3.1
Quality3.3
Difficulty51%
Would Retake596
Reviews51%
Would Retake
596
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
596 total ratings5
118
4
136
3
134
2
127
1
81
What Students Say
“Fortney is one of the better 0110 professors”
CHEM0110 - 4.0 rating“Carol is hands down one of my favs”
CHEM0110 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
19%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.11 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM110
4.5
(2)CHEM0310
3.8
(12)0120
3.5
(4)CHEM0420
3.5
(4)CHEM0120
3.1
(131)Difficulty by Course
CHEMO11O
4.0
CHEM0310
3.7
CHEM0120
3.5
0120
3.5
CHEM0910
3.4
Reviews (300)
I hear so much about these other "great" professors but then so many students fail their class. In Dr. Fortney's class it is different, you have to work for your grade. Her practice exams are almost exactly similar to the actual exams. Her personality is great and she shows she cares that she wants her students to pass. Gives extra credit too!
Carol is a very nice lady and tries her best to allow you to understand organic chemistry. I am not going to lie, this class is really hard and requires a lot of memorization. Carol often taught things that weren't relevant and went off on tangents, but in the end you have to study hard and focus on the textbook. There is participation/ Sapling too
Single worst professor I have ever had. Spent a month (8 lectures) on chapter 1 (which was a gen chem review) and 1 LECTURE on chapter 8, which she then proceeded to test us on in the next class. Do yourself a favor and dont.
Going in, I was worried about having Fortney because of all the bad reviews but theyre just not true. Carol is a solid choice. Shes a pretty good teacher and she really cares. As long as youre willing to work and attend every lecture, you can get an A. Coming from someone who got Cs in gen chem and just ended with an A in ochem, its very doable.
Carol is a sweet woman and genuinely cares about her students, especially if you go to office hours. However, DO NOT TAKE HER if you don't already have a strong chem background. She goes on long tangents to answer unrelated questions during lecture so most of the material must be self-taught. Do the practice problems and you will be okay for exams
Carol is a nice lady but not the greatest prof. Her class is easy up until the final and the final can make or break you since theres only two midterms before it. Tests arent too difficult, though, and her lectures are straight from the textbook. Keep up with the textbook and go to her office hours toward the end of the course and youll be fine.
Carol is a nice lady but do not take her for gen chem 1. She did not cover the material needed so her class will not be prepared for gen chem 2. She takes forever to grade things and you will not know your grade at all until it is finalized. She also talks a lot about things we don't need to know and puts her o-chem kids first.
Carol is sweet and cares for her students but gosh the woman is disorganized. If you have a strong chem background, you might want to sleep though lecture or get the attendance code from someone in class since she has so many tangents unrelated to the curriculum. Sapling is straightforward so if you teach yourself and practice, you'll pass
Carol is a nice lady, but she really is NOT a good teacher for Gen Chem 1. I am currently in Gen Chem 2 and feel totally unprepared for the class because Carol didn't teach us enough. She takes forever to get through material at the beginning and rushed through 3 chapters in a week and expected us to know it for the final. Tests aren't bad though.
Fortney's timing was bad as she spent so long on the first chapter of basic info. Also, right before the final she blew through 3-4 chapters within the last 2 lectures. If you stay on top of the readings you will do fine. I focused heavily on the book chapters and got an A. She gives the most fair tests of any prof and curved my class 10%
Carol is the best professor I've had at Pitt so far. She is a great teacher, and her exams are extremely fair. She clearly and explicitly cares for her students which makes you want to do well in her class. If you have the chance, 100% take her for Chem 1.
She's a nice lady. She kinda screwed my class because she took too long on intro chem topics so we had to speed through the hard stuff and it was a nightmare. Don't be afraid to take her class. She is helpful and her lectures are well done for the most part.
Dr Fortney is a very good gen chem professor. I flat-out failed chem 1 on my first try last semester with another professor, but on the second try with Dr Fortney, I got an A. Her lectures are not especially interesting but they have a lot of helpful information in them. The exams are multiple choice and fairly simple.
Carol is a great choice for Chem 1. She is caring, kind, and sweet. She is MUCH easier than other Chem 1 teachers. Does not go nearly in depth with math. Goes very slow at beginning of semester. At end, she speeds up quite rapidly. We did all of chapter 9 in 20 mins. Wish I would have devoted more time to understanding concepts. Easy A if you try.
Dr. Fortney is an incredibly caring individual and is willing to listen to a student's problems and work with them on it. I would rely on your textbook and teaching yourself concepts outside of class. Do textbook problems. Don't get behind on assignments. Show up to class, she takes TopHat. Tests are doable but have to be prepared for.
Starts really slow in the beginning of the semester and rushes right before finals week. The benefit is that she makes her own exams so it covers whatever she gets to in class, but there are multiple sections of chapters she skips over. The two exams and the final make up about 2/3 of your grade but she is lenient with tophat/hw gives a lot though
I took both Gen Chem 2 and OChem 1 with Dr. Fortney, and honestly I'm so thankful that I did. The material for these classes is going to be hard no matter who you take it with, but she really cares and will work with you outside of class to make sure you're keeping up. Would definitely recommend her classes.
Dr. Forney is a very sweet woman but her lectures tend to be dry. She is very willing to help you however she can but honestly, there isn't much she can do for you in OChem. Exam averages were in the 50s/60s so she curved a little bit at the end but it wasn't a generous curve. KEEP UP WITH YOUR MECHANISMS AND REACTIONS!!!
She genuinely wants her students to succeed, but her time management was underwhelming. We covered the easy material many times and then fell behind on the more challenging stuff that was pushed to the of the semester. Her tests were very fair throughout the semester, but the final killed my grade because of the under-explained material.
Carol is a sweet lady, but an absolute disaster of a professor. She spent two months on the first and easiest chapter of Chem1, leaving us with three chapters of difficult material to learn ourselves for the final. She goes on insignificant rants and always canceled study sessions last minute for the Ochem kids. Worst professor I've had at Pitt.
Dr. Fortney is a very nice woman, but a dry professor. She often is way behind the other Chem 1 professors, and I had to teach myself the info for the labs because she had not gotten to it in class yet. She is much easier than the other professors, but I will have to teach myself a lot over winter break to be ready for Chem 2.
She's a nice lady but I dread her class. The lectures are dry and repetitive and we often lag behind other classes meaning we have to teach ourselves the lab material. The exams are okay but she messes up the grades, one section with 12 multiple choice questions was worth all or nothing instead of 1 point each.
She really cares about her students but moves way too slow. This past semester was online so it was tough for everyone but we had to teach ourselves the last few chapters for the final because we did't get to it in the lecture. She would go over the same material a few times and spent way too much time on the first couple of chapters.
Her class was pretty easy but I didn't learn anything to prepare for future chem classes. Lectures moved incredibly slow, and multiple days were spent on a single slide. We were 3 chapters behind where we were supposed to be for the final exam, and most of the class was spent teaching myself material. She is nice, but definitely don't recommend.
I passed this class only because it was open note. However, compared to some of the other chem profs, she isnt too bad. We were 3 chapters behind the whole time, which made it hard to do the labs. She made her own tests: multiple choice, matching, or T/F. Def not easy, but not the worst, especially if you arent a chem major.
She is constantly behind schedule and gets distracted very easily in lectures. She posts asynchronous material very late, making it difficult to review for exams. I ended up teaching myself the material from the textbook.
Her tests had very few questions, each worth many points. If you didn't get the question right, you would miss like 4 or 5 points, which is really devastating on a test with so few questions. Lectures were hard to understand. Had to have a tutor to understand the material, and even then struggled due to test structure. Changed majors bc of this.
Dr. Fortney has not adapted well to Zoom learning. Her tests were weirdly worded and included matching and true/false questions about random terms rather than testing over the concepts we were learning at the time. Exams were given as a Canvas quiz and she gave no partial credit. We did 3 chapters in two lectures bc of how slow she taught.
Her lectures made me consider dropping out of college.
I would say Carol Fortney is one of the best chemistry professors at Pitt. She lectures a little slow but I would say that helped me understand the material better. She tries to help each individual and what she talks about in lecture is exactly whats on the test. I would recommend attending class even though it is not mandatory online.
Dr. Fortney is actually not that bad. She goes very slowly through lecture notes and tries to make sure that students aren't lost. However, she tends to fall behind and towards the end of the semester, she dumps 3 chapters worth of info on you at once. Her tests aren't that bad, just study and you'll be fine.
Prof Fortney was a sweet lady but definitely not the best with technology which was an important factor being that class was remote. Attendance was not mandatory since lectures were recorded and posted after each class. Tests were fair, however, there wasnt much else graded so grade was mainly based on test grades. Homework wasnt bad. Read textbook
Carol is very nice and wants you to succeed, but she's also very all over the place and gives unclear instructions. The exams weren't hard and it's not hard to pass her class, but if you want an A you'll definitely have to read the textbook.
I love Fortney, I am currently taking her for Gen Chem 2. She's super sweet and gives you all the resources you need. She sometimes gets behind, but adjusts tests and quizzes accordingly. The textbook is free, but use isn't really necessary. Just go to lecture, take notes, and pay attention. Sapling's are a good grade booster.
