2.3
Quality3.3
Difficulty37%
Would Retake104
Reviews37%
Would Retake
104
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
6
4
14
3
18
2
31
1
35
What Students Say
“This professor didn't teach me anything”
120 - 1.0 rating“She's a super sweet lady”
120 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
91%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.54 avg changeRatings by Course
131L
2.6
(7)CHEM120
2.3
(65)120
2.2
(32)Difficulty by Course
CHEM120
3.5
131L
3.3
120
3.0
Reviews (104)
This professor didn't teach me anything. I had to teach myself almost all of the material. She rarely ever helped the students when we did need help. She reads off power points and has no extra information.
She's a super sweet lady. She goes over examples on the board and reads over the notes. It really just depends on the effort you put in to understand the curriculum. It's not a difficult class, and if you need help, you can go to her office hours or email her. I always go to get office hours lol. I'd suggest sitting in the front and taking notes.
Oh my god. Do not take this lab if you can. She barely even knows the lab procedures she's trying to teach you. The TA was 10x more helpful, and didn't confuse the heck out of our group when we asked a simple question. Chill environment, but you better know what's going on 100% of the time or you're screwed.
Professor Trost's class isn't hard if you participate! She does read off the slides but that really is the only info you need to know. Her tests are straightforward and usually easier than the homework problems. She really is a nice lady and is happy to help if you email or go to office hours!
She is so sweet! Very willing to help and drops quizzes and homework at the end of the semester. Homework every week but not bad at all!
DONT LISTEN to the people who talk poorly of Professor Trost! She is so sweet and patient! Was more than willing to help students at all times. Exams were straightforward all multiple choice. The people who don't like her are the same people who talk during class, dont pay attention, and ask questions that had literally just been answered 10x.
Im not really a math person so this class wasn't my favorite thing but Prof. Trost is very nice and willing to help. you do need to pay attention if math/chemistry isn't really your thing.
I really would not recommend this professor. half the time she is does not know what she is doing and has to fix answers. I would recommend a different professor
Your grade in this class is dependent on the group you are assigned at the beginning of the semester, and the professor you have won't change that. She didn't really help when we didn't understand the assignment and a lot of the time she was on her computer or on the phone rather than helping people with their hands raised. Do not recommend.
She gave out lots of homework due the night of, but they really helped. She curved SO much of the assignments. She is the better chem professor at JMU and she cares about students. She can be a little unorganized at times but she is overall a good professor. Chem is just a hard class in general, show up to class it will help your grade.
If I could giver her a 0 I would, but I can't so I give her a 1. Professor Trost was really an awful lecturer. She had to read off of the power points and often was confused. If the rest of the class was confused she would tell us to "worry about something else" or "google it." She was unhelpful, and even got basic information wrong a lot.
If I could giver her a 0 I would, but I can't so I give her a 1. Professor Trost was really an awful lecturer. She had to read off of the power points and often was confused. If the rest of the class was confused she would tell us to "worry about something else" or "google it." She was unhelpful, and even got basic information wrong a lot.
This is a difficult class, but put in the work and find friends in the class to study with you can get an A. She gives a lot of work to balance out just the exams, and she curved a lot of ours. She also was nice when I went to her office hours. She means really well, and a lot of the times you do need to learn material out of class, go to S&MLC!!!
You will have to learn a lot of material outside of class but the substantial amount of homework helps with this. The homework also helped me study before exams (practicing the math components). There were a lot of errors in the exams but curves were awarded as a result.
A lot of the homework assignments were not related to what was covered in class. She did curve quite a bit which was good, but she would often get confused with her own powerpoint during lectures which ended up confusing the class overall.
trost read directly off slides for lecture, and often the information on her slides was incorrect which did not help when you needed to study. would do in class problems and get a completely different answer than the slides gave and would say "oops" and would move on which also made it impossible to study. lots of tests but a few dropped at the end
Easy chem class. I thought I would fail but I didn't. She grades based on participation and is chill about lots of things. Just do the work and get it in on time and you'll be fine. I would take her however the only thing is, she gets her work done wrong all the time and have to correct her.
