Historical instructor

HOWARD WHITLOCK

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.64/5 from 107 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

ORGCH343 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 5/5
I had him for organic chem 343 in fall 1975. Loved it (was pre-med; got into med school). There were 5 exams; if you got an A on the first 4, then you got an A for the class and skipped #5, the final. I screwed up the second exam (actually missed a whole page!), so took the final. Exams were hard but fair; can't say anything bad about him.
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CHEM 104
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
Absolutely terrible. I got an A on 2 of the 3 midterms, a B on the other, did well in discussion and lab but still wound up with a B. The normalization of discussions screwed me completely and I was completely turned off by his teaching style (which is based off of tangents). Try to avoid him if possible.
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CHEM 104
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
Whitlock is a horrible professor. His lectures made no sense most of the time and he went on tangents. His test may be open book and note but do not rely on your book because his tests are difficult! Do not go to his office hours he refuses to talk about your grade and makes you feel dumb. He is rude and if you're emotional you will cry. TAs help!
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CHEM 104
Quality 2/5Difficulty 2/5
Whitlock is awesome once you figure out how to approach his class. First, DO read the book thoroughly and do lots of practice problems. GO to EVERY discussion, and get help from your TA. Do all of his previous exams. If you do that, you can enjoy his hilarious/pointless lectures. His class is like 80% exams, but his exams are open book/notes.
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CHEM 104
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Whitlock is absolutely ridiculous. He's a pretty awful professor, honestly and isn't really even that comprehensive (not covering titration in the acid/base unit? Come on), but his pessimistic rants are often hilarious. Take Whitlock if… Read full reviewShow less
Whitlock is absolutely ridiculous. He's a pretty awful professor, honestly and isn't really even that comprehensive (not covering titration in the acid/base unit? Come on), but his pessimistic rants are often hilarious. Take Whitlock if you want an easy A, not if you want to understand chemistry. Tests are open note and not too hard if you study.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with HOWARD WHITLOCK

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2009CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2008CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Spring 2008CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Fall 2007CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Spring 2007CHEM 104General Chemistry II
Spring 2007CHEM 346Intermediate Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Fall 2006CHEM 104General Chemistry II

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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