George Flynn

When taeching, Flynn rarely does practical application problems. He teaches every unit by deriving the relevant equations. While this teaching style may work for some, I found it useless when doing the homework and taking the tests, given that the problems are all practical and rarely theoretical. When studying for the tests, I found that the best strategy was re-doing all of the homework (not graded, which is nice), because the lecture slides were completely irrelevant. The variables he uses have no correlation to modern convention (c is velocity rather than the speed or light) so be prepared to learn a whole different set of variables than the ones you're used to. He probably should have retired about fifteen years ago; he tells cute stories about his granddaughter sometimes, but mostly he puts you to sleep. Only a third of the class regularly shows up. Honestly, there's no need to go to lecture; at least for me, the material was entirely self-taught from doing the homework. Honestly, you might be better off taking Gen Chem; there's no real curve (most of the class does fairly well) and I don't feel like I understand Chem any better now than I did in high school.

Flynn hasn't been reviewed in a whiile, probably because not much changes with him. He does his best to make material interesting and clear, but often fails. It's worth going to the lectures though, because for the few people who show up, he will often hide an extra question that's not included in the posted slides in his lectures that is very similar to an exam question. Either way, it's on the whole unnecessary to go to class because the lectures slides are posted and fairly comprehensive. Using the textbook as a supplement is highly recommended. I found that compounded with the book, on the rare occasion that I studied for this class, the material was very well illuminated. You do need to study to get above a B. The exams are very similar to the practice exams, and knowing how to do them perfectly will pretty much guarantee you a B+. It takes a little extra studying to better than that. The whole class seemed to perform well, so there was almost no curve, but about a third of the class got A's. Keep up with the material weekly and you will likely do very well. The quizzes in the recitation section were somewhat difficult, but that depends on your TA. I do regret taking this class just because I don't think Gen Chem would have been at all difficult if you've tested into this class and it would have been much easier to very well compared to the other students taking it. Think…

George Flynn is like a grandfather. The grandfather who Dad makes you visit every year even though it's somewhat agreed that nobody really likes him and his bitter attitude. He tells the same war stories over and over, long/winding/dry anecdotes about the good old days, and even though we pretend to like his famous shepherd's pie we all know it tastes like a rotten taco. Do not go to class. Really. His lectures are filled with units that chemists don't even use anymore (ergs? really?) and confusingly worked out problems. Watch the attendance drop, halfway through the semester there were literally about 30 people in lecture. Just do the problems. The exams are a bit tricky, but not impossible by any means.

I agree with the other reviewers - Flynn is really great guy. The first midterm was tough as hell - I thought I did so bad that I'd be dropping, but so did almost everyone else. Plus I found out that he drops the lowest score at the end. For the second and third midterm, I attended lectures more often but didn't find them too helpful. I will say, though, he is about as entertaining as a chemistry lecturer can be and he's smart as hell. When you're following him, the lectures can be pretty interesting. I feel like I understand the "how" behind the formulation of the equations instead of just the equations. (like in the equation for frequency of collisions between gas molecules at a section of a wall, all of the numbrs and multiples in the equation make sense as opposed to just the concept). For the second and third midterm, I did ALL of the homework problems twice. They help so much. If you know how to solve all the homework problems, you'll do well on the exams. Not only are the ideas in the test questions all taken from the homework directly or indirectly, some problems are always reproduced exactly. There is, however, a frustrating challenge problem on every test. Despite my prep for the 2nd and 3rd exam, the challenge problem got me both times but I did do a little above average. I was ready to get a B+, but then I studied even harder for the final again just by doing homew…

As previous reviews have implied, Professor Flynn is a hit or miss. If you learn best from lectures, this is probably not the place for you, as you will probably learn most of the material on your own. In any case, I strongly recommend not attending his lectures. He uses powerpoint slides that go by much faster than you can really comprehend. To add to that, the lights are dimmed and his voice is quite droning, so you can imagine what happens next. I did not find the recitations particularly useful, but the weekly recitation quiz forced me keep up with the material. His practice exams were really similar to the actual exams, so make sure you know how to do all those problems, and you should do well. Personally, I felt that the class simply taught how and when to use the equations on his equation sheet without revealing any real underlying knowledge of chemistry. Also, since the exams are all scantron (multiple-choice), you don't get partial credit. The curve was not bad, though. I do not regret taking this class, since it was not a large time commitment and a better option than two semester of gen chem.