As long as you put in the work, this class is great. She is definetly the best professor for chemistry 120. Go to the PASS sessions, or ask her if you are confused. Everyone who puts in the work gets good grades in this class. She drops 2 exams and there is only about 2 lessons covered for each test. highly recommend if you need to take this class.
Trost is a great lab professor! The labs themselves are difficult and honestly frustrating, but it's more about the reflection and presentations rather than success. She made me feel comfortable to mess up and ask questions. It's important to develop a good relationship with your team, as they will be the ones to help you both in lab and lecture.
I would recommend her class but be prepared for difficult homework assignments, that are not only numerous but would also take a very long time to complete as the year progressed. Prepare to spend a lot of time studying as her tests do not always resemble what is said in class and are most of the time very math heavy.
First off you should just avoid this professor because she isn't a great teacher, due to her zooming through lecture, combined with her clumsy and deficient explanations of class material. Also almost every other class got their classes off due to a football game, yet she STILL made a mandatory zoom meeting while all other classes are off.
While HW is easy, she just yaps, flies through slides, and goes over the simplest things multiple times while flying past the criteria everyone is actually struggling on. Uses a mic in class, burps in and grunts into it You are also assigned a worksheet at the end of every class that is due the same night, on top of the actual hw. Don't recommend!
Very hot take about this professor. She isn't the most approachable person or great At lecturing but I really don't mind this class at all. Lectures are very boring but she gives homework assignments right after (very easy) throughout the week she posts a lot of assignments even if you fail every test there is no reason you would fail this class
literally the entire class she's reading off a powerpoint, then when she's showing you how to solve something she does it quick without explaining, then puts it away you literally don't even have time to write it down, and then for the last 20 mins she gives you a worksheet that half the time is not even related to the lesson. avoid at all costs
she does not help at all and breaths very heavily into the mic
I would only take her class if it's required. The class is easy if you go to the pass sections and teach the material to yourself. Her class is very overstimulating, she uses a mic and breathes, grunts, eats mints loudly into the mic. She's nice but doesn't know how to teach and her lectures don't make sense. Her TA's were more helpful than her
She is a very sweet lady although, she tends to drink or smack her lips over her microphone in class which can be very distracting, she also doesn't know what she's doing at times, she will do the problem wrong then expect us to get 100's on the homework assignments. This course is very quiz and test heavy.
She is very lecture heavy which normally doesn't bother me, but she breathes very loud into her mic, burps into the mic and reads off the powerpoint. She shows example problems on the white board but never explains what she's doing she just writes numbers. With her teaching the course you will have to teach yourself almost everything.
There were 6 tests often not even what we directly covered. I went to every lecture but still completely taught myself
The material itself isn't very difficult if you have taken a previous chemistry class in high school. She is very lecture heavy and reads right off the board and the material can be hard to follow. I highly recommend going to the PASS sessions because most of the problems done in PASS sessions were very similar to problems on tests.
She tries her best but the lectures can be very confusing. Go to pass exam reviews they are extremely helpful and the main reason I got a good grade. Sit in the front so you can see the problems she does on the whiteboard. Quizzes and HW are take-home and easy. She drops 2 out of the 6 exams. She is helpful in her office hours but that's it. ASMR
She's not a bad person but not a great teacher. When you ask questions she will not thoroughly explain and she will act like you should know everything. The tests are hard, I've only gotten above a B twice, and I had to teach myself all of the material. Go to the SSC and get a tutor that will be your biggest savior. Microphone is God awful.
VERY heavy leacturer, often gets the problems wrong and doesn't know why. She eats, breathes, and smacks into her microphone during the lectures. Uses aktiv for everything including attendance but WILL NOT mark you if your in class and have technical issues. She is very rude too. 6 tests over the semester with 2 dropped. HW + quiz every week.
