Not gonna lie. The class was hard. You'll either do really good or really bad. She's a really nice person if you get to know her personally and go to office hours, but she kind of talks down on everyone. She's really intimidating. Good Luck thought if she's you're last resort.

This professor was so mean and so horrible of a teacher. She will not go outside of any office hours to help you. Her notes are horrendous and are very unclear and she refuses to answer questions while she is lecturing. She is arrogant and does not care about the students whatsoever. If you have an option for another teacher take it.

Probably one of the worst professors I've had so far. Her notes and exam structure gave me headaches because everything is SMUSHED together. Also, she isn't very approachable and refused to answer questions during lecture because she didn't want to waste time? Expect to teach yourself most of the time-- her teaching was kinda terrible imo

I understand there are a lot of comments and ratings about Prof. Larsen being a good teacher and other comments that say that all you need to do is study and do the extra problems, but even if you pay attention in class and do the extra problems AND attempt to talk to her at her office hours, there is no guarantee of a good grade. Avoid at all cost

The class was just a mess. I'm a person who loves chemistry and never got a lower grade than solid A or A+ in chemistry. She just made me almost hate the subject. Chem008B material are not complicated at all, but she made it seem too complicated and difficult. Her notes are just so terrible. Please avoid when you have an option.

Dr. Larsen is knowledgeable, don't get me wrong, however, her notes are HORRID. You have to rewrite them to understand the material. Lecture is okay, sometimes explains things that makes you more confused and when you ask questions, she's high key rude to students and can be condescending. Good luck whoever has to take her.

She's pretty rude to students. She doesn't really care about your grade and now that everything is online, she will not care if you have tech difficulties during an online exam. Your computer froze during the exam because a lot of people are on the server? Oh well too bad. That is what she will say to you. Oh wait she doesn't even respond to emails

Im just going to be honest. Shes so rude to her students and she NEVER responds to emails. I havent seen such a careless Professor and now that things are online for the quarter, shes a complete mess. Please avoid this class she really doesnt care about her students and is super condescending. I dont know what she thinks of herself.

Honestly she is the worst. Im not trying to be mean but she has a serious attitude problem and treats her students like trash. Her midterms are way too long for the time given, and she literally does not care about her students. Be prepared to dissect her crazy notes that are not even legible and deal with her horrible attitude.

Wow one of the rudest professors Ive ever had. Literally whenever a student asks a question during lecture she always replies in a rude/condescending/sassy way. Very unnecessary like just answer the question in a normal manner and move on. Stay away from this class and her disgusting attitude!

She is such a mess. I would not recommend taking her. There have been many times where she has been a bully to her students. She is very condescending and makes students feel stupid for asking questions. With everything going on in the world she still did not care about her students. Her notes are unorganized are so hard to follow. AVOID HER!

I have never had a worse professor in my life. Her notes are hard to follow/decipher and she does not teach at all. She copies book problems and expects you to know. If I wanted to learn from the book I wouldn't be paying you to teach me. Her online exams have no backtracking and there are too many questions. This is an unfair class taken online

Absolutely the worst professor I have ever had. She can't seem to go one week without bullying someone during lecture. She honestly shouldn't even be a professor. She's an absolute mess, and will take questions as a personal attack on her teaching. Her lectures are everywhere and she hates the book so referencing it for help/clarity won't do much.

SHE'S THE WORST. I agree with all the recent reviews. She does NOT know how to teach and a 5th grader could make neater notes than she does. She should not be teaching. She explodes on anyone who asks her a question, so she should do herself and the entire world a favor and just stay in her little lab and not teach anymore.

Is there any way we can go to the Organic Chemistry department and formally complain about her? They need to do something about this because this is affecting students' grades and it's not fair. She has a horrible attitude and has way too many questions on tests. It is soo hard to finish that many problems.

WORST CLASS. I don't even know where to start. She's is so condescending and thinks it's ok to be very rude to her students. Her notes are useless and so is her teaching. If she has such a big problem with her students, she should just not teach at all. UCR, please do something because it is NOT ok to treat students like trash. Shame on her.

