Just NONONONONONONO

Many people don't want to say good things about Linda, but her class is not bad at all. Her lectures were great, usually under 50 minutes, even for an 8:50 class. I didn't expect to earn an A since my exam average was around a 78, but the curve was very helpful. Overall, she explained the material clearly and made the class manageable and fair.

Amazing professor, good at explaining everything.

If you're a freshman and seeing these reviews and panicking, I was in the same boat. Let me tell you, she's not really bad at all. Her lectures are decently paced and not too slow, keeping my attention. She can be rude in office hours, but it's moreso just tough love because she really wants you to understand. Success is more dependent on TAs.

When you read most you'll come to find she isn't so bad if the student had got an A in the class. Chem 103 is a difficult class and she is of no help. If you are an independent learner and have that skill set I'm sure you'll succeed, but for many this is your first taste of it. Her tests are way harder than the others, 103 is not standardized.

You need to be a good independent learner to succeed in this class: do all the pre-class readings, go to lecture, take notes, study consistently. I had no issues with Zelewski, but she just reads off slides. If you struggle with understanding chemistry concepts or aren't good at independent learning, I recommend finding a different professor.

Genuinely the worst. Your tests when talking with others will legitimately be 2-3x harder, especially the final. Lectures are the most simplistic of concepts yet the exams are conceptually heavy and sophisticated. The approachability of her doesn't matter, it's the skillset of her as an instructor being poor, and her tests being exponentially hard

Do not take her class. Her exam averages are always at least 7% lower than other blocks of chem103 (due to her teaching and her exams being harder). She is extremely rude and condescending when you email her or go to office hours. I don't think I ever learned a thing from her and woke up every day DREADING her lecture. Take literally anybody else.

She can be brutally honest sometimes, but I thought she was a lot nicer than how some describe her. I didn't really enjoy chem 103, but I thought Zelewski was perfectly able and cared about the success of her students.

Professor Zelewski was very unapproachable and did not adequately accommodate the needs of all students. Nearly nobody felt comfortable asking questions in lecture.

Chem 103 is so standardized that the professor doesn't even matter. You are given the same content no matter who you get. Only exams are dependent on professor really. Be prepared as this class is graded on your performance compared to everyone else. No grade cutoffs, purely curve.

I really was nervous going into this course because of her ratings on here but she really isn't as bad as everyone says. She's not out of this world but she always makes sure to emphasize that its okay to ask for help and she encourages students to ask her questions. The lectures keep students engaged with top hat questions.

She is an okay teacher, very straightforward and passive aggressive. I wouldn't say she is completely bad, you just have to get used to her tone and the words she says. I didn't mind it, but sometimes, she isn't nice when explaining things, and it comes off as her being hypercritical about the students. We are freshman, and she needs to be nicer.

Dr. Zelewski isn't as bad as she is made out to be. Chem 103 is just a hard class, no matter the professor. Taking notes on the preclass readings helps a ton as although she isn't awful, she isn't great. Lectures are surface level, discussions are useless.

There are so many reasons I do not recommend Dr. Zelewski. She was condescending while we met for accommodations, reads off slides quickly with no explanation, makes exams harder than the practice material, and overall is not interested in what she is teaching or if her students succeed. I have never struggled this much in a course.

As a lecturer, she isn't good. She talks fast and basically just reads off the slides. She doesn't record lectures, and she's not very charismatic.

Some professors on here get unfairly bombarded with bad reviews due to fact they are teaching a hard class. Zelewski is not one of those professors. Every 1 star review was earned by her abhorrent teaching style. She clearly has no interest on whether or not student succeed in this class, never deviating from the slides and offers very little help.

She's honestly not as bad as other people make her out to be. She can be rude at times and sometimes I'm convinced she lives off of making her students suffer, but she explains things very well in lecture. You do need to teach yourself majority of the concepts, but the things she does explain in lecture, she does it very well, for the most part.

Just no. Why am I going to lecture just to walk away with more questions? Use outside resources and try your best to learn on your own.