Fortney tends to be slow, but her class is seriously one of the easiest chemistry classes I've ever taken. You do have to go to lecture (although not required) because she doesn't record her classes and if you miss you probably wont pass. she explains everything really well tho and would definitely take again. Quizzes are a joke, tests not too bad
Lectures are super boring and not helpful. Will focus s on the material that is not as important or on the exam. Does not have good communication with the students. Post the material for asynchronous students the day before the quiz and expect them to have enough time to study. Get ready to teach your self all of chem if you take her.
I personally loved Carol and her lectures were very straightforward, her tests to me were easy, but they were also open notes. She is a very sweet lady but a tad bit disorganized, she does rush at the end so make sure to attend classes at the end.. I would 100% use her again
She's the most disorganized person I've ever met. She wouldn't let you know about quizzes or tests, so everything was pop. Horrible at giving lectures, and just blatantly disrespects her students. It's so obvious that she doesn't have an ounce of respect for us, it's crazy.
Carol is such a sweet lady, but is so disorganized and extremely hard to reach outside of class. Lectures are slow and unorganized, and doesn't post material until the night before exams, if she posts at all, so showing up to class is a must or you can teach yourself from the textbook (which has wrong answers and is unreliable) but easy tests
Guess Im not premed anymore. I dont know if ill pass this class but omg Dr. Fortney did not record lectures during this pandemic and posted the mini-lessons for asynchronous students literally 12 hours before the exam. I will never forget how she spent one month on chapter 10 but two weeks on chapter 15, 16,17, and 12.
Honestly she was alright. She was kind of disorganized, but she was nice. She honestly shouldve just posted recorded lectures instead of making her own videos.
Extremely disorganized. She didnt post recordings of lectures, promising she'd post comprehensive videos of content. The issue: she'd wait till the last minute before EVERY exam/quiz/even the final, to post videos, leaving us to cram at the last minute. She teaches at the pace of a snail, and then tried to teach us 2 chapters on the last lecture.
Her tests weren't hard and they lined up with what she taught but she was very disorganized online and didn't post information and notes until hours before the exams. If you do homework problems on your own and understand the subject/pay attention in class, you'll get good grades. Slightly exam heavy but not too bad.
Dr. Fortney is a very sweet and thorough lecturer, though this can lead to her getting behind early in the semester, meaning you'll have to rush at the end. Her exams are fair, and will never have anything not covered in lecture. If you can do the Sapling assignments, you'll pass (and probably with an A). Very easy if you pay attention.
Carol gets really bad reviews and while I think a lot of the specific complaints are justified (she disorganized, doesn't post material to canvas), her class was quite easy. Once you understand the format of her tests they are not hard at all, were open note, and she doesn't test on anything she hasn't covered in class no matter how behind she is.
Nice person but kinda bad with technology. Labs are hard unless you work on them with classmates. Tests are easy enough if you study. I would rely more on the textbook than her though
Super sweet and caring. I had a family emergency and she allowed me drop one of my exam grades because of it. However, I found her lectures difficult to understand because she taught from bulleted/ typed out PowerPoints. She teaches slow at first, but then rushes at the end to catch up, which sucked for chem ll because I felt like I was behind.
It is clear that Dr. Fortney cares about her students and believes you can succeed. She explains concepts thoroughly and takes time to answer questions. As long as you go to class, you should be fine. Do the Sapling and show up to recitation. The textbook isn't exactly necessary, but helpful for labs if/when you fall behind on class material.
Get Dr. Fortney if you can! She is hands down the best professor I've had. Her explanations guide you very well in Organic Chemistry 1, and it builds strong foundation for OChem2. Although she doesn't take attendance, don't expect to do well wo sitting in her lectures. Show up to her office hours bc she will be caring, helpful, and inspirational.
dont take this class unless you like teaching yourself. the examples and material you learn in class is nowhere like what you are tested/quizzed on. sure theres practice problems, but nothing like what she teaches you. save yourself the stress for gen chem 1 & 2
This class is an absolute monstrosity. She reads from a typed-out document with solved solutions. She does not write out solutions or elaborate on them but instead describes an incredibly confusing typed-out version of the equation. She does not teach, she talks. Falling asleep is almost a given. The only redeeming quality is provided notes.
Carol is hands down one of my favs. She doesn't know many people's names because of the large size of the lectures, but if you have a question she will always answer. She provides notes on Canvas and outlines for the exams which are super helpful. She also cares for your mental health and encourages you to take breaks if you need. Love her!
Carol is definitely one of my fav professors here. She really wants you to succeed and gives you the materials to do well in the class. She posts all the notes she uses in class for lecture. It's definitely easier to follow the class in lecture, but missing class wont hurt you if you just look over her notes. Overall a good choice for Chem.
Dr. Fortney is one of the funniest people I have ever met, but her class is horrible. I feel bad because i like her, but this class is awful. She spends way too much time on the easy material, and blows through the difficult stuff. The exams are very difficult and are a lot of your grade. If you do bad on the exams, you won't pass.
Carol is by far the worse teacher I have ever had. We have 3 more lectures before the end of the semester and she believes that we will be able to finish the last THREE chapters, meanwhile, other classes are already done with them and reviewing. But, don't worry she opened the achieve "in case you would like to work ahead." Thank you Carol :)
Carol is a kind and compassionate person, making her a great option for your first college chemistry course. I will say, however, that we covered topics at a rather slow pace, and ended the semester with multiple chapters to cover in the final weeks. She bases her exams directly off of the content provided in her lecture notes. I would recommend.
Carol is a super sweet lady but her lectures can be really boring and she can go on tangents. She goes slow through the material which causes you to be behind at the end of the semester. She went through the last three chapters in 2 weeks right before finals. She posts video sequences on canvas which are really helpful to review before the exams.
I hate her class and everyway she sets it up. Her only resource for studying for her exams that are weighed heavily is "Possible Exam Material". This is literally worthless because it is literally just a recap of every single chapter we have gone over in class. She is the only reason I've ever considered looking at these reviews.
While she's really, really slow in the beginning, she's really nice and unintentionally funny. Her class is pretty hard, but it's chem so it's to be expected. Her exams are not as hard as they could be and she provides a lot of extra material to study. Really like her and would recommend!
Fortney is a kind person who you can reach out to. Her lectures aren't very helpful, but reading the textbook is. She goes super slow through material, and then rushes when there's an exam which is very annoying so you have to learn at a high volume. Recitation quizzes are harder than exams because they aren't multiple choice.
NEVER take Carol Fortney for any chem class at Pitt, especially if you are a science major. Her lectures are horrible to the point that I'd rather teach myself the material outside of class. Not engaging at all. She does not post any grades as you are going through the semester so your final grade is a total surprise to you after the class is over.
Carol Fortney is a sweet lady, but not a good chemistry professor. I ended up teaching everything to myself out of the textbook, especially because she moves really slowly through material in lecture and then crams the rest in right before each exam. However, her exams are pretty easy so if you are willing to teach yourself, you can get an A.
Carol is an amazing lady who cares for her students. Not great at lectures but she posts videos to help. U will end up teaching urself material. She makes extra office ours during exams for help. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM! U wont pass the class with no effort. Make sure u read the textbook it is very helpful. She is always there so help so reach!
Carol is extremely unorganized. Her canvas page can be difficult to navigate. Her lectures are very dry and I never found them helpful. She does post videos on the content though. Coming from an AP environment throughout high school, Carol teaches painfully slow. She ends up behind and covers a lot of content in one or two lectures before en exam.
Carol is a very kind and understanding person, but her lectures are very boring. They are not engaging at all and she goes off track A LOT. Her grading isn't too horrible, just very test heavy. That being said, she definitely isn't the worst option out there for Gen Chem 1, but be prepared to do A LOT of practice problems outside of class.
Terrible at teaching remotely. Class was unnecessarily hard with her teaching it. Save your GPA by taking another professor. Shes a nice woman though
Love carol! Exams were exactly what was covered in lecture.
I don't want to be to harsh because Carol is so sweet. But I think only certain types of people can pass her class. You need a crazy amount of self discipline because she goes off topic so you have to teach yourself. She is not horrible, but she is not good for me. If you have a strong chem background, or lots of time on your hands then she's fine.
Really nice person, and if you tell her what's going on she will help you. I missed an exam because I was sick and she let me skip it. Her grading needs help. I thought I was ending the semester with a B, but I looked and it was a C+. I emailed her and she said not to trust Canvas, kinda BS. She lectures a lot, but posts all of the notes.
Super nice but you are def going to have to teach yourself in this class. Very flexible with due dates. Tests are pretty easy if you read/study the text. Class is 100% based on textbook so just read/take notes and you will honestly be fine.
If youre good with teaching yourself and studying on your own Carol is a good choice. Her lectures are slow and boring so i got more work done studying on my own. Exams are just what she covered and if you study her notes and practice the problems youll do great.
Wasn't the best but was very hard to pay attention to in lecture because she speaks very slow. Lectures are boring and long. She sometimes comes unprepared and late. Also isn't very good with technology and seems to be all over the place.