She is extremely condescending to her students. I understand that it's difficult for professors during this transition to online learning as well, but she is not understanding at all to her students. When i'm in lecture and a student asks a justified question, 99% of the time she answers with attitude- making me extremely uncomfortable to be there.

Shes just extremely rude and does not care about her students at all. All she does is making the class way more complicated and Im all lost now. Please avoid!

Beware of Larsen. Her teaching style + notes are quite messy and it requires a lot of effort from you to even get the material down. Your grade is 100% assessment (25% for each midterm (2 MTs) and 50% for finals). :( Although I want to like her, it feels like she isn't meeting us, students halfway especially during tough times like this (COVID-19).

WORST professor ever. During this online transition she hasn't been helpful at all. She is very rude and is not willing to help students at all. Her notes are messy and don't correspond with exams. Were not taking the course for the hell of it. And most of us arent in it just to barely pass. She needs to do better.

Her exams are not fair. They are impossible to finish on time and she does not allow you to backtrack which is ridiculous. She needs to change her teaching style.

Truthfully, please avoid taking Dr. Larsen. She is very mean to both her students and TAs. If you ask her a question, odds are she will refuse to answer it and embarrass you, no professor should ever have such little patience. Her tests are difficult, she tries very hard to trick you. She wants you to memorize rather than understand things properly

It is true she is rude and very condescending. She has not been very accommodative during this pandemic. The grade for this class is completely based on tests. She does not offer much help outside of lecture. Her online exams have no backtracking (VERY inconvenient) and she includes many questions on topics she hasn't covered very well. Avoid.

What do you get when you combine an enormous ego and (2 mol eq.) of unnecessary condescension? You get Catherine Larsen! There is no clear method to do well in her class. Look at her notes? nope her notes are an absolute mess to look through. Ask her questions? nope, you get sassed and clowned in front of the entire class.

avoid her. during the pandemic, she has been anything but helpful. transitioning to remote instruction was hard for us as it is and she made it harder. was rude and sassy when students asked questions. backtracking isnt allowed on exams. some of us are taking this class just to pass it but she's made it harder than it would've been in person.

I am going to complain about her to UCR for mental abuse and harassment because this is not funny nor is something that should be taken lightly. In such hard times, she is extremely rude and is acting like nothing is happening in the world right now. Some of us have suffered a lot of losses and shes the only prof that thinks its a joke-Disgsuting

She often interrupts students before they can ask their entire question because she assumes she knows what they're going to ask. For the most part, she doesn't take the voices of her students into account. I agree that she does not have the patience to be a teacher.

Worst professor Ive ever had,awful/hostile learning environment. She's intelligent/knows material very well but not everyone is made for teaching. Insanely rude to students w/ legit questions, like a form of punishment asking her for clarification on the topics covered. Needs to humble herself. YouTube is a better learning source than her lectures.

Ladies and gentlemen I took it all. Gen chem series, ochem series, biology series, physics series, calculus series and I must say this was the worst professor out of all the classes I took. I never thought rude professors like this existed. I thought it was something only found in TV shows. You will be frustrated with life if you take this prof.

her tests are not that bad, but the thing that gets most people is her no backtracking thing. so if you aren't sure about a question, you dont really have time to figure it out because you might not have enough time for the rest of the problems, so you just have to guess. she also cuts her students off before they even finish their question... :/

don't take her. take any other ochem professor that's available. she's very intelligent but she's rude, refuses to accommodate to students' needs, and often embarrasses people who asks questions by sassing them. her tests are fair but her no backtracking rule makes it difficult to get a good grade. avoid her if possible for your own sake.

The transition to online learning was tough as it is and professor Larsen really help to make the transition easier. As intelligent as she is, she was very rude to students when asking questions. Even with the current situation, she refuses to be accommodating or even the least bit empathetic.

I meant to say: She DIDN'T make the transition easier to online learning any easier.

She made the transition to online learning that much harder. She disrespected her students when we asked questions and belittled us. Take anyone for 8C but her.