I thought she was nice at the beginning of the semester until I had a family emergency and would miss a discussion quiz. At the beginning of the semester my entire discussion group had our quiz excused due to a fire drill, we did not have control over this. She would not excuse my quiz that I missed due to my grandpa's funeral, so it was dropped.

Literally the worst teacher I have every come across in my life. Avoid her at ALL costs. She reads stricly off the slides, adds no commentary and will ask top hat questions way more difficult than the material she had taught. Anyone I have met in the class struggles regardless of how strong their chemistry skills are. Be prepared to teach yourself.

Lectures are not engaging, prepare to teach yourself most of the material.

Avoid her at all costs. I went to office hours once and instead of helping me with my question, she ridiculed me and suggested "If you don't know the answer to your question, you shouldn't be in this class." I immediately switched out for a different professor who cared about their students and helped judgment free, and easily achieved an A.

Strictly reads off the slideshow and hardly adds commentary. She is too knowledgeable about chemistry to teach an introductory class. Lecture is very TopHat heavy so you must attend. Everything I have learned in this class is from the TAs and YouTube videos, nothing from the professor that is making 6 figures.

There are plenty of incredible, kind professors at UW who care about thee wellbeing of their students and believe in them. Zelewski is not one of these professors. She's passive-aggressive, rude, and sometimes downright mean to students. Just because you have a master's or PhD doesn't mean you should be teaching.

Honestly smart woman, but very rude. Only reads off slides, makes no notes on documents or slides. Not very good at explaining. Rude at times with back-handed comments. Would not recommend or take her again.

She doesn't know how to teach and honestly one of the meanest teachers I've ever had. She's not flexible and doesn't care about her students. I would highly recommend finding any other chemistry professor except HER.

Linda did not motivate me to learn chemistry at all. Explains simple concepts too thoroughly and the more difficult ones at what could barely be considered surface level. The final was very difficult and did not match the material what she said it would cover. The CLC worksheets were my best friend and the way I got an A.

Zelewski gave horrible lectures, usually asking an inordinate number of polled questions without explaining concepts. She failed to ever teach, simply reading off her word-heavy slides while condescendingly pointing with her laser. She was CONSTANTLY yelling and incredibly rude to students. She makes her own exams with many trick questions, beware!

She doesn't teach she just reads off slides and expects you to know everything. Exams are so hard and the final was the worst. I would take 7:45 MWF with any other professor than take a perfect time slot with Linda.

Linda Zelewski is not a good professor but beyond that she is just mean. She does not respond to emails, and is just harsh about everything in general. She creates incredibly tough exams when other professors make 104 exams much easier. Lectures are very fast paced. Did not enjoy.

She didn't spend enough time teaching in lectures and just wanted you to teach yourself. She expected you to be able to write super fast on lecture slides, especially when showing the answers to a problem. Do not bother trying to write down the answer, just take a picture and copy later. If you can avoid her, would recommend you do so.

Linda Zelewski does not know how to teach. All she does is read off of the posted slides word for word. Instead of using class time to explain the problems she wastes it on tophat questions. Additionally, she is very hard to hear, also not fun to be around, and is very condescending to students even when they are asking questions.

Linda is the human equivalent of a white bread. Very tophat heavy. She expects students to understand material fully before class because she goes over very surface level material. The one time I met with her during office hours she seemed like she didn't want to be there and did not make me feel open to asking questions.

4.0 in high school, studied heavily (12+ hours) before each exam, was still caught off guard by the difficulty. She makes no effort to explain content, especially to the depth she expects you to know it. Try to get Paul Hooker, he's a dream.

Dr. Zelewski isn't the worst professor, but she's not effective at teaching chemistry. She mostly reads slides and moves on quickly, making it hard to take notes. Lecture questions are poorly explained and build on each other, so if you're lost early, it's hard to recover. If you learn best from structured lectures, switch sections.

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She was probably my least favorite professor. To be fair 103/104 were poorly structure, so it's not entirely her fault, but wow she was boring. The worst part was that she wasn't only boring, but she also was kinda mean. It seemed like she didn't wanna teach the class and she was just generally very unhelpful.

She just reads off slides and did not give me an extension to take a quiz when I had contagious pneumonia.