She's a nice woman and I have no problem with her, I've actually learned a lot and managed to keep an A in the class. However, we moved really fast. Tests every other week (at the testing center on our own time). She also would skim past some concepts or do a really quick problem on the board that was hard to see if we were running out of time.
Trost is one of the worst professors I've had. Her lectures are hard to understand, and she offers little help. Be prepared to teach yourself and use the SSC free tutoring. Tests aren't too difficult, but the material can be unpredictable. Good luck!
I have truly never had a worst teacher. Her lectures were quick and she skimmed over information with very little care. I am not exaggerating when I say that out of the 5 problems she'd walk us through in a class, she would incorrectly answer like 3 of them and then someone would have to raise their hand to tell her to fix it. She was rude aswell
She moves really fast honestly is not the best professor unprepared & stumbles over her thoughts.This makes going to PASS sessions important. HW and quizzes, multiple attempts on the questions, worksheets every week, just submit.Exams multiplechoice. Although she is not the best talk to her 1on1 she is caring/understanding. PutInWhatYouWantOut
i would say she isn't a good professor, her teaching habits aren't very sufficient for the type of cruciality of this course, she would go too fast, is very hostile when it comes to asking for help, if you go to SSC you should be able to self teach yourself but beware, chem is knowledge based, so its hard to study chem you have to practice it .
Professor Trost was not the great at expelling things. When me and my group asked her for help just to get us started on the project she simply said she could not help us. She mad some of the projects hard while some were pretty easy fro us to figure out. Also you CAN NOT miss a class unless you tell her in advance.
She really did not explain anything well but class was mandatory so trying to pay attention was like nails on a chalk board. Take literally anyone else, she also chewed, sneezed, and snorted into the microphone for the class. It was the worst time ive ever had a lecture.
I felt like chat GBT could teach me better, she was always confused and confusing others.
Professor Trost always confused us and often said "oops" because she would show us how to solve something but end up showing us the wrong way. She gives out worksheets every class due that same night.
She doesnt really teach you could learn this on your own she literally just reads the slides, anyone could do that.
she just reads off a slideshow posted on canvas, but does take attendance (which is part of your grade) - so go to class. lots of homework but when you don't do well on tests you can still end with a decent grade if you do the homework. tests every other week, she doesn't curve anything but the final but she drops your 2 lowest test grades.
Trost is rarely prepared for lectures, which makes it difficult to learn complicated topics. There are 6 unit tests; however, she drops the lowest 2 test scores. There are a lot of assignments that can be time consuming.
Trost is a very nice woman but has a difficult time in lectures, she takes breaks and pauses in the middle of things and they you lose track of where you are. She very advanced and forgets to slow down sometimes. There are a bunch of tests that you take in the testing center including a cumulative final. but if u go to class and try, you'll do fine
Dr. Trost is a kind older woman who teaches chemistry like you might have received it in high school, whether that is good/bad for you. Attendance is mandatory; lots of online hw/quizzes; tests are basically bi-weekly. She goes fast and does not thoroughly explain the math portions. You must teach yourself to do well! Her study guides are helpful.
This professor is a nice person, but she does not know much about chemistry. She cannot answer questions on the material, and was usually unprepared. Some of the math we learned was so confusing, that she would consistently mess it up on the board. She also breathes so loud and burps into the mic that getting through class is a struggle.
This Professor was just terrible. She did not know the material and was just reading off of slides the entire time (doesnt teach). She does the problem and then does it wrong and always has a lame excuse for it. She burps and beathes very heavy into the mic which is uncomfortable. To top it off she has her PASS leaders do EVERYTHING. Bad Professor.
The class had six exams, all in the computer lab. Attendance was mandatory& taken on a pole at the end of class. During lecture, Trost would breath VERY heavy or cough/burp into the microphone. She would say "oops" due to messing up problems constantly. Very hard to understand. The lectures were difficult and face paced. Don't take her!!!!!!
