[C3444] Organic Chemistry II

Professor Lambert is a really nice guy that cares about his students. Lectures are not too bad and he tries to make it interesting with the occasional lame joke or funny story. He'll make the reactions seem easy and logical during lecture but you'll still find yourself often confused when you do the questions yourself. The reality is that the material in Orgo 2 is not easy and will require a lot of studying, regardless of which professor you take it with.

There were 3 exams (drop 1) and a final. The averages were 77, (actually 87, but he was being nice and set the average lower cause he thought the class did really well), around 50 for the other 2 midterms and 78 for the final. I thought the exams were quite fair. Yes, there were questions that were tricky and tough to get without a really thorough understanding and intuition of the material, but there were enough points to go around to score well on all the exams. Synthesis questions are tough and you need to develop a good strategy or you could get stuck on those questions during the exams.

In contrast to the previous reviewer, I felt like I learned a lot of Orgo from Lambert and it seemed like he was a better choice than the other options available. I did quite well studying primarily from his notes, while checking the book occasionally. I thought it really helped that all his notes were posted online. Teaching on a blackboard is also infinitely better than powerpoint (which Turro did in my previous semester).

The major complaint I had was when he was away for several lectures--- and the fact that the 3rd and final exam was scheduled only 1 week before our final. Also, he gives a ton of ungraded problem sets, but the problem sets often don't match with what's being tested and there are sometimes mistakes in the answers (there are no step-by-step solutions, which makes it hard sometimes to figure out how they get their answer). But he also gives several practice exams w/solutions before each exam/final. I would advise to do those last and use those as your real test of the material, and just casually go through the problem sets to make sure you know what you're doing.

Tristan is a good professor and deserves a silver medal. He is so enthusiastic about organic chemistry and very willing to respond to questions. Although it is true that he spent too much time on aromaticity, which in turn prevented him from covering the biochemistry chapters, the reactions he covered, particularly on carbonyl chemistry (crux of orgo II), were presented extremely thoroughly. The beastly nature of orgo II can be frightening, but Tristan makes it much much more tolerable. Plus, he has lots of supplementary problem sets (ungraded) and exams on courseworks. What more can you ask for?

I learned a lot from this class and actually developed a love for org. chem. If you really pay attention and am genuinely interested in the subject, lectures are extremely valuable, since he presented lots of nifty-little tricks here and there and occasionally threw in jokes to cheer everybody up. He may initially seem intimidating, but as the term wore on, I got the impression that he was nowhere close to being arrogant and really cared about students; no offense, but think about the patience he has for some of the annoying post-bacs who tend to be show-offs and make one sick to the stomach.

In response to some of the complaints in the previous review(s):
1. Occasionally, Lambert's notes do contain mistakes - that is why one should take his or her own notes and attend class. Besides, organic chem only sinks in through repetition and writing out the reactions yourself. The posted lecture notes are a good way to check stuff over and truly reveal the dedication that Lambert has for teaching, given the time spent on writing them. Profs are humans and thus not perfect. Please appreciate Lambert's efforts and quit whining. Also, the notes are already much better than the crappy, insufficient McMurry textbook.

2. Exams - Usual Format: predicting the products, synthesis, mechanism (also extra credit available). They are hard, but not impossible to do well on, with partial credit awarded very appropriately. I find them to be rather fair (potentially fun) and focus proportionally on the stuff he taught. The tests are not meant to demoralize people, but rather to test for an extra level of understanding. Don't expect to be spoon-fed the material here at Columbia. Apply what you have absorbed in lecture and don't rely on rote-memorization (epic-fail!!!). Besides, everything is curved, which means that Tristan does not intend to mess people up on purpose. Stop fussing only about grades - try to be humble and actually learn.

Exam 1: Avg 85, STD 10.5 (To be nice, he actually rescaled the avg to 77).
Exam 2: Avg 53, STD 19
Exam 3: Avg 49, STD 19
Final Exam: Avg 236/300, STD 58 -> This was like a gift to us, although somehow people still did pretty badly on it. Either, they are retarded or stopped caring/ studying.
If Tristan wanted to, he could have just made this a killer, but instead chose to make it resemble the practice exams very closely. Pretty easy.

Btw, for your information, we had Jim Leighton and Scott Snyder as guest lecturers for a couple of classes and they were also great.

