LIVE, LAUGH, LAVELLE! Truer words have never been spoken, as Professor Lavelle is amazing at simplifying the difficulties of general chemistry. This class is much more calculation based than 14A, which I found to be easier when doing problems and harder when trying to understand concepts.

Here's my short and ez guide to success in this class:
1. Attend lecture- Sometimes Lavelle will go off topic deriving equations that will be given, but I found them helpful to my overall understanding + Lectures serve as an outline for what is tested

2. Go to as many UA workshops as possible- Lavelle doesn't cover many problems in his lectures, so these serve as extremely valuable resources to go over past test problems and discuss topics with well educated undergraduate mentors(the boys Matthew Tran and Michael Nguyen are 10/10)

3. Do the textbook problems!(A designated amount of midterm/final problems come straight word for word from the textbook)

TLDR Lavelle is extremely fair(he doesn't curve like Scerri) and gives you all the resources to succeed in general chemistry virtually

Easiness of class: If you took AP Chem in high school, it's mostly review. Quantum was unfamiliar to me, but it's conceptually pretty easy to understand.

Workload: There isn't much graded homework (there are weekly online assignments graded based on participation and weekly Chemistry Community Posts), but if you want to do well on the tests, I suggest that you do the recommended textbook problems which can take a lot of time.

Clarity: It's sometimes hard to follow along during Dr. Lavelle's lectures since he elaborates on the bullet points while you're trying to take notes on what's on the screen. Also, he always dims the lights, so try not to fall asleep or it'll make it very difficult to understand what's going on.

Helpfulness: Dr. Lavelle organizes a lot of resources outside of class including TA office hours and UA workshops. I highly recommend going to the UA workshops, especially in the weeks leading up to midterms/finals! Chemistry Community is also very helpful since someone is bound to have a similar question as you.

Overall: You get what you give!

General tips: Read the textbook or rewatch the recorded lectures if you don't understand something. Do the textbook problems. Chemistry Community has pretty thorough answers to most of the textbook problems. Most of his midterms/finals focus on conceptual problems, and he sometimes tests random details that he mentioned once in a lecture.

***THE TEXTBOOK EXISTS ONLINE AS A PDF DO NOT PAY FOR IT. SHAME ON PEOPLE FOR TRYING TO SELL PDFS THAT THEY DON'T EVEN OWN!***

Ok, actual review:

I took AP Chem in High School, it sucked and I learned nothing;That being said, this was not the first time I had heard of most of these concepts, so my review might not apply to you if this is your first hard chem class ever.

The rumors of this class's difficulty were. . . exaggerated, to say the least. I heard so many people call this a "weeder class" during orientation, it is not. The class average was a B without any curve. If you want to take the MCAT pick Lavelle because getting a B in this class is better than taking a dummy-easy professor for an A and getting SHAFTED down the line because you lack foundations (every graduated premed I've spoken to who took Lavelle has loved him).

Lavelle is easily the best professor I had in my first quarter. His lectures taught the material very well (except the last week or so things kinda fell apart but whatever) and he offered an INSANE amount of extra help to those who needed it. I feel like this is the clearest look I've ever had at chemistry and I feel like I understand it much better. Plus he's dank.

My TA Bradley was nice and very smart, though in general the discussion sections were pretty much just good for turning in your homework and a waste of time if you understood the concepts. The final and midterms were difficult, but actually really fair and 90% of the points were in problems practically ripped from the lectures, practice exams (offered by UAs), and homework.

I know a lot of people struggled, but I think most of the reason why is because they were adjusting to the accelerated pace and didn't really have good study habits (ie they crammed, skipped lectures, didn't take notes, didn't study along with the course, etc). This is not a weeder class, but it might be a wake up call. You'll be ok.

PS the song he plays over the speakers is Numb by Portishead, yw :p

While he isn't the worst teacher in the world, he definitely wasn't great. His lectures were boring as hell and made no sense. Maybe this is just a personal problem but I didn't absorb a single thing he said in lecture, I was just scrambling to write down everything on the slides. I've taken AP chemistry in high school and I did relatively well, and I feel that Lavelle really overcomplicated the material. I found the tests to be unfair, as there were plenty of questions that were never covered in the lectures. Perhaps I should've read the textbook, but there was no reason for him to make the test that hard. The homework questions were not reflective of the test questions at all, and the chemistry community posts felt more like a hassle rather than a way of learning. I will admit that he provides a lot of resources, but it's not possible to devote all of our time to attending these sessions as we have other classes to worry about. Essentially, it's just a ton of self-studying.
As a person, Lavelle seems very kind and wholesome (though I have never spoken to him). He plays music at the beginning of lectures and includes memes occasionally in his slides, but once you see your final grade in the class you won't be feeling lighthearted. I can appreciate the effort he put in to organize workshops and step-up sessions to help us learn, but at the end of the day, I feel like he doesn't really care about his students.

Lavelle was great! Personally, I think thermochem and thermodynamics is fascinating and I really enjoyed taking this class. I had Caram for 14a and switched into Lavelle for 14b and both classes were great. However, I did take AP Chem in high school and know that people who did not take a significant amount of chem had a harder time as they were not as comfortable with the material.