Lectures can be difficult to follow and the practice problems she gives sometimes make no sense. Not a difficult course but she made it complicated and hard to follow. Points are taken off for every class you miss. At least one homework each class, but a lot is completion. Lots of quizzes but they are online, all exams are in the testing center.
Lectures are fast paced so I usually had to work ahead in the notes to keep up, worksheets at the end of each class. Sometimes she gets a little turned around in her examples, but she goes back and fixes her mistake. Examples are helpful and tests are straight forward, one every other week. Review notes and homework and GO TO THE PASS SESSIONS!!!!!
There's a daily worksheet only graded by completion and every two weeks an exam that you sign up for Mon-Wed. There's daily attendance, a weekly quiz and homework online. Lectures refresh the topics, but notes should be taken on the free online textbook it's more informative and helpful than hers. She's not awful, but you'll have to teach yourself.
Don't take this class if you can help it. She teaches off of a bad slideshow and barely explains anything, and she usually writes problems on the board in a light colored marker you can't see. There were multiple times she did problems wrong and didn't realize, and she also breathes really loudly into her microphone every class.
DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!!! The only beneficial part is the PASS sessions which I was unable to attend because of course conflicts. She is constantly getting corrected by her students. At least she's just as confused as we are!
I actually don't understand the hate for her at all. She is very caring and wants to see you succeed, she can get some problems wrong but otherwise I think she does a good job. This isn't a hard class at all if you can put in a little time outside of class. She also gives you a bunch of material to use to study that makes the test easier.
Trost made CHEM120 very understandable and very clear. She does a great job with explaining concepts and gives in class worksheets that help you gain a better understanding on the topic. There were Tests every 2 weeks, and quizzes and homeworks were online and on your own time. Take her!
the use of acktiv is nice in this course and she can explain things nice but she in known for being corrected by students constantly
Ms. Trost is a nice professor, but her lectures aren't helpful. The content of the class is simple and if you do all of the assignments it should be an easy A or B.
She is sweet but I had to learn everything on my own. You have a graded worksheet to work on every single class and a test every 2 weeks which can be overwhelming. If you take this with her make sure your other classes aren't as work-heavy because you will be spending a lot of time just completing assignments.
Attendance is probably the most annoying thing. But theres a test every 2 weeks in the testing center but if you literally just follow exactly what the TA's post for test review you will do well. I have a 93 rn and I start studying the day of the tests. She has worksheets Friday which can be annoying and online quizzes and hw due at end of week.
She's not the worst, but she's not great. Attendance is mandatory, and class is quite boring. I often can't focus in lecture so i've watched the lecture videos on my own time and it works for me. You use ACTIV chem for most assignments and she drops the 2 lowest grades on assignments and tests. Lots of tests, but short and not really that hard.
She was not a good professor overall. The class was easy, but tests are every other week, and there is a good amount of HW/quizzes on ACTIV. These are done on your own. She messes up during lecture a lot, and you can't read her handwriting half the time. She gives attitude when you try to talk to her. Overall OK. Moderately easy to get an A.
There are exams every other week, but she does a lot of example problems during lecture that would be used on the exams. She gives you time at the end of class to do a problems on your own and to ask questions. Overall, great professor.
uses AKTIV for attendance/assignments. usually 2 weekly assignments/quizzes. useless lectures. moves way to fast and constantly breathing into mic. makes information way to hard to understand. no reason I should have been crying over chem this much. tests every 2ish weeks at testing center. would not recommend at all, but not impossible to pass.
If you go to class Prof. Trost is extremely easy. She lectures for half of the class time and the second half is doing a practice sheet of what she just taught. There is an exam every 2 weeks covering 2 chapters, lowest 2 grades are dropped.
You're going to teach yourself the material as Dr. Trost does not explain concepts very well and goes very quickly though lectures. Worksheets every week due the same night, Aktiv hw and quizzes. Chapter tests every other week. Drops the lowest 2 tests. I taught myself material and was able to get an A so you'll have to work hard, also go to PASS!