Easily one of the best chem lecturers Ive had. Somewhat dry but overall very clear about the material, approachable and also has a good sense of humor. The exams ranged from straightforward to hairy (mean of 50 on two of them). Everything gets normalized at the end, probably curved to a B+, so I wouldnt be deterred by the CalTech mystique that surrounds some of the more difficult synthesis/mechanism problems. And the TAs were excellent, make sure to go early to office hours to avoid the herds of postbacs.

I have no idea how this guy got a silver medal (or whatever that is). His tests are terrible. They are so long that lots of people don't finish and they are significantly harder than the material he goes over in class. The grading is really random so I suggest ALWAYS asking for a regrade because you're pretty much guaranteed to get more points. No basis to how many points you get at all and the TAs are all basically doing their own thing. He spent weeks and weeks on aromaticity and then expected us to memorize almost a hundred reactions that he barely covered in class. Lots of mistakes in his notes too (which he sometimes doesn't mention in class. watch out for that) He thinks he's funny, but really just seems pretty cocky. I don't think I learned much. I wish I could go back and drop this class. So make a better choice than me and pick another professor !!

I was new to Snyder's class this semester, since I took first semester orgo with Sames. The difference between the two is, to use a cliche, like day and night. Snyder is one of the most efficient and organized professors I've encountered. He lectures at a brisk pace but always slows down to emphasize the important points. What's incredibly helpful is that he takes 5-10 minutes at the beginning of class to review material from the previous lecture. This is a great way to double-check the mechanisms you wrote down in a hurry and to refresh your memory before plunging into new material.

Last semester, the McMurry textbook was my lifeline. Sames' lectures were hard to follow, so I read and reread the McMurry chapters. This semester, Snyder made me realize how inadequate the textbook is. No, Snyder doesn't teach out of the textbook; he only follows the textbook's way of organizing the material. But his lectures are really thorough, and he provides supplemental explanations (read: a mini-textbook) to go along with his lectures. He teaches the material so well that you don't really NEED the textbook.

This man's dedication is also amazing. He holds two office hours per week and a review session before each exam. For the third exam, he even trekked to campus on a Saturday to give a review session when he could have easily made one of the TAs do it. For someone whose first semester professor had a tendency to perform disappearing acts at crucial times, this kind of dedication was impressive. Also, I'm not sure if he will do this in the future, but he actually posted his own lecture notes online at the end of each unit from the second unit onwards (I suspect he did this for the second exam because we had a bunch of cancellations due to the weather).

This isn't to say that orgo II is easy. It's not. There are hundreds of reactions and many mechanisms. But Snyder makes it as easy as possible and tries very hard to point out the major trends so that the class is less memorization-based. If you do treat this class like a memorization class, you probably won't succeed.

His exams do require that you know the material backwards and forwards, but the material tested is entirely predictable. He is perfectly honest about the format of the exam, and the past problem sets and exams are good indicators of what will show up. The mechanism question is usually a gimme, and the synthesis problems have fewer steps than those on problem sets.

In short, if you put in the time to actually learn the material, you will very likely do well.

Professor Lambert is a fantastic professor. He is approachable and passionate about organic chemistry. I didn't do well at in Organic I, was horrified to take this class but thanks to Tristan I did well and somehow found organic chemistry surprisingly enjoyable. It's orgo, so you'll either love it or hate it, but Professor Lambert at least tries to appease the people that hate it. His exams are straightforward and he goes through different tools in his office hours that give a way to approach the material. All in all this is one of the best pre-med requirements I have taken at Columbia and if you can get Professor Lambert consider yourself blessed.

What a great professor! He is approachable, humorous and human. He put together clear and very cohesive lectures and posts all his notes online so if you miss class you can check the lectures online. That said, it is best to go to class since sometimes he will clarify mistakes he's made in his notes or change what's in them. He will take any amount of time after class to answer questions from students; additionally, while he sometimes delivers lectures in a sleep-inducing tone of voice, he crams in jokes whenever he can. His exams were very fair; if you understand the reactions you will do very well. One sidenote - there were two sections; one would take midterms on Thursday and one would take the exam the following Monday and usually the latter exam was more difficult. However, the MW section took the final exam three days before the other section and had a little less material and I've heard a slightly easier exam. So it's a compromise. I would definitely recommend taking organic chemistry with this professor.

