2.1
Quality4.1
Difficulty27%
Would Retake232
Reviews27%
Would Retake
232
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
42
4
17
3
3
2
25
1
145
What Students Say
“ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF”
CHEM-130 - 1.0 rating“Oh Bartley, where do I even begin”
CHEM-130 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
22%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.08 avg changeRatings by Course
10791
5.0
(1)CHEM-130
2.1
(231)Difficulty by Course
10791
5.0
CHEM-130
4.1
Reviews (232)
He was a great professor! He did a great job at explaining material and interacting with students. He was always willing to help and give advice!
He was a great professor! He made the material really easier to understand, and gave a clear outline of learning material. He was always willing to help, and give advice!
Dr. Bartley knows exactly what he is talking about and explains the content in a very digestible manner. He made it pretty clear to me what would and would not be on the exams. He was even having some family issues this past semester but never let it impact his quality of teaching or accessibility and I really commend him for that.
He made Chem130 bearable! Every lecture was clearly taught and easy to understand. He truly cares about the needs and wellbeing of the students and is very knowledgeable about the subject. He is always prepared to lecture and explains things very thoroughly. I really recommend taking this class with Bartley!
Bartley is kind, funny, and teaches his material very clearly. His class is exactly what an entry level chemistry class should be. It's not a free A by any means, and you will have to work hard, but there is never any mystery surrounding what you need to study for the exams. Homework is reasonable and relevant to exams. Definitely take his class!
Professor Bartley is awesome!! Chem itself might not be interesting, but I thought his lectures were very engaging. He is fun to listen to, and you'll be surprised how quickly the hour will pass. Definitely try to get him as your teacher!
Dr. Bartley does an exceptional job guiding lectures, is very accessible outside of them, and provides plenty of resources to understand the coursework and prepare for the tests. Make sure to pay attention during the lectures.
Overall, it was a good class and the lectures were helpful. Dr. Bartley was always willing to answer questions after class and he explained things clearly.
Overall a great professor. He explained the concepts in an understandable way and was open about what material would or would not be on the exams.
Good lecturer -- made learning very easy. He's very down to earth and clear about what will and won't be on exams. Definitely recommend him for Chem 130!
Dr.Bartley is an amazing prof and does an awesome job at teaching. He is super honest and clear about what will and will not be on exams. I attended his office hours quite a few times, and he is super kind and explains things one on one phenomenally. If you take CHEM 130, do it with Bartley.
Dr. Bartley overall was a decent professor - very straightforward about what was/wasn't going to be on the exams. He did skim pretty quickly through some topics in lecture. Good at narrowing stuff down & didn't waste time on unnecessary material. Do all the practice exams on Canvas, keep up with the HW, & you'll be all set for class.
Professor Bartley was awesome! There was a very clear and fair grading criteria, always told us what will and won't be on the exams, and was an overall great lecturer. He always explained concepts well and thoroughly without overcomplicating. He's very chill and understanding and cares about his students.
Bartley was an amazing professor. Lectures were delivered well and he always made sure we were aware of what we actually needed to know. Homework every week with multiple attempts and PODs were great practice material for the exams. Exams were not bad at all if you put in the effort to study. Would definitely take again if given the chance.
He's a good guy above anything else. He was going through some serious family stuff this semester but was still making jokes and had enjoyable lectures. He loves to let you know what to study for before an exam which made them more straightforward. But please beware for some mistakes in exams as they cost you time even though full points are given.
He seems like a great guy and knows the work really well. The class isn't the easiest because of how work heavy it is, but Dr. Bartley clearly knows what he's doing. The class in general is tough because they go through a chapter a week, but in comparison to what I've heard from other classes, Bartley does great.
Professor Bartley was really engaging, and his lectures are easy to follow. Even though the lectures were big, I was still interested in the content and what he was teaching. He prepares students well for the exams and has a lot of resources and practice assignments that I thought were really helpful.
Dr. Bartley is a very kind professor. He is more than willing to help outside of class and re-explain any topic. He definitely enjoys what he teaches, which made lectures a lot easier to listen to.
Bartley honestly just seemed like such a great guy. He always came to lecture with a good mood and explained material well. Exams were pretty light if you did the homework with little outside help and did the practice exams. Only down side is that he talks the ENTIRE lecture without breathing it seems so you can get lost if you're not locked in
He teaches very clear, and is funny during some lectures as well. The lectures are very fast paced due to the heavy course content, but he breaks it down and makes time for questions. He is by far the best option for general chem professor, and he writes the exams as well. I would take him as your professor if you can!! The others are confusing.
Dr. Bartley was super nice, but we went through things very quick, so it was sometimes on the students to teach themselves certain topics. He made it very clear what would and wouldn't be on exams too, which was helpful. Not the most accessible outside of classroom hours.
Dr. Bartley is super nice! Lectures were ok, could've given more practice problems in class but it was ok overall. Chemistry is tough and you just need to practice problems as much as you can. Understand things conceptually. The exams mirror almost exactly the exams from the prior semester- STUDY THOSE! Go to the SLC for drop in tutoring! HW was ez
Dr.Bartley is a good chem professor! I took the CSP section and I thought it was great. He made good use of our extra time and practice. Chem is already content-heavy but he doesn't overcomplicate topics in lecture and is pretty funny. He knows well what will be on the exams (he writes them). He makes time for questions in lecture. Would take again
Incredibly caring & knowledgeable! While he moves quickly, it's also worth noting that each lecture is pretty heavy, so skipping classes or not completing the textbook readings will cause you to fall behind (hence my grade). However, there are plenty of office hours and time after class to ask him for help or questions, & he really goes in depth!
