Great professor! Tries to make things as clear as possible. You can tell he cares about how well his students understand the material. He uses overheads to draw structures which is helpful and he posts everything he writes!! Class still requires some work, but it's not that bad at all.

whitesell's tests are pretty easy on the whole. he takes the questions straight from hw problems and puts his lecture notes online along w/ the audio, but if you don't know what he's talking about, it's difficult to understand. i suggest going to lecture as often as possible.

His test was just like the homework, and show up to class because he would give hints to what problems were on the midterm. The final had a couple of major problems pulled from the midterms. Overall a really good teacher i enjoyed him and really hoped he would be teaching 140B.

I was scared of OChem until I took this class. His tests are 70% homework, plus he gives lots of hints. Do the reading and keep up. The key to this class is understanding, material builds upon itself. Best teacher at UCSD.

he is by far the most helpful professor at UCSD. he provides audio recording and lecture notes online. His exams were extremly fair because hints are given. Do assigned HW, read book, and understand lecture and it should be an easy A

Good guy. Fair as hell. If you do what he says, you get the grade and the knowledge. Just be careful and despite the easiness, don't take the class too lightly cuz the avg is high. Just pay attention.

His class is supposedly the easiest Chem140A class, because he teaches you just what he wants you to know. I got an A in the class by studying his lectures, doing the assigned homework problems, and working out the practice midterms.

Lectures are not too easy to follow. Midterms and final are pretty easy, b/c he takes questions directly from the homework that he assigns and puts them on the midterms.

almost insultingly easy. may need to put extra effort into 140b and 140c because there are holes. listen to your TA, they will fill in the gaps that he makes.

The key to this class is good notes and homework. Having great notes minimizes the reading time and therefore more time to practice problems. Do all the problems he assigns. Make sure to get an organic chemistry drafting template to help you take notes faster especially when learning the chair conformation. I got it at www.ochemplate.com

He's a really nice guy. But the averages in his class are pretty high, so don't bet on a curve. Relatively easier than other professors.

this prof gives you easy A for 140A but you have to study hard for MCAT and B and C...Do homework, attend the lectures and you will be fine. Final is homework and previous midterms basically.

Extremely easy class! If you can't get an A then good luck with upper-division bio/ochem classes, doesn't get much easier than this.

He provides resources such as recording for his lecture and notes online. Do all the assigned HW. because 60% shows up on the midterms/final and the rest is from his notes. I also found that the ochemplate helped for learning to draw chair conformation and its proper orientation. I got an A by doing hw work and listening to his lectures online.

He is quite easy compared to other professors. Remember the pKa of water. I had a copy of the midterm from the previous year, and 95% was exactly the same when I took it. In short, he's an easy professor who recylcles questions, but you end up suffering in 140B.

Very straight forward professor. He is easy but it gives you the freedom to learn the reaction very earlier and to start memorizing them. def do the HW and use the ScienceAide reaction tables from the UCSD bookstore to learn reaction for the final

Whitesell is a good professor. His midterms aren't too hard, it is written in a fair manner with most of the material from his lectures. Take advantage of his office hours to clarify concepts and questions, it helped me a lot.

He is a good professor and I definitely recommend going to class. His tests aren't based on old exams, maybe they were at one time, but now are based mostly on lecture examples. He breaks the subject down and teaches at a slower pace. Good teacher!

My experience in this class was very positive. He was very clear about what was going to be on exams and as long as you make flashcards of EVERY reaction he writes in lecture you will be fine. I did memorize a huge stack of notecards but this is OCHEM! What I liked about his course is that you always knew what to expect from the exams.no tricks!

Really liked this professor. He is very helpful, and explains things well. Warning: Tests are NOT based on old tests anymore. But still, very nice and helpful. Would take him again in a second!

Objectives are crystal clear. His lecture style was great--despite an 8 am class, I was kept awake and interested. Exams are straight-forward and reflect lecture material, particularly when he says things like "THIS WILL BE ON THE EXAM." If weirdo chemical theory from outer space coupled with self-esteem diminishing exams is your bag, DONT TAKE

I really don't think he's so bad if chemistry isn't your primary interest. I have to take if as a bio major and this class is easy and good for my GPA. He also comes off as pretty hostile but I've found from going to his office hours that he is really nice and helpful. If you're interested in chem and want to learn, take someone else.

Exam material wasn't too dense compared to other 140A classes, making them easier, which mostly all of it comes from his lectures, including his examples. Lectures are on Podcast. Answers questions on WebCT discussions, but sometimes not clear/straightforward. Doing problems from the book helped a lot. Available after class.

I don't know why people hate him so much. I learned a lot and felt good after taking both 140A and 140B with him. He teaches you things relevant to your academic studies, not straight from the textbook, and the exams are really reflective of the lecture material. If you want easy classes, you shouldn't take ochem in the first place.