I LOVE carol. She is an absolute sweetheart. That being said, her lectures are pretty boring, but her unmatched dry sense of humor makes them slightly more enjoyable. Be prepared to put in extra time to teach yourself material. Exams are pretty easy, just do practice problems and read over lecture notes. Good choice for gen chem 1 :)
Carol is a great professor for general chemistry. Her canvas page is extremely organized, she posts her lecture notes to follow along with in class, and she posts really in-depth video explanations of the lecture notes. Her tests and quizzes can be difficult, but if you utilize all her resources, you'll be fine. Taking her again for CHEM0120.
Goes off topic a lot during lecture compared to the recorded videos she uploads. Cares about your grade and wants you to do well. As long as you either 1. go to lecture or 2. watch her videos you will do fine on the quizzes and exams.
This class is so light. She also actually teaches you things and gives you a good grasp of what is going on for real chem students and for other STEM students, her exams are just so easy. Would highly recommend her, one of the easiest classes I have taken. Also if you have taken AP chem you probably can just skip the lecture.
She is kind of unorganized, but if you had AP Chem, her class is pretty easy. You don't have to go to lectures if you already know the material. She is super nice, but boring to listen to.
Dr. Fortney genuinely cares about her students. She's really encouraging if you speak to her one on one and wants you to succeed. Her lectures can be boring, but she recycles some of the learning checks from class on the quizzes/exams. Her quizzes are much easier than the exams. The final was fair.
carol is a bit all over the place in lecture but is to the point in her videos/doesnt go off topic. 2nd midterm (acid base stuff) was WAY harder than first-was a time crunch w/ the amount of work needed per question. quizzes are very easy. achieve hw is good practice. final was okay- definitely not as hard as other chem profs. overall an ok choice
Dr. Fortney is accessible and genuinely cares about students' success, but I really struggled due to her exam format (multiple-choice, mostly calculations). Exam questions are significantly more difficult than those gone over in class, and no partial credit is given. However, there is a cushion for bad grades. I failed both exams and got a B-.
I had her for Gen Chem 1 and 2, and although her lectures are boring, she is caring and does rely on the textbook. Chemistry does not come easy to me at all so I found her tests difficult, and she does not curve no matter what.
Carol Fortney is a solid choice for chem 2. Two tests make the bulk of your grade, 25 MCQ. Go to all of her lectures, don't rely just on her videos and the textbook. Do textbook practice and achieve, email her with questions. Overall, a very fair teacher as long as you put in the work.
Got off topic frequently in lecture and rushed material right before exams. Provides recorded lecture videos that are very helpful and sends out her notes.. A lot of people just don't attend lecture. Cares about her students but just isn't great at teaching in lecture. Mixed results on exams w/ 25 mc question midterms.
She cares about her students, but it is difficult to succeed. She does not curve. She has two exams that are all MCQ, with each question being worth 4 points. Lectures are boring, but I would suggest going. Practice really helps, especially Achieve and OpenStax problems. I definitely learned a lot, but the stress of the class wasn't worth it.
Fortney is caring as a person, but her lectures are very dry & unhelpful, and your grade is determined mostly by 2 multiple choice exams and the final. There are 3 recitation quizzes that were much easier, but don't weigh as much & were unrepresentative of material taught in class. She rushes to get through material leaving you to teach yourself.
I had Dr. Fortney for both Chem 1 and Chem 2. Her lectures are the most boring 50 minutes you will ever sit through and they can be quite unclear and confusing if you little/no chem experience, so be prepared to teach yourself most of the info. However, she is quite fair and will accommodate if needed. Overall, great person, but horrible teacher.
She really does care about her students and has all the resources you need- but know that she's not easy. The tests are pretty hard, but there's lots of buffer with the homework. She posts videos with all the info, and note sheets for every unit you can use. The textbook is helpful. She drags on easy things and rushes right before an exam though.
She's so mid. I believe she's the easiest out of all the gen chem 2 profs but she's still very difficult. I didn't go to her class bc they were useless. I know ppl who've never gone to her class and self studied thru her online references/notes or the textbook and made A+ (except theyre really smart). Typically ppl make 50's-74's or B if lucky
Very understanding and sweet professor, genuinely cares about students. Exams a bit tough given all multiple choice but definitely easier than other professors. Definitely read the textbook and do all her practice problems, they help a lot. Lectures can be a bit slow, but she posts all her notes and videos online which is SUPER helpful.
She's funny + cares about her students. The tests are somewhat hard but the weekly achieve homework helped you prepare. Lectures could get a little boring but it's a large gen chem lecture so what can you expect. Only thing: I took this with the lab and genuinely had no idea how I was doing the entire semester because they never posted grades.
She is so so sweet, however, her organization is a nightmare. Throughout the whole semester, you have no idea what your overall grade is. Her first test was a breeze. However, her second test was awful. My class only received about 40 minutes to take a 50-minute test (late start), and it was so calculation heavy. Most if not all did not finish.
She teaches way too slowly, like 3 chapters behind the other teachers. Not enough time is given for tests (40 min). Avoid, take anyone else. Still relatively easier with no weekly quizzes (I'd trade her slowness for those weekly quizzes).
I love Professor Fortney. She cares about her students and tries to helps students succeed. The test are 25 multiple choice but are fair. She provides notes and videos for studying. You must attend lecture to understand all the info because she will say things that aren't in the notes. I didn't use the textbook at all. One of the better Chem profs!
Lectures were dry and her notes are not helpful. She has a ton of extra videos and resources that help. She goes right along with the textbook and references it frequently. Tests are fair. Quizzes in recitation are difficult.
Dr. Fortney is great teacher. She's very kind, very understanding, and very reasonable. The most important thing to know in her class is that you are 100% responsible for your own success. All of the homework (there isn't a lot) is due at the end of the semester, and there's no attendance requirement - but you won't do well if you don't go.
The only bad thing about Dr. Fortney is how hard her tests are. I would say the first one is easy, but after that you run out of time taking her tests. Lectures are very important to attend, and important study material to use are achieve homeworks and the textbook. She is easy to reach outside of class.
Ms.Fortney was very nice but I am not rating how funny and nice she is. The lectures were dreadful and boring. I would rather watch a sloth walk. The quizzes were okay, the exams were hard. Please study every minute of your day, don't you dare sleep. Her office hours are on zoom (yay) but at 9 AM on saturday.... I hate chemistry and I hate lab.
Exams are straightforward, but there is a time crunch w/ calculations (learn to do math fast!!) Lectures are boring, but she posts videos on what you need to know; there are a few q's on only lecture stuff in the recitation quizzes though. If you didn't b.s. AP Chem, you'll be fine. Beware: you won't know your grade till the end of the semester
Only reason I got a B+ in this class was because I didn't study lol. She cares about her students and wants them to succeed. Explains chemistry in an easy way. Ppl find her lectures really boring so they skip (me), but notes are available online. Grade depends on 2 midterms / 1 final and lab/recitation. Make sure you study. Carol's one of the best!
Not great but "best in Pitt g-chem." She is a boring, disorganized lecturer but approachable, respectable. Curves. Office hours on Saturday mornings. Weird! Rec/lab instructors can be more difficult than others in grading. Not enough time for math heavy exams. Quizzes are fair. Do hw and find a good tutor.
Dr. Fortney is kind and truly cares for her students, but her lectures are really drowsy. Her quizzes and exams are pretty easy. It's not hard for you to get a good grade, but you can't actually learn many things from her lectures. (The textbook actually talks more than she teaches.)
Lectures are boring as you'll read but fine. The quizzes in recitation are harder than the actual exams but all info is in the notes she provides. She posts videos on Canvas which are just a reiteration of lectures if you need to review. If you do the Achieve hw as you go along, exam questions are very similar except the exam is all MC and not FR.
300 out of 660 points in the course are exam points, and these will cover anything she taught INCLUDING OCHEM OR CHEM 2 concepts if she decides that what she wants to teach that day. If you know a bit of chem going into her class, then you'll be just fine, but if you're don't, be prepared to fight to understand all of her extra concepts.
Carol is a sweetheart and it is clear she loves chemistry. She might not be the best teacher but if you put in the work to understand what is in the notes and pay attention in class, you will do fine. The first exam is very easy, but a lot of people struggled with the second so make sure you still study. Videos she posts are great for review.
super sweet lady. would take her 1000 times again. definitely could have done better in the class if I studied harder for the second exam, so that's on me for that one. quizzes and exams are completely fair but range from being incredibly easy to more difficult than average. her lectures are pretty boring so I taught myself most of the material
Fortney is one of the better 0110 professors. Her lectures are a little dry, but she cares about your success and her tests are very fair. Definitely make sure that you do the practice problems she provides, they are just like her tests. *****Don't take the Monday lab***** Fortney was behind and we didn't learned the material necessary in time.
Very slow lectures, but she gives wonderful feedback and tries to make herself accessible after class and during weekends. Solid choice for Chem 1
She is so nice and accommodating, go to lecture and study what she says. The exams are fair, ie what's covered in lecture and posted in canvas, but it can be dense and the content isn't curved. Lots of people failed 2nd exam, average was 60%. Do the Achieves, go to the Saturday office hours, participate in recitation and review the syllabus.