Nice guy who is great at explaining. Would recommend him out of any other professor for Chem 130.
I LOVED my chem 130 section. Bartley made it feel like high school again, in the best way possible. He taught everything very in depth, but also at a pace that always kept the class moving. He would always be sure to tell us what was on the midterm and final, and even had review lectures! He is a professor that truly wants his students to succeed.
Dr. Bartley was my first ever professor at Michigan, and I will never forget just how welcoming he was every time we started a lecture. He was clearly very passionate about chemistry, and wanted us to enjoy his class just as much as he enjoyed teaching it, which made for a great experience.
My favorite professor in UofM. GOAT!
Dr. Bartley was such a great professor. He made his lectures super engaging and fun, despite it being on chemistry. The content itself was difficult, but he was always accessible to answer questions.
DONT DO IT this class SUCKS, gsi's SUCK and tutors BARELY HELP like if you don't have a test tube UP YOUR ASS JUST DONT!
This semester they decided to switch content. Exams were harder than practice exams and problems that we were given. Bartley gave easy examples and didn't provide help and when we claimed that exams seemed to be unfair he was rude and condescending stating "rather than complaining list problems that didn't seem "fair". =
One of the hardest classes I've taken so far. Professor Bartley mostly just reads off the slides during lectures so there is no point in going to class. The hw, umps, and discussion (depends on your gsi) are really helpful. The actual exams are always like 10x harder than the practice exams so be careful with that.
Exams were leveled up from what previous exams looked like. Dr. Bartley and faculty did not provide comprehensive lectures or study material regarding this level of material. I was blindsided by the first exam and the next two were okay. The final was insanely hard and was around 25% based off of a 14 page supplemental with few practice problems.
I understand adding in unfamiliar questions that require critical reasoning, but it is in no way fair to make the majority of the exam like that when we don't spend any time on those types of scenarios. I am super dissatisfied with our "cumulative" exam and the lack of resources and instruction to prepare for such an exam.
Chem 130 with Dr. Bartley is brutal. Homework and discussions seem easy, but exams are nothing like practice. He shuts down feedback, can't handle complaints, and nothing's curved. Smart teacher, terrible class. You'll feel prepared, then the exam will destroy you. This is a class structure issue, and Bartley is in charge of that.
I'm not even part of the class, but I think shutting down Piazza after polite criticism of the final exam is absolutely diabolical 💀
This course was one of the hardest courses I've ever taken. Professor Bartley did not prepare us for exams and was rude and claimed that the final was “fair”, however 80% of it was problems we had never experienced or touched on in level of difficulty. Do not take this class.
shutting piazza when students are sharing their experiences is crazy
this evil man shut down piazza after writing the most difficult final exam and not giving students proper resources to study
I've had a lot of problems with this course this semester, and honestly the biggest is the fact that the materials they give us (practice exams, problem roulette) literally do nothing to prepare us for the current exams. I understand that the syllabus has changed from previous years, but update it then. Problem roulette has entire topics missing.
Exams were harder than any practice tests or problems we were given. All he did was read off slides, and his exam reviews weren't helpful or correlated to the level of difficulty. He also was rude and shut down feedback from students.
Bartley is simply not the GOAT. Sassy replies to valid criticisms and questions, does not supply the proper resources to prepare students for his very difficult exams, and curates a class more focused on difficulty (despite being a 100-level class) than student understanding of information critical to the foundation of any STEM major.
He is so disrespectful, doesn't take feedback, made the final SO difficult. I did very well on first 3 exams, and the final was 1.) NOTHING LIKE THE PRACTICE EXAMS and 2) the WEEK OF thanksgiving break he decides to add an entire chapter onto the exam and 3.) proceeds to make THE ENTIRE FINAL based on that chapter that we barely covered. good luck.
Horrible teaching skills, horrible communicator, and horrible test writer. Do not take this class, as the final has no correlation to the course or practice material. Bartley is incompetent.
The final for this course covered content that we did not review in class and he was very disrespectful when answering the Piazza comments. He shut down Piazza because he could not handle the criticism. Oh my.
Lowkey if you get him switch majors, thought I thought I was well prepared for the final but apparently I was reading the wrong textbook.
This class is the biggest class umich offers. over 2000 students take it and all of them complained after the final. Bartley shut down the feedback site after losing arguments with a group of 18-year-olds. He tricked us all and wrote the most ridiculous exam of all time. Someone better look into this because hes on a power trip or smth
Boy thought he did sum by shutting down Piazza. Disrespectful, doesn't take student feedback, and doesn't know how to teach for the life of him. Put content on the final that we did not cover. Does not know how to communicate properly either. How are you gonna give practice exams that are nothing like the actual exams? Chem department is crappy.
The Fall 25 final he wrote was not only much longer than the past semesters', but also contained questions of a much higher degree of complexity and difficulty. The course didn't feel like it provided a fair opportunity to show instructors and ourselves what we had learned and progressed with, which is extremely disappointing, especially at U of M.
No use taking the class if 90% of the final is on content that we did not cover and the test questions are INSANELY difficult and based on a 14 page document with no practice questions. Awesome test fr.
I did not have him as a professor this semester, however I did take the final exam and it was awful. Exam content was confusing, study materials did not accurately reflect the exams, and proper study materials were not provided for the difficulty level of the final exam. He was also very petty and rude when replying to student concerns.
if u have to take chem 130… switch majors. seriously. gave us an entire final on the one chapter we barely covered. bartley shut down piazza after students were complaining test was nothing like content in lecture, and nothing like practice exams. this man needs to find a new career.