He teaches well, but not clear sometimes. Exams are directly, or sometimes indirectly from his lectures, since he wants you to think. He encourage people to actually attend his class. I like how he replies on WebCT and he is actually extremely nice. Homework are for references, since some of the homework he assigned are just not doable. Good overal

He is actually a really nice guy. Sure he's easy but some people don't need to learn that much about Ochem. Environmental Engineering for example only needs 140A. Everyone also deems him incapable of teaching but this man came from HARVARD, so I'm sure he's looking down upon us lol

Really clear lectures and he videopodcasts, so attendence isn't mandatory. Easy midterms and a more challenging final. He posts past exam keys, which is really helpful. Just don't fall into the trap of not going to class and trying to cram all the podcasts in the weekend before the exams. I really liked the class and feel like I learned a lot.

This class was very easy in the beginning and gets progressively harder towards the end. The professor podcasts his lectures which is VERY helpful for review. His lectures were relevant to what he expected us to know on the exams. I had to put in a lot more time to study for this class but it paid off in the end. Great professor! Taking his 140B.

People that complain about Whitesell not teaching should really learn how to read their book and teach themselves. He tells us what sections to skip, he podcasts, answers questions promptly on TED, fair exams.. what more is there to ask for? I failed both exams.. aced the final and got an A in the class. My fault for bombing the first 2.

Hes a great guy who really wants you to learn!

Professor Whitesell is the most intelligent organic chemist on earth, and is Master genius of the art of pedagogy. He has an amazing ability to spellbind his audience with phenomenal lectures filled with vivid analogies permitting even the least talented student to firmly grasp the complexities of the subject. UCSD needs more professors like him.

Simply the best!

Professor Whitesell is who makes UCSD great!

I love Professor Whitesell and the truthfulness I can express here on Rate My Professors, the only truthful website in the Universe!

Professor Whitesell is the best teacher in the WHOLE WORLD and he's a really nice guy who loves ALL his students and gives us all As because he is such a nice guy and so smart and handsome and the best Professor in the WHOLE WORLD.

Professor Whitesell was anointed a Knight Tempar by the Queen of England because he is SOOOOOOO SMART!!!! He loves his students! Yeah1 I'm so lucky to be in his class! Woo woo!

He teaches us students everything we need to know to ace the class and get into Harvard med. He's the greatest.

Best prof ever

Follows the book perfectly.

Professor Whitesell is the Jim Carey of ochem. Reminds me of Santa Klaus without the beard or hair. Really knows his stuff. He's better than all the other profs cuz he says so. I love SantaW cuz he give us such super easy exams and lets us sleep through class. Why don't we have more UCSD profs like him? SantaW is the BEST.

easiest A i ever got

This guy is tooooo good! It's good people like him that make UCSD so reputable and amazing.

This guy is god! He is absolutely phenomenal in teaching bored, and lazy students about organic chemistry. Whitesell always tells us to believe in the you who believes in yourself, and with that we will be able to piece the heavens.

Professor Whitesell taught me so much ochem that all I can do is think about electrophiles going into benzene rings whenever I poke holes in my donuts for breakfast. I agree that we should dump the current book and replace it with Whitesells and was the first to sign the petition for his book to be the official book for the whole UC system.

Harvard graduate Professor James Whitesell, Ph.D. extraordinairre, is the most outstanding professor at UCSD. Being uniquely gifted, and using solely his superior intellect, he has ushered a dynamic pedagogical revolution at this up and coming university whose entire reputation is derived exclusively from Whitesell's genius. Nobel material.

Never went to class and didn't study and showed up jus for the exams and got an A going into this joke of a final. Easier than high school cuz Whitesell makes it so allya gotta do is put your name on a back test. Great prof for premeds everywhere!

Whitesell is best for a easy A but yA gOt tA tAkE hIm FoR eVeRy CoUrSe So yOu CaN pAsS. Doesnt care if you cheat so thats reel good. If ya got the back tests then ya got the midterms so ya know the answers before ya get to test. Best UCSD chem prof for that easy A specially if ya want it for just doing no work at all. Hes the man for chillin!

All of the great comments below do not do the Wonderful Whitesell...he is simply so good that words cannot describe his superb pedagogical skills. His most famous inspirational quotes to encourage students is to "Believe in the you who believes in yourself, and with that you can go pierce the heavens."

He taught me that when ochem seems tough, and you just feel like giving up, remember: Don't Lose Your Way.

He's actually a pretty nice guy, unlike what most of these comments here state. You will either like his class, or not (although 10% of people go to lecture, so what' the surprise when you do bad?). Pretty easy tests, just look at the lecture materials and past midterms; if he doesn't talk about it, don't worry about it.

This man is a living God. The people who hate on him are those who couldn't make it off the wait list. The best professor, by far.