She might've changed her teaching style but from my perspective she's an incredibly kind and good teacher as of CHEM 104 spring semester. She's not overly nice and very direct about things, something I appreciate. If you do the pre-class and pay attention in class you'll be find it's literally not that bad.

It's unfortunate that theres a character limit. I cannot put into words how much I hate this professor. She (barely) gets the job done, but I genuinely don't think I learned from her. She read word for word off the slides and didn't teach. She also showed up every day seeming like she hated us and hated her job. Take 103/104 with Hooker if you can.

If you have ever seen LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, remember the scene where Gandalf is about to enter the dark mountain doors and dies inside? Yeah that's this class and the professor is the Balrog.

Professor Zelewski gives off the vibe that he genuinely hates teaching.

dont do it

Tends to just read off the slides and move through explanations far too quickly. That and her dry teaching style makes it hard to stay engaged. Very prepared and organized and times lectures well (typically making it through all the slides without going over). Chem 104 has great resources like the CLC outside of profs though, so still manageable!

Not very good at lecturing, not specific about what we need to know for exams. Also not very helpful in office hours or outside of class if you need extra assistance with something.

Solid chem

Zelewski is a good, concise lecturer, and the TopHat questions in class(that count as participation) were very helpful for material understanding & test prep. Not going to lecture was the reason my grade wasn't an A, so I must stress attendance. Do the Pre-class work, pay attention in class, and do the homework, and you should be fine.

mean human don't take her courses

You basically had to teach yourself all the content from the pre-class activities and then she would quickly go over stuff in lecture. If you like/can learn on your own you will be fine. The exams often included expanded info that was not talked about in class/lab/readings, make sure you are understanding not just memorizing to do well.

dr. zelewski is just fine as a professor, don't let these reviews scare you. the most important thing is to use your resources - find a study group, join the CLC if you can, ask questions, and put in the work. I took this course as a freshman w a different prof and got a D, now i took it again last semester and got an AB. LEARN HOW TO STUDY!!

Linda did not know how to teach unfortunately. I would highly recommend seeking a different professor, if possible.

only read off the slides, doesnt know how to teach and didnt really seem to want to be there or care to even know what she was lecturing about that day.

would not take again

Lectures aren't very helpful, she just reads off the slides, which are posted to canvas. Lots of top hat questions, and the answers aren't posted anywhere, so that may have been the plus of coming to lecture? If you don't thoroughly read through the pre-class assignments and take good notes, you won't pass. You pretty much have to teach yourself.

Prof. Zelewski was hard to follow with along during lectures and I ended up learning everything on my own anyway because she rarely elaborated on the topics presented to us, not straying from the slides. A plus was that she always came to lecture prepared and never went over time, even ending class a little early on occasion.

Terrible professor. I literally wouldn't recommend her to anyone. She was not nice or accommodating whatsoever, and more importantly, she literally didn't teach; she just simply read off the slides or stood up front and expected us to work independently. I sent her an email regarding an assignment one time, and her response was incredibly rude!

I GREATLY DISKLIKED this professor. With all due respect, she is a terrible teacher, and the entire lecture is literally just Tophat review with very little to no explanation on any of the problems presented. She is also incredibly uncaring and does nothing to help or aid her students to succeed. Do NOT recommend!!!

Dr. Zelewski gave me a lot of grace when it came to the personal matters that I had dealt with over the semester, but I saw here not be as kind to other students. When it comes to her teaching and lectures, they seemed kinda useless most of the time except for the times where certain questions from the lectures popped up on tests

Terrible professor who was not accommodating if you needed a makeup quiz due to family emergencies. The lectures were not engaging, nor were they helpful for exams. I went to her office hours and was redirected to the CLC rather than answering any of my questions. I also had a terrible TA who lacked experience and empathy.

Chem 103 is just insanely difficult in general. The professor was okay...just read off the slides. I didn't dislike her as much as others have told me.

Professor Zelewski was a fine professor. Her lectures weren't that helpful usually, but they had moments where they were beneficial. Chem 103 is difficult regardless. She was also very accommodating for emergencies throughout the year (i.e. making up exams or quizzes). I would say she was very neutral overall.

