Plan ahead for courses where students have earned lower grades.
Lowest historical GPA first. At least 100 letter grades over the five years through the
selected term. Grades reflect past outcomes, not workload or a guaranteed result.
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22 courses
Ranked courses have at least 100 recorded letter grades.
Organic Chemistry II covers molecular structure and bonding to predict reactivity in aromatic, benzylic, allylic, and carbonyl systems, emphasizing stereochemistry, regiochemistry, and spectroscopic analysis.
The honors section demanded high standards for comprehension and synthesis, requiring students to stay strictly on top of homework and reading assignments.
Organic Chemistry I covers molecular structure and bonding to predict reactivity of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alkyl halides, alcohols, and thiols, emphasizing stereochemical and regiochemical outcomes.
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.
General Chemistry II covers chemical equilibrium, coordination chemistry, electrochemistry, kinetics, nuclear chemistry, introductory organic chemistry, and laboratory skills.
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.
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.
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.
Inorganic chemistry course covering coordination, bioinorganic, solid-state, and main-group topics, including synthesis and characterization of inorganic compounds.
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.
Covers fundamentals of chemical measurement across disciplines, focusing on equilibria, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, separations, and quantitative laboratory technique.
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.
Covers fundamentals of chemical measurement, equilibria, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and separations with greater mathematical rigor than CHEM 327.
Biophysical Chemistry covers equilibrium thermodynamics and chemical kinetics, emphasizing solution behavior and applications to biological macromolecules in solution.
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.
Physical Chemistry I covers macroscopic theory including laws and equations of thermodynamics, chemical and phase equilibria, and kinetic theory of gases.
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.
Physical Chemistry II covers molecular theory, focusing on quantum chemistry, molecular structure and spectra, statistical mechanics, and the molecular theory of matter in bulk.
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.
Covers basic principles for designing, developing, and using chemical instrumentation in the laboratory, emphasizing spectroscopy, separations, and mass spectrometry.
Chemical Principles II provides a quantitative treatment of macroscopic phenomena including thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, solution behavior, electrochemistry, and chemical kinetics.
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.
Physical 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.
Physical Chemistry Laboratory I applies experimental principles to acquire thermodynamic and kinetic data using basic lab equipment, including error analysis and result interpretation.
Biophysical Spectroscopy covers principles and applications of spectroscopic and microscopy methods used to solve biological problems at the atomic and molecular level.
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.
Highlights at the Chemistry-Biology Interface involves oral presentations on thesis research at the chemistry-biology interface, covering reproducibility, rigor, and responsible conduct of research.
Graduate course covering selected topics in contemporary macromolecular or biophysical chemistry, focusing on discussing current topics of active interest in molecular biophysics.