Fortney is really sweet, and is overall a good professor. Her pace of teaching is all over the place, it felt like she often would take her sweet time on the easy topics, and we ended up covering two units in about 2 lectures. She has three exams (2 midterms & 1 final) and homework. Exams are pretty easy if you pay attention in lectures.
loved fortney's class! shes a great prof and explains well. she does go at a slower pace so you do get behind, but she doesn't test on stuff not covered. don't put off studying and make sure you understand material and you'll be fine. grade is lab grade homework and other tests and pretty fair. shes super sweet and always willing to help if you ask
Dr. Fortney was my favorite professor this semester. She mentored me inside and outside of the classroom. If you are willing to be engaged and come to class/office hours, she will take care of you. If you payed attention in class and did the homework/book problems, exams are a breeze.
Fortney is a great choice for chem 0110. Lectures can be dry but she is the sweetest prof ever and helped me sm. DO THE ACHIEVE HW. Posts lecture notes and help videos. She really wants to see you succeed. Also I had the Monday 8 am lab which was bad bc she was behind the lab all semester so dont take the Monday 8 am lab
Queen deserves the 5.3 that RMP gave her. Took her for chem 0110 and I have her for chem 0120 and I couldn't see myself taking gen chem with anyone but her. She is such a good role model and the nicest person in the world. I was given the option between Fortney and Golde and I took her over Golde because of how amazing she was in Chem 0110.
Overall not bad, i took her for gen chem 1 and am taking again for gen chem 2. moves slow and then can rush somethings. not the worst and not the best. be prepared to work a lot outside of the classroom. posts notes and videos for reference that are very helpful. two exams and a final all multiple choice, three quizzes. i would recommend
Dr. Fortney was wonderful at explaining concepts and overall is a wonderful person. She truly wants you to learn the material, rather than tricking you on exams. She is by far the best prof for chem 1&2. She was super flexible with homework, 10 sections you choose 7 to complete, and it is helpful to read the book. Exams were clear if you studied.
As someone who did not have AP Chem in high school, she makes the material understandable and logical. I got a 96 on the second exam so it is very possible to succeed if you don't have a big chem background. Her lectures are amazing, and she puts stuff on exams that you would only know if you go to lectures consistently. Would 100% recommend!
Professor Fortney is great. Cares about her students, and is very knowledgeable, passionate, and accessible outside of class. She is willing to help you succeed if you put in the effort. There are 3 quizzes and 2 tests and a final. Tests are difficult but fair. Recommend going to lectures as she presents a lot of content. Definitely recommend
Dr. Carol Fortney is a queen. I hated chemistry in high school and held off a year in college to take chem because of fear. I had Fortney for both chem 110 and 120 and it was a great decision. She clearly is passionate about what she is teaching and wants you to understand the information. You will have to put the work into the class.
Dr. Fortney cares deeply about her students and does her best to help them understand the material. The grade is made up of several quizzes, two unit exams, achieve online problems, and one final. You will need to put in the work outside of class in order to prepare for exams and quizzes.
Genuinely cares about students. Provides organized lecture notes for each chapter and video lectures on Canvas to supplement lectures. You have to put in work for quizzes/exams. Do achieve HW problems before the exam, work quickly during exams, & study a decent bit in advance. Take a lab later in the week because she often gets behind in lectures.
I love Carol Fortney she is an absolute slay of a professor. Theres 2 midterms, 3 quizzes, attenance points, lab, and a final that make up your grade. The midterms were tough, but fair. I thought the final was the easiest test we took. She is so sweet, records lectures, and wants you to suceed. I would recomend her to anyone.
Class' only challenge was her exams bc it would take the full 50min. Do the Achieve HW BEFORE the exam, and look @ the provided study sheet for topics. Be careful, she misses information on them sometimes. Reading through notes & achieve are the best study tools. Quizzes are super similar to notes. Lectures are boring but paying attention pays off.
I love Dr. Fortney. She cares, she posts videos of each topic, and she was super nice overall. The class was fair, not easy, but fair. 2 tests and one final. 3 recitation quizzes. Recitation participation too. She gives notes docs and you can just annotate them.
Dr. Fortney is a very solid professor. Her lectures can be a bit dry, but you can tell that she is clearly passionate about teaching and wants students to learn the best they can. Her exams are fair (25 mc) but are weighted heavily. My only complaint is that you do not know what your grade is as she doesn't put things in on Canvas until the end.
I really liked Dr. Fortney, her lectures were easy to follow and none of the tests or quizzes were trying to trick you, she wants all of her students to succeed. If you do bad on one test it is hard to bounce back even doing really well on everything else. She also doesn't use the grade function of canvas so you have to calculate your own grade.
Her lectures were easy to follow but boring. She records lectures. Exams and quizzes match the material in lectures but she doesn't provide prep material other than achieve hw that is way harder than the exams. She doesn't post grades on canvas until end so you have NO idea what your grade is unless you keep track and calculate yourself.
Carol is the nicest prof I have ever had! I would not say she is the "easiest gen chem 2 prof" as her averages were the same as Golde and Morgan, but I think her class is manageable due to her amazing lectures and help during the semester. She makes chemistry make sense, as someone who did not take AP Chem in HS and had little chem background.
Dr. Fortney is the definition of slay. If you are ever confused, email her. She deeply cares about her students and is always willing to do a one-on-one zooms. She is the type of professor that wants you to succeed and all of her resources are readily available. You definitely need to put the work in to get the grade you want. Do the extra practice
Dr. Fortney clearly cares about her students. Her lectures can be boring but are organized and thought out. Tests are multiple choice with no partial credit which can make or break your grade; however, she only tests on what is evidently covered in lecture. Keep track of your grades because she does not post them to canvas until the end of the year
Dr. Fortney is very test heavy. Dr. Fortney is a nice person but can get passive aggressive from time to time. She genuinely enjoys watching her students grow as chemists and she takes pride in what she does. Make sure you show up to lectures because the things she talks about in class will be on the exam.
Carol explained all concepts clearly. Although she was slow at explaining, she made sure she went over everything in detail. If you have trouble understanding concepts on your own, take Carol. She cares about her students a lot. Her quizzes and exams are pretty easy if you do the achieve and recitation practice. Best professor for Gen Chem 2!
Fortney really cares about her students and she really wants you to succeed, but the class is a hard class so beware. I know plenty of people flourished in her class even though I didn't. Just prepare to work hard for your grade because tests are hard. The final was definitely easier than tests throughout the semester.
Fortney is the best! You will definitely have to put in a lot of effort to do well, but she provides you with so many resources to be successful. She explained everything so well in the lecture, and if you're still confused she goes into a lot of depth during office hours (which I really recommend).
It was easy. Just study and you will be fine.
Her lectures were EXTREMELY boring and were sometimes hard to follow. Your entire grade is basically the two exams & a very heavily weighted final. Quizzes were not bad if you studied. The homework did not prepare me that well for exams since the hw was way harder. Overall just meh, she's not the worst you can have though
Dr. Fortney teaches very slowly and her lectures are not engaging. She can be hard to reach outside of class time, so there is a lot of independent studying you will need to do in order to succeed. Also, her exam questions are multiple choice, but heavily weighted. So, a small mistake on an exam can make or break your grade.
Fortney is so sweet and passionate about chem. Her online video lectures were great supplements to in-person lectures and amazing study tools. I wish she had uploaded grades to Canvas throughout the semester and released final exam grades. Achieve hw was not good for studying and time-consuming. She dims the lights in class which makes me sleepy.
Good teacher and good person, but her multiple choice exams are unfair. Answer choices are so close together you can do the problem right but choose the wrong answer based on which calculator you use/if you round answers throughout the problem or only at the end - and you get ZERO partial credit. Also very disorganized, has lost assignments/grades.
The other day she was talking about how it's such a good thing that quizzes are "formative" assessments and exams are "summative" assessments or some BS like that. Bottom line is: we get no partial credit on tests because she is too lazy to grade anything that's not a scantron.
Carol teaches very slow, but she's fairly thorough when explaining things. It's not very clear what is on the test- she gives out a possible exam material list but doesn't include everything on it. The tests are pretty luckily and the homework is a good review.
Teaches slow which can be boring but great if you struggle with chem. posts really helpful review videos. exams are multiple choice but fair. best thing about her is her personality. she cares about everyone and wants everyone to do well. got sick day before the final she let me make it up no questions asked (ended up making the normal one anyway)
Having Carol Fortney has sure been an interesting ride. She is often late to class and doesn't start until at least 5 minutes after class should have started, in addition to being very slow to respond to emails and questions. Carol loves to lecture on and go on rambles about stuff that won't be on any tests and will leave you ill prepared for exams
Dr. Fortney is such a nice woman but her teaching leave much to be desired. She has a tendency to get distracted and go on random tangents that would often take up more than half of the class time. To compensate for that she would then rush to catch up. Also her grading was very harsh at times.
Personally not the biggest fan. I think she is very knowledgable and I loved how much she loved chem but I found lectures slow and hard to pay attention to. I did good on the quizzes (open ended) but did horribly on the exams because they were multiple choice and the wrong answers would add up with no partial credit. Watch the videos she posts!
She was really great! Her tests were hard but fair (multiple choice was rough though). Lectures were very thorough and made the material make sense. She really cares about her students. Her lectures definitely sped up at the end as she ran out of time, but she adjusted the final accordingly. Pacing was not ideal. She made the material make sense.