About to go in for her 3 hour final. My family's business got looted because of the riots and mostly every Professor has been lenient/sympathetic about it by making the final optional for everyone, but not Professor Larsen. She belittled and humiliated a student that tried to ask her to be lenient. Its disgusting. Never take her, she's horrible.

The absolute worst professor I've met in any form of schooling. Rude, condescending, doesn't even properly answer questions, has the messiest notes I've ever seen, completely disorganized -beyond- just the notes, and seems bent on making an online class as "offline" as possible but without a clue as to how bad an idea that is. Warning: DO NOT TAKE!

Do you want a professor who doesn't respond to any your emails, changes the format of the exams (minutes before), and has the most unrealistic grading system? well you've found her. Prof Larsen was THE WORST professor I've ever had at UCR and has gone out of her way to ensure all the students were miserable throughout the pandemic.

THE WORST PERSON AND PROFESSOR TO EXIST!! She is NOT compassionate and even degraded the Black Lives Matters movement. She said "worse things are happening in the world" SHE IS TERRIBLE> ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE. UNPROFESSIONAL, UNETHICAL, RUDE, DISRESPECTFUL, AND PATHETIC! SAVE YOURSELF AND DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS! SHE ALWAYS HUMILIATES STUDENTS

Don't get me wrong she knows her material well but it doesn't always come across that way when she explains. Her notes are messy but if you can understand them you're solid. My issue is that when a student asks a valid question she's impatient, irritable, and will cut them off. It often felt like she had complete disregard for her students.

I have been reading through the comments to see that she is being praised for her intelligence. Really???? Im failing to see that intelligence sorry! She only knows the material enough to make tough tests and find ways to complicate Ochem, not to mention that she keeps escaping questions by clowning you so you would never ask any question again.

Unfortunately, I've had Prof. Larsen for 8B and 8C and I can confirm that she's difficult. Her class is 25% Midterms and 50% final. The only way to pass is to memorize her lecture notes (super messy btw) and do the practice hw from the book. She's super rude, so don't ask questions unless you want to get roasted and clowned.

Worst class ever.

Avoid Larsen at all costs. I have never seen a more non empathetic and rude professor. Grades based off tests only and ignored the whole entire BLM movement. Some people were not made for teaching and this REALLY applies to her.

Honestly, the class is really easy but she makes it super complicated with all the rankings. Like I come to learn about reactions not which compound is more acidic/basic.

Ok so if you happened to be super unlucky and take this class, Rule 1#: be prepared to be studying entirely on your own and making your own notes. Rule 2#: Try your best not to let her get you confused on the material by making it much more complicated cause thats what she does basically.

Literally the worst prof I have had. She belittles her students, you can't ask questions in class without her embarrassing you or making your question sound dumb. No practice midterm or final and she wouldn't give keys to midterms so that you could study for the final. She would say if you got it wrong then that means there are only 3 other options

Im confident to say that the past quarter was a hell of a quarter because of her class. I never had any class as unorganized as that class! I would recommend not taking her class especially premed students who are seeking a good gpa.

Horrible and rude teacher. Always complaining about people asking questions. Literally doesnt care about students, never would I take her class

Extremely rude to her students and will definitely advise you to stay away from her. Please dont take her class unless you want to purposely hate your life.

Rude... whats the point in being a teacher if youre going to scoff at students questions?

Rude. Why is she a teacher if she seems like she hates it so much.

She has such a bad attitude. Do yourself a favor and avoid her at all cost.

absolutely horrible. the prime example of someone who should never have become a teacher. belittles her students and tells them their questions are dumb. -0/10

Someone who will berate you for asking questions is someone who doesnt have the patience to teach

Very rude and inconsistent

very rude. if you don't want to answer students questions then don't be a professor. has called my class morons during one lecture. do not recommend

So extremely rude when asking simple questions, complaining about efforts of students when she doesn't understand that people have test anxiety, adhd, and etc.

