For most freshmen entering Berkeley as pre-meds, Chem 1A (+1AL) is usually the first science class that most people take. This is because Chem 1A is a requirement for other pre-med courses such as Chem 3A or Bio 1A. I took Chem 1A fall 2016 during which the Head-Gordons were teaching. For those of you who aren't yet aware of the Head-Gordons, they are husband and wife that are known to make Chem 1A much harder than it should be. They spent a lot of time on quantum mechanics and went way deeper into this subject than the scope of Chem 1A. Thus, the class was difficult and I know many many people who failed this class.
Chem 1A with Professor Stacy
About the class:
There was also professor Stacy teaching Chem 1A during fall 2016. She was such a sweet lady and very approachable both in class and in office hour. There were only 120 students in class and to be in the class, you had to email her for permission. She only wanted people who had very little knowledge of Chemistry and intentionally designed the class so that it wouldn't be cutthroat, competitive but rather supportive and helpful. Instead of the big lecture hall, the class was in a small classroom in which students were assigned to different groups. In class, there was almost no lecture. Students were given handouts and activities to work on with people from the same group. After class, she posted lectures on bCourses (slides with voice-over) and they were typically around 30-45 mins. There were homework problems (10 questions per homework) that were due before next lecture. There was discussion once a week during which students took a quiz. The class also required projects and bCourses posts.
About grading, midterms, and final
Many people overlooked the quizzes and did not take them seriously. However, they did matter a lot. The quizzes were hard sometimes but very doable and fair. Some of the questions were from past midterms (which you could find online). Exams were definitely very fair though the questions could be tricky. There were 3 exams and 1 final. She did post a few old exams with answer keys on bCourses and they were very helpful.
Personal experience and tips to succeed in this class:
I loved this class a lot. GSIs and professor were all very nice and helpful. I personally did not really enjoy the class activities because I did not learn much from the activities. I know many of my classmates also did not really care about the activities. Even though Stacy was easier (much easier) than Head-Gordons, I can assure you that this class was challenging. The last time I checked berkeleytime, there were only 9/120 people who got A's.
Definitely keep up with the work. The homework and video lectures can be overwhelming so don't fall behind. Study for the quizzes by looking at the homework problems of that week. Make sure you do all practice/old exams. I have seen questions on actual exams that were from the old exams. Go to office hour! PLEASE DO! She's so nice, ask all the questions you have. Take good notes when you watch the lectures. And like any other classes, study for exams beforehand.
Personal Grading:
Overall class experience: B+
Overall professor rating: A-
Grade received (for this category, I will only say A range, B range, C range, etc.): A range
Hope that was helpful! Comment below if I missed anything :)
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