Dr. Fortney tried her best to make sure everyone understood the content thoroughly. She is very clearly in love with Chemistry and incredibly intelligent. Her love for Chem helped make the class interesting and valuable. Multiple choice exams can be scary but her notes adequately prepare you, and she ensures you know the content beforehand.
I loved Dr. Fortney's class. She explained the material very well and took time to explain her points thoroughly. thought her exams were fair and they are only multiple choice. She clearly loves chemistry and honestly does care about her students. hint hint she posts optional textbook questions, do them!
Would not recommend. Lectures were boring and confusing because she just reads off of slides without walking through any example problems. Puts questions on the exams that don't reflect the material covered in class. Exams are 25 multiple choice questions worth 100 pts so a few mistakes can ruin your grade. Also, rushes through material often.
She is very unorganized, I didn't know what my grades were until the end, she never entered them. Her lectures were all over the place, boring, and hard to follow. She repeated herself a lot about content that wasn't necessary. Her exams weren't terrible. Mostly I had to teach myself the course material. Requires a lot of studying.
Midterm exams are challenging, but final exam is easier. Homework helps learn content, but some questions are impossible and irrelevant. Dr. Fortney is very nice and helpful, but class lectures are sometimes repetitive and dull. Fairly easy course. In 0420, there is no lab, placing a greater weight on exam grades. Review notes and you will be fine.
This course was extremely frustrating!! We had 2 exams and a final. Not a single study guide was given. She just gave us all of the objectives from the book. Definitely get a book because she provides no practice questions. The program she uses for homework is different than the book, so it doesn't match what you are actually learning in class.
Her tests and quizzes are difficult, but fair. There's good variety in questions on exams. She gives low stakes assignments to help your grade and also gives all semester to give homework. Very receptive to questions and if you need help. Lectures were helpful, although a little slow at times. Only problem was test criteria was a little vague.
Professor Fortney is a nice person, but her teaching style is awful. Notes are not helpful and she goes off on tangents a lot, rushes through material. We only had 2 exams and a final, you will struggle if you do bad on just one. Puts things on the test that she did not talk about in class. Get a tutor if you want to pass and go class.
Exams make up almost all of your grade so good luck
Dr. Fortney is one of the better options for gen chem 2, which is sad. Her lectures consist of reading a google doc from the screen (literally anyone can do that). I don't prefer her "teaching" style but the exams are straightforward. If she says x is on the exam, it'll be on there, no tricks or other info that wasn't covered.
Dr. Fortney is an amazing lecturer and extremely passionate about what she teaches. She goes into great detail to make sure all her students have a strong understanding of the the information they are learning. The 2 exams during the year are not bad at all and the final was also manageable. She provides videos for every unit which are so helpful.
Fortney is the best because she explains all the content and ensures that her students understand it. There are 3 quizzes and 3 exams including a final, and they are exactly what she teaches in lecture. There are no surprises on them and her quizzes and exams are really fair. Take Dr. Fortney for Chem 2 if you can.
Professor Fortney was really nice, her tests covered exactly what was taught during the lectures and were pretty easy. Lectures can be sometimes boring, but she explains well.
It's obvious Fortney knows what she teaches and very understanding of accommodations, but outdated teaching style. Her lectures are very slow and not engaging, often repeating material over multiple classes. Her quizzes and tests were thorough and doable with LOTS of studying. Regardless, one of the better professors here and cares about students.
Dr. Fortney is a very good professor. However, her teaching style is quite boring, easy to get distracted when in class. You are graded by two exams which make up a majority of your grade. You will also not have weekly recitation quizzes, instead you will have an 80 point exam, every third week, makes up a lot of your recitation grade,Take Her
I feel like professor Fortneys exams were very fair, everything as always covered in lecture. I feel like the homework questions were harder than the ones on the exam so, the textbook problems were honestly more helpful for exam prep. But carol was a very fair and helpful professor if you were ever confused she would go out of her way to help you.
if you are trying to choose a prof... TAKE FORTNEY!!! Participate in lecture, do practice problems, meet with her throughout the semester, and you're golden.
I recommend taking Fortney for Chem 2. Her class can be a little boring at times but she explains everything pretty well and exams and quizzes are not very challenging.
Pretty chill prof who gives good lectures. Grade is made up mostly of 2 exams and a final. Class is kinda boring but I didn't really have trouble listening. Other people have said that her voice makes you tired though. Exams are not bad at all. Solid prof. I'd take her again for other chems.
I loved Prof Fortney! She was very encouraging when you went to her with doubts about your grade. However, your grade is based on 2 exams, three 80 point quizzes, and a final. The exams are not too bad, just go into them prepared and know the material. She is also very slow with her teaching, but I would take her again because of how caring she is.
I think Fortney is the best option for Chem 2. The tests are fair and anything that is on them is in the notes. She takes her time explaining things and breaking things down. It is hard to stay focused for 48 minutes in lecture because she moves slow but speeds up a lot in the end because she runs out of time to cover all the material.
I liked Fortney's lectures. She could be a bit more engaging, but overall I thought the class was good. I understood the material much more than chem 1. The recitations quizzes were very fair and not too difficult, with a good amount of studying. The exams weren't too bad either, however, there are only 2 exams and the final, which I didn't love.
Definitely the best prof for chem 2! She cares about her students and sets them up for success. Although lecture could be boring, she is very good at explaining material. She does lots of practice problems that are very similar to exam questions. 2 exams with 25 questions (4 pts each), 3 quizzes worth 80 pts, and hw (40 pts) that is due at the end
she's a very kind lady, but wow she is disorganized. it's the last day before grades are due, and there's absolutely no scores posted in canvas. we'll receive final letter grades before even seeing our final exam score...she's all over the place.
dissappointed, got a B- and I have no idea why. Went into canvas and nothing is visible, 2 exams that decide your grade for the entire class, I have no idea what I got on my final. This is absolutely ridiculous, I am paying thousands of dollars to not know my grade, I am left no option but to assume the professor just doesn't want the hassle.
tanked my GPA, and I consider myself a good student, three multiple choice exams with 'trick' answers to get you to choose the wrong answers, can only assume multiple choice for ease of grading, she cares about your learning but doesn't put grades in, EVER. I have no idea why my grade is the way it is, super disappointing. Would not recommend.
its her job to put in grades. i have no grades in my canvas. why do i have a b, i have no idea.
i forgot to say a concern-able amount of questions on exams were random vocab she mentioned once in lecture and didn't appear in notes, reads words off a google doc, not much in depth teaching, just talking. I enjoyed her class at first, but it went downhill, FAST. boring lectures, random vocab on tests, NO GRADES IN CANVAS. somehow agoodprofchoice
A- going into the final. No grades in canvas. Had to wake up at midnight to see I got a B. No final grade given. Went to every office hour available. Studied my tail off. I have no words.
Although Carol is passionate about her work, she is not a great professor. There is no opportunity for extra credit, there is no way to know what your grade is until after you take the final, and your grade is based almost entirely on two tests and a final. Take Golde
I'm so disappointed right now. We weren't able to see ANY of our grades from throughout the semester until they were released on Peoplesoft. Your grade is determined by two tests, so it's easy for your grade to drop. Literally spent so much time on this class for nothing. Do not take her.
Fortney is not organized. She lectures inconsistently, spending days on one topic, but taught an entire chapter in 1 1/2 lectures. She is very passionate but did not focus on everything we needed to know. Her lectures were generally very slow. Not many chances to get points. Do not take her if you need structure to learn like I do.
Really good and thorough lecturer early on. Found the recitation quizzes and 2 exams to be fair. Rushed the last 2 units which the final was partly based on, which did not set you up well for the final. Did not put in grades all semester. Had an A before the final and ended with a B.
-graded on achieve, 2 exams, final, recitation, and lab -DO NOT TAKE HER. -you do not have access to your grades until the final day where grades have to be published -woke up to a failing score while Canvas is still empty not showing me my grades -not clear grading scale at all
Very unorganized at the end. She did not give us access to our grades all semester, which was very disappointing. Her exams are fair, and she is accommodating for any personal issues. She is definitely passionate about chemistry, but her lectures were not engaging, and the layout was super confusing.
Fortney truly cares for her students and wants them to do well. That said, her class is quite difficult since she goes over the last 2 chapters quickly. Her tests are difficult but fair, make sure to do the practice problems on the openstax chemistry 2e textbook and view her objectives page for every chapter before the test to do well.
Enough said
Fortney was fine until the last 3 weeks of class. Crammed so much information at the end. Lectures were okay but nothing special. Quizzes were fair, but I wish they counted for more of my grade. Her exams are all multiple choice which is ridiculous. Doesn't curve. Passing by the skin of my teeth. She cares, yet her grading scheme is unfair.
She does care for her students and has a lot of online resources, but put in practice she was not my favorite. Exams were hard, no curving, very old school and monotone, and grading system sucked. If you fail one exam, good luck... I had her in the morning, so paying attention was near impossible. If you get her, not the end of the world, but avoid
Professor Fortney is passionate but can be disorganized. Exams are challenging, so staying on top of the material and using resources like the textbook and unstuckstudy AI are key. Overall, a tough but worthwhile class if you can engage with the teaching style.