She is such a horrible teacher for a gen ed. You can definitely tell that she knows a lot and cares about the subject but when it comes to teaching it... good luck. Be prepared to go to every PASS session plus teach all the material to yourself. She didn't even come back to class when the fire alarm got pulled and we still had an hour left.... LOL.
She is a bad explainer, she essentially reads off the slides. You have to teach yourself to be successful. Upside is that there are a lot of quizzes and homeworks to boost your grade.
She was not great at teaching, and I had to learn a lot of it myself. Tests weren't very hard, as they were all multiple choice and basic, plus you only had to take 4 out of the 6 exams. Very boring class and was basically all lecture, then some worksheet time.
Lectures only taught so much so having a general understanding of the topics definitely helps. The tests weren't that bad because she provides you with a small cheat sheet. She drops 2 out of the 6 tests and some of the homework assignments as well. There are worksheet days once a week that are graded on completion. Overall not terrible.
She slurps up soda like Jabba the Hut
She is so sweet. She records every lecture so you can always look back on them. At the end of each chapter she has in class worksheets so she can walk you through any questions you need help on. Content gets hard out of nowhere so KEEP UP
She does not care about her students!! She will read off the power point and does not know her stuff, She is very rude in emails and is not very helpful!! I went to her office hours and was like I have this in 15 mins and was rush. Do not take her!!!
She speaks at the speed of light and forgets how to do the things she's teaching. All she does is read off the PowerPoint then expect you to know what to do. I have to teach myself every time and attendance is used with a $40 app… that you have to buy. Save yourself and don't take her class.
I think she is such a nice lady, but sometimes not the best teacher
She talks at the speed of light, and isn't helpful what so ever when you ask questions. She does record her lectures but takes about 3 to 4 days to post them. On top of that she can barely teach her own material. Id rather drop my major and do something else, than retake her class.
Test every 2 weeks but drops 2 out of the 6. You will teach yourself everything. She goes fast and never answers and just can't explain, go to TA instead. Attendance is mandatory and you need to pay for the app to do hw and attendance. If you can take anyone else please do but it's possible to pass if you focus a lot of your time to this class.
Do yourself a favor and look for any other teacher besides Trost. Only took this class due to my major requirements, I should've withdrawn after the first lecture. She reads straight off the powerpoint, no help at all. You will need to dedicate sm time, be ready to teach yourself everything. Attendance mandatory, lowest 2 out of 6 exam dropped.
Bi-weekly exams, alot of homework, but if you do the work, go to class, and go to occasional PASS sessions, the content is extremely easy. Going to PASS sessions will almost guarantee you an A. My biggest qualm is her chicken scratch handwriting when working through problems.
I had heard things about this class before, however, I found it to be pretty good. Professor Trost reads off the slides and talks a bit fast, however, she records her lectures. There are tests every 2 weeks, but that means its only tested in 2 topics at once. I think this class can be hit or miss based on your learning style.
Don't do it..... she is nice but only reads off slides and breathes into the mic so bad. I've had to pull all nighters to teach myself everything. She records the lecture videos, which is a bit helpful.
Does not explain lab projects very well. If you are stuck in a bad group like me then just try your best to get through with it. Not the end of the world if u have her but she is not the best. Just show up and participate and you will be fine. The TA is helpful.
A lot of the ratings of Professor Trost are rough, but the class material itself isnt too bad if you work hard and study. However, she reads straight off the slides and is not good at teaching material. If you want to learn it, you have to do it all outside of class on your own. She drops 2 tests, homeworks and quizzes though which is helpful.
I think her class is pretty easy. She records her lecture, so if you don't understand, you can rewatch it in your own time. Bi-weekly test at the testing center, and her tests are straightforward. There are 6 test drop 2. She pretty much drops 2 of everything, like hw, quizzes that are take-home and open everything, and attendance.
very fast paced if you have no background knowledge of chem you'll be lost. 6 exams for the semester. doesn't explain thing clearly
If you are someone who cant teach yourself, id look into other professors. She reads whats on the board but wont teach it to you. She also talks to the class like we have a background in chem and wont explain new terms well. Expect a lot of work (tests every other week, homework, worksheets, quiz's) I wouldn't recommend her.
failed every single test but still passed the class. she can't teach to save her life but if you can teach yourself and do well on worksheets, homework, and quizzes (take home work) you'll pass (barely). chem is obviously difficult but she makes it worse. she doesn't explain things or answer questions. no help during office hours. good luck.