I didn't take AP Chemistry in high school, so I jumped into CHEM 103 with Linda. The course is rigorous (not introductory), and TA waste of time. Linda focuses on conceptual understanding, so you need to master the material BY YOURSELF watch videos, and do LOTS of practice tests. If you're taking this course, start tutoring early.

I think the only reason I did decently in this class was because I took AP Chem in high school- and my TA was kinda helpful, unlike most of the TAs. Zelewski is a terrible lecturer and really just reads off the slides without explaining anything. Take Chem 103 with a different professor if you can. This class is a LOT of work.

Reads directly off the slides and barely explains the practice problems we do in class. You have to put in a lot of time and effort out of class to do well

Linda is not able to teach concepts of chemistry, she just reads the slides and moves through. She isn't able to teach chemistry and just adds piles of notes on in order to make up for it, but barely develops on the notes.She lacks chemistry knowledge and can't effectively explain past the answers she's given, so its confusing and misunderstood.

just reads off slides. better learning on ur own

Her lectures were very boring, and she didn't really explain anything. I was better of learning the content myself.

this was the worst professor I ever had in my entire life. all she does is read of the slides, word for word. does not teach at all, im better off at looking at the slides on my own. the organic chem tutor was my life saver(on YouTube). love him.

Dr. Zelewski knows what she is talking abut but cannot articulate that information to students. Her lectures include her reading off the slides and I found I could teach myself better by reading the textbook or finding youtube videos. Avoid getting her as a professor.

this was the worst professor I ever had in my entire life. all she does is read of the slides, word for word. does not teach at all, im better off at looking at the slides on my own. the organic chem tutor was my life saver(on YouTube). love him.

She's a nice person but a terrible lecturer. She just reads off the slides. I attended one of Dr. Hooker's lectures and realized how awful she really is. Content of the class is obviously tough but having a bad professor just makes it harder and sucks. I ended up dropping the class and taking it next semester with a different professor.

i failed the first exam and she told me to just withdraw from classes because she asked what my goal after college was and I said I don't know yet, bad at teaching and just read off the slides, very inaccessible, doesn't give points back on exams even if you were correct, she'll find a way to make your answer wrong, very mean and rude to students

Yes, the content is challenging and Professor Zelewski doesn't go above what's expected to communicate ideas. She almost exclusively reads off-slides and sometimes has a hard time pacing the class. If you are confident in your ability to independently study and don't get a terrible TA she isn't all that bad and it's a very doable class with work.

Very hard.

Surprised she has a lower rating, as I thought she was solid. Not overly friendly, but she was good at making lectures engaging. We always stayed on pace and I never felt extremely lost in the class, but you definitely need to keep up with notes and outside of class work--just going to lectures won't cut it.

She was a great lecturer and made the content very clear. She covers everything you need to know about a topic in lecture.

Describes things well, but we were often behind in content. Never kept up with the pre-class materials

Did everything I could to succeed in this class and professor Zelewski was no help. She is very smart and knowledgable in the subject of chemistry but CANNOT teach. She just reads off the slides and doesn't explain much. The exams are mostly conceptual and have very unexpected things we've never seen before. Take chem with Prof Hooker!

The work isn't too heavy, but there are a lot of assignments like pre class, pre lab and post lab so it feels lie your always working on Chemistry. But she is very accommodating to problems. I was sick for a whole week and she answered quickly and helped me get through it. She is very smart so sometimes expects us to know more than we do.

Professor Zelewski's class is quite challenging, but with dedicated studying using tools like ChatGPT and unstuckstudy AI, it's manageable. Attend lectures, read the textbook, and stay engaged to succeed.

She is very knowledgeable about chem which is clear. However, she can not teach. Her class consistently had lower averages on exams than other professors. Not extremely eager to help students either.

I went to all the lectures, discussions, did all the HW. I went to the tutoring. When I went to her for help or suggestions, she told me that tutoring is a waste of time and that only saying things out loud would help. She was mean and unhelpful, and her teaching does not match the tests.Not a teacher but a researcher. Do not take a class with her.

