A chemistry seminar involving research discussions facilitated by faculty among research group members to review current research.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026← Chemistry (CHEM)
Easiest courses in Chemistry
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22 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Graduate course covering selected topics in contemporary macromolecular or biophysical chemistry, focusing on discussing current topics of active interest in molecular biophysics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Alessandro Senes
The course was rated as moderately difficult, with clear expectations set by the instructor.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Highlights at the Chemistry-Biology Interface involves oral presentations on thesis research at the chemistry-biology interface, covering reproducibility, rigor, and responsible conduct of research.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introduction to NMR covering theory and practice within chemical instrumentation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Heike Hofstetter
The workload included weekly homework, quizzes, demos, and two-hour in-person experiments. Students reported feeling exhausted by mid-October from the cumulative demands of these frequent assignments.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#5 ·CHEM 668
Biophysical Spectroscopy
2–3 creditsBiophysical Spectroscopy covers principles and applications of spectroscopic and microscopy methods used to solve biological problems at the atomic and molecular level.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Silvia Cavagnero
One student noted that you will be studying on the evenings and weekends to keep up with the tough material.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2025Physical Chemistry Laboratory I applies experimental principles to acquire thermodynamic and kinetic data using basic lab equipment, including error analysis and result interpretation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Physical Chemistry Laboratory II applies experimental physical chemistry principles to acquire and interpret data on molecular structure, dynamics, and macromolecule properties using spectroscopic and electronic instrumentation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Mark Wendt
Preparation involved reading a handout and watching videos, while class time focused on solving numerous problems.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#8 ·CHEM 116
Chemical Principles II
5 creditsChemical Principles II provides a quantitative treatment of macroscopic phenomena including thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, solution behavior, electrochemistry, and chemical kinetics.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Mark Ediger, Arun Yethiraj
Past students reported that tests were hard, though some found them fair if they studied problem sets. Others struggled because exams covered material not clearly taught in lecture, making it difficult to know what to study.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026Covers basic principles for designing, developing, and using chemical instrumentation in the laboratory, emphasizing spectroscopy, separations, and mass spectrometry.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Frank Keutsch
Students found the tests manageable, noting they were not too bad during the course.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026#10 ·CHEM 562
Physical Chemistry II
3 creditsPhysical Chemistry II covers molecular theory, focusing on quantum chemistry, molecular structure and spectra, statistical mechanics, and the molecular theory of matter in bulk.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Arun Yethiraj
Under one instructor, homework was assigned only the week before exams, and tests contained material unrelated to lectures, readings, or assignments. This resulted in low exam averages, with one student noting a 38% average and another reporting a 40% average.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#11 ·CHEM 561
Physical Chemistry I
3 creditsPhysical Chemistry I covers macroscopic theory including laws and equations of thermodynamics, chemical and phase equilibria, and kinetic theory of gases.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Gilbert Nathanson, Mark Ediger
The material was extremely difficult, and cramming did not work. The workload was described as the perfect amount of effort for a 3-credit class, with fair homeworks and exams.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Elementary Organic Chemistry Laboratory introduces organic lab techniques for synthesis, purification, and spectral interpretation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Brian Esselman
Exams were described as hard but fair, offering a challenging yet manageable assessment style.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026#13 ·CHEM 665
Biophysical Chemistry
3 creditsBiophysical Chemistry covers equilibrium thermodynamics and chemical kinetics, emphasizing solution behavior and applications to biological macromolecules in solution.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Inhyuk Jang, Silvia Cavagnero
The course was conceptually demanding, particularly for students without strong backgrounds in chemistry or biophysics. One student noted it was especially hard if they did not put in significant time and effort, while another found the difficulty manageable with clear explanations.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Covers fundamentals of chemical measurement, equilibria, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and separations with greater mathematical rigor than CHEM 327.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jeanne Hamers
The project lab consumed most of the time and energy, while the core concepts remained easy but busy work reduced study time for other classes.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Introductory organic chemistry laboratory course covering synthesis, purification, characterization techniques, and critical interpretation of experimental data.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Tehshik Yoon, Barbara Whitlock
The class was not easy, though one student felt having a great professor helped. Another found exams really hard, specifically mentioning reaction mechanisms, though they appreciated the instructor's slow pace and openness to questions.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Covers fundamentals of chemical measurement across disciplines, focusing on equilibria, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, separations, and quantitative laboratory technique.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Linda Zelewski
Homeworks, labs, pre-lab quizzes, and tests required significant time. You could not go a day without working on the class without falling behind.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026Inorganic chemistry course covering coordination, bioinorganic, solid-state, and main-group topics, including synthesis and characterization of inorganic compounds.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · John Moore
Students reported a heavy workload involving weekly typed lab reports of 5–6 pages, problem sets, and occasional online tutorials. Grading criteria were clear, and tests were considered fair if students participated in class and completed homework.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#18 ·CHEM 103
General Chemistry I
4 creditsGeneral Chemistry I covers stoichiometry, states of matter, thermochemistry, atomic structure, bonding, and lab skills.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jeannine Szczech, Stephen Block
Past students reported that Dr. Szczech’s tests were very difficult, while Dr. Block’s labs took over six hours to complete and were described as unforgiving and poorly managed.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#19 ·CHEM 108
Chemistry in Our World
5 creditsChemistry in Our World covers selected inorganic and organic chemistry topics, emphasizing relevance to biological, environmental, and social issues.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Clark Landis
Clark Landis’s section required a weekly problem set and Friday quizzes. Students noted that quizzes did not align with homework, making perfect scores difficult despite easy exams.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2023–Spring 2026#20 ·CHEM 104
General Chemistry II
5 creditsGeneral Chemistry II covers chemical equilibrium, coordination chemistry, electrochemistry, kinetics, nuclear chemistry, introductory organic chemistry, and laboratory skills.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Jeremiah Duncan, Paula Piccoli
Exams were frequently cited as difficult, with some students noting they were poorly worded. Success often depended on doing practice problems and reviewing material before lectures.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#21 ·CHEM 343
Organic Chemistry I
3 creditsOrganic Chemistry I covers molecular structure and bonding to predict reactivity of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides, alcohols, and thiols, emphasizing stereochemical and regiochemical outcomes.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Zachary Wickens
Wickens implemented a forgiving grading system that allowed dropping the lowest midterm score, and weekly problem sets were graded based on attempting half the problems.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026#22 ·CHEM 345
Organic Chemistry II
3 creditsOrganic Chemistry II covers molecular structure and bonding to predict reactivity in aromatic, benzylic, allylic, and carbonyl systems, emphasizing stereochemistry, regiochemistry, and spectroscopic analysis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Past student reviews · Andrew Maza
The honors section demanded high standards for comprehension and synthesis, requiring students to stay strictly on top of homework and reading assignments.
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Spring 2026