Not the worst, also not the best. He went way too fast on so much complex material and made those things more confusing. Also would take off more points on regrade request exam questions (he did this on the final exam). Also, there was no curve. A bit disorganized and didn't follow his own schedule.

He is def there just for research, his lectures are REALLY fast paced especially for harder topics. Only provided a practice exam for the first midterm, the rest he provided questions for each chapter. He didn't give us practice for an entire chapter until after the exam for midterm 3. Overall not a bad professor, choose lewis if possible.

Truly awful professor. All the midterms had NO partial credit which is absurd considering the other professor teaching the same course had partial credit on his exams. He basically throws you in the deep end and says "good luck". If i could do it over, i would have NEVER chosen his class, absolutely no resources either. Choose a different professor

His slides are good but he goes through them in a way that is way too rushed to actually learn and uses extra time to talk about his research or end class early. Tests are fair, but he often doesn't provide practice tests or chapter questions, so all u have is the textbook to review and he'll never post grades/materials by the time he says

Do not take this prof for 109A. Terrible introduction to ochem. Disorganized, poorly paced, confusing. Lecture slides on canvas did not align with the lecture slides he actually presented. Treated it like we already knew the concepts instead of it being our first time seeing organic chemistry. Only succeeded bc of the textbook.

He was a pretty chill professor for the first few weeks but when we got to the tougher chapters he speed ran them during lecture and oftentimes made mistakes during lectures and in his own practice problems making everything so confusing. I learned most of the material on my own. Overall way TOO fast, brief, contradicting, and confusing lectures.

It's OCHEM so it was a lot of content for sure, but he did a great job providing resources and the tests were really fair in my opinion. Overall I would definitely take him again even though the pace of the class did go fast sometimes.

Javier is really approachable and always willing to help. His office hours are so helpful and he actually takes the time to make sure you understand. His midterms are fair, if you do the textbook problems, go to lecture, and go to office hours you'll be fine. He does lecture fast, but reviewing the book or going to office hours makes it manageable.

Love Javier! GOOD lectures and every Friday he yaps a little about something he's passionate about before lecture. I always check my exams to make sure it's graded correctly and every time I submit a regrade, he is lenient when it comes to partial credit. Pay attention in lecture and do all the book problems and u will be so good for the tests!!!

LOVED READ!! His Friday podcasts made my day, and his lectures made sense to me. Though sometimes he would speed through things and have you read the textbooks but overall he is a great prof. Love helping his students and is very personable. Midterms were easy but final was HARD.

Javier is fantastic: Super fun and approachable guy who made ochem feel accessible. Tests were very reasonable and there wasn't much homework. I did have to use the textbook for clarity, but that's why it's there in the first place.

Relatively mediocre lectures but at least has some personality. Practice exam keys are not super well written and his TAs and LAs did the majority of the good preparation for students. The class is nowhere near as hard as people make it out to be and should not be scary, though, one may need to put some effort into understanding the material.

The material was hard, but javier did a really good job of teaching the concepts in a way that we would understand. Attendance isn't mandatory, but go to class, because his lectures help. The exams were fair, but they definitely get harder later in the quarter, so be prepared. I didn't go to office hours often, but others said it helped a lot.

Read is such a nice person, he really wants the best for you! the tests can be challenging but i think that's a given for learning anything new. I only started going to office hours at the end of the quarter and i wish i had gone sooner! If you are ever confused on a topic, ask him, he is not condescending whatsoever and truly wants to help.

Idk what the bad reviews were talking about because he DOES give partial credit on his tests. He's a really nice guy and is clearly passionate about ochem. GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS!!! They're super helpful and he gives hints on what's on the exam. Goated professor. Super understanding and wants you to succeed.

I LOVE THIS MAN- TAKE HIS CLASS!!! organic chemistry will be challenging, but alaniz is amazing and you can tell he has so much knowledge and passion for the subject- he is a FANTASTIC teacher. i was scared to take this class but because of alaniz it ended up being my favorite class. go to his office hours! he is so helpful and kind!

I would not recommend this class to anyone. His lectures are full of mistakes, which makes it really hard to understand the material. His review sheet answers are also full of mistakes. His notes are messy and vague, and he often contradicts the book. The tests are another nightmare, with unclear instructions and no room for partial credit.

I assume that this was his first time teaching 109a-- however, he messes up quite a lot during lecture which causes a ton of confusion. His notes are extremely confusing and often unhelpful. So much so that I have chosen to stop attending lecture and just learn from the textbook. The tests are very confusing: vague directions and no partial credit

I'm sure he's a nice guy but he messes up during lectures AND office hours, which makes it difficult and very confusing to learn from him. His lectures are meh, and tbh I mostly teach myself from the book, which is difficult when his lectures deviate from the book and there are few other resources to learn the material. Don't take for 109A.

Make sure to pay attention in lectures or you'll fall behind BUT he clearly has a great grasp on the content and knows how to teach it to students without going overly in-depth. If you take the time to understand the HW and go to his office hours before each quiz you will for sure get an A. Only complaint is he's a little unorganized

I had Lewis for 109A and 109B and switching was the best decision I ever made. Grades are distributed a lot better, final is not worth a lot, more hw completion points and mastering chem every 2 weeks. His lectures are fun. Quizzes are not too bad, but only three questions so if u mess up u lose a lot of points. Overall loved him!!

Great professor, right up there with Lewis. Very understanding when whole class does not preform well on a quiz. Class laid out to give you a C automatically if you at least do mastering chem + bacon and decent on quizzes. Lectures were very organized and he did a great job of connecting ideas from chapter to chapter.

multiple choice and mechanism quizzes alternated every week. quizzes and homework is about equal in weight with the final being 9%. go to office hours! prof read is super helpful and detailed. he cares about his students and wants you to succeed. the best teacher i've had so far. his class is super organized - upfront & clear communication.

I took 109B with Read in the winter. His lectures are great as he knows how to both get his point across and empasize what's important. He doesn't bog you down with a bunch of HW, but does have recommended book problems. Super friendly during class and in office hours. Tests are very straightforward. He's definitely passionate about the topic.