2.9
Quality4.2
Difficulty44%
Would Retake93
Reviews44%
Would Retake
93
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
23
4
17
3
9
2
12
1
32
What Students Say
“There is no curve, nothing helps the grade”
CHEM43A - 1.0 rating“The labs are graded harshly, the TAs are no help specifically during the TA help rooom because they switch off who's in the help room and who's grading the reports so regardless you'll do bad on the labs”
43A - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
32%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.17 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM40C
4.7
(3)chem41a
4.5
(15)CHEM40B43A
4.0
(1)CHEM40A
3.1
(10)CHEM1A
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CHEM1A
5.0
CHEM40B
4.4
CHEM41B
4.3
CHEM43A
4.2
43A
4.2
Reviews (93)
This was his first quarter teaching at UCSD. He was a great professor, and makes sure you know your stuff. The exam averages are around 50-60%, but he curves generously at the end of the quarter. His exams reflect exactly what he teaches, and his practice exams are very similar to his actual exams.
This professor is a good option for chem majors who are truly interested in the topic. The class is unnecessarily hard for the rest of us. Test are hard and averages are low, you never know where you stand. No extra credit. He will test you on everything that is in the learning goals even if he doesn't teach it during lectures.
Great professor who emphasizes critical thinking, rather than memorization. Very clear directions for experiments and lab reports. Engaging and applicable lectures. One downside: quizzes usually cover something new (i.e. not in reading or lecture), which in theory is good for applying knowledge but in practice can be frustrating.
There is no curve, nothing helps the grade! He wastes about 10 min of lecture talking about real world molecules, then when it gets to explain the experiment the time will run out. Quizzes are difficult, he expects you to know things that he didn't explain before. There is a report for every experiment which takes a lot of time & effort to write.
Ochem is a hard class but Klosterman walked us through every mechanism and every reaction on the board. He will teach you how to think in ochem and understand why things happen. Tests are extremely fair and representative of the material taught in class . DO THE HW and read the book and go to office hours! He will prepare you for 40B
Great lecturer - awful grader. Everything is graded in a way that minimizes work for the TAs and Professor. Everything is MC and the (many) lab reports are graded on nit-picky keywords rather than graded holistically. Unfortunately, this practice is common throughout lab classes. They're trying to be objective but it does not help students learn.
The professor walks around lab sections taking off points for anything and everything. The labs are graded harshly, the TAs are no help specifically during the TA help rooom because they switch off who's in the help room and who's grading the reports so regardless you'll do bad on the labs. You can take the same lab with someone easier and better.
I've had him for his first time teaching the lab during Winter 2018. Decent lecturer, but first 10 minutes of real-life examples should be shorter. Through email, though, not professional. Though the lab outlines are easy to fill, the rubrics themselves are mysterious. Quizzes and final are also not easy. Pray that you have a decent TA.
The grading of post-lab abstracts and introduction of midterm lab report was ridiculous since you never know what he asks, and I had to spend 9 hours per week to get 85% and above. Quizzes were often quite tricky. Final was not hard if you study all the ochem theories (40AB) behind each lab and read the questions carefully. 92.8% got me an A.
Exams are very fair. Interactive lecture is very stimulating. Looking forward to having him again for 43A in the winter.
He is great at lecturing and does not believe in straight memorization. He really makes you work for your grade. Recommend doing all the homework problems he gives. His tests are very difficult. Our average for tests was about 55%. 2 midterms and 1 final. I took him during summer sesh so that was rough. He is good at answering ques and engaging
I had him in SP18. Not the best in my opinion. His lab reports are graded very critically and he doesn't even tell you what is needed specifically and depending on the grader it could really damage your report grade. Quizzes can be kind of hard and tricky at times. Would go beyond the lecture time or sometimes not even finish the lecture.
If this is your last class and you have no choice, it is ok to take it. If there are other options, I would avoid taking the class with this prof. The rubric is not clear and the TAs take turns to grade the reports. The rubric is very inconsistent. The TA in the help room were not helpful because they didn't know what the prof wants either.
Can not attest to his lab course like the others that bring his rating down, but I highly recommend taking him for an Organic Series Class. He explains the mechanisms fine and answers questions very well. If you want a comparison, he's like a Bussey for OChem because it's a fulfilling lecture with challenging exams. I took him Summer so it was fast
Took this during summer session. The hardest class Ive ever taken for sure. I did o chem all day everyday for five weeks. Final exam average was a 42. The curve helped me so much. But