Prof. Rojas is, hands down, the best science teacher I had at Barnard/Columbia for the reasons that every other reviewer has already noted. Even compared to humanities classes (I was a humanities major), I think this class was extremely well taught and helped you appreciate orgo (somehow). That said, it's no walk in the park, but what I do appreciate about this class is that the resources he gives you entitles everyone an equal chance to do well. Here are the rules:

1. Attend every lecture and recitation session, no exceptions. If you miss a lecture (bc of an emergency) get the notes immediately, go over them and make sure you get caught up.
2. Do the problem sets before the recitation.
3. Go to at least 1 or 2 office hour sessions a week. He holds one almost everyday, there really is no excuse to not attend. Also, if you can't make any of them, he'll meet with you on your own. Don't be intimidated by his cultish followers, who try to hog up all the time asking questions. Be bold and ask yours too.
4. Study for the tests at least 2 weeks ahead in advance. He tests understanding, not how well you can memorize.
5. Form a study group, with smart, kind-hearted folks. Although, this is not absolutely necessary, it definitely helps and, if nothing else, when everyone else is partying on the Thursday night before an orgo exam, you don't have to be cooped up all alone and scared in butler.
6. SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE TESTS - I can't say this enough. The test requires critical thinking. You need to be human (not half man half red bull) when you take it.

Lastly,

7. Don't get sick. I know this sounds stupid, but I really mean it. Take your vitamin C pills, flu shot, cut off coughing friends, etc. Take care of your body and sleep because getting sick can absolutely hurt your chances of doing well in this class.

Ok, well that was longer than I intended, but I sincerely hope this info helps you. And I also think you should consider capping the number of credits you take to 15 during these semesters.

AMAZING!!! I'm a rising senior that has taken a plethora of pre-med classes, and Professor Snyder is the first professor I have had that shows a genuine care for his students. Needless to say that he is brilliant and gives great, organized lectures, he strives to make your experience painless and fun. He works very hard--holding a ton of office hours, responds quickly to emails, and grades the exams fast. he is certainly one of the BEST professors i have had at columbia. DO NOT MISS OUT ON HIM!!!

Professor Snyder is hands down the best science professor I have had at Columbia. I truly can't say enough about how great he is at doing what teachers do: teach. He is extremely thorough and makes the material easy to understand. I can honestly say I've learned more in this semester of organic chemistry than in a whole year of my other science courses. As to Prof. Snyders willingness to help students, it is of a type which is not seen at Columbia. Office hours twice a week, review sessions before exams, and he is always in class a half an hour before and after each class answering questions from crazed pre-meds that would drive even Mother Teresa to madness. To be able to deal with some of the most competitive, annoying, and brown-nosing students on the planet Earth and still be able to come across as friendly and genuinely willing to help is a marvel to me. I couldn't do it, I have enough frustration with my overzealous partner in lab to make me want to drink the halogenated waste container, God knows were there long enough every Thursday for me to do it. All in all, Professor Snyder is an execellent and caring professor. To do well, focus on the lecture material and past problem sets and exams. I didn't crack the book and knew only the reactions and mechanisms he gave and was completely prepared. Go to the office hours if you can, they're pretty valuable, although you should probably bring a bag to be sick in when you see the amount of brown nosing that occurs.

Perhaps I'm the only one who did not appreciate Snyder. Yes, everything about his personality and great lecturing style is true. HOWEVER, I will give a couple of warnings to provide a little bit more balanced feedback.

1. If you are a text book learner (like myself) DO NOT take the class. It is based on the lecture and even though most students would be willing to buy a second textbook to do better in the class, he doesn’t assign one even though he doesn’t really use the mcmurry at all.

For that matter, if you are not a morning person (like myself and most students I know) DO NOT take the class. You need to show up on time at 9 am three times a week, and what's more, you have to be conscious at that hour. Do not kid yourself - you will not listen to the recorded lectures, and even if you do, they won't do you much good without watching as he performs the mechanisms on the board. (Getting the notes from someone and listening to the lectures is not much better)

2. What the grading is based on is EVIL. The numerous graded problem sets and the importance of recitation quizzes - SUCKS. The problem sets are really difficult and really hard to do well on. You will spend hours doing these things. They assume that you already know the material and can apply it to trick questions. It means constantly staying on topof the material - which if you have nothing else going on in your life is possible, but, especially if you’re a bit more of a crammer, this is really frustrating. Same with the recitation quizzes - and warning - shop TAs, it will be worth it to have a good one.