Bartley is incredibly caring. The way he perfectly curated this test so that 75 percent of the test questions relied on information that we did not cover much and the information we did cover was no where to be seen on the test. Bartley is hilarious and deserves a noble piece prize for the amount of thought he put into making the final. LOVE IT!
The final was significantly more difficult than the practice exams. Several questions had been briefly discussed. Many seemed familiar but were more complex than anything we had seen before. Replied in a combative tone post exam “How about instead of just complaining your provide some useful feedback, like listing which questions where unfair…”
His tests look nothing like any of the practice test or the homework or anything gone over in class
Dr. Bartley is truly one of the best professors I've ever had. He is the kindest, most patient instructor, and it's so clear how much he cares about his students' learning and well-being. If you ever have the chance to take a class with Dr. Bartley, do it. He's the sweetest professor and an exceptional human being. Highly recommend.
Yeah, let's give 30 points of questions on a new thing we just added to the syllabus 2 weeks ago, that sounds like a great idea. Not even that, absolutely 0 past or practice exam could well prepare you for any exam, as the exams were completely different this term. No extra helpful handouts or tips were given out. Terrible experience.
Practice exams do not correlate to the real exams. Do not use them as a guide for studying it will not prepare you to any degree.
Grading scale makes no sense. For a class entirely decided by exam grades there is no actual way to prepare for the exam.
The exams are significantly different then the practice material and only includes topics that are briefly touched on. Sassy replies and final exam was too long.
Professor is kind, but had asked for feedback on the final and then shut down the discussion board, making it impossible to provide said feedback. Unfortunately seems to not listen to student feedback and instead just told students to stop complaining. Again my only real issue was the combativeness and not providing opportunities for concerns.
Oh Bartley, where do I even begin. Never in my 18 years of life have I encountered an exam so utterly ridiculous that I stopped praying for a good grade on the exam and began praying for a bomb to land near me so I never have to see something so sinister ever again. Also—thanks for your completely unhelpful and apathetic copy-paste Piazza comments.
I sincerely believed that the material in general chemistry was fairly okay. However, when it came to exam review, which I would spend 3-5 days doing so, using the practice exams were not nearly as difficult as actual exams, and Bartley wasn't very great with exam-prep either. Therefore, I believe the material to study needs to be updated HEAVILY.
Get ready to lube up ChatGPT and Gemini to generate material that matches the difficulty of the exams.
Provided students with no help with extra resources to prepare for the exams. Practice exams were nowhere near similar to what the actual exam was. It was extremely hard to prepare and do well on the exams with NO RESOURCES. I quite literally would teach myself to semi prepare for the exams. I
David Bartley tended to answer questions often on piazza, this is the extent of his pros. In the end of the semester, Bartley wrote a final exam that was not representative of the studied curriculum and shut down the class piazza which limited students abilities to converse and ask questions. His rude responses to criticism show a lack of maturity
David Bartley frequently replies to questions (even good-natured, genuine questions) with a snarky tone and word choice, almost as if he is bothered to answer a question. I have seen this on MULTIPLE occasions: in lectures, piazza replies, canvas announcements, etc., which is extremely frustrating and condescending from a student's perspective.
Bartley, people were asking genuine questions about specific questions related to topics we are yet to cover (hopefully we will be taught them soon) and you still replied with the same snarky remark.
Bartley???? More like BARKLEY!!!! ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF ARFF
Twist my pickle and call me Rick, the way Bartley wrote that final. If you don't have a religion, you need to pick one and start praying. You could lock yourself in a padded room and study every second of the day, and nothing could prepare you for the final. Nothing like the practice exams.
Absolutely terrible
Very Disrespectful
Croski lowkenuinley 🍇d us with the final which we were underprepared for. DO NOT TAKE TS!!!!!!
Don't even bother taking the practice exams to prepare; never accurate. Content on tests often doesn't match what is largely discussed in lecture. Exams will screw you over. Final was terrible, don't know a single person who didn't leave at lease a page blank.
great class if you think your life is a little boring and want to spice things up a bit! you'll absolutely never know what the next move is, especially in exams. I dont think fartley even knows what the next move is! :)))))
What was that final
Not a good lecturer, do not take.
I didn't have Dr. Bartley as a professor. However, he did write the exams. Past exams were okay and if you study and practice, you'll score well. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the final exam. Half the exam was over content we didn't cover and was being rude after asking for criticism from students about the exam. I am very disappointed.
IGNORES ALL CRITICISM OF THE COURSE WITH COPY PASTES, GIVES THE HARDEST EXAM OF ALL TIME, NOTHING LIKE THE PRACTICE AND LECTURES, NO CURVE, LIFE IS BAD.
Bartley has single-handedly taken an entire 100-level class to the shadow realm. His exams are far harder than practice exams and often don't match the format/difficulty. We even had a question from an un-lectured section (confirmed by the GSI). TAKE THIS CLASS ONLY IF YOU MUST, and if you do buckle up, this ain't 2024 chem 130 no more.
Great lecturer, and office hours with Bartley can be helpful/interesting. However, all of the exams are much more difficult than any practice exam material given. Like its majority free response and the questions are written to trick you. I'd highly recommend signing up for a SLC study group, and focus on studying applications not just concepts.
decided over THANKSGIVING BREAK that he wanted to add another topic to the final, proceeded to add one very confusing document to canvas, no practice problems and then put extremely difficult problems on the final that were not taught.
