Gainer seems like he genuinely cares, and I will say that the actual labs didn't waste my time like the gen chem labs do; we learned relevant skills we could take into industry. He also curves to a B, which is very fair, and the tests weren't that hard. However, I don't understand his rationale for the impossible final.

Gainer was a nice guy who cared about his students. HOWEVER, that man has an evil final exam. I got As on all of the midterms and the final, not only felt out of the blue, but also brought me down almost 10%. There's no way to properly study for it, try to get the small points on everything else.

As long as you try to understand the fundamentals of the lab techniques and put effort into learning IR/NMR/Mass Spec, an A/B is pretty much guaranteed. Gainer gives you enough resources to succeed in the class. I'd recommend doing all the book problems, and showing up to lecture/labs so that you can drop the lab practical for your lowest lab.

why the hell are these 2-3 unit chem labs obsessed with giving impossible finals. my grade dropped 10%...

I maintained a high A (> 95%) all quarter in this class. Gainer administers THREE midterms, a lab practical, and a notoriously hard final exam, all in the span of 10 weeks (3rd midterm was literally week 9). As if the class is not difficult enough, Gainer creates an incredibly difficult final exam, which brought me down an entire letter grade.

Gainer is approachable and nice, but I find the lectures to lack context/structure and I got lost in what we were learning. I have nothing against him but god does this class suck. I have a deep hate for this subject so I might be biased, but it really was the worst. 4 hour lab every week, plus lecture 2x a week (lab practical AND lecture final).

Gainer is very passionate about his work and shows that he actually cares about his students. I took this class over summer and Gainer once spawned behind me and asked me a question, he's funny.

Gainer was a good lecturer, but the tricky thing was the fact that there was lab + lecture. TA makes or breaks your lab portion. Try to do well on lab reports, because they can help cushion your exam grades. Do all the textbook problems before exams, they helped me do really well on the exams compared to the average. Curve can help by section.

Gainer is a very approachable professor, very nice and willing to answer questions. However, his lectures are not the most organized and are quite disconnected from the textbook. Ask for a classmate's notes if you missed a class, do not waste time reading the textbook. The final is pretty tricky, but doable.

Professor Gainer is amazing! Everything he says clicks and it really stays with you till test days. This class is heavily dependent on TAs and how they grade. My TA was Ms. Bashir, and she was ridiculously impossible to work with and just a mean grader. Do not sign up for Friday 8AM with Bashir!!!!!!

This professor has ridiculous standards. No direction is given for the first lab report. You will not get feedback for your report until you've submitted two more, setting up students for failure. The quizzes were tough, asking students to memorize up to three complicated mechanisms and to be able to recreate any one of them on paper from memory.

Dr. Gainer is a super nice guy who has pretty useful lectures and is available for help if you need it. This class was not easy, but I think the difficulty of all exams was very reasonable. I HIGHLY recommend the book problems for practice! Labs themselves are TA dependent, but most of the TAs want you to succeed. I really enjoyed this class.

Good luck. Exams are hard. If you have the time, talk to a TA as much as possible.

Gainer has archaic standards, requiring students to write in pen and specifically use a composition style notebook. He disallows graphing calculators on his tests forcing many students to scramble to get a scientific calculator. The final was terribly written having a significant portion of its questions on content from one lecture.

Taking this class made me realize my life's just a misery.

It was not the hardest class in ucsb but the worst. I didn't realize there was a practical test until the last experiment. Prof Gainer didn't mentioned it in syllabus. Also, the quizzes were unfair and were made by TAs. Always one harder and one easier version. Don't take it unless you are required. Good luck.

6AL and 6BL took a lot of effort and lab reports took forever, but also some of the most interesting, fulfilling, and rewarding content and classes I have EVER taken. Everything Gainer says really clicks. He's a great lecturer and amazing person to ask questions to. Absolutely adored him and ended up really loving these labs.

Lab reports/quizzes are all graded by the TAs. He was a good lecturer in 6AL, only thing he does in 6BL is essentially make the final. Final is VERY difficult and will probably bring your letter grade down by one (happened to me and all my friends). Study for the final create a routine for the class.

y'know what? smash.

I love this professor. He is so helpful in office hours and will help with lab reports and study for the quizzes. But this class takes a lot of time and effort which is equivalent to what I feel like is at least 2 hard STEM courses so plan your schedule accordingly. Concepts are way more interesting than in 6AL. Lab reports are graded harder.

Gainer was a good lecturer overall and explained concepts pretty clearly. The midterms were pretty fair and doable, but the final is a lot trickier and harder and basically determines your grade, so make sure to study a lot for it. Lectures are mandatory and it's pretty pard to catch up if you've missed one

Definitely feels like a heavier class than other lab I've taken. You have to go to lecture or you will be soooo lost. A lot of grading depends on what TA you get but overall if you put in the work it's doable.

Gainer's classes can be challenging, but engaging with the material and using study tools like unstuck study can help you succeed. The final is tough, so focus on the lab reports and quizzes. Overall, a worthwhile class if you put in the effort.

Lemme start off by saying chem is not my strong suit. However, Gainer is such a goat. Yes there is a lot of homework, yes you should do the readings, and yes the concepts are hard. However, he is a really good professor. As long as you come to him with where you are confused are what you don't understand he does an amaz job trying to get you there