Flynn was a nice guy but his lectures were VERY boring. That being said, it doesn't really matter what his lectures are like because in my opinion there's no need to attend them. The trick to this class is to thoroughly do the homework problems and the practice exams. A lot of the exam questions were taken directly from the practice exams, and when I say directly, I mean directly. Sometimes he wouldn't even change the numbers. I did the practice exam problems twice before every test and got an easy A+. The main thing I liked about this class was that the exams were very straightforward, they were long but there was no trickery.

Look, pre-meds, Flynn is easier than regular Gen Chem! You actually don’t have to deal with those frustrating lecturers, you can have fair exams and actually learn something with one of the highest regarded chemistry profs in the US. He is rather boring, and the lecture hall doesn’t really fill up, but he does throw in a few viable jokes now and then. I’d like to disagree with some of the reviews below, and say that the powerpoint presentations are actually quite helpful – though you’re right, it is better to go to class first to see how he treats each piece of material. He curved slightly lower than a B+ this past year, but an A- is easily within your reach if you do every HW problem and study all the lectures – the first, and maybe even also the second problem of four on the tests are straight out of the text! Recitations are rather tedious, so make sure you prepare for them so you don’t waste time during the session figuring it out. His challenge problems, always involving the excitation of molecules by light, may look intimidating, but if you are patient and try to figure them out, you’ll go a long way with them, and be on your way to an A. The final is quite easy – questions are philosophically identical to problems on previous exams.

I read on CULPA that this class was an "emotional roller coaster," and I think that was fairly accurate. At first, I thought it didn't sound too bad and that I had a pretty good grasp on the material, however I walked out of the first midterm with my dreams of a chemistry major absolutely crushed. His "creative questions" on the exams threw me off, and I hardly had enough time to finish the test. Thankfully he drops your lowest grade, so in the end this midterm didn't hurt me. I managed to break the class average on the subsequent midterms and the final, but not without obsessively studying the homework, retaking the practice tests a few times, and a horrible sensation of hopelessness accompanying each test. This is a difficult and intimidating class, but it is possible to keep up if you are motivated. The recitations were incredibly helpful in going over the material (although I heard that the TA for the other section was much worse), and if you're interested in physics and/or chemistry, you'll find the material somewhat engaging. Flynn's lectures were kind of boring (and at 9:10, so they were not well-attended), but he is a really smart guy and knows what he is doing. I did wind up with a lower grade than I had expected (I was told he curves to a B+, although I scored at least average on everything except the test I dropped and got a B), so I'm not really sure what happened.…

Terrible lecturer. Lectures are dry and hard to understand. Save your time and do HW and practice questions instead.

IG Chem with Professor Flynn will take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride. You'll be happy at first, because you only need to take one semester of chemistry. Then you will be terrified because you'll realize that this is chemistry different from anything you've seen before. If you're brave, you'll stick with it. You'll be confused, but pretty sure you understand things...well...sort of. And then, you'll take your first test, which will almost certainly bring out all of that horror and despair deep in your chemistry soul. Professor Flynn is a great teacher and really loves chemistry. He just sometimes forgets that we are college freshmen and have not been working in the field for 60+ years. His tests are HARD, and you will very rarely feel sure of yourself. This class is most definitely not for people who lack a real (AP) Physics background, as a lot of the chem is based in "basic" physics concepts that I had never heard of before. I probably would not recommend it for premeds, because there is very little real chemistry until a week before the final. Either way, it can't be denied that Professor Flynn is a great teacher. He is one of the funniest (in that slap-your-forehead corny way), nicest professors you will ever have, but his tests will bring you to tears. All the riding on his "spaceship Columbia" challenge questions have left me a bit jetlagged. Still, he is a VERY…