Jean Vadakkan

we had pre-lab computational assignments, lab notebook prep, powerpoints and videos to review, and some kind of post-lab assignment for every lab, whether it was a worksheet or lab report. It's definitely a lot of work and I would spent many late nights in the library the day before lab

I literally love Dr. V! She's very knowledgeable, funny, and definitely a bit scary sometimes in lab but it's just because she wants you to learn. Out of all the instructors, her office hours were definitely the most helpful- she goes over all the concepts clearly and gives you tips on what to include in your post-lab worksheets/lab reports. Other reviews were saying how she tends to play favorites, which I can definitely see being true in the actual lab, but she definitely does not grade based on favoritism. As someone who she likely favored, she still graded me very harshly, but that's just how orgo lab is- all the other instructors will find ways to take off points too.

Honestly, this lab course is hard, but I absolutely love Dr. V. She is so funny and a great teacher, it's so much fun being in lab with her.

There was a lab report for every experiment, so nearly every week. Professor V's grading was definitely biased, as multiple people had either very negative or positive experiences with her. And sometimes one person would get marked off multiple points for the same thing someone else did that, but the other wasn't marked down. I spent at least 5-8 hours a week doing the lab reports, and an additional 1-3 hours on pre-lab assignment.

To start- Dr. V is brilliant and knows what she is teaching. However, she very strongly plays favorites and this comes across in her grading of lab reports and approaches in teaching different students. The content of the course is difficult, but not impossible. However, at the end of the semester, I had some questions about my grade but they were never properly answered despite my persistent emails.

This lab class is really difficult. I've pulled multiple (multiple!) all-nighters writing lab reports. Maybe it was bad time management on my part, but these lab reports take an incredibly long time to make perfect. And even when you think your report is perfect, believe me, it's not. The instructors will find things to nitpick. But you get used to it, and I guess it builds character. Just expect to expend a lot of time and effort into this class, with little gain or reward for 2.5 measly credits. The lab final is also really difficult too.

To preface - Dr. V is an amazing professor. She is witty and clearly knows almost all there is to know about organic chemistry lab. She's really no-nonsense and that can be scary at times, but she is a genuinely kind and understanding professor. On that note, introductory organic chemistry lab is DIFFICULT. It can be a LOT of work, and lab reports are graded quite harshly. I recommend really paying attention in pre-lab lectures (it will help you so much for the final), reviewing ALL THE SUGGESTIONS left for you on previously graded lab reports, and applying the instructor's suggestions for your future reports.