3. What he says about no curve - is basically true. Perhaps you won’t get a C if you get a 73 on an exam, but you won’t get higher than a low B and probably a B-. This is not Cornish.

Finally, if you are set on choosing a semester of immersing yourself in orgo and spending hours and hours on a class that for most of you won’t help with anything else you do (how many of us are organic chemists) or doing well on the MCATS (for those of you who are premeds), here is some practical advice to help with the semester of hell you are committing yourself to. Just remember, this is not Cornish. Orgo II is not theory, it is lots of specific information that all ties together and just getting the gist will not be enough. You will not be able to 'just get by' as you did in Cornish, or just cram. Remember that the grading counts about 25% of stuff not exam based and you need to keep up to do well in it.

Snyder might be great teacher for those who want to go on to graduate work in organic chemistry. And, while it is very refreshing to have a dynamic lecturer with a great personality in the science classes, understand what you are signing yourself up for.

Prof. Merrer is exceedingly organized; that is the best thing about this class. That sounds lame, but organic chemistry is difficult enough, so her ability to present it in a clear manner is refreshing. The tests are difficult, but if you stay on top of the material, go to office hours, do the un-graded problem sets, and work really hard, you will most likely do well. It's a hard class, but what do you expect? Prof. Merrer teaches it well, but the responsibility is on you to spend a good amount of time really learning the material. There are mostly pre-meds and Chem majors in the class, some of whom manage to get 100s on exams.... I believe the class is curved, at the end, to a B-/C+ as other Organic classes are.

Professor Snyder is both a great professor and a difficult one. He just arrived at Columbia last year so it was his first semester teaching undergraduates. Within the first few weeks he knew the names of nearly everyone in the class (even with a class size of nearly 150) and really cared about how each student did. He made sure to have office hours at times which students could attend, had extra office hours during the days before an exam, and was extraordinarily helpful in answering questions both in office hours and after class. Professor Snyder would even set up meetings with individual students if that was what was required. Basically, if you show an interest in learning Organic Chemistry, he really responds and seeks to be of help. However, his class is by no means a breeze. He adds extra material beyond the book to fill out the gaps he sees in McMurry and the tests are difficult, though doable if you put in the effort. If you are ready to work, Prof Snyder and the TAs are there to help you through a difficult class.

Professor Lambert is a sweet guy and in five years will be a truly excellent teacher. This semester was his first teaching the class, so it hit the expected road bumps. The exams were either too easy or far too difficult, which was frustrating in terms of gauging how much and what to study. Also, he used a microphone, which is a huge soporific for some reason and always seemed to start feedback-ing at the most inconvenient times. However, Lambert was highly approachable and seemed to really want everyone to do well. He is enthusiastic, which is to me one of the most important traits in a professor. After a semester of Cornish (highly organized and highly demanding) this was a bit of a letdown, but as he becomes more organized and develops a more sure teaching style he will become one of the department's best teachers.

The man is AWESOME. His lectures are rather fast-paced and color coded. He takes the first bit of every class to review the last lecture, just to refresh it in everyone's mind. He also wrote a series of notes that he uploaded to Courseworks because he thought the textbook was bunk. So, yeah, he pretty much wrote a textbook.

This is such a great class....Prof Snyder is probably the best instructor I've had at Columbia. I think he does an amazing job of presenting the material--even at 9am. He's really available outside of class with something like 3 or 4 office hours a week and he always responds to emails immediately. He does review sessions before the exams--instead of having the TAs do something....you can tell that he really cares about instructing his students and makes this course a priority. I am not just saying this stuff because I did well---I only got a B+.
Here's the only problem with the course--because Prof Snyder is such a great instructor everyone learns the material and so the curve is pretty tough and it becomes really, really hard to get an A. Nevertheless Prof Snyder is really great about explaining the grading system--he even tells you if you are close to an A/B before the final exam....I emailed him at the end of the semester about my grade and he responded within the hour with a really detailed response.

While its hard to get an "A" or even an "A-" Prof Snyder is a really great instructor and really made me enjoy Orgo II.

