David Usher - Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Professor: David Usher

Department: Science

College: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM3580
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hard to get by on just his lectures because they're so disorganized. Tests are fun though and he's very entertaining.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Cute professor. Probably one of the easiest chem professor in Cornell and I am not complaining. Good and helpful guy

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This guy is so enthusiastic about his job that he makes me want to be a professor. And he loves chemistry and his lectures are always interesting. But wow, some of the homeworks and tests are pretty hard. And the concepts. The only issue with this guy is that he doesn't actually TEACH very well...

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's a great professor in one sense - he's very kind and funny and overall a really nice person. Open to questions etc. He sings in class and shows us amusing videos But I don't feel like I learn chemistry from his lectures. he just demonstrates calculations. As with Zax, I feel like I learn the most from the supplemental prof Dr. Johnson.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Some like him since he's funny and charming, some don't since he wastes some time singing and telling stories. I liked him not only for his stories and jokes, but because he really does know what he's talking about. If you follow his lectures, you'll do well.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

nice guy, but is one of the worst professors here. He moves very slowly, and lectures are absolutely pointless.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is a cute person, with his silly songs that he sings and whatnot, but he is not a very good professor. Moves at a glacial pace through the material and lectures are generally useless.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Amazing Chem teacher who makes use of class time to make sure everyone understands the concepts by going over examples and demonstrations in detail. He makes class fun and enjoyable with his personal anecdotes and songs. Overall, great teacher and is a class everyone should take before graduating Cornell.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2090
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

really old and cute with the besttt accent and i love when he sang opera he was so good! kind of a sucky chem professor though...

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Love, love, love! Usher is a great professor and an outstanding opera singer. As long as you understand the lectures, textbook chapters, and how lab demonstrates what you're learning in class, you should be fine! Do plenty of practice problems, read the textbook, and go through lecture notes! Not a bad class if you know your stuff...

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Going to his class is entertaining because he's funny and sings. But he doesn't go through the material fast enough, his homework assignments and labs involve material before it is covered in class. What he says in class is easy to understand, but he goes on tangents also.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM2080
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

he was fun (sang opera every day at the end of class, went off on funny tangents, had a preoccupation with the blackboard erasers), but did not get through enough material each week--had to learn a lot of it on my own just to be able to do the homeworks and labs

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM257
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

awesome professor. exams are very fair and very similar to practice exams (20% of it comes from homework problems). he definitely makes the class interesting with his photos from greece and opera.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM105
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

105 was kinda hard. Only because his freestyle lectures were not supplemented with a textbook, so exams were pretty tricky. He doesn't TEACH you how to do the problems in class, just shows you what you should know, but with no textbook this is hard to deal with, though I gotta love his singing, family slide shows and random episodes of Buffy.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM257
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His exams sometimes tested things that were specific examples during lecture. There are 3 prelims, 1 final, and no homework. This saves you time, but also gives you less of a grade buffer. I hate orgo, and even though he was entertaining with singing and stories, I couldn't wait for the semester to end. His digressions got annoying after a while.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM257
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are not particularly useful in learning the material. Use them to see what material will be tested and use the book and study guide.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A great professor and a great guy.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I was a little irritated for the first month of class when it was clear that the Chem 357 people were moving faster than we were. Than, Usher's pesonality, his genuine love for students and the realization that less work in Orgo was not necesssarily a bad thing won me over.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM257
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved orgo. That has to say something about the teacher. Yes he sings and digresses, but if you take notes, do the reading and the (optional) problem sets, you should be fine. The LSC review sessions were helpful too.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

We don't learn much, but you gotta love David Usher. He sings us Opera and tells funny stories. His New Zealand accent is charming too!