Joseph O'Connor - University of California San Diego

Professor: Joseph O'Connor

Department: Chemistry

College: University of California San Diego

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's really not bad. At all. Although I found his help sessions to be a lot more helpful than his actual lectures. Ochem is hard no matter who you take, it's just up to you to put in the work for it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: 140A
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I've ever had. Lecture's/lecture slides were extremely confusing, very unstructured, and he talks way too fast and doesn't give you enough time to write stuff down. Jumps form one idea to the next. Exams were unreasonably hard. I attended every lecture, did all the homework, studied very hard, & still received my first and only F.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He seems very knowledgeable about the subject but his lectures are just useless. His lectures are very unorganized (he jumps from one topic to another and then says that we don't need to know this for 40A... but we do for 40B). In addition, his lecture slides are very basic. Use OChem as a second language (literally, the only reason I passed..

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Pretty bad, honestly. He clearly knows a lot about the subject. But a terrible lecturer, his slides are useless and he goes off on tangents that may or may not be relevant. He tells you that doing the practice problems are the best way to learn, but the final had problems entirely unlike those in the book and practice exams.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• 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:

Prof. Oconnor is one of my favorite professors Ive had so far. He lays a foundation in lecture so that you may master the material by reading and doing lots of practice. Thats why getting an A is meaningfulyou have to work for it. People who complain about unrelated material on tests are not putting in the time to grasp a solid understanding.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Was a very nice individual, mediocre as a professor. His tests are supposedly easier than other ochem profs here but that means class avg is much higher. For his final he reuses some Qs on midterms/past exams. Lectures/help sessions for me were useless except when he drops random "this would be a good exam Q"s. OChem as a 2nd Lang by Klein saved me

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Knowledgable and nice, yes, but I found it very difficult for me to learn substantially. As he says, he is your "guide" to Ochem, and it is up to you to read the text and do the book problems (many of which have answers that he disagrees with anyway). He goes off-topic during lecture and doesn't clearly present core material or ideas found on tests

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor O'Connor is very knowledgeable about Ochem and thus tends to overcomplicate concepts. He didn't check the homework that was assigned so you had to be on top of it to do it on your own. He has help sessions which are pretty useful. But overall, I had to attend a separate workshop at UCSD to understand the topics he discussed in lecture.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40B
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is a nice professor, very caring and gives lengthy help session during weekends. He uses PPT from the textbook for lectures, but the exams are pretty different from the materials from the textbook.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's a great professor. His slides and lectures are effective at leaching you the topics at hand. He's super funny and helpful if you have any questions despite not really being available outside of class. However, his tests are TERRIBLE! Most of the questions are highly specific and overly complicated. Too much on the test he doesn't review at all

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Seriously loved his class. Hes hilarious. Hes not really accessible outside of his classroom though but he makes up for it with office hours before class starts and 2+ hour review sessions on all Saturdays. All exams are on Sunday. MAJOR CURVE. I probably should had gotten an F in the class but some how ended up with a B.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM40A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

WARNING SUNDAY TESTS! Solid clear instructor. Tests are reasonable and relevant. Lectures are mostly structured, but he'll sometimes go back to a topic and add important points or tip in a later lecture or help sess. Have to go all over the place to study well. Can be unaccommodating and impersonal. I love ochem but didn't enjoy his class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 140A
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Your grade is based on 3 tests and he doesn't give you any material to study from other than the textbook. I never worked so hard for a class and still gotten a C

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: 140A
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Grades are based solely on exams, with 0 opportunities for extra credit. Help sessions offered once per week and 30 minutes before class, but if u couldn't make the longer weekend one ur basically screwed. Lectures jumped around a lot. Don't take this class unless ur an amazing test taker and/or have no life. I worked my butt off & still got a C.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 140A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took 140A with him during summer session, time was limited but he definite tried to make things as easy as possible for his students. Lectures are clear and to the point and exams are fair. And he spent a lot of time answering questions. He's kind and approachable and you really learn stuff from his class. Highly recommend.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is a really great professor, and he is very passionate about the subject. His exams are tough, but that's mainly because it's Ochem. There are no surprises on his exams, and he prepares you well for it by holding a help session every week. I did not go to all of it, but every time I did, it helped! He shows you how he approaches the problem.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tough material but very doable if you go to his lectures and help sessions. Help sessions are crucial to getting a good grade because he goes over ways to approach problems and clearly states what he expects on exams. Do the book problems! Exams have no surprises, but average is always around 50% (he curves the average to a B-)

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: 140A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

One of my favorite professors ever. The lectures are the usual; ppt style, goes over slides, etc. BUT the best part is that he is LITERALLY always going to be there for you. He held 2 help sessions per week for the entire 10 weeks and they are super helpful to go to. Go to class, take notes, go to help sessions, prepare to ace the class!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

1) He has help sessions which really help with the material every week. They're very clear. Go to at least 60% of them. 2) Ochem isn't scary. If you're lazy with reading the book, it will be hard. 3) DRAW OUT EVERYTHING. This class is 110% being able to imagine reactions and essentially his midterms. Midterms are fair if you read + go to class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM140A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Such a great professor! Everyone made ochem seem impossible, it is a though subject but O'Connor explains everything so well and is so willing to help. I can't stress it enough how great he is. Definitely take him!