I say my overall experience isn't bad, but you really need to put the effort into this course
This course requires self-study due to the concepts and the homework are not being integrated perfectly. The homework is worksheets in the discussion and long cengage assignments due at the end of the week. You have to first fully understand the concepts in the lecture in order to understand what the homework is talking about. Shao posts all her lecture notes and recordings on bruinlearn with great audio. I stopped going to lectures after the first midterm because I find recordings were more helpful than live lectures. My TA is very clear and straightforward in the discussion which is really helpful in understanding the material as well as the homework. The cengage assignment is a bit miserable. You sometimes need to google/look at the answer to finish the assignment. The lecture didn't cover every homework assignment.
However, these assignments are really important because her midterms and finals were based on these assignments. I only lost 5 points in the first midterm just because I give an eye on the assignment that week. Also, all the tests are open notes which you don't need to memorize any formula. You can finish them properly as long as you are sensitive enough to the concepts.
Overall, I say my experience in Chem20a is easy and not troublesome.