas!!! I think after teaching the course for so many years, he has it down to a science (no pun intended). He posts an assignment on courseworks each day (so five per week) and holds office hours every single day. The assignments are never due, but if you keep up with them you're good to go for the exams. During the second half of the semester I generally did the assignments every weekend or every other weekend rather than after each class, but it still worked out well. Because Professor Rojas is such a good lecturer that I never felt lost or like I had to teach the concepts to myself, which seems to be pretty rare for intro science classes. I simply showed up to class, did the assignments as much as possible, and learned organic chemistry! I never felt like I was blindly memorizing things or teaching myself from a textbook. A tip for the last part of the semester - you should keep a running list of new reactions that you learn and organize them by product. Then, memorize the mechanism and the reagents. Having a consistent study group throughout the semester is also helpful! Apart from that, Professor Rojas is a really funny guy overall. He reads poetry during class and seems to have a good sense of the pulse of the class (and Barnard in general). If you have to take organic chemistry, you should hands down take it with Rojas.

This guy is the real deal. Patient as HELL and extremely encouraging. Orgo sounds daunting, but every important concept is explained clearly in his class. He grades very fairly if not leniently, but office hours are crucial if you want an A. I usually went twice a week. Also--he isn't charmed by suck ups. He doesn't play favorites at all, so don't waste your time with that route. Show up to class. Take notes. Go to office hours. And most importantly--do not be afraid to ask questions. Those are the things that matter to Professor Rojas and those are the things that will get you a great grade. He is an excellent, excellent educator and probably the best I've ever had. Best piece of information about Professor Rojas--he makes his own problem sets, so his tests are extremely related to the homework. If you master the problem sets, you'll do very well on his exams. There are no surprises.

Amazing professor. Teaches all the material in a straightforward, digestible manner. Really takes things in steps, and the pacing of the class isn't too fast or too slow. Organic Chemistry is 100% a difficult subject, but Professor Rojas makes it easy to understand. You definitely need to put the effort in, and once you do, it pays off.

Rojas is the best professor I have ever had. I was really, really struggling the first half of the semester and I went to him asking if I should withdraw, basically freaking out. He was so nice, and empathetic and urged me not to withdraw because I wasn't at that point. He gave me study tips and urged me to come to office hours at least once a week. I highly recommend that if you take this course you go to office hours MORE than once a week. He holds them every day at different times so you should be able to go to at least one. I went every day. These office hours gave me As on the 3 exams after the first 2. He explains and explains and explains like crazy and will answer anything at all. No question is dumb in this class and he takes every question very seriously and makes sure you understand what you need help on. He is so extremely supportive and helpful. His in class notes are also amazing and color coordinated and organized. I have never had any professor so dedicated and so patient. Orgo sucks but I ended up enjoying it a lot more because of him. Rojas also got the Emily Gregory Professor Award at Barnard, well deserved.