Dr. Bartley was a great lecturer and professor! I felt like he was always super clear and direct when teaching, and the homework questions and worksheets made for discussion really reflected what was taught in class. I also appreciate that he dedicated class days to review before each exam.
The Chem 130 exam in 2025 was difficult and unfair, but it was not the result of just him. All 3 of the teachers were responsible. The ratings here more reflect the class itself rather than Bartley's teaching. During the year, he was constantly referred to as the best lecturer. He gave definitions, examples, and only covered what was necessary.
PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS GUY WORST TEACHER, WASHERNAW COMMUNITY COLLEGE HAS BETTER PROFESSORS. "DOCOTOR" BARLETY AVOID AT ALL MEANS !!!!!!!! DO NOT TAKE, FINAL IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CLASS. PLEASE DO NOT TAKE. DOES NOT TAKE ADVICE JUST SAYS WE COMPLAIN ALL THE TIME> DO NOT TAKE.
The practice exams given for this course are NOTHING like the actual tests, and this year, Dr.Bartley made Chem 130 (A PREVIOUSLY EASY CLASS THAT MANY PEOPLE NEED TO TAKE) into a weeding-out class that includes P-chem and orgo material that generally shouldn't be in an introductory level class.
even if the final was open notes, i still would have failed. practice resources consistently were never like the actual exams, and they're worth majority of your grade. and frankly, he cannot take criticism and will be disrespectful to students. lectures very fast paced, don't even bother going in person, u will not have time to write enough notes.
one word: telluric acid
Asked for criticism regarding a final exam that had most of its questions from content ADDED 2 WEEKS AGO DURING THANKSGIVING BREAK.Proceeded to act like a child, shutting down students' ability to ask questions when he received said criticism"Stop complaining and provide questions you thought were unfair"Shows how UM doesn't care about its students
I would like to respond to some of the kind reviews: Many of us are complaining about this class, but that means complaining about Bartley, because he is in charge of writing this class/exams. It is solely his fault for the exam and the lack of resources. I can not understand why you would defend this insanity unless you are Dr Bartley himself.
I chose the "inspirational" tag because it is incredible to see how far you can get into a career with this level of tomfoolery. Thanks Bartley
While Bartley was the best teacher out of the professors and taught well, he does have an attitude in response to criticism. The biggest and most apparent issue is that exams are undeniably unlike the practice problems or past exams--especially the final. I recommend taking genchem elsewhere and transferring the credit, it's not worth the GPA drop.
Final Exam included a lot of subject matter which was never discussed in class. Recommend doing as well as you can on the first three exams because the final is impossible.
Whoever is sitting here flagging this freedom of speech, I hope you know how sad that is. People can speak their mind on this public website. Just because someone has a different opinion from you doesn't mean you can abuse the report button. Learn some empathy and human goodness. Thank you!
He is unwilling to award full points on exams, even when the content was not discussed within the course.
I promise you that he's a good professor. Everyone is just mad that the final was super hard which is fair, BUT Bartley BY FAR has the best lectures and teaches the best. All of my friends would come to his lecture or watch his lectures online because their professors weren't as good. Take chem 130 with Bartley.
He made the exams so much harder and over content not discussed in class lectures.
The final for this class was absolutely awful. The questions on the final exam are way harder than the problems we are given in class and what is on the practice exams. However, Dr. Bartley is by FAR the best professor for Chem 130, I know so many people who stopped going to their own professors' lectures and went to Bartley instead
Course 62.5% based on exams. 2 weeks before final he added a new topic to course- not in syllabus. No lectures, hw, or practice problems for this topic besides a doc too difficult to understand. Half the final was this topic/orgo. When faced w/criticism he replied to students disrespectfully & shut down only form of communication with professors.
Teaching was solid in general. Helped me understand the concepts well. The issue comes with making unnecessarily hard exams that go WAY beyond the scope of what we were taught. It seems most people I talked to agreed, and Bartley even shut down the Piazza discussion board after the final exam because he was getting so much negative feedback.
While the final exam was certainly difficult, Dr. Bartley was a great lecturer. His classes were engaging, he explained topics clearly, and if you went to his office hours, he'd often tell you what concepts would/would not be on the exam. The F25 final was poorly written, but Dr. Bartley is a good professor.
His reply to students worried about the final is nuts. "How about instead of just complaining, your provide some useful feedback, like listing which questions where unfair or "not covered", and for each question listed, provide an explanation for why you believe that to be the case" not professional, not willing to help, shut down piazza after this
shutting piazza down because you can't take criticism is crazy
Exams were harder than what content we were taught and given to practice. We then provided feedback on the final exam which happened to have questions we have never seen before and proceeded to shut down our feedback and tell us to stop “complaining”. Overall he's not a bad professor but he can be rude and has made his exams harder than last year.
Exams are 10x harder than actual course content covered in class. If you take this class you should prepare yourself for the worse case scenarios and then imagine those being 10x worse for the exam.
Terrible teacher, wrote a final everyone failed and didn't curve it.
Dr. Bartley would read off slides during lectures and cover practice problems. However the practice problems were no where near the difficulty of exams and there was no additional provided resources to help you prepare. The UMPs weren't very helpful and some GSI's even questioned some hw problems we were given.
I understood the class very well and thought Bartley was a good prof. Well until the final exam. The exam, written by Bartley, was much harder than any of the practice exams or exams from previous years. Bartley's response to this exam's criticism was unnecessarily harsh. The situation could have been handled better.
The lack of transparency and the utter disrespect to students from Bartley is disgraceful. He will not take constructive criticism and instead blocks students from voicing their opinions. he is inconsiderate of students worries, and he responds in an immature and unprofessional way. this is concerning because he is a lecturer 1000+ students.
