CHEM 1810

An amazing chemistry course if you are truly interested in chemistry. Prof. Harman is a great lecturer and made all of us want to pursue chemistry as a career. The grades for this class don't really exist, so if you get over a 60 on average on the 3 exams you will end with an A, so it really makes you focus on learning as much as possible because you truly enjoy it. This course gives you what you give it; if you put effort into every (ungraded) problem set and do every reading, you will be much better prepared for every subsequent chemistry course. The 1811 lab is a lot of work, so not for the feint of heart, but this course is very low stakes and is so rewarding. I highly recommend it for every prospective chem major who has had some chemistry experience in high school. The subsequent courses in the 800 series are much more challenging, so be ready for them, but truly motivated chemistry majors should definitely take this course. 10/10 we love you Professor Harman.

Harman is genuinely one of the best professors ever. He is SO good at explaining concepts and will break it down to the simplest terms and metaphors for you if it doesn't make sense. For incoming first-years, this class isn't a repeat of AP Chemistry -- it's pretty different from what you've probably encountered in chem classes before. That being said, the class is doable for sure, and you will definitely end with a decent grade because of 1/2 points back test corrections and a curve applied at the end of the course. GO TO OFFICE HOURS!! Go to discussion sections if you can; the TAs are really helpful, and you just do problem sets that are very similar to the exams.

This class is amazing for setting up students into college chemistry, I took IB chemistry in high school and felt like this class was an amazing expansion on my knowledge. Prof. Harman is an amazing resource and I always enjoyed listening to his lectures. The exams were slightly stressful, but there are plenty of review materials. If you're on the fence between this and 1410, I would look back to high school and think about your level of enjoyment with chemistry as a whole. If you found it more interesting than mind-numbing, go to the first lecture of 1810 to get a feel of the class. Note: the 1811 lab is much harder than anything I've heard from 1411 (you can take either), but its also double the credits.