CHEM 1810

Genuinely one of the favorite classes I've ever taken. Harman is a god and you can genuinely tell he cares about his students - he's warm, inviting, and personable in lecture, which makes the sometimes brutal material worth it. A few words of advice - people say you need to have taken AP Chem to take this class, but you really don't. Begin studying the material at least a week and a half in advance of the exam, and be prepared for the exam questions to be very conceptual. GO TO OFFICE HOURS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE - THEY ARE YOUR NUMBER ONE RESOURCE.
Discussion could be a little tedious, but the TAs were generally nice and you could bring discussion questions to office hours. Get a good study group together fast, do the practice exams, rewrite your notes, and you'll be fine. Make no mistake, though, you need to put in the hours.

This is definitely a difficult course in that there is a heavy weighting on exams. Expect to have a light courseload though, as you will only complete six assignments (three problem sets and three exams). That being said, make sure you meet with TAs during discussion sections to hash out where you are having difficulty in the problem sets/course, go to office hours, watch the lecture recordings, read the textbook (also do the problems at the end of each chapter that corresponds with introduced content), go over the checklists, and do the practice exams. Doing all this will help you tremendously do well in the course. There is some reprieve in the grading of the course, as you have test corrections for each exam (so you receive half points back), and there is a curve applied at the end of the course. However, you do not complete test corrections for the final exam, so they are automatically applied. Also, I believe the grading scale is adjusted due to the difficulty of the course, so the grade boundaries are lower than the standard grading scale (i.e., you don't need a 95 to get an A).

harman the actual goat, i highly recommend this class. However, I will say if you have not previously taken AP Chem or IB chem, this will be a bit challenging. Had problem sets that were completion if you did all the problems (not graded on correctness), the discussions were optional, 3 exams that were equally weighted and also given +.5 points back for points missed if you did corrections. if u go to lecture and take notes you will be fine, the old recorded videos are helpful but not required, very chill easy to get A.

this class relies a lot on lecture. professor harman is awesome and truly loves and cares for his students, but there are only 4 big grades besides 4 other big HW assignments, which makes tests extremely stressful. I don't recommend this class if you have not taken AP chemistry. It put a lot of stress on my shoulders but I still passed. I recommend only truly challenge yourself if you're a chem major and you want to be accelerated because it works out at the end of the day because you get to be done with general and orgo chem in one year if you want.

#tCFF23 . Class was very interesting for those who enjoy chemistry. If you don't, I would recommend taking the 1400 series as this class is very challenging. First half of course is very physics heavy, with some organic chemistry at the end. As recommended I think having a strong background in chem (IB HL/AP) is useful, but some can get by without. Prof Harman is nice and has engaging lectures, but often spends a lot of time answering questions from students that may not be super relevant to the exam. I went to most of the discussion periods as they are optional, but super helpful to have TA feedback! Additionally, the lectures are recorded from 2020, but I would advise people to attend the lectures and use the videos as review. Overall, enjoyed the class and Harman is generous with the curve.

Harman is the most talented instructor I've experienced. He's so incredibly passionate about teaching and his lectures flow with ease. His class is without a doubt extraordinarily difficult with respect to content, but he is very accessible and has >4 office hours a week where he essentially reteaches the content.

Your grade is based off of 3 exams and a problem set. The averages on the exam are typically pretty low; be sure to know the content inside-and-out. If you're passionate about chemistry and wish to pursue it further, I highly recommend 1810.
#tCFF23

If you are remotely interested in chemistry, TAKE THIS CLASS. Professor Harman is one of my favorite people at UVA. He always teaches the class with great clarity, and will answer questions during lecture with a smile on his face, even if they are pretty stupid. He also holds office hours right after class for 4 hours a week, at a very convenient time, where he basically reteaches his lecture and answers questions. The office hours are very helpful, if you go consistently you will do well because he often discusses very niche ideas there that you might not have thought to study. The way he talks about chemistry really shows how much he cares about his class and field of research.

The class does contain some very difficult content, however all of the resources you could need have been provided. Harman posts tons of supplementary videos and recorded lectures from 2020, so if you are dedicated, you will do well. His tests also allow for half points back with corrections.

There is NO busy work for this class. Almost everything is optional, aside from 3 problem sets worth 25% of your grade that are graded for completion (but great study tools). That being said, I would strongly recommend studying chemistry using his resources on your own time, especially if your HS background isn't so good. Most of the work I did outside of class to study was watching videos.

There are also TA review sessions on Tuesday nights which are pretty useful and all of my interactions with TAs have been helpful, but the sessions are not mandatory which is nice.

The class is HEAVILY lecture-based. There is not much help you can get from a text book or even chat gpt (many of the problems are conceptually very difficult for AI to solve or help you with).

As a side note: BEWARE lab 1811. It is very difficult and disorganized and I dropped it within 2 weeks. You can take chem 1810 with the 1411 lab!

#tCFFF24

Grade inflation goes insane in this course. Chem 1410 students drown in busy work while Chem 1810 students chuckle knowing they are in the superior chemistry course. Going to lecture and discussion does the most, and depending on you background should allow you to get an A or A+ especially with the generous grading policies.

This class was so amazing!!!! Dean Harman is one of the most amazing professors I have ever had and the best chemistry teacher I have ever had. In this class we were learning pretty difficult topics, but the way he explained it was so helpful and kind. In addition, he will answer even the dumbest questions in a very easy to understand way, so feel free to ask questions, as he will never make you feel bad about it. He has decades of experience teaching this class and it shows. I highly recommend going to office hours if you are confused about any of the concepts, as even if you do not want to ask a question yourself many of the people who go are confused about similar topics and he will explain everything all over again and in great depth. I feel like I learned so much from his lecture and my love of chemistry has grown!

In addition to this, Dean Harman is incredibly understanding and not only does he have half credit back test corrections, he also gives a 100% completion grade on the three problem sets you have to complete throughout the semester. On top of that I am pretty sure he curves your end grades. To study he sends out practice exams which are very helpful and close in difficulty to the problems that will be on the actual exam. I did all of these practice exams and also rewrote all my lecture notes to study.

One note on the problem sessions on Tuesday in the evening. If you can go I highly recommend it, even though it is not required. It helped me meet more people in the class and complete my problem sets with low stress. The problem sets Harman assigns were very difficult to complete on my own and so going to the problem sessions, even though it was at a very inconvenient time, was worth it, as you can get help from fellow students and from the TAs.

I was worried about this class being too difficult for me at the beginning of the year when I decided to switch into it from the 1400 series; however, I would recommend this class to anyone as long as you have a desire to learn chemistry, it was incredibly rewarding!!

take this class!!! harman is an enjoyable professor who genuinely cares about your learning. my biggest piece of advice is to not stress about your grades too much. i absolutely failed one of his exams and ended up with an a- in his class because of his curve and test corrections. 25% of your grade is homework (which is basically for completion) and the rest is divided up between 3 exams, so it can seem daunting, but he gives you 2 example exams about 2 weeks from the exam date. also, make a connection with him! he's one of those professors that cares.