I felt that overall Dr Bartley was an engaging professor and I got a lot out of his lectures. Unfortunately, the final exam was extremely hard but other than that this class was good.
Bartley gave the best definitions with the clearest descriptions of learning materials. However, I was dissatisfied in him after the final as it was not a clear representation of what a final should be. After criticism, he silenced students. I lost respect for him fully. It says something when the entire student body is calling your exam not fair.
First comment already got taken down... I am very disappointed in how he takes criticism. Pinning the problem on the students and then cutting their way of communication? In what world should a teacher do that? I am less mad about my grade, but rather, the lack of respect he has for his own students' opinions.
He has amazing lectures. The content covered in lectures + review lectures were representative of the questions that would appear on the midterms. Key words were and midterms. His response to dissatisfied undergraduate students who spent hours preparing for a final that was much more difficult compared to past years was incredibly unprofessional.
Dr. Bartley's slides and lectures were great. Exams were definitely harder than past years, but with our resources, it was possible to do well on the first 3 (though partial credit was tough). The final was too long and its second half focused on new post-Thanksgiving material. Shutting down Piazza after asking for feedback was disappointing.
Tests were not reflective of practice exams, way harder. Final was absolutely diabolical. Average study time of 16 hours only to fail or just barely pass the exams. Shutting down Piazza after constructive criticism from the final was disappointing, erasing student input and free speech.
Bartley is unprofessional and wholly incapable of instructing a college course. He provided practice exams that did not reflect the content that was tested, but insisted they did. When students expressed concerns politely, he grew combative, and even shut down Piazza. Furthermore, content was tested at a rigor far beyond the instruction provided.
Chem 130 final is still replaying in my head like a bad memory, I am convinced bro just looked up “how can I make the practice exams completely different from the test” on generative ai and then just rolled with it.
Giving an incredibly difficult final is one thing. But responding to it the way that Dr. Bartley has is another. He refuses to accept or consider student feedback, even shutting down Piazza to quiet them. The stubbornness and unprofessionalism is appalling.
Bartley is a good professor, teaching-wise; however, he made the final exam (and the other exams) way harder than the material given to us in class and on Canvas to help prepare for the exams. If you are going to make the exams insanely difficult, please give us material to help accurately prepare ourselves so we are not going in blind.
Terrible exams. What's the point of giving us past exam written in different format and style, giving false hope we can easily score above 90 on exams, only for EVERY SINGLE EXAM to be MUCH harder and have questions MUCH more in depth than what we have received. At least be professional enough to give accurate resources for exam prep.
People lowkey overreacting about the final, it wasn't really that bad. BUTTTT, I do think that the practice tests are easier than the normal tests which I don't appreciate. If you go to lecture and do the homework legit and dont cheat it, you'll get an A.
Don't take this class unless necessary. He blocked us from complaining on Piazza because he knew the test was completely and utterly unfair and ridiculous. The test was nothing like the practice exams, aktiv homework, UMPs, or even the lectures. I know there is a new curriculum, but theres no excuse for NOT TEACHING WHAT WILL BE ON THE EXAMS.
He seems like a nice guy until you get to the final. The midterms and homework do not prepare you for what's coming. You can attend the lectures and be an active participant in class, but it will take significantly more effort than that to be successful on the final exam (It requires a miracle).
Material on exam was not covered.
Material on the exam was not covered. He is extremely unprofessional when taking criticism. When the whole class pointed out how unfair it was and how the exams did not relate to any of the practice or lectures he gave us, he SHUT DOWN the class Piazza (a website we used thoughout the whole semester to communicate with questions).
I have never in my 18 years on this planet, prepared so intensely for an exam as I did for this class, only for the final to be extremely different than all practices which are past exams. When folks on Piazza claimed it was unfair, he made a snarky reply before shutting down students' access to messaging on Piazza. 0/10 would not recommend.
I gave him "online savvy" cause it seems like he can't write paper exams and is better at arguing against students online, shutting down piazza, and not taking criticism
practice exam, nothing like final
This professor will mess you up with the final exam. Many of us had high grades, studied well, and kept up with the work, but the final exam had nothing to do with any of that. The questions were unfair and did not reflect the rest of the class or any of the recommended practice materials.
prob the worst profesor ive ever seen, bro is like one of those movie mafia villians like DON from those bollywood movies
If you're looking for a class that feels like the fiery pits of hell, look no further. Hell would be a vacation compared to the anguish you'll endure in this course. If you take this class, just know you're signing up for the academic equivalent of Dante's Inferno.
hard final. grade not reflective of my knowledge.
Would not recommend professor. Struggled through this class despite studying and putting forth tremendous effort. Preparation with practice exams from previous years was not helpful and in no way reflective of final. I don't know what Prof. Bartley's thought process was when writing the final; many questions were unfamiliar/not taught in class.
The final exam was genuinely sent from hell. I don't even understand how they created the questions that they did. All the midterms were much harder than the practice exams, and the final didn't even cover anything on the practice exams. Stay far away from Bartley and never let him write another exam ever again.
Could use a lot more practice with writing exams. This course not having curved exams is high-key diabolical. This professor made sure we were completely unprepared for the questions on the final exam by giving us questions that were NOT going to appear.
I lost all respect for Bartley. I spoke highly of him until his complete utter lack of care when making an exam for gen chem and making half of it orgo (smth we only got one supplemental for) and his passive aggressive responses.The questions were practically riddles and nothing like our resources. I cried. I studied so hard for what?
