CHEM 1C
SYLVESTER B M
Bryanna Sylvester
330 reviews

CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Her lectures are clear, concise, and easy to understand if you are a beginner in chemistry. She walks through the material step by step. Her midterms and finals are also extremely similar to her practice tests! If you score higher on your final than one of your midterms, that midterm score will be replaced by your final score :)

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Her lectures are very good and thorough. She has her lectures pre recorded but I would recommend going to class as well. Definitely recommend doing the book problems throughout the course and when preparing for the exams do each practice test multiple times. The tests are very hard and often tricky.

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1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

Overall chem was very difficult but if you put in the time to do the book problems multiple times through, go to office hours, and take advantage of CLAS and her practice exams you will be fine. For me this class was stressful, but know it works out in the end even if you fail the first midterm!

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 6 Months Ago

The in-person lectures were not that great, she has online lectures (which are optional) that I found far more useful than her in-person lectures. Technically, her class is one of the easier options but she doesn't grade tests or the class on a curve so be prepared to put in a ton of extra work outside of class. Overall, a very meh performance

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1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

Sylvester is a great lecturer and is very clear on basic concepts. Always try to do the practice problems she gives in class before she tells you how; it's great practice! Exams are hard but do all practice exams. Some of the same problems from the practice exams appear on the exams. Difficulty comes from fact that its chem, not Sylvester.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

The lecture isn't mandatory but I suggest attending it because you will fall behind. Every lecture missed is about 2-4 topics that will not be reviewed again. She moves extremely fast. Tests are uncurved and she is the one teacher that has no curve for grades at the end of the quarter. This class is a lot of independent work so beware of that.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 1 Year, 7 Months Ago

The lecture is clear. The test is a bit more difficult than the class content but it is acceptable. The exam in general is not too hard.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

I took Sylvester, Sepunaru, and Anyika for the general chemistry series. I enjoyed Sylvester the most as she is clear on the topics we need to learn and seemed to be the most streamlined out of the three. One of the exams was dropped and each was multiple choice.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Had Sylvester for first 2/3 of 1B then got switched with Anyika. Sylvester was straightforward and posted lecture videos that covered exactly what was on exams. Had very fair exams with Sylvester but after switching with Anyika, the final was much more difficult. Not as good as Price, but much more straightforward than Joseph.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Sylvester is terrible at explaining key concepts. If you ask questions, she's really no help at all. I often felt more confused after she explained things than if I learned things just out of the book and ALEKS. I strongly recommend taking a different professor for the gen chem series.

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1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Chem is just hard, and while Sylvester’s lecturers aren’t amazing (they don’t really explain concepts so much as just list off facts) her practice exams are the tests, plus some book problems. If you know how to do the practice tests, you should be good to pass.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

really be prepared to focus in her class. do the aleks and dedicate your time to self-learning and reviewing the content because it's hard to follow along through the way she teaches

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

That final was so out of pocket nothing could have prepared me for it. Previous exams were nothing like it. The examples in lecture are so different from what you are tested on. The final though was just unbelievable.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

You may think you know what you are getting yourself into by taking Chem 1B with Bryanna Sylvester. You do not. The class average on the final was a 50 percent. 50% !!! All the practice and teaching she gives you could never reflect the difficulty of her exams. Would not recommend to a friend.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Fine up until the final. It did not relate whatsoever to any lecture, book problem, midterm or practice test. I honestly think she pulled the problems out of thin air. She also did not teach a single in person lecture, but still wrote the final.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

She's really good at lecturing and basically an easy formula to do good in the class. JUST DO THE BOOK PROBLEMS and you'll be fine!

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

DO HER PRACTICE EXAMS! Don't waste time on textbook q's. ALEKS also helps. lowest exam & ALEKS is dropped- but exams are tough. 17 q's in 45 mins so practice managing time on exams. CLAS for extra worksheets (great for practice) or in-person groups if you want to attend groups. Watch the lecture vids for review or if missing class (same content)

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Sylvester isnt very deliberate in explaining concepts and why she does certain calculations, but otherwise shes pretty straightforward about everything. If you are good at thinking systematically about problems, Sylvester is for you, but if you need the steps laid out, probably not.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

I really am a nice person. But Im here crying because she cant be bothered to explain things thoroughly. This is the first review Ive literally ever done. She wasnt even in class all semester because she had COVID and never explains her examples well so the exams are impossible. This is my 2nd quarter with her so Ik Im not being harsh.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

I got lost a couple weeks in bc she seems to underexplain things. Final was nothing like the practice final. ALEKS was okay difficulty wise, but it took soooo long to do hw. Reading the textbook can help supplement the lectures and she did put textbook problems in the tests. Overall gave a very unrealistic study plan imo

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Sylvester doesn't give a dang about her students. I was OUT for a week with COVID and she didn't give a flying funk. I was battling all the demons. She made me take the midterm regardless. I got a 58. DUH. I wasn't about to pass with her terrible teaching and non-empathetic persona.

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CHEM1B . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

She teaches through examples but skips over steps which can be confusing for people learning the content for the first time. I personally don't get the sense that she actually cares about her students. When I was extremely sick during midterm season, I asked to take the exam just a few HOURS (not days) later and she said no.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

Lectures are straightforward. There are a few times it would be nicer if she could go in depth but doesn't. Tests are fine if you study reasonably. There will be 2 tough questions that aren't really something that can be studied, you just really need to get the concepts and apply them. Otherwise just attend 3 50 min lectures, do the work, pass.

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CHEM1A . Sylvester B M 2 Years Ago

She was a decent lecturer; concise, good explanations, readily answered questions. However, the course material overall is very tough & fast-paced if you don't set up a good study sched, but luckily there's usually a generous class curve. DO BOOK PROBS/PRAC EXAMS, so important. Lectures are online if you have to miss but I'd recommend attending.

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