I took Samonina for Orgo 1 in Fall 2024 and got an A+ in this class. It is possible, given that there is 7% extra credit if you do the PLA assignments throughout the semester. (My midterm/final grades ranged from 92%-93%)

Here is what I did:
- Once she finished going through a whole chapter, I would review the slides and make flashcards on them, then every other day or so I would review the flashcards (this sounds like a whole lot of work, but I promise it pays off --- it helped in not cramming everything at the last minute + generally understanding the topic).
- Sometimes her lecture explanations were unclear so I went through the readings and made review sheets for the chapters
- Her Zoom office hours were helpful because she would answer any questions you have + you could learn from other people's questions too. Also, I feel like she hinted at some possible questions that could be on the exam
- I typically did every assignment a day before they were due (except for the quizzes which you could only do on Fridays)

I don't think I was the smartest student in the class but staying consistent and doing a little bit each day paid off! Her exams are by far the "easiest"/most fair, because she tests you on what you know. There will not be surprises if you study everything. Good luck!!!

This professor makes organic chemistry about as good as it can be. That being said, it's still organic chemistry, and it's very difficult. There is a content to memorize, and it is almost like a specific skillset that you need to take this class. She gives 7 percent on the final grade if you do all of the extra credit, which is very nice. There are 3 midterms and a final. None of them are dropped. The exam averages for the midterms were typically around a 75, which is higher than other organic chemistry classes. As for the professor, I really enjoyed her. She is helpful during office hours, and she emphasizes what you have to know. Her lectures can be a little slow at times, but I mostly didn't think they were too bad. Good luck in here soldier. You're gonna need it. #tCFF23

I had heard all of the things about Orgo going into it and was super scared, but honestly the course was not as bad as it could have been. It got easier as the semester went on, and once you learn what exams look like for Samonina, you kind of understand the best ways to study (hint: it'll always be discussion section problems). Samonina is a good professor, and she seems to be a fun person. I think the nature of organic chemistry is tough, but she tries her best to explain in helpful ways. At times, she rushes through lectures that should've been slower, but with homework and discussion section you get chances to make sure you understand the material. I think her grading is very fair, and even as a bad test-taker, it isn't too difficult to get a good grade in the class because of the weight of homework and quizzes, and also she has a wonderful 7% of extra credit that you need.to.do! #tCFF23

I took Samonina for orgo I and Frantz for Orgo 2. Although orgo 2 is a lot more difficult and more memorization, I prefer Samonina. I could not get into Samonina's class so that's why I took Frantz. But if you can get into Samonina, the consensus is that you will get the higher grade. The only thing about Samonina is that I felt that I put more work into understanding it on my own because her lectures were more surface level, whereas Frantz teaching method was a lot more comprehensive and clear to me at times. However, Samonina's tests are hands down easier and the extra credit is a lot more effective than Frantz's test corrections. It is so much easier to end with an A in Samonina than in Frantz and everyone knows that. Overall, Orgo is a hard class. Either experience will be hard and very time consuming, but Samonina is the move.

I took this course online during COVID so take that into account when reading my review. Dr. Samonina is a wonderful professor, she is friendly, always comes to class with a positive attitude, and truly cares about her students. My #1 suggestion is to DO THE EXTRA CREDIT (PLA and CHP) PROBLEMS EVERY WEEK. Even if you don't know the answer, GUESS! They help your grade significantly in the end. Make sure to do the textbook readings on time and work on ALL the discussion session questions and cold test practices she gives you before the exams, they're more similar to the questions she would give on an actual exam compared to those on wiley, but do those too. Try your best to get 100 or close to 100 on all the other categories (hw, ds, quizzes, etc) other than exams, so if you do poorly on them, you'll at least know your scores on the other parts can bring up your grade. Try not to procrastinate, because some of the topics were very difficult to understand, while others were fun to do. It was balance between the two for me. Never be afraid to ask her or the TAs questions, she always asks if anyone has anything to say after going through each individual section. Her exams were difficult, but I've heard they're way more straightforward than those given by Frantz. This is an organic chemistry course, so you should expect the exams to be challenging. I recommend never skipping class, because she does do graded clicker questions at times, which are nice easy points you can earn since they're graded based on completion, not accuracy (at least they were for us). Her course includes 3-4 midterm exams along with a cumulative final and she gives you a chance to submit regrade requests if you feel something was graded incorrectly, etc. You truly need to put in a lot of time and energy into this course, so keep that in mind when choosing other courses to take in the same semester as orgo. Good luck :)