After the chem final I was walking on the road hoping a car would run me over.
Very unprofessional throughout the semester.
That final was actual insanity. Respectfully, Bartley what were you thinking??? And the mean comments to students that were concerned and removing our right to text on Piazza is frustrating.
Stubborn and unprofessional. Cannot take even simple criticism and became combative (i.e. shutting down piazza) when anyone tried to politely give him feedback. Do not take anything this professor teaches.
this man is genuinely a terrible person and disrespectful. don't take a class from him. like he needs to be fired the way he be speaking to students. he is a fcaamfaaihhd (if u can read this)
Lectures are well-prepared with clear slides and better than most professors. Tests are far harder than Aktiv homework and UMPs, content is representative, but the difficulty is excessive. Overall, the course feels much tougher than a 3-credit class. I also dislike his approach of handling negative feedback after the final.
Rude. Earlier in the year I asked on piazza politely w proof if they have made 130 harder this term. I get called out in lecture, told if I can't do this I should go to a different school, called a coward, piazza anon response option disabled. For ref I took physics 140 so I have no prob w rigor. Apparently asking for transparency is a sin to them
That chemistry final will touch me again and again every night. Who tf thought that putting a ChatGPT ahh looking molecule was a good idea?
The practice exams for this class were misleading, and it's hard to figure out what you are supposed to study to do well. Bartley is a better lecturer than Poniatowski, but he is unprofessional and has beef with literal teenagers. The final he wrote set students up for failure and he shut down Pizzara after receiving criticism.
I think Bartley is a good professor, but the way he handled the final exam for the fall semester 2025 was horrendous. Not to mention shutting down the Piazza after being criticized for the exam.
Writes the most god-awful exams. The course content is not even that bad, but somehow he makes the exams ten times harder than any practice in lecture or on the homework.
This exam might as well have been written in Hebrew, which would have been good if it was a Hebrew class, but we have been learning chemistry all semester for some reason.
Incredibly childish. He is inflexible with his students and will be mean and sassy and make you feel bad for things you had no control over. His tests are scams considering the material he gives for practice. This class was so much harder than it should've been.
My friends went to Harvard, MIT, Yale, and Columbia to take chemistry there and thought this final was going to be light. After the test ended, I heard demonic screams in the Modern Languages Building. Take Bartley or be bent
He is so inspirational! He inspires me to drop out of the school
please curve the exam. My life is in shambles
Although the final was hard, I don't think he deserves this backlash. Overall he is a good teacher, and his lectures were very helpful.
Material on test not covered in class.
Bartley is a very good professor and is overall very prepared. I will say you need to brace yourself for the exams as they are hard. I personally watched every single professor over the course of this semester (fall 2025) and Bartley in my personal opinion is the best professor teaching chem 130
Bartley was a great lecturer always made lectures clear, was easy to follow and engaging. I enjoyed attending his lectures and always got a lot out of going Bartley genuinely seems to care about the content he teaches. Though I struggled with the final the three prior exams were fair and I was able to score well reviewing the content.
Dr. Bartley is a great professor, super nice, and helpful. He is an awesome lecturer and really takes the time to help students understand the material. However, the exams given did not seem to reflect what we practice in class or what is covered in the practice exams!
He is very unforgiving with technical issues. The final felt impossible compared to all the practice exams and homework we were given. Also, tests were graded in an untimely matter and he was very rude when asked questions regarding test scores.
I would study the homework, textbook and even watched his lectures before exams all to only do terrible on the final exam. Content covered in class does not match the intensity of the exams. If you take this class, you are on your own!
I thought Bartley was a great lecturer who taught the material well and this class was extremely easy most of the year. There's basically no homework and the midterms were all straightforward, but there were like two or three hard questions on the final.
If you wanna study every day and still fail, take this class.
the final was horrible but bartley is still a really good professor
The exam was no where near anything we learned
Exams were not like practice problems given to us. He lectured off of slides and the practice problems we did in class didn't correlate to the difficulty of exams. He was also rude when we confronted him about it. Don't recommend overall
Told us to give examples of test questions on piazza then said he's closing it because we gave examples of test questions on a test where he put the hardest most random questions.
Incredibly hard test that invloved nothing that we learnt on the exam.
I am a residency student at the University of Michigan that chose to take CHEM130 for fun with my younger sibling, with this being her first year at the University. Instead of a sibling bonding course, I fear I may have discouraged her from going into medicine at all by suggesting we take this course together. My parents might now disown me...
Makes a final exam that is nothing like the posted practice exams and is made up of content that was never discussed in lecture
Professor Bartley's class left me feeling overwhelmed and discouraged almost every week. His explanations often felt rushed and unclear, and I constantly struggled to understand what he truly wanted us to learn. I really tried to keep up, but the way the material was delivered made the course far more stressful than it needed to be.
I came into this class excited to learn, but the instruction style made it really difficult to stay motivated. The lectures felt disconnected from what we were actually expected to master, and I often felt lost despite putting in the effort. It was disappointing because the subject itself deserved more clarity and guidance.
This course drained me more than any other class I've taken. Even when I reviewed the material repeatedly, I still left lectures confused because key ideas weren't broken down in a way that made sense. It felt like I was constantly trying to fill in the gaps myself, which made the semester incredibly stressful.
Professor Bartley clearly cares about covering a lot of content, but the pace and explanations made it hard for many students to follow along. There were times when I wished he slowed down and checked that the class was actually understanding the fundamentals. With a more supportive teaching approach, the course could be much more manageable.
