CHEM 1AL
BERNT C M
Christopher Bernt
2.9
72 reviews
ZHANG Z
Zheng Zhang
3.9
13 reviews

85
3.4
CHEM1ABCL . Bernt C M 1 Year, 5 Months Ago

Your experience is heavily dependent on your TA as they handle all the grading. Labflow (the website you use) is pretty horrendous and often incorrectly marks things wrong so watch out for that. The final is also always unnecessarily difficult so don't underestimate it. Most of this class feels like busy work, but it is pretty easy to succeed.

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CHEM1CL . Bernt C M 1 Year, 5 Months Ago

Chem 1CL overall was really challenging, and the labs have much more confusing processes than A and B. But it's honestly just about which TA you end up with. My TA was chill and explained concepts very well. The final, like the previous two labs, was incredibly hard. My advice is try to go into the final with an A+, so you can tank the bad grade.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 1 Year, 8 Months Ago

the actual class is pretty easy if you put in the work, but he makes the final RIDICULOUSLY hard for no reason, then gives little to no curve.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 2 Years Ago

I'm one of the few people who have actually seen him as I went to his office hours. Super nice guy who is very helpful and even gives you a snack for coming. Labs are whatever, unless you watch the videos you will be lost. Grading basically depends on how much of a tweaker your TA is. Go to a TA's office ours to discuss the lab and get answers.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 2 Years Ago

hate this class....so much work for what? measly 2 credits....also the quizzes are excessive: 5 question quiz every week...get one wrong ur down 10 pts already...whats the point?

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ECE15A . Zhang Z 2 Years Ago

As both a former student and TA for this class, the best advice I can give is to take advantage of his lecture material. If you don't like his lecture style, his slides are extremely thorough and helpful to have up when doing your hw alongside the textbook. Yes it's a lot of work, but once things click you can solve problems at a much faster pace.

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CHEM1C . Bernt C M 2 Years Ago

He's exhausted. It's as simple as that. Most professors are, but he's the most burnt out prof. I've yet to meet and it makes sense because he spreads himself so thin between teaching at ucsb and sbcc. So he's not too devoted to a single class. As long as you attend lectures, do the book problems and make sure you understand them, you'll do great.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

This class series should be at least 3.5 units. Not only do the lab manual/lectures alone not prepare you adequately for the quizzes, but Dr. Bernt doesn't seem to do anything besides post material from past years. I have only seen his face in the weekly emails that he sends at inconvenient times, and if you email him, he simply will not respond.

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CHEM1B . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

I took Chem ab with bernt and c with joseph. Bernt really helped me learn the content, I responded well to his teching style. The curves were also VERY good; he was not afraid to challenge us. I definitely recommend bernt, I liked him better than joseph by a bit.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

doesn't respond to emails. not sure why he gets credit for teaching this class because all he does is post petra's lab content every week.

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ECE15A . Zhang Z 3 Years Ago

Everything was open notes so was relatively easy. Do all the homework and make sure you have a good grasp on the material and you'll be fine. Quizzes and tests are time crunch but got good curve.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

Biggest issue with Bernt is he never responds to emails!! It's very frustrating when you have a question and your TA tells you to email Bernt about it and you never get a response back ://

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

In my experience, it was difficult to contact professor Bernt. He would not respond to emails I sent him regarding the course. Other than that, I think that the course is fair, the final is easy and the quizzes do a good job of making sure you remember material from lecture. There were also only 5 lab reports which helped cut down the work load.

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

For gen chem. labs, the TA's run the entire class so overall my TA was the best. I think the labs were pretty straight-forward and manageable as long as you know what your doing. The lab reports are easy because the professor gives you a rubric which literally states word by word what you must include. The final was also easy!

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CHEM1BL . Bernt C M 3 Years Ago

Not sure why everyone's rating is so harsh. Yes, the labs and quizzes are challenging but they are graded by very clear criteria. Attendance to the weekly lab is absolutely essential to your success but that is true across all lab courses. The final was pretty easy and was based off all of the weekly quizzes. If you work diligently you can get an A

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ECE15A . Zhang Z 3 Years Ago

This professor sent an email at 11:37 pm the day before our midterm to tell us whether or not the test will be online. My advice to anyone who wants to take this class is to be prepared for these type of situations. He's a decent professor, but please be wary that he might procrastinate sending important information regarding midterms & finals.

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CHEM1C . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

Professor Bernt has been my favorite chem professor so far, he is very concise in his lectures and the exams have been very fair. Taking him for fall has been amazing, he is very charismatic and loves his dog Hilda also he gave us candy on Halloween. Do aleks, book probs, practice exams, CLAS and go to class!!!! You can get an A :)

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CHEM1C . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

Bernt is a cool guy & does his job well. Aleks as the hw system was the department's decision and not his, but it's a demanding and dreadful aspect of the class. It's actually counter productive. If aleks material looked anything like exam questions, and if the hours spent on it each week were spent studying exam content, we'd be way better off.

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173A . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

Professor Bernt is honestly a really good teacher. His lectures were short and informational and fit really well with the textbook. While he was a little distant cause of asynchronous class, he was super approachable in OH. Definitely in my top 3 chemistry professors at UCSB

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CHEM1A . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

Took this course in Fall 2020. Professor Bernts PowerPoints are clear and straightforward but his handwriting is terrible. One thing excellent about him is that he prepares summary notes for his students during the end of the course. Super helpful. 3 exams in total, very exam-based course. No section. Get ready to be stuck on Aleks for hours.

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CHEM1B . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

I have no idea why Bernt gets so much hate. I took Sylvester's Chem 1A and barely got a C. Bernts class was way easier. His lectures gave examples of problems closely related to what is on the tests. He gave worked out book problem examples. He gave us more time on exams with less questions. And he let us take the exams any time of the day we want

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CHEM1B . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

Bernt is the best gen chem teacher out there. I had kunkel for 1A and 1C and got a better grade and understood the material better with Bernt. His teaching style is great, he explains materials and hard problems, and exams are exactly like the book problems. Straightforward class and he uploads all his lecture slides.

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CHEM1B . Bernt C M 4 Years Ago

Dont let these reviews scare you. Ive taken the chem series with Price, Bernt, then Joseph in that order. Bernt was my favorite. His lectures actually went over some of the more tricky problems. Do the book problems throughout the reading, as he pulls some for his test questions. His office hours were practically empty, so take advantage of 1:1.

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ECE15A . Zhang Z 4 Years Ago

Wasn't a very good lecturer; I just read the slides instead of going to class. Class material was a bit daunting at first but not too bad once you get the hang of it. 2 midterms and a final each with one bonus problem. The TAs grade pretty harshly so be careful. 3 quizzes in your TA section.

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