samo is really great. her grading philosophy is based off of "learning from mistakes" rather than trying to trick you or make the class as hard as it could be. for that reason, she'll really incentivize doing practice questions on the online platform, discussion questions, lecture questions, and all the review sessions she holds. i got an A in the class, and my strategy was to just read the textbook and then do all the practice questions for the chapters on the online platform. i didn't pay much attention to lecture because the textbook is really good and can explain it well if you take the time to understand it, but paying attention in lecture is definitely not a waste of time. class averages on tests were normally around the 80%s, which is actually similar to frantz when i asked students from the class, but i could be remembering wrong

you really dont need to be a genius to understand orgo, so don't worry too much if you get any teacher, although you definitely will need to put in work - fortunately samonina really incentivizes working hard and you will certainly go far in her class if you simply just put in genuine effort

For one, the class structure for this class is fantastic and I absolutely loved the discussion section as it was so helpful in solidifying material and getting good practice in. Samonina also offers a lot of extra credit which REALLY helps your grade especially with the exams, which are fairly straightforward with no surprises. One thing I will say though are her lectures are extremely boring; she's a great person and you can tell she's really passionate about chemistry and her students which is heartwarming but her lectures are so dry and she goes through the easy review material very slowly and then speeds through the hard stuff which is kind of frustrating. Other than that, she's really helpful and I met with her one on one over Zoom and she was really kind! Highly recommend taking Orgo with her if you need this class, which if you've read this far, you probably do.
#tCF2020

Samonina's Orgo course is definitely a better choice than Frantz. However, with that being said do not expect for Samonina to be the reason you do good. If you find it very difficult to self-study then this isn't the class for you. Also, keep in mind that when I say better choice that is very subjective to Orgo because an easy orgo class is still harder than most of your other classes. Samonina has got a nice extra credit process but keep in mind that it is proportional to your current grade so you won't get the full 8% that is offered. Her exams are similar to her cold tests and she likes to reuse questions from discussions or cold tests so expect to see a few familiar things on the exams. Obviously, with covid this class was a lot different but Samonina isn't the greatest lecturer. It is really hard to pay attention in lecture and she doesn't always give adequate attention to all the topics that will show up on exams. Maximize your points in HW, Discussion (should be 100%), and weekly quizzes so that you have a lot of buffer for the exams. #tCF2020

Definitely a challenging course that took up a majority of my time, but I would take orgo with Prof. Samonina. She is a pretty decent lecturer, but it is definitely beneficial to learn from outside resources too to solidify what you actually know. Do a lot of practice problems! The overall class structure was better for me with only 2 lectures a week (plus discussion) and 4 exams (plus a final). All exams are free response. Exam weights were 10%, 10%, 15%, 15%, and 15%; honestly not that bad a breakdown (vs. Frantz whose final was 20%). There are also extra credit points you can get from WileyPlus for a max of 8%. NO exam/ class grade curves or test corrections.

TAKE THIS CLASS WITH SAMONINA. DO IT. She has higher test averages than any of the other of the professors, and she offers up to 8% extra credit on your final grade, which is insane. She's very nice, approachable, and understanding. Such a sweetheart, could not recommend her enough! Do all of the discussion and practice problems she gives, they oftentimes end up word for word on the exam #tCFfall20! #tCFfall20