Although the professor is knowledgeable, the way the information was presented often felt inaccessible. Important details were glossed over quickly, leaving many students unsure of how to apply what we learned. The class ultimately felt more confusing than enlightening.
to the people right before talking about how this exam was not overly difficult, clearly since the overwhelming majority of people agreed that it was, the issue is not the people, but the class. i do feel some remorse for bartley bc his reputation has been severely tarnished, but his comments on piazza were incredibly unprofessional and rude.
to continue from the last response, the exam 100% did test on material that was not adequately covered in class. to negate that is purely unfactual. 35% of the exam covered information from one week of class (that relied on students to self teach) that is not a culmulative exam. + the issue of the questions being shared on piazza
To the person before kissingBartley. I understand he's not a bad guy he's a good teacher. But anybody with eyes could see that this exam was not reflected from the practice exams that they recommended or the homework that they pushed to be completed. I went to both copala at 9am andBartley at one every week and still felt 👎. I got a 1600on SAT btw
to sum it up the final for this class destroyed my mental health.
Dr. Bartley is a great lecturer and it's clear that he's passionate about chemistry. My original prof for this course was Coppola and I decided to attend Bartley's lectures instead of his because of how good Bartley is. I know a lot of others who did this as well, which says a lot. The exams were hard this sem but the class was more than manageable
Course content was never too bad at all. Exams were always a bit more challenging, and we were told it was because they want to better prepare us for orgo. IF YOU'RE GONNA MAKE THE COURSE MORE CHALLENGING HOW ABT U UPDATE THE DAMN PRACTICE EXAMS. Final was absolute hell.
He is a really good lecturer, he constantly goes over practice problems and is good at explaining all the topics but exams were difficult, especially the final.
Best out of the profs. The 3 exams were reasonable, but definitely harder than past exams (past exams were just insanely easy).The final on the other hand was way harder than past years, especially with the new content (which they added to prepare us for future classes) but I feel is out of range for a genchem class. Otherwise, I thought he was ok.
Added content during thanksgiving break and proceeded to make majority of final said content. Will not curve.
Don't even know where to begin, that exam was designed with absolutely none of the curriculum in mind.
telluric acid
Horrible exam
My parents sent me to umich on the condition that I don't fail any exams. Thanks to this gooner I'm being sent to a Romanian boarding school that's like shut off from the rest of the world. I'm panicking, thanks FARTLEY
If the course description says CHEM 130 level general chemistry the exams (especially the final) should stay within that. Adding acids and bases at the last minute after saying the final was mostly cumulative was unfair. Great professor but what's the point of that if he's not teaching the content that will be covered in exams...
I PERSONALLY think that everyone is blowing this way OUT of proportion. David is a kind and generous grader and did not design a difficult exam. I personally loved his witty and constructive PIAZZA posts. I THINK everyone SHOULD have studied MORE instead of COMPLAINING about the difficulty. Had YOU spent this much time STUDYING this wouldn't happen
bad teacher and bad final
I took the class with Bartley if you think something unfair he will regrade you test and go over where you went wrong. He also is very reasonable about credit you can receive back and help you can receive. Also the topics you guys are complaining about has alway been 130 material. You guys are blowing this out of proportion.
Genuinely i dont know how the final demonstrated anything that we learned in class. The worst way to end a semester. I dont know what he was thinking when he decided to write that exam.
Class was easy, teacher not good. He needs to get good. Alhamdulillah for everything. Big up my premeds, Ls to Bartley. Ruined everyone's day. Shoutout to all my brothers (and sisters) who pulled through. Ameen
i think (HE) is great! (L)oved the class! even if he disabled (P)iazza!!
final does not reflect what was done in class
Dont get me wrong hes a good professor, but only for the things he teaches! the final included content he never taught, including lewis structures of molecules that would only come up in orgo. He better curve this test to save his reputation.
The final literally had nothing to due with what we learned over the past however many weeks, maybe the like 12/25 questions we actually were taught how to answer. Then when he specified for us to provide the questions we had form the exams specifically on piazza in a very patronizing tone, he shuts down piazza.
Dr. Bartley is a good lecturer, however his communication with students has been immature and unprofessional. While providing students with an easy exam is not required, properly informing them about what to expect is. Personally, I did well in his class, but no amount of review could have prepared anyone for content that was not clearly explained.
I didn't directly have Bartley, but he was the coordinator so he's getting the blame for the pretty bad exams. Most of the chem teachers, including bartley, are good lecturers, respond timely, and are overall good teachers during the semester. HOWEVER, the exams are hell. The final compared to previous exams is night and day
Not a terrible lecturer, but poor course director bad test-maker. If you are going to give an extremely difficult final, at least provide practice exams at a comparable level, not tests from previous years when the course was much easier. Also, handle criticism professionally instead of shutting down Piazza. Piazzagate will not be forgotten.
Wanna be orgo professor and switched up on us on the final. He teaches the material we are supposed to know well and the midterms are definitely more difficult than the practice exams, but are fair. The final however was not whatsoever. No matter how hard i studied with all the resources given, there was no way I could have done any better.
Professor bartley treated us with such disrespect that I lost any respect I had for the chemistry department as a whole. The fact that he asked us students to provide feedback on our exam and when that occurred proceeded to silence our only form of communication with our GSI and professors is honestly astounding and completely uncalled for.
The final questions were not covered in lecture
Bartley was a great professor with clear and digestible lectures. While parts of the final were overly challenging compared to the exams that were given in previous years, I think many are blowing this out of proportion, and the majority of the final was not that bad. If you study hard and pay attention, you will do well. Overall, Barlet is great.
