Donald Philbin - Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA

Professor: Donald Philbin

Department: Chemistry

College: Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you have background of chemistry then maybe this class will work for you but those who are new to Chem must teach themselves what others already know to catch up. Homework is online every week(quiz about 50 questions,100 points). You will be using the textbook a lot, in order to teach yourself the material. challenge yourself or take O'Neill.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Greatest professor Of all Time! Obviously, I would Most definitely recc him for any student Of chemistry. i Love his Enthusiasm but you need to Study to succeed.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I try really hard in all my classes and take advantage of office hours, but this class was a nightmare!!. He has high expectations for you to already know a lot about chemistry. Went to his office hours and he literally thought I was stupid for now knowing how to do certain problems. I got an F in his class and retook it with Nouri and got an A.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

AWESOME TEACHER! He relates the material to real life very weel and makes chemistry interesting! He expects you to do the work and study lots outside of class. Does not curve or drop low tests. If you take him be prepared to work hard for an A. This is not an easy class or teache dont expect and easy A. Take him if u want a challenge if not, o'neil

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The tests are extremely difficult and very few people will pass, it is almost impossible to get an A and difficult to even recieve a C. Unless this is the only class you are taking in a semester I recommend not taking this professor. Do not bother asking for clarification because he will just repeat what he already said the same way.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Super nice guy, kinda gets off track. He's too smart for his own good. Like he'll explain something and expect you to get it (but we don't, because we're not super smart like he is). He's generally funny and makes things relatable. You have to pay attention in class to understand everything.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mr. Philbin is nice and funny but a lot of the times he goes off on lectures about irrelevant things. He tends to go too fast paced as well, he seems to expect that the students already know what they're talking about. But he is always available for office hours and will help you out with problems. Just make sure you put time into studying.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM101
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Though this is an intro Chem class, Dr. Philbin is tough. I'd go as far as to say that there are actual award winning chemists that would not ace his tests. However, the course is not bad, you just need to have some background in chemistry. Also Philbin is funny, but he is probably too smart to teach this intro class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: 120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Makes lectures interesting. Lots of homework. Tests are easy if you study. Very willing to help. Great sense of humor. If you haven't taken chem in a while, it may be very difficult.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

when it comes to labs, philbin does allow you to get the experiment material's ready and do the experiment independently. But he does a poor job when it comes to lectures; he is disorganized and goes at a really fast paste. He expects you to: submit lab reports(typed), homework(35+ pages), AND study from the book & the lecture slides. Good Luck

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• 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:

Professor Philbin is very nice and helpful. His class is difficult because he really wants his students to be prepared. I really enjoyed his lectures. I did very well in the Lab portion of the class, but unfortunately am a poor test taker. Exams are worth majority of your grade, so I did not pass. READ THE BOOK, DO ONLINE HW, FORM STUDY GROUPS.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Philbin is a wonderful person and professor. I thoroughly enjoyed his lectures. I did extremely well in the Lab portion of this class with him. Unfortunately I am a poor test taker, and the exams are worth the majority of your grade, so I did not pass. If you work hard, form study groups, you can pass. I highly recommend this professor!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a nice person but his teaching is mainly anecdotal in that he refers to past experiences to fill up lecture time. He expects you to know things and uses the textbook for the majority of the coursework; you have to put effort into this class and should definitely form study groups.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• 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: Mandatory

Comment:

It is really important to stay on top of things in his class. Although there is a lot of material he takes it serious, and it's a good thing! I didn't think I would know so much from his class and it's going to benefit me as I continue to take more science classes. He's pretty funny during lecture and outside of class as well!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Philbin was great. He's not difficult, but it's one of those subjects you have to put time into if you want to understand it. Go to his office hour and he'll take however long you need to help you understand anything you're not getting. Do the reading before class if you can, that way you can ask more productive questions in class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Took his online course. The lab portion was disorganized and most of the assignments had to be mailed in an envelope to him. Exams had many mistakes on them. Bad about answering emails. 4 exams worth most of your grade. Tough to get an A but possible.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's disorder during the lecture because when he explained about the theory of thermodynamic, he would suddenly talk about something else which made me distracted. even though you can ask everything to him, he won't answer all, the HW is also hard & tricky.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Truly cares about his students! Always lends a hand if needed, just ask! Very passionate, but tends to get off lecture topic. Sometimes he can be a bit unclear, so REALLY READ the textbook as reference & take NOTES. PRACTICE the hw problems. REMEMBER equations! Basic algebra is a NECESSITY in this class. READ lab manual BEFORE lab. ASK FOR HELP!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Mr. pH is an amazing teacher, he is very kind, understanding, and extremely friendly. I would really reccomend this class to anyone whi is a chem/bio/pre-med major as he will give you a great foundation to the material. If you aren't going to emphasize on chemistry though I would recommend O'neill as he is very easy and requires no effort.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hard class, you really have to show up for every class and do all the homework. tests are pretty hard but he doesn't hide anything from you. if you need extra help he is more than willing but overall the class is just VERY time consuming.