Had an A majority of the year, woke up one morning to a failing grade and talking with a TA found that she keyed in the wrong grade + fixed it. We get to the final still with an A, and another random grade drop to a C+ when the semester closed. Rather than look into it, she lectured me on changing majors. I now have a doctorate in chemistry. Avoid.
really cares if you understand the material or not and provides enough resources to clear up any confusion without aimlessly searching youtube
I have no idea what these reviews are talking about but Fortney is a phenomenal prof. I have never had a prof in my life that cared as much about my success and wellbeing as she does. Her tests imo are very fair and it is not hard to get a good grade as long as you go to lecture and practice problems. I got an A in chem 1 and 2 with her, loved her.
Professor Fortney is not for everyone. She is very kind and compassionate and work willing to work with you one on one to help you succeed. That being said you only have 2 exams and a final worth majority of your grade, there is not much grace given with these, if you dont perform well prepare to be grinding to get your grade back.
Carol Fortney is a great teacher. I'm pretty sure her lower overall RateMy score is just because the subject of her class is hard-- but that is not her fault. Her lectures are great, and her tests are fair. She gives you everything you need to do well in her class. I highly recommend her.
Not many tests to make up grade, but tests and quizzes are super fair. I took AP chem and I find it very easy. She goes super slow, I've heard that makes her rush at the end of the semester. She explains things in lots of depth and listens to feedback of students if confused. She also tries to learn peoples names if you raise your hand a lot.
Makes exams hard when students don't show up for lecture, which is very unfair to the majority who DO show up. Takes way too long to get to what is actually important. Will spend over 15 minutes going over difficult concepts then end that concept by saying it won't even be on the exam. She is rushed towards the end and can't get in what she should
Carol is a nice lady but that's it. This woman is the bane of every freshman STEM major's existence. Her first exam is fair, but the second one has an atrocious class average EVERY YEAR. Only 2 exams and a final. NO CURVES. 3 classes away from the final with 2 chapters left to cover. Don't take her unless you want to cry yourself to sleep at night.
You don't have to do Alec's exam, just achieve homework all due before the final. She is a very nice person and is passionate. Only has 2 exams and formative assessments every week in recitation, which was not too bad. Easier than most, would recommend.
Not the best professor in the world, not the worst. She's a super caring woman, but the way she teaches is not it. She's giving the ACS final for the first time, but we have 1 class left and 2 entire chapters. She spends 4 classes on the topics that only need 20 minutes. First exam super easy, the next impossible. Overall, I would avoid if you can.
i love carol so much. if you think this class is hard, you are in for a big surprise later in your college careers. 2 exams (25 MCQ) and a final. She is so sweet and always willing to help you out if you talk to her. would take her over and over again!
Actively tries to trick students on exams and as a result many fail.
The final is tomorrow and she has yet to post the notes for the last chapter that she skipped past because she didn't manage time well enough for us to learn it in class. She told us this info will be on the final and its on us to study it as "she has given us all we need" yet the notes have NOT been shared with us. Is a very nice women tho.
save yourself
Carol Fortney is one of the better options for gen chem 2. I didn't have the best grade her class, but it was only due to the poor grade I received on the final since I had the flu. You definitely should go to class and pay attention if you want to do well, but her tests are pretty straight forward. Just make sure you keep up with everything.
Fortney is an amazingly kind woman who makes an effort to have herself be very accessible. With that being said her lectures were unorganized, leading to our class not finishing the material, and very conceptual in nature, which could make simple things hard to understand. First midterm was laughably easy, and the second was laughably hard.
Super kind woman. Lectures are engaging but goes off to random topics. Reachable over email. Posts a ton of helpful content (notes, videos, practice, vocab). 1st exam super easy. 2nd exam impossible (need double the time given). Doesn't put grades till the end. Hard class, but doable if you put in the work. She genuinely wants people to succeed.
Fortney truly cared about her students, but was a terrible teacher. When it came time for the second exam the average was around a 50 or so and she blamed that grade on the class instead of her teaching and refused to curve. Super nice, but would never take her again bc of how behind she was. Now i feel so unprepared for chem 2
I loved Carol as a person, but I was absolutely devastated on how difficult the second exam was. Lectures were unhelpful for me, typically since I always got confused by her random tangents… studied my butt off and ended with a C+. Wouldn't recommend taking too many difficult classes at the same time if you decide to take her.
Fortneys lectures are very hard to follow. Majority of the time I had to teach myself outside of class. Her exams are straight forward, the second exam was hard for NO reason, but if you put in the work and study you should be okay. She cares about her students, overall not a terrible teacher but not really great.
I do like fortney and how passionate she is about teaching. However the second exam was brutal she gave us very difficult questions and a short about of time to complete them all. For the final she used the ACS exam and it was ok however we were in a completely different room and were not allowed to write on the exam booklet at all
Great woman, not-so-great prof. First test is an easy 100, second test average was a 54. ACS final was easy though, so my final grade ended up being okay. She goes on 40-min tangents that don't relate to the material, then teaches actual tested content in the last 10 min of class. We were so behind that she taught 3 units in the last 2 classes.
Dr. Fortney is caring, and very helpful if you meet with her outside of class. She makes an effort to learn students' names. Her class is extremely test heavy (2 100-point exams, 1 200-point final), but she does have cushion points too. You'll be fine if you show up to lecture regularly and do the practice problems in Achieve or in the textbook.
Dr. Fortney is a caring prof, but her content is tough. Reads off a document rather than teaching material thoroughly. 2 exams + 1 final carry the most weight, but fair because homework grades cushion those. Tough class to follow if you haven't taken AP or higher level chem, but very easy homework load compared to other profs.
Carol is a very sweet professor. The class is challenging by nature, obviously. There are 2 exams, first one is pretty easy, second one is challenging but doable. Final exam was the ACS first semester exam, standardized and pretty basic. Tbh felt that the final did not do good justice covering the depth of the class. Lectures matter.
It was hard but doable. Put in extra work from the beginning, go to class, and start studying for quizzes and exams at least a week ahead. Studying for the quizzes really pays off when preparing for exams. First exam was easy and second exam felt impossible so they evened out. The ACS final went fine as long as you find outside resources to study
If you took any form of higher level chem in high school you will be completely fine in this course. Do not play around when it comes to the midterms though, they make up a large portion of the grade. ACS exam for the final was much easier than what was expected in class. Cares about her students and will make an effort to help if you are willing.
i personally did not care for her teaching style, felt that the lectures were disorganized and she went into lots of depth for unnecessary topics that weren't tested on. i put a lot of work in outside of class and still wasn't satisfied with my grade. her class isnt difficult but she doesn't necessarily make chem easier for students to do well
All test material is clearly covered in class. She's nice and attentive to students! If she says memorize something, memorize it!!!
I had a very difficult time in Dr. Fortney's class. I found it difficult to follow her during lectures; it felt like she was just reading us the textbook. A lot of the things she spent entire lectures on were not important for exams. She is a great person but I would not recommend her as your chem prof. unless you took AP chemistry in high school.
Fortney is very kind and cares about the success of her students, but her teaching style is not my favorite. She tends to go on long tangents and we run out of time during class to get to where she wanted in the notes. I will be taking her again for Chem 2, knowing to look towards the textbook and external resources for extra help.
This class began great, studying excessively & it paid off. Then the second midterm came, I was not physically able to complete it in the time allotted. The average was a failing grade, and there aren't many questions so you can make few mistakes. Stay calm and get fast with calculations for the second exam, you will not have time to think it out.
She's so sweet and cares about her students so much. The class in general is not the easiest, but if you go to class and do homework and recitation, the exams are not tricky. She wants the best for you so put in the work and you'll be fine. Rushed through the whole last section but other than that she lectured well.
Her lectures are not that engaging, but she is very kind and intelligent.
Dr. Fortney is incredibly sweet and gives excellent feedback and help during her office hours. However, her lectures were dry and towards the end of the course she rushed through the last two chapters. Her lectures often felt longer than they were, but she was good at teaching the material. The two midterm exams we have were manageable.
A very sweet lady who is passionate about what she is teaching. Good at explaining concepts, but horrible at pacing. Covered the last two chapters in a week, but made up for it by taking many questions off of the ACS final. Exams are all MC and only had two quizzes instead of one every week. Not amazing, but definitely one of the best options.
Dr. Fortney genuinely cares about teaching and wants every student to succeed. Her lecturing style is more spontaneous, so sometimes it takes longer to get through content. But her lectures are amazing, she's great at making chemistry interesting and explaining it in a way where it *clicks*. The amount of homework is totally reasonable too.
Really good prof, but only issue I would have is that she goes really slow in the beginning and rushes at the end, near finals season. But her lecture material are ON THE EXAMS. she doesn't really go by the textbook, so attendance is really recommended. A lot of her lecture example questions are on the exam.
Dr. Fortney is the sweetest lady ever! However, her lectures are very dry and boring. It's hard to pay attention to lectures when she would go off on tangents. There are 2 tests, the first one manageable, the second one... good luck. Dr. Fortney is very accommodating to your needs and wants all of her students to succeed.