What an amazing, amazing man! Professor Snyder is one of the kindest, most organized, most committed, most accomodating professors I have encountered at Columbia. First of all, his lectures were wonderfully concise, clear, helpful, and easy to follow. He always started out with a 5-10 minute review of the material from the previous lecture, which was extremely helpful, and then he would continue on to give an interesting, logical lecture that never left us feeling any confusion. His lectures made the textbook seem worthless. Of course, this made going to class essential, but really, it was a pleasure, because I would always come out knowing exactly what was going on. He provided many, many extra problems and study guides to supplement the textbook (which generally sucks), and his problem sets were also helpful and doable. His tests were always fair, and I never felt like they were out to trick me. Besides his teaching abilities, he is unbelievably kind, has a wonderful sense of humor that he let's out once in a while, and he truly cares for his students. Get this--he somehow knew my name before I had ever even spoken to him (which means he must have memorized our names by looking at the guide they give profs on courseworks). In a lecture class of almost 100 students, that's incredible!

Snyder is the best science teacher I have had at Columbia. After a bunch of so-so teachers in gen chem and orgo I, it was refreshing to have a teacher who gave interesting lectures, gave fair exams, and really wanted the class to learn the material. His tests are not easy at all, but they are fair- you wont ever sit there asking 'when did we learn this?' He is also more than happy to help if you go to his office hours, and is really patient with people asking lots of questions. Hes also entertaining in lecture and makes jokes and puns that lighten up the subject matter.

If you have to take Organic Chemistry, and you see that Prof. Snyder is teaching, make it a priority to set your schedule around that class. Being a former high school teacher, I was impressed by the way Prof. Snyder incorporated effective learning strategies into his teaching. Lectures were not only lucid, but also cohesive, both within a single class and from one class to the next. He also helped to clear up many of the ambiguities from Orgo I by explaining things deemed unimportant by other professors, such as details of mechanisms and reactivity trends. And his cheesy-but-endearing humor certainly helped.

However, the work is not necessarily easy. Problem sets and quizzes are meant to challenge and prepare you for exams. Also, there is a lot of material, hence what many feel is a race through all of the topics. However, his lecture strategies, particularly how he recaps the previous lecture, help to "slow" things down, and should not be ignored or missed. So if you keep up with the work, by the end of the semester you will no doubt realize how much he's helped you to conceptualize organic chemistry, particularly when you are preparing for the MCAT. (He'll even hold out-of-class sessions for MCAT chemistry review, which also shows how much he genuinely cares about his students.)
It should also be mentioned that at the end of the final class, the students gave him a standing ovation that must've lasted 30 seconds (think about it -- that's pretty long). He's easily the best professor for the pre-med chemistry (maybe even non-chemistry) classes, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's the best in the entire department.

Prof. Katz is not a nice man by any means. He belittles students both in the class and outside of it. He also just doesn't know how to communicate to the class or convey information to it. He just seems to be on a very different wavelength, a really different world from the rest of us.

This seems too bad. It's rare to see a teacher enjoy what it is that he does so much, and he's having an incredibly good time up there. He can also be quite helpful, in, for example, office hours--that is, he can explain material there and he knows the material extremely well. So this just seems too bad that he doesn't really seem there with the students.

Lambert is a nice normal youngish guy and he explains things fairly well in class. That being said, he also is a horrible tester. His tests are way too long/difficult and the synthesis problems often border on nightmarish. Part of the blame lays with Orgo itself - it is a necessary evil that is going to be painful no matter who you take it with (especially 2nd semester). But Lambert's tests are worse than Doubldeday or Cornish (I've been told by classmates) on difficulty level.

The peak of the bell-curve on our last test was in the 30s (with an ave of 45). Lambert seems to assume we are at a level a bit beyond first year Orgo, that this isn't all new and confusing stuff - i.e. he raced through an entire chapter's worth of complicated reactions the class before the exam and *poof* we were expected to be at an advanced level of understanding of all the mechanisms in addition to the last 3 chpts in time for the lengthy exam of jumbled synthesis problems.

I understand the idea of testing a level beyond where the class is at, to get a distribution, but it is frustrating to feel like you know the material but cannot reflect that on the exam because the complexity is just one step out of reach.

To give some context, I took Doubleday last semester, had no trouble getting an A. Lowest premed/science grade before this class: A-. I am expecting something in the B range. Like I said, a lot of it is just the nature of the Orgo beast. Put in enough time and you can do well with anyone - Lambert's tests will just take a lot more prep time if you want to get an A.