Extremely rude. Does not offer a safe or comfortable space for students to ask questions. Ridicules students.

Really rude, not helpful at all, Clearly doesn't care about students well being and is annoying.

Berated students for asking questions.

She needs to find a different profession, teaching is not for her. Ive seen the way she speaks to my younger sister on her zoom class when her and her other peers asked questions. Her response was atrocious. The fact parents pay for this? Out of pocket? She needs to be removed.

Very rude and disrespectful to students.

Such a rude woman. She needs to find another profession. Never take her class shes awful.

Very rude to students and does not deserve to teach.

Rude and disrespectful

I wanted to drop out of this class so many times because of how rude Larsen was. She doesn't care about her students and shuts people down when they try to ask questions. I was scared to ask questions because I thought I would be humiliated every time I did. This is probably why I almost failed this class.

She was sooo rude to her students. When trying to ask a simple question she went off and started yelling at her class saying they were lazy procrastinators. She seriously needs to reevaluate her teaching. Dont take her! Find someone, anyone, else!

She is super rude. She doesn't answer questions properly. She seriously needs to reevaluate her teaching. Please don't take her.

Could not respond respectfully and maturely to a students simple question. Absolutely and unnecessarily rude.

unnecessarily rude to students, doesnt know the first thing about teaching. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND FIND ANOTHER PROFESSOR

This professor was one of the rudest human beings Ive ever had the displeasure of interacting with. She would regularly belittle the class and even went as far as calling a student a moron for asking a simple question. She was condescending, self important, and cruel to students who simply wanted to get a good grade. Do NOT take her.

Doesnt invite a safe space for a learning environment. I dont think this professor realizes some people have learning disabilities, testing anxiety, or learning struggles in general.

This professor clearly chose the wrong career. Students' questions were often met with a condescending and disrespectful attitude and a rude response. Do NOT take her if you have anxiety about speaking up in class. Horrible professor.

Awful. Completely lacks empathy and flexibility for students. Clearly didnt understand how different people process things differently than her and resorts to being snarky and sarcastic instead of helpful. She doesnt deserve to teach.

Very rude and condescending towards people she thinks are beneath her. Absolutely disgusting behaviour. You won't find civility or politeness in her classroom. Don't be nice to her because she won't be towards you.

Extremely rude and wants her students to fail. Cant believe she is able to sleep at night knowing students pay thousands to attend her classes and then she cant even answer a simple question for a major exam. She is a horrible professor, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

She is the definition of a rude and condescending human being. No compassion or empathy towards her students. She always cuts students off and doesnt care about their concerns. She has the its my way or the highway type mentality. Please, for the sake of your sanity, do not have her as your professor. RUN!

Professor Larson makes it very difficult to ask questions in class. She is constantly talking down to people and is outright rude and unprofessional if she does not like the question you are asking. Prof Larson made it very stressful and unpleasant to go to class

Rude, disrespectful and unprofessional. Doesnt care at all about her students needs and belittles you when you ask simple questions. 10/10 WOULDNT recommend

Shes really unprofessional when it comes to students asking questions, regardless of the question she shouldnt make the students feel bad about asking, lack of empathy, poor communication.

If youre able to take another teacher do it. Her teaching skills are not amazing, notes are super messy and hard to understand. Its not worth feeling humiliated after asking a simple question. She definitely is a bully towards her class and grades heavily on exams which are very tough btw. Save yourself the trouble and look for a better teacher.

This professor's complete lack of empathy and respect towards her students is alarming and quite disgusting. No one should be in the education field who treats their students the way she does. Students cannot ask questions without being belittled and the overall classroom environment is uncomfortable and tense.

She is very unprofessional. She doesnt listen when students ask questions and if they do sue gets mad and yells rather than talks and explains. She doesnt let students finish asking their questions or what they are saying and just interrupts them. She is not nice at all and quite frankly not a good teacher. If you have a class with her im sorry.

one of the worst teachers I have ever had, does not know how to speak to students in a profesional manner, belittled anyone who has a question, clearly shows that she has zero compassion and patience to be a profesor.