Avoid Linda at all cost. Does not teach whatsoever. Would be better to just read PowerPoints outside of class. Explanation of practice problems is non existent. Plus her exams always contain problems 100x harder than any problems seen in class or practice exams.

Lectures are pretty much the professor reading off the of slide and are VERY tophat heavy. Even so, I recommend attending lectures because it is good to be exposed to the subject matter. The professor it pretty inaccessible so you should rely more on TA's for information. Tests themsevles weren't too bad and were pretty fair.

Lectures are very, very tophat heavy- most of the lecture time is working on tophat problems then barely glimpsing the answer before she goes to the next slide, and often the problems are done before you learn how to solve them. chem104 in general is torturous with all the busy work and prelab material. Biggest piece of advice- DONT FALL BEHIND

Zelewski test averages are some of the lowest in 104, don't be discouraged, your grade is relative to other students. Lectures are necessary, TopHat question heavy. She can be very helpful in answering questions, especially while answering TopHat questions. I wish she would've been more clear on our grades throughout semester. Class is hard, study.

I was having a tough time in the class and scored so horribly on the exam my only option was to meet with Zelewski. She told me that I was not learning by choice, and that tutoring doesn't work so I should talk out loud to myself instead. These are the ramblings of someone deranged who enjoys watching students suffer. Switch classes!

Chem 103 with her was a lot of busywork, but that happens no matter who you take: all professors have to give the same lectures with the same assignments and the same grading criteria for exams. She isn't an amazing lecturer but she isn't bad either. Shout out chad wilkinson

People don't give Linda enough credit. I believe that if you go to lecture every time and actively pay attention, she can actually be very helpful. I would say I learned a lot from her, as she is a pretty good lecturer. She's nothing extremely special though, she's a pretty standard professor, however she can be a little bit demeaning at points.

Drop 104 or 103 if you get Zelewski as a professor. During lectures, she barely teaches anything and instead will just fill her slides with tophat questions that are nothing like what will be on the tests or quizzes. Additionally, she is a horrible test maker and makes her tests abnormally hard, and again, they are nothing like the practice work.

Linda is a decent prof and her lectures aren't bad, the course structure overall is what makes Chem 103 so awful. She's decently nice but can be rude sometimes I've heard. If you want a good/high grade be prepared to put a LOT of studying and practice in (at the expense of your mental health and sanity, unfortunately). Don't take unless you have to

Whenever I did not understand what was going on in lecture (which was often because she just read off the slides) she would get mad at me in office hours for not understanding. A TA will also help you learn more than you can in lecture. Not a bad person, but not the greatest professor. Try to get Hooker instead.

This was your standard huge freshman lecture. Dr. Zelewski herself reads off her slides and is not very accessible outside of this. Your TA makes a HUGE difference! Homework takes a long time and is where you learn most of the course content. Graded on 33% midterms, 20% final, if you follow her instructions for exam studying you will be fine.

She isn't terrible, she mainly reads off of slides so you don't really need to attend lecture. The only helpful part of lecture are the practice questions, but she zooms through the answers so take a picture. Don't go to office hours, she's really rude and blames everything on you. Best hope you get a good TA.

I took Chem 103 with Professor Zelewski last year and changed my major, I then took Chem 104 with professor Hooker and found that with the right professor, chemistry can be accessible. I can't recall learning anything in the lecture with her and felt like I had to do everything on my own. Take Professor Hooker instead for Chem 103/ 104.

Linda doesn't grade that fairly and asks very tricky questions that are meant for you to slip up. She doesn't teach much in lectures and reads off of the slides.

Linda is clear about what will be on upcoming tests, and as a person I find her fair. However, when comparing my experience to other professors there was less effort put into her lectures. Calculations are entirely done ahead of time on slides, so when the answer is just shown to you it's hard to grasp what to do. Prepare to teach yourself often.

Take a different professor. She does not care about her students success

I'd guess that Chem 103/4 are not easy to teach because of the sheer amount of content covered, and I think Linda honestly does a decent job. Her grading is fair, the class is well organized, and she uses demonstrations to make lectures engaging. I think her RMP rating is kind of unfair and probably skewed by the difficulty of the course.