(Took this class during the COVID era)

2 midterms, 110 points each (220 total)
Final, 180 points
Chemistry Community, 50 points
Homework (Sapling), 50 points
Class total, 500 points

Having taking AP Chem before, it definitely does help to have prior knowledge. There's some stuff that's not in AP chem (mainly quantum section) but it's not bad. Overall I'd say the class is pretty tough but if you put in the work you'll be able to succeed.

Midterms/final were multiple choice, with each question being worth anywhere from 6 to 12 points, so it's very high stakes, especially if you're shooting for a high grade (you can only miss 35 points in the whole class to get a solid A). Midterms weren't that bad, but sometimes there were dumb questions that a lot of people got wrong. In a way you kinda have to get lucky sometimes to not get those questions. Otherwise they're pretty straightforward, especially since it's multiple choice. The final was much harder, with much more of a time constraint, but not the worst if you knew the material very well. However, because a lot of students complained, he gave everyone 10 points back on the final (capped at 100%). Very generous! On top of that he "curved" grades, depending on what you got. I saw that some people had a score in the mid 80's and got a B+, an 89 and got an A-, etc. However it didn't look like he rounded up to a solid A even if you were really close (ex. 91, 92), but it's understandable. He even said the final exam average was around 80% and class average was around a B+, which I'm sure is higher than previous years.

Generally Lavelle is a pretty good professor. He is very clear on introducing topics and explaining them thoroughly. DO THE TEXTBOOK PROBLEMS!!! even though they're optional. They represent midterms and the final pretty well. Some of them will literally appear verbatim and others will just be pretty similar but having practice is super helpful in this class. I didn't go to UA sessions but from what I've heard they can be pretty helpful. UA worksheets often include problems from past exams. Shoutout to the people who share their practice worksheets with the rest of the class, mainly for the people who couldn't make the sessions : ) There is so much support available in this class with all the TA office hours, UA sessions, Chemistry Community, etc. Lavelle will bombard you with emails emphasizing this :P

Anyways just be prepared to work hard and never underestimate the exams. Good luck!

His class is definitely challenging, and it helps to have a solid background in AP Chemistry. The first week or so focuses on review of old Chemistry concepts, so if you haven't already taken Chemistry in the past, it's good to really use that time to catch up and do some extra outside studying before the topics get a little harder.

He has 2 tests, 1 midterm, and 1 final. The tests are on the easier side and straightforward if you did the homework and understand the lecture notes; the midterm is definitely more challenging and it's written by the TAs; the final is written by Dr. Lavelle himself and I found it to be the most challenging. Although all of the tests draw directly from the lectures/homework, I do have complaints about how vaguely worded the questions on the final can be. For instance, the final this year had typos, and the TAs had to make corrections and clarifications while we were taking it so many students had to re-do the problems all over again, which was pretty inconvenient.

Another tip for his exams: this may seem obvious, but always read the problem *thoroughly* and don't skim over it so you solve for the wrong thing! (I got a problem wrong because I mistakenly solved for the wavelength of light, not the wavelength of an electron, since I didn't fully understand the question.)

Doing all of the homework problems, not just the 5 assigned every week, is really advised, as well as going to the extra review sessions on topics you're unsure about.

All in all, it was a decent experience and I would probably take his class again.

Lavelle seems really nice. If you have enough patience to get through his slightly braggadocious tone in class about chem community and all the things he does that is great, you really are gonna learn a lot. All lectures were recorded which was really nice. At first tbh I was scared about him because I never really took AP chem and wasn't too hot on honors chem either in high school, but at the end of the day, he explains everything and the TAs literally go through what he explained every week. His tests (at least the first 2 midterms) were relatively straightforward if you practiced every question on Sapling and the textbook and reviewed all his slides, you're good to go. His final was harder in that it was mainly application based. It might be a lot in the beginning but don't sweat it's still easy to decipher. Yea, I would take his class again for sure and would recommend it.

Lavelle yyds! I love him. He makes everything absolutely clear in his lectures and you do not need to read even a word from the textbook. The exams are not hard. I don't know why overall he has a rating of 3.6. He should have a 5! He should have a 5.1! Very very very very very very very helpful lectures. Some concepts in AP Chem are roughly explained, but he makes all of these concepts clear. I am now taking his Chem 14B. Definitely takes his courses!
Even you are trying to find a GE, take this. I would be regretful if I does not take his course.

His class lectures aren't as engaging as I would've liked, but they are informational. However, most of the things he cover you can learn from reading the textbooks. He does include important biological examples in lectures which are not in books. He bruincast some of his lectures but not all. He doesn't post any of his slides online, so I suggest copy all that stuff down. Most of the information are pretty straightforward. The first test was pretty easy as it was all fundamentals. For me, I did most of the hw problems, if not all, that he assigned and ended up doing well on the tests.

He organizes a lot of review sessions, and he ALWAYS mentions about them. Somehow I got a feeling that he is bragging about all his hard work. But nonetheless, I appreciate him for it. Take his class!