Extremely rude and condescending.

Terrible attitude towards students and complete disregard to their worries and questions. Ive struggled way too hard with this class/prof and i would definitely not recommend to anyone.

rude to her students

Worst teacher ive ever had, do yourself a favor and dont take this teacher. Not only does she not answer a question when it is asked, but she carries so much attitude with the remark she says back instead of answering a question. I am completely lost in the class. Save your money and time.

she is the WORST! save yourself and find another chem professor

One of the worst professors I have ever had. She doesn't care about her students and doesn't answer easy questions. She treats the students like children and has no respect for them. She is the worst teacher; however, she still is able to have a job at UCR. The only things that count for the grade are the midterms and finals.

you're telling me that even others must pay an arm and leg to be in this class and be treated like a nuisance to this professors life. If you really can't sit there and teach a class professionally rather than belittling others over a simple question, then don't teach at all. I feel bad if she has kids at home being treated the same way we did.

This teacher is absolutely horrible. She insults all of her students and treats them like monsters. It hurts. Worst teacher I've ever had. She should not be allowed to teach considering all the cruel things she's said to us.

Please do not take this professor! She calls her students "morons" and disregards any valid questions you have. She does not care about her students and their success at all. To salvage what's left of your mental health skip this professor by all means.

To sum it up, there is a lack of transparency for this class (you don't know your grade until it's uploaded to the transcript). There are times she contradicts herself in lecture videos and notes. Be sure to go back and review lecture notes after lecture because she does edit them. Create a study guide from day 1 w/ many practice problems beyond HW

Not understanding and extremely rude to the class. Has no respect for the students and shows no compassion. Everything else was just mediocre. I think being rude towards students is an automatic dealbreaker for me though..

Id like to start by stating I love Ochem and that in part B I aced the course and was top the class. I came into this course excited and ready to get some bit of knowledge, I didnt. She is very smart, but also very condescending. no answering your questions, she patronizes you and gets impatient when class doesnt reply. to much to say in 120 letter

Not horrible teaching style, liked how she wrote notes as she lectured. Exams fair and practice probs helped. However, not at all an approachable professor and was often condescending or even very rude to students who asked questions. Lack of professionalism, especially being in a position where you with students learning new content for 1st time.

Don't listen to any of the last few reviews, Proffessor Larsen is still as unapproachable as ever and her infamous reputation is no where near as bad as she really is. She definitely is just teaching for the research clout/ money because I have not met a more unfit personality to teach. The most stubborn and rude person i have ever met. DO NOT TAKE

Unfortunately creates a very tense classroom environment. Her teaching style is ok, she writes out notes and you follow along easier. But she can be very rude to students when they don't understand. Much anxiety was caused, going to lecture was more stressful than learning the content itself. Having her as a prof not great to start learning ochem.

Prof Larsen teaches ok by writing out notes with students, helps for ochem. But she as a teacher is very rude to students and often condescending, which makes for a tense environment and is not facilitative to learning at all. highly recommend taking ochem w any other profesor, would allow you to learn in a comfortable environment unlike Larsen's.

rude terrible awful never again dont take

Doesn't explain well. Boring lectures. Rude to student.

notes are super confusing and look like a hurricane hit. rude to students. unapproachable. good luck!!!!!

Would not take her again. I took her in the Spring. She had a tantrum towards the TAs for not passing out the exams correctly and targeted students for not failing to set up confusing pre-exam requirements to prevent cheating. She is unstable, unprofessional, distrust her students and staff. High probability she has problems in personal life. Avoid

had to save this after Christmas i took her in spring too. she overestimates her abilities too mich to call us retarded when's she doesn't even know how to teach. i hope she gets divorced MS FAKE GENIUS

Notes she gives are sloppy; do the hw problems + self-stufy and you're fine. I went to every lecture + took her notes, half the time I didn't know what topic we were on. Dr. Larsen is incredibly rude when students ask questions and appears to have a superiority complex over students. She's very smart, but doesn't give any grace when you need help