Meenakshi Rao

She dislikes everyone, no matter if you are a student or a ta or a teacher. No mistakes are allowed, even if you just split some water. Unfortunately, you can't really avoid her because she is the instructor for Orgo 1 and 2 labs. Try to go as prepared as you can and don't react when she's mad, then she will go find someone else.

lab reports every week. lab final (extremely difficult and instructors are completely unhelpful with studying).

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…

Jazz of Chemistry. Awesome awesome awesome, sweetest most knowledgable woman, who is so willing to make class fun. I feel like i genuinely learned a lot and the class was super interesting without being too chem heavy (f you have no chem background, take this course if you nee the req!)

Although the reviews made me a little scared to take this class, along with the anxiety-ridden experience I had in Gen Chem lab. But this lab has been wonderful, albeit not completely free of anxiety (will chemistry ever be, though?) The class overall has been really engaging, fun, and cool! I love all the experiments. Of course, sometimes you feel lost in lab and are so worried because you got only a spec of product back while everyone else got a gram or more. But don't worry! If you take the time to understand the theory, which isn't too hard to do with office hours EVERY DAY, they don't care that your results weren't perfect. I once got a percent recovery of 0.11% while the average among my friends was probably 20-40% and I didn't lose a single point for that as I explained what I thought happened. Again, if you don't know what happened go to office hours and they will help you brainstorm ideas. I find the grading to be extremely fair and not that difficult at all. If you explain the theory well and include the components listed in the lab manual you are almost guaranteed a 90% or higher. I am currently studying for the final in the class, which they have set us up to succeed on, with the helpful practice questions in the manual and the practice test, along with review sessions and again, office hours every day! As for Dr. Rao herself, she is a pleasant, helpful, smart prof…

Dr. Rao is a really nice person and she obviously cares about her students; she took all of us to her house in Long Island and cooked us delicious food and it was a fun day! However, this class is so poorly organized that I found it hard to respect her as an instructor. The grading standards were so arbitrary, I spent most of the class never knowing what type of grade I was going to get. She has favorites, so get on her good side, if you're not...you're in for some trouble. I had high expectations for Dr. Rao and this class, but this class definitely did not live up to them. Be prepared for some hellish grading and a lot of craziness. This class was just...well, crazy.

The professors pull new information out of their asses and take off points for not including it when it's not mentioned anywhere in the lecture slides, lab manual, or in lab. They spring new information and don't make announcements in class, so better pray that you have friends or you're cooked. Sample reports aren't even accurate and so they set you up to fail.

Dr. Rao is singlehandedly the rudest, most narcissistic, and most unprofessional educator I have ever had the displeasure of being taught by. As stated in other reviews, her attitude was horrendous in every single lab period. It was not uncommon for students to cry every week in my section from her berating, and she refused to actually help students when they asked. She consistently treated everyone around her in a very condescending manner, including the other lab instructors. Even over email, she was extremely rude and unprofessional. Dr. Rao created a very hostile environment to take lab in, and I would 100% recommend to anyone that if you get placed in her section, do whatever you can to switch.

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.

There are no tests or quizzes and all assignments are manageable, few lab reports and a few projects.