Bartley is a great lecturer. Many are being dramatic about the final. The final being bad isn't entirely his fault, blame the whole department
Very difficult to understand
I received high grades on the midterms and studied what we were told to for the final, but on the final, 75% of it was not from the practice exams nor most of our study materials. I've been through weeder classes before but this was simply unfair. To top it off he was rude and dismissive to student concerns. 95% of students I've talked to agree.
good teacher, bad atittude towards students, made final way more difficult than practice tests and this is coming from someone who attended all lectures, understood all umps and homeworks. tests should reflect course material
The final was nothing like the practice exams. He is a top teir rage baiter and probably a discord mod on the weekends. He needs to watch out before the big triple t (tung tung tung sahur) finds out.
Passive aggressive when responding to online questions/ comments. The review given in class and practice tests did not resemble the final at all. If you are gonna change the course PLEASE change the practice material as well. AWFUL CLASS TO TAKE THIS SEMESTER.
Writes the worst exam ever that do not match the lecture material at all.
save yourself from misery by not taking chem 130
Final exam was utterly unfair for students and was a terrible representation of course material. Bartley was snarky in his comments and shut down the discussion board after telling students to stop complaining. Would not recommend him as a professor or a person.
Bartley gives great lectures, but he let his students down with the final. It was far more difficult and longer than the past exams and material given to us. He's been completely uncaring and outright rude to students who have voiced their concerns. I hope to never have a class involving him again.
final exam was my last straw, what even was that thing ew hate the course instructor, nothing like this on canvas and did not prep us well for these type of questions at all. hated my life, made me contemplate my worth. hated it and made me want to cry. anxiety to its max, worst crash out ever byee
Despite this being an introductory chemistry course, this course definitely requires prior chemistry experience to do well. Expect curveballs on midterms, and even more on the final exam. Although one exam was able to be dropped this semester, this does not aid much in your overall course grade. Best advice, review course content before registering
I WAS .65% OFF FROM AN A-. He was probably the best chem 130 prof out of the others, however, this man has no remorse. Giving us orgo problems on the final (stuff he did not teach us) was actually insane. I'm just glad to be done with the course. Lectures well though.
practice exams are nothing like the real exams lol. content taught in lecture is 5% of exam. you on your own whole semester. bartley don't give a flying flip abt students
You're going to need a solid chemistry background before going into CHEM-130 to do well. It's even difficult for the students who took IB and AP Chemistry in high school. Final exam was 50% organic chemistry and was so incredibly difficult. Bartley is super fiesty and unfair. Average on final was 67% no pun intended.
Best class I had this year. He is great!
Dr. Bartley was a very good professor all term. He gave good lectures, was accessible during office hours, and he was very fair on our midterm exams. If you take this class, go to lecture! The final was absolutely insane and no amount of studying could have prepared me for that. I got a D. I had an A average, and I studied for this final. Insane.
Really great professor, I would definitely choose him out of all the chem professors offered at UMich. He taught the material very well, had very well paced lectures that covered all the material without feeling rushed, was enjoyable to go to lecture, and prepared us very well for the tests.
Went in as a transfer student, having not taken any chem in about 5 years, averaged a 76 on the exams, and ended the course with an A-. The grading scheme is heavily curved; other coursework is basically a free grade boost, with no mandatory attendance. Yes, the final was rough and hard to prepare for, but Bartley's rating is a gross overreaction.
The class leading up to the final was fine if you studied some concepts outside of class. Reading the textbook and doing practice problems in those chapters definitely helped on the exams. Nothing could have really prepared you for that extreme of content on this final exam.
Winter 2026 will be way easier because of this semester.
Lowk the other people just didn't go through the review. The second half of the telluric acid question on the exam could be better worded but these guys are making too big of a deal about it. It's definitely helpful to have taken grade 12 level chemistry before coming into Chem130. Homework was easy and a free mark booster.
The orgo content on the final was not even orgo - it was the hybridization, deprotonation, intermolecular forces, bond lengths, polyprotic acids, etc. Ig people just got scared because of the long strings of molecules. Nothing studying a bit can't fix.
The exam is really getting blown out of proportion, the questions looked scary, but they weren't really bad at all. Sometimes I found that some of the material he was going over in class was irrelevant and unnecessary. That being said, he seems like a good guy, and the final shouldn't have had this reaction.
I really liked Bartley's lectures and think that he was the best lecturer available for the term I was taking it. His exams were harder than years past, but our grades were supported with hw and discussions. I do agree that the final had some unfair questions, but with proper studying and use of resources, the class was definitely manageable.
Bartley was a great lecturer. He made difficult concepts easy to understand. The Fall 2025 final he wrote was difficult and a little unfair, but aside from that Bartley was kind, compassionate, and knew what he was talking about. The class itself was very doable as long as you set aside enough time for it and don't fall behind.
Final was much harder than previous final exams (avg. was a 67%), and the graders are a bit harsh. However, the other exams were relatively very fair in terms of difficulty. Additionally, there is a grade buffer with discussions. But, Bartley is BY FAR the best lecturer. Everyone also has the same exams, you'd be mistaken not to go w/ Bartley.
I was assigned to Coppola but after failing the first midterm I started going to Bartley's lec and got A's on the next two midterms. He is MUCH better as he provides slides & practice problems reflective of exam questions. The final was harder than expected but Bartley got an unfair amount of backlash on RMP. If you want to do well go to Bartley!
Did not prepare students for final.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
22%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.08 avg changeRatings by Course
10791
5.0
(1)CHEM-130
2.1
(231)Difficulty by Course
10791
5.0
CHEM-130
4.1