Professor Bowers was extremely old-fashioned. It was incredibly frustrating that every question asked had to be repeated several times before he could hear what the student was asking and he verbally berated the TAs in front of the class. The only saving grace is the curve, but even so, it's not worth the stress.
This quarter he and Steven Buratto teach the course together. The comparison between him and Buratto can show how bad he is. In Buratto's part, the homework solutions are typed and very easy to read, while in his part, the homework solutions are a total mess. Buratto posted slides (although not in great quality) on canvas but he did nothing.
I don't think Professor Bowers is as bad as people make him seem, because he does put an insane curve on the grades, but you have to survive the sub 50 averages on midterms to get there. He doesn't post lecture notes, so don't miss class unless absolutely necessary.
I have no idea why people hate Bowers so much, I really enjoyed taking a course with him. He is very old school and keep all his lecture material in the notebook rather than slides. So, if you miss the lecture, you miss 1.5 hour of material with no recovery because book is absolute bs. Prob thats why people don't like him. Average is ~60%, curved.
Don't let your gf take this class. Professor Bowers will f her hard that you ever will.
Be prepared to do work.
He was so bad. I wanted to give him a zero, but that's not possible, so I give him a 1.
I have never put in so much effort into a class to come out not knowing anything. Absolute pain is how I would describe this class. Do everything you can to avoid him and if you cannot make sure you have friends because the homework is insane and good luck on the tests. The only good thing about this class is the average is curved to a B.
He's the worst professor I've ever had. His lectures are useless and the homework is too difficult. If you can avoid him, don't take his class. You'll come out of the class not knowing anything cause he can't teach.
This is an incredibly difficult subject, and Bowers doesn't make it any easier. He is forgetful of information on his slides, so the notes are not always correct. Homework is ridiculously hard, and there is no help online. Try to get help from the TAs, since they know how to do all the problems. Section is a must. Good news is it is hard to fail.
Quantum Mechanics is in itself difficult to understand, but Bowers makes it even more difficult than what it has to be. He's such an intelligent man, but at times makes too many errors in his lectures. For the most part I relied heavily on Donald McQuarrie's Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach. This book saved my grade.
Quantum is tough so you're going to have to work for it. Mike does an okay job in lectures, but if you apply yourself and dive into the text you can kill the class. The homework and studying will take all of your time so say goodbye to your friends for the quarter.
This class was the first class in my life where I actually had no idea what was going on half the time. It's a very very difficult class and the professor makes it tougher. I had to read the book and get help from the TA to "understand" the material. The power points are kind of disorganized in my opinion. This class makes me sad :/
I understand that you're not suppose to understand quantum mechanics, but this guy takes it to a whole new level.
Listening to this guy lecture on term symbols literally made me reevaluate my life choices, like how I ended up in this class. Straight up got 40% on the final and an A in the class. I learned nothing, and I am forever traumatized by term symbols.
Nothing I studied was on the final...
By far the worst professor that I've ever had. What he mumbles in class has absolutely zero relevance in the exams. You are basically stuck studying on your own. If you have any questions, ask the TAs; don't come to him. No notes or calculators allowed on the exams. Good luck, you'll really need it.
PChem is difficult in general, but Bowers take it to another level where he managed to make even the most mundane concepts difficult. No notes or formulas are allowed on the exams. I don't know when in the real word, Chemists must memorize all the formulas. And talking about the exam... well, let's just say he makes them difficult just to spite you
Makes learning difficult; you'll have to do a lot of work on your own. The book is occasionally helpful, but the detailed explanations are often lacking. At the end of the day, if you know your stuff reasonably well, you'll do fine in the class as the averages are usually failing (below 60%).
Bowers is a terrible teacher. Lectures are very unclear, it's pointless to go to class. Very doable to never go to lecture and get an A. Average grade in class is 35, PChem is just a very difficult subject to have a terrible lecturer for. Definitely seek other university lectures on YouTube if you want to understand the material.
in my opinion the ones who complain the most about the class are the ones who don't go to class. if you don't study and fall behind then yes you're pretty much screwed but if you go to class, try to understand everything and do your best on the homework and review solutions, it won't be that bad. get 50% average on exams and you'll get an A.
Bowers doesn't have a clue how to teach. He thinks his students should be complete geniuses and don't allow formulas on the tests. Test averages are in the 30s. The solutions to the homework problems are written by the TAs and uses formulas not even in the book.
Blatantly rude to undergrads, insinuating that we are dumb etc. Physical chemistry is hard enough, but I feel like I could grasp it if it was taught by a good teacher (ie Buratto). But alas if you are stuck with Bowers, just suck it up, try to understand as much as you can, do the HW, ask a good TA for help, and just try to get average on exams.
Bowers is an extremely brilliant man, but does not have a clue how hard this subject is for the people in the class. He doesn't explain students questions well because he thinks you should understand all of it. The tests are hard because the class is hard and the subject just isn't easy period. Gear up for a brutal quarter.