This class is a LOT of work. The first 3 weeks you are chilling, then everything hits you like a truck and weeks 4-10 a lot of work. Each week there is something you are working on or studying for. Either a lab report, journal club presentation, or exam. The lab reports are extremely lengthy so start as soon as you can. Exams are fair as long as you understand the material and study. The journal club presentations are group presentations. Practice with your group and you will do fine! Professor Nakamoto loves to bake, so be sure to try her baked goods during office hours or in journal club!

This class isn't that bad. Just make sure to review what you do in the lab after every lab so you aren't totally lost when writing the reports. Also start your lab reports a week in advance so you aren't scrambling to finish everything at the last moment.

You don't have a final in this class which is really nice. Just three midterms. They are fairly difficult although I managed to do better than average by just reviewing the day before the test.

Journal clubs suck. You will have to work in groups and present things to the class before being asked questions by the TAs, classmates, and the professor. Thankfully there are only two of them.

Overall this wasn't as difficult as people made it out to be. Nakamoto herself describes the class as work heavy but not that high on the difficulty and I think that statement is accurate.

Thought you can boost up your GPA on your senior year? You thought wrong. If you have lots of experience reading the science literature, have good test taking skills and the ability to squeeze out info from TA's then your golden so read no further.
If you don't fit the above description, be warned that hard work does not pay off. Don't be discouraged and not put in hard work or else you'll prob end up with a grade below a B. Just don't have high expectations. Grades for Journal Club are just wack... no grading scheme just a pure judgement on your presentation. Tests that are on a time crunch and really test your test-taking skills. Lab reports that are graded subjectively by TA's and a rubric that is not detailed enough for you to know what to include. Powerpoint presentations that are so outdated that the words and pics are handwritten. A laboratory that is running on Nakamotos dollar savings. A instructor that has barely any office hours and does nothing about the fact that some students hold old exams/lab reports. All in all, for average students with minimal research exposure and few connections the class is unfair. Hard work doesn't pay off.
My advice: Go to test bank and speak to people who have taken course recently. Get their reports. Get as much info from TA's as possible for reports. Write reports in advance and ask all questions you might have from TA's (Nakamoto doesn't help for jack). Be very careful on exams, think very logically and reason correctly. Good luck!

I am selling lab reports and exams that earned me an A. Contact me at helpthehomeless.ww@gmail.com for more details.

Selling the Spring 2015 course reader/lab manual for $10.

Great and nice professor. Always willing to help you out. The material you learn will benefit you a lot of industry if that is your plan.

I have graded exams and reports for that class with relatively good scores and comments for guidance on the reports. $15 per report and corresponding exam. email me at rodolfo.macias91@yahoo.com

she pretty good

Had Professor Nakamoto for chem 154 during winter 2013. As far as I know, she is the only professor who teaches this class, so there's no point in waiting for a different professor (until she leaves her position).

The class consists of three projects. On the first day, she tells you that this is a capstone course and that she will be treating you like adults, meaning she will not be making you learn by rote memorization. This means you will not be writing pre- and post-labs for this class. Yay, right?

Nay. Instead of pre- and post-labs, you have long papers to write at the end of every project. It’s also a double whammy to have an exam before the papers are due. And for some odd reason, the class is structured so that the assignments with the most point value are first so the last exam and paper are not worth very much. This may be good for some who learn quickly, but most students don’t know what to expect for the first midterm and paper yet they’re both worth the biggest chunks of the course.

Curve is very generous though: I thought I was going to get a B in the course, but ended with an A.

***hey everyone
im taking chem 154 right now with nakamoto.
if you have any of his old midterms i will buy them from you or trade you for one you need.
if you are interested please email: emailforexams123@yahoo.com
Thank you

I'm thinking about taking chem 154 next quarter. For those of people who have taken her, Can I buy the previous midterms from you guys. PLease contact me via kahn1982@gmail.com Thank you very much...