Super caring and relaxed teacher. She goes through lectures very slowly so it's easy to understand everything she says (or could be boring). Lecture videos are recorded. Her formative assessments are a complete joke since 2/5 of the points are graded for participation. Tests were easy. I recommend doing textbook problems as well for the final exam.
Dr. Fortney is an amazing professor who clearly cares about her students. As long as you show up and put in effort, Chem 1 shouldn't be too hard to get a good grade in. She pushes students to understand, and most students do if they're attentive. And with understanding, you surely will understand and appreciate the material. 10/10!
not a good test taker? good luck. need buffer points so your grade isn't only exams? good luck. she goes on 20min tangents about the most irrelevant topics and says she wants the best for you but when her class averages are 50s, she blames the students. does not curve whatsoever. she is obsessed with chemistry, but not in the good way. retry pitt.
Dr. Fortney is very exam based, even if she says she is not. You only have two exams and a final, none of which are dropped. She does not curve, even when the class average on the second exam was a 50%. She falls behind in lectures and 2 weeks before the final exam, the class was 3 chapters behind and did not cover everything needed for the final.
Carol Fortney cares about her students and claims the class isn't based on just a few exams, but the reality is that your grade relies on two exams and the final. The first exam was easy, however, the average on exam 2 was a 50% and she didn't curve. She goes so slow and we didn't cover everything needed for the final exam.
While she claims the course isn't based on exams the only real grades are two exams and a final. Even if you show up to class she's very hard to follow and goes on many tangents. She goes so slow and has to rush at the end to get in the content for the final.
Exams are all multiple choice which is hit or miss, but your grade is made up of two midterms and a final for the most part. She's an ok teacher, but she goes slow until right before the exam and then dumps 1 or more chapters on you.
Dr. Fortney is very sweet and genuinely cares about her students. However, the class pace is slow most of the time, but then rushed before exams, skipping or missing important material. We are always behind other chem sections, and no grades are posted throughout the semester, which makes it hard to track progress.
There are two exams 100 points each and a 200-point final with no curve even if the class average is 60%. Her class is lecture-heavy but during the lecture, she will get off topic from her very disorganized notes. She does not give practice questions or examples in class that are similar to her exams so you basically are going into the exam blind.
Save yourself. She is impossible to contact outside of class and her exams are quite literally impossible to pass unless you sacrifice all your other classes and your social life. I got a 4 on the AP Chem exam in HS and did very well in Gen Chem 1 and I failed her class. If you get stuck with her, you'll be in my thoughts & prayers.
I honestly really enjoyed her chem 2 and wish I took her for chem 1. I felt her lectures were very helpful and informative compared to others in the chem department. The Achieve homeworks will help your grade and give extra practice. Overall I do recommend Fortney for chem 2. Do the work and study and you will be fine.
The grades are mostly based on 2 exams and a final. Her tests are generally straightforward but very math heavy so people tend to not have enough time to finish but if you do enough practice, they're pretty easy. Fortney is a sweet lady but she tends to ramble in lecture about rather simply topics and rush harder topics.
Carol is very sweet and genuinely wants her students to succeed. I had her for Chem 1 but did way better in Chem 2 with her after being adjusted to her teaching style. Be prepared to put in a lot of studying and teaching yourself concepts. I honestly didn't find her tests impossible, but they were definitely math-heavy and took a lot of time.
Her exams are 25 questions each 4 points with no partial credit. So one question wrong takes u down 4%. She says she's available but she never really is I emailed her and she didn't respond. I did better in a pogil class then her and I think that says smth. Maybe not take her?
i took both chem 1 and 2 with Dr Fortney, and I did not have a great experience. If you are not a good test taker to not take this course. It is based on two midterms and a final. The exams were way harder than the material we learned during class, and it was really difficult unless you had a strong background in chemistry
As someone who has taken Dr. Fortney for both chem 1 and chem 2, I think she has been a solid choice for both. I do think overall she was much better in chem 1 and fell of a bit in chem 2 but regardless was still great. Her absolute strong suit though is being extremely personable and caring outside of class, alongside having a lovely personality.
i feel like she's overrated. her layout for everything is relatively simple, but her exams are very hard. if you fail the final, you fail the class. she's a good lecturer tho and actually wants her students to do well. barely any hw and just achieve due at the end. not the worst, but definitely not the best.
I took both Chem 1 and Chem 2 with Fortney and I feel she is an okay option for chem 2. I feel like I only got a good grade in her class because I had taken her previously because the exams increase with difficulty so I knew to prepare for the second exam a lot more. The biggest problem she repeatedly goes over the same stuff learned last lecture.
Dr Fortney is an amazing lecturer. She's good at explaining chemistry in simple terms and provides lots of practice and resources to understand the topics, which was great. BUT, her exams are WAY TOO HARD for what practice she provides. Class average for the second exam was 66%. My advice: seriously study hard for quizzes and exams.
Practice is the key to doing well in her class (Openstax, Achieve, re-doing lecture problems). I had her for both Chem 1 and 2, and I thought her Chem 2 was easier. Exams are difficult and math-heavy, but with enough practice, it's easy to do well. I recommend going to lectures, since she breaks down topics thoroughly, and participating in class.
I had her both chem 1 and 2, and I thought she was better for chem 2. She provides practice problems but most times are easier than the exams. I recommend finding outside source for practice problems. Final is worth 200 out of 660, so you want to do well on a lot of things to get an A. No curves. No drops. Go to office hours because supper helpful.
I took Fortney for Chem 1, didn't do great, but well enough to take her again for Chem 2. Horrible mistake. The jump between Chem 1 and 2 is crazy. Chem 2 exams are much more difficult and tend to focus on one topic than evenly dispersed throughout the material. If you end up with her it isn't the end of the world, but there are better profs
Dr. Fortney is a really passionate professor and such a sweet lady. Unfortunately, she's not the best at teaching. Her lectures tend to be unorganized and she goes on tangents. That being said, she is one of the better chem profs. Go to office hours and prepare a lot for the quizzes and exams. Do lots of practice problems. Study a ton for the final
I took Fortney for both 110 and 120. She definitely cares about student success, and will try to work with you to bring up your grade. She spent a lot of time on earlier topics, and not on the last topic kinetics, so it is crucial you spend time reviewing material. Her exams were very doable if you studied and did the practice problems she provided
Fortney spent lots of time on the very basic topics at the start of the semester, and sped through the last two topics before the beginning of the exam. She does care about student success, but the way she taught qualitatively topics was vague, and her online notes were often incomplete. My recitation TA was great at breaking down tougher material
I LOVED carol, dc. She was a very good lecturer. As long as you pay attention in class you'll be ok. GO TO EVERY LECTURE AND OFFICE HRS. My suggestion is to find a way to write ON her provided notes (i used an ipad). To study: Practice probs in notes, exercises/probs in textbook, achieve homework and practice quizzes. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW CONCEPTS
if you have the choice take Kurapati this was my biggest mistake. carol is a pretty good teacher and the exams arent too bad but the grading scale is so unforgiving. got one bad grade and absolutely tanked my grade
I tried to make an appointment with her since the first exam and she never got back to me. We would schedule a meeting and she wouldn't never send the link. when met she told me it was my fault and that I should have met with her sooner. Her tests were not straight forward and were on one topic even though we were told it was over many chapters.
Carol is a wonderful person, but an awful teacher. Unless the rest of your classes are a walk in the park that semester, stay away from taking her because she requires you to put full attention towards her class. The notes are awful, she gives you openstax to study, and they do not correlate to the exams whatsoever. Shes also on academic probation
Carol is an interesting pick for Chem 2. Her lectures seem to always go off track, and we lose a lot of time. As a person, Carol is amazing and is a very nice person, and I think does wants to see people succeed. I wish her class was formatted differently so I would have done better. Not a horrible pick, but wouldn't be my first. Good luck!
Carol is amazing. I was not locked in this semester but she is willing to work with you and help. She favors those who speak up in class. Tests are hard, but doable. Do practice problems and have a good chem foundation (if not you may be cooked and don't take her). If you have no chem background avoid at all costs. Final wasn't bad this semester.
shes on academic probation. Terrible lecturer
she's not that great of a teacher. She is very slow and you have to watch her videos on 2x speed
Professor Fortney is very kind and wants the best for her students. Her tests aren't very hard, just include a lot of math. However, lectures can be boring and she spends too much time on simple stuff at the beginning so she rushes lectures at the end. Final is 30% so make sure to study early. My prior chem knowledge helped me a lot in this class.
She was sort of boring in lectures but overall the material wasn't too difficult. She is always willing to help you with understanding any of the material with her weekly office hours. She was pretty much always accessible through email and replied pretty quickly.
I had Dr. Fortney for Gen Chem 1 and 2 (I got an A and A- respectively). She is very sweet and willing to help, but she goes on MANY tangents during lectures which was frustrating to me. In Gen Chem 2, I had one bad test grade that brought me to an A- despite me doing well on everything else, so make sure you're well prepared for exams.
As someone who struggles in chem, I found her exams to be DIFFICULT, but manageable. Do practice problems over and over before an exam. Do achieves right after you finish the topic. Do all of the textbook practice problems before an exam. Go to her office hours too. Review topics in the textbook before lecture and review the notes after, it helps.