The class isn't hard but she just isn't good at explaining concepts and her wording is bad.
Professor Trost is perfectly fine for lab. Sometimes a very harsh grader, but will give points back if you talk to her. I would recommend for 131L
There are a lot of negative reviews but I just took her class and she was super kind and made sure everyone could get help on anything they need for the last 30 minutes of class. You do need to study outside of class but she gives many resources to practice the material before the tests.
Homework and quizzes weekly, test biweekly, cumulative final exam, graded attendance. She does drop 2 or 3 lowest scores of everything, which is helpful. I would recommend looking over the slides before class, because she moves very fast during lecture. Lecture can be chaotic and her handwriting is messy when solving problems on the board.
You can tell she cares about Chemistry and knows a lot but she is an awful teacher and unreliable. Start studying now and figure out how to teach yourself chemistry. Rose library will be your friend.
She was just bad. I don't even think she likes teaching. The content is pretty straight forward, if you just listen/go to class and do the homework, you should pass just fine. It is VERY test heavy but the tests are not too bad. She is just kind of rude when you ask questions and just belittles people a little.
Not as bad as ppl are making it seem. We have an exam every other week which is around 15-30 questions but she drops 2 lowest exam grades & she posts all her lecture videos online.Cram before her exam by watching 2-3 lecture recordings & studying and 70-100% on the exam is easily attainable. Lots of homework but its not awful and a good grade boost
She reads straight off the slides, covering one chapter each week with lectures and worksheets every Friday. Per week there is, homework, quizzes, and the worksheets. She asks for questions but can make them feel unwelcome. Explanations are vague, making content hard to understand and exams rough. 2 lowest exams drop. GO TO PASS SESSIONS.
The interpersonal chemistry between us was regrettably minimal; the bonds between her compassion and empathy with me were of lesser fortitude than the Hydrogen bonds in Hydrochloric acid. Though the evaluative bar was intentionally modest in conjunction with the 2.2 / 5.0 cumulative professor rating, Trost has located a lower stratum.
If you go to class, copy down notes b4 class (yes all lectures are posted and she posts a recording of them), do the aktiv HW and quizzes (which are at home so you should get 100s), youll be fine. She's super caring and an okay-ish teacher. Just apply yourself and youll be fine
This class is not super hard, but it is annoying. She lectures for about 30-45 min and then the rest of the class you get a worksheet which I found very helpful and we got out of class early lots of times. She is not fun to listen to and sometimes underexplains things. Lot of HW but its easy and helps your grade a lot.
She really is just okay for lab. Honestly i didn't like her that much, the class itself is just boring but she grades things harsh after telling you it looks good and has everything she's looking for. You will have to present every project except the last one.
you're cooked ngl
She is fs an over hated prof. Class and tests are extremely easy, go to the pass sessions if you don't understand something. Review notes before class though because she moves very fast, lots of grades to fall back on.
Professor Trost is kind and genuinely cares about chemistry and the success of her students. She is definitely not as bad as she seems. If you put in the work (there are worksheets days and activ tests/quizzes to help you learn the material) and engage with the course you will do well.
I loved Prof. Trost! Her class is lecture heavy, but she explained content very well and is always available for help outside of class. Sometimes end of lecture becomes rushed so it's important to go to worksheet days to practice!! Overall she was a great professor and I really enjoyed her class
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
91%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.54 avg changeRatings by Course
131L
2.6
(7)CHEM120
2.3
(65)120
2.2
(32)Difficulty by Course
CHEM120
3.5
131L
3.3
120
3.0