Asbed Vassilian - Rutgers - State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

Professor: Asbed Vassilian

Department: Chem & Chemical Biology

College: Rutgers - State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEMISTRY165
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Not a great professor at all. Teaches class more confusing concepts rather than calculations needed for success on exams. Hard to understand what he is saying at times because of his strong accent. Although not the best at getting his students to do well in the class, he is a good person. Personally, I would not take chemistry with him again.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SGCHEM162
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Not that great, tough grader, a lot of work, boring lectures. Spends most of the class teaching analogys and concepts rather than the calculations we need to pass

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEMISTRY165
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Vassilian is a great professor. The man knows his stuff. Go to lecture stay on top of the material and you should be fine.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

too many analogies and very confusing guy. hes really smart and good at explaining if you go to office hours. however it made learning chemistry even harder than it should be. mostly taught myself and spent every hour at tutoring to even pass

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM251
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

the class itself is tough. u need to pass both the lecture and lab. there is no curve so u need to work to do well on the exams. there is NO CURVE so beware. hes not very clear and it bad at explaining the material. the exam material is literally a copy&paste of labs and lecture slides but its a lot of material to remember so be prepared to work

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM251
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

would be generous to say he was terrible. left the class in the middle of the semester and some odd lady took over. no curve given despite the low averages on exam one:55 and exam two:60. lab reports are long and time consuming. Doing labs is the fun side of the course as you learn useful lab techniques but the whole instruction was a disaster.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEMISTRY165
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Chemistry is already hard and he makes it even harder. Real life nightmare. Lectures don't help but the recitations are what help you pass the class. Plan on studying every week. Speaks with a very thick accent. He uses analogies and strays away from the topic. Very boring. He is very nice though, for what it's worth. Reason why I switched majors.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM251
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

A very knowledgeable man. Topics discussed in lecture focuses on exam-related materials, as well as their applications in laboratory and industry. The lab portion is difficult because of weekly rigorous reports. Exams are fair, though it may feel like there are too many problems for an 80-minute exam.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM161
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He really is a sweet man but not a great proff. He strays from the topic and makes too many analogies that don't make sense. I spent a lot of time self-teaching myself and trying to understand what was going on. I found that going to lecture just confused me and was a waste, so I didn't go after a few lectures. Friends went to lecture & said not to

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

At first in his class i thought he was okay but then came to the first test and i realized that he didn't prepare us for it at all. He was okay in lectures but they weren't as informative as they needed to be.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I personally struggle with understanding the textbook, and while he does provide his lecture notes on sakai (so most people skip). I still attend class because his sometimes wacky analogies really help me grasp the material. Chemistry is mostly practice anyway, I just wish he wouldn't do the same problems already given in his lecture notes in class

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM165
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He's a really nice guy, however, his use of analogies tends to ruin what he is trying to teach. They aren't good analogies. It's better to just read the book because half the time he will go on a tangent. Although he is nice and always in a good mood, if you go to him he is willing to help you out.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 161
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

one of the hardest professors I've had at Rutgers. Who not recommend taking him. Hard to understand a lot of the time as well.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM161
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I'll start off by saying I learn nothing in chem lecture. I do all my learning by reading the book and doing practice problems. Vassilian goes off topic a lot, likes to ask questions to people to make sure everyone has a pulse, and has a "smiley" personality.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM1
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He's a nice guy and tries to explain whatever he's teaching using analogies. Whilst some of them make sense a lot of them are difficult. He's a little bit funny but his accent made it hard to understand lecture, so I stopped going halfway through. Recitation and HW will guide you to the A, just keep up and don't save everything for the last minute.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Personally, this guy was amazing. He makes his own notes and posts it online. He goes through lecture at a pace where everyone can follow. His exams are tough, but they are fair. He always has a smile on his face. His jokes are stupid, but funny

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I really did not like this class at all. He's a smart man but he can be very confusing at times and he complicates the material quite often. If you HAVE to take him, you're going to have to study a lot by yourself unless you already know a lot of chemistry. Try to avoid taking him if you can though.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM251
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

The labs were pretty easy but the exams were hard. I recommend always stain on top of the material covered in lecture to score high on exams. The material is literally straight from lecture notes and some parts of the book. The one good side is that there is not final

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEMISTRY165
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

If you are a good student who cares about your grades, you will do well. He is very nice and was always willing to help me when I went to his office hours. He makes funny jokes in class and really appreciates the people who actually put in the effort. Chem is hard, and in my opinion he makes it a lot easier.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SOLIDGEMS161
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

His analogies are confusing. Can be confusing at times. Lectures are slow. Cares about the material a lot.