I love fortney. Shes almost like a best friend to me. However her exams are a guessing game before you hit the floor. Shes very simple in her lectures and makes it really easy to understand the material, however her exams are out of this world and nothing like the textbook. Shes not bad to take, but i only reccomend if ur a good test taker.
Dr. Fortney is one of the most caring and respectful professor. Took her for both gen chem 1 and 2 and found them easy. As long as you go to lectures and understand what she said and do well in lab. It's a breeze to get an A, but she is kinda disorganized
Fortney is a good lecturer, and the notes are all accessible online. As far as the Chem department at Pitt goes, she's probably one of the better options. The exams being all multiple choice is kind of not great, especially compared to the quizzes that you take in lab. No partial credit really sucks.
I did like her a lot, but the grades that matter are the 2 tests and the final. You do have the opportunity to cushion your 1 bad grade, but if you do badly on both tests, there is a lower chance you will pass. She is very easy to reach outside of class, and she genuinely cares a lot. If I had to take it again, I would choose her.
When Dr. Fortney says to keep separate notebooks for reactions and mechanisms, just do it. I didn't and it made studying for the final very difficult. She's a fair professor and good at teaching, but I really disliked that she would post lecture notes last minute. Grades were mostly based on only three exams but she did curve.
Was very helpful in class. Make sure to ask questions, she likes to help and make sure everyone understands things. Responded to emails quickly. Exams were fair (orgo is still hard). Fair warning about the final. As you can see I got a C+, I got a 99 and an 81 on the first two exams and bombed the final, so really make sure to do well on the final.
Received a suspiciously low grade on my first exam and went into office hours to find a mix-up with scantrons and grade entry for my last name which put me at an A. Got to the final only to find that my final grade for the class was published as a C+. Refused to respond to requests - years later I have no idea if was my actual grade.
Do not take this teacher, I was on track to get a B+ and then my score for my exam got changed in the last second and my grade got cooked, leading me to retaking this class right now with a different teacher.
She was great!!! Some think that she does not teach the material correctly, but they are WRONG. Carol is my homegirl she gets it.
Dr. Fortney put a concept on one of her recitation quizzes that run Monday-Friday that she didn't teach until Tuesdays lecture, so the 4 recitations that took the quiz before lecture had no clue how to do the problem and everyone afterwards did. Asked her about it and she basically told me that I was just bad at math.
She moves very slowly through the material and you may not get through the whole course. She goes off on long tangents and lectures are very boring.
Professor Fortney was nice and the class was pretty easy. But as a whole she does not at all prepare you for the final. She didnt cover all material because she moved too slowly and every lab period was blind because she had failed to cover what she should have. Organic Chemistry Tutor is gonna be your best friend
She is a nice professor and cares about her students but not really about the pace because you're pretty behind for the final. If you have a good chem background you'll be fine but if not then oh well good luck brotato chip.
We were about three weeks behind from the other classes. My lab section had to be lectured on the lab contents by the lab instructor every week because of how behind we were. She is very nice but she doesn't teach at the necessary pace for the course. It's unfair to the lab TA and to all her students.
Seems like a nice person but the pacing in this class made it hard to succeed. We were weeks behind the lab, which made labs much harder than they had to be. Didn't love her lectures, but they weren't awful with some chemistry background. Homework is easy and she gives resources. Wouldn't be my first choice, but if you end up with her you'll be ok.
TAKE CAROL! 1. GO TO CLASS, this solves most issues; don't let first test deceive you 2. Yes it is slow, you will make it through 8 chapters, she picks 2 topics from the last 2 3. She mentions what is important/on tests 4. First test is easy, second on is fine (read q very carefully!) 5. do HW, take notes, go to study sessions/office hours!
She's a caring professor but moves extremely slow through content. You will be behind other classes with other instructors. She goes over content countless times that it becomes redundant but if you like a slow paced environment she would be a good professor.
Fortney is the sweetest woman ever, but not helpful towards the second half of the semester. As the year goes on she had to cram the last 2 chapters we need for the final into the last lecture. Only two exams and a final plus lab. BUT the class was so far behind that our lab TA needed to teach us the topics so we could actually complete labs.
We haven't even covered everything that will be on our final. Speaking of finals; every other chem class is taking the department final besides our class because we are so behind that, as by lab TA stated, "you would all fail if you took the department final". She's a nice lady but unfortunately the material is too much for her to cover efficiently
Dr. Fortney is a very wonderful lady she obviously tries to show care towards her students but it doesn't work out well. She crammed 2 chapters of the final exam in one day basically, the labs were extremely difficult because of this. She says she is setting us up for success in chem 120 but she is like 7 chapters behind then most classes.
She explains things in depth but doesn't finish the material in time. She only has 2 exams and a final with no drops, and the final is worth around 30% of your grade. She goes so slow that you go into the labs blind and have to look everything up. She is a sweet person though and cares about her students.
Fortney is a very sweet woman but unfortunately is not a great teacher. Had to teach myself everything outside of class. It's kind of contradictory how she would move so slowly through lecture yet we'd cover nothing at all. Chapters behind all other chem 1 sections, did not finish content in time for the final, went into lab blind every week.
Dr. Fortney is such a kind person and she did explain things in depth when she had the time. However, her pacing is very off and we had nearly 3 chapters left to review ourselves which made up half the final. I wish we had more than 2 midterms so they didn't make up so much of our grade. You do bad on one and your grade is screwed tbh w/ no drops.
If you have a solid high school chemistry background, then you will be just fine. Go to class, study a lot before each exam (they are heavily weighted) I will say she went on tangents in class about ochem and chem 2, so she skimmed through the last three chapters. But, she made her own final and everything on it was covered in class. Very doable.
While Dr.Fortney is a sweet person her teaching style isn't great. Her lectures are really redundant and you won't get through all the material. You'll also be really behind in labs because of this. Your grade is also made up of mainly 2 exams and a final but they aren't horrible. Take her if you have a strong chem background. Avoid otherwise.
Overall, she was not a bad professor. The only complaints I have is that she is very boring in lecture and expects you to learn a lot by yourself. If given the choice, you should take a different chemistry professor.
If you didn't take AP chem in Highschool be prepared to work alot for your grade. Dr. Fortney goes on a lot of tangents and she doesnt even finish the curriculum on time. Be prepared to have stuff on your test like you learned the friday before the exam. She was good at explaining the stuff she did go over though.
Dr. Fortney is very nice and when she teaches, it makes sense. She makes sure that everyone understands the stuff that she's talking about. Unfortunately, this is also her biggest flaw because she was very behind. We spent a long time on the intro material like chapter 1. We had to rush through the last few chapters in the last week of classes.
She is a very nice and caring person, but I wouldn't take her again. We were very behind in lecture compared to labs. If I had not taken AP Chem in High school, I wouldn't have done very well in this class. Then again, she does explain topics well, I just did not enjoy the set up of the class.
She isn't great but best option for gen chem 1 your only grades that matter are 2 exams and a final good at teaching but pacing is AWFUL consistently behind in lab material and other classes you have to self study some topics towards end of semester cuz she rushes use your resources - hw, textbook probs to study - help A LOT GO TO LECTURE!
DO NOT TAKE FORTNEY. Especially if you never took AP Chemistry in high school, her class will be very difficult. She goes incredibly slow at the beginning of the year when content is introductory and relatively easy, and speeds through/doesn't teach all of the end of the year material, which to me was a lot more difficult. Her lectures are boring.
Fortney is such a nice lady but 25 MCQ with no partial credit for each exam set up is so brutal
Chemistry is a hard class in general. I had Prof. Fortney in Spring 2024 for chem 2 and found her to be very clear. She went slow in lectures to help us grasp the concepts. I would definitely recommend her as a professor.
If your aim is to get an A in gen chem 1, take Fortney. She goes slow and may not finish the content, but she won't put something on the exam that she hasn't covered. Though her lectures are sometimes monotonous, it's important to attend, as lecture material is 100% on the exam. Reread notes, learning objectives, and achieve homework for exams.
I loved Dr. Fortney for gen chem 1, and I will be taking her again for gen chem 2. Yes, she goes slow, but honestly I think this helps you grasp the concepts, and she will NOT put something on the exam that she does not talk about. You have all the material you need to be successful on the final (she makes her own final). Come to lectures!!
Overwhelming class because she goes very slowly in lectures, and we were so far behind the other chem classes with other teachers. one exam has a very low class average...just because she is very surface-level on some topics to win back time. If u try (and take time to teach yourself tough topics) it is very achievable to pass.
Two 25 q MCQ exams...kinda evil but it is what it is. She actually explains things well, unfortunately she lectures veeerryy slow. Her pacing is so off. Thats honestly the only bad thing about this class. The exams aren't too hard as long as you study. Its very possible to get 100's on them.
Dr. Fortney is a great person, but a very slow teacher. Our final included two chapters that we did not reach in lectures. When she says the best way to prepare for exams is practice, you should listen. Do the homework multiple times and the optional book problems provided. Not the worst chem teacher at Pitt by far, though.
Great teacher, for sure a hard class though but if you just go to lecture and office hours you will be ok. Go to UTA office hours, and study a week in advance. Kind of slow-ish lectures but it was helpful for me. Make sure to study hard on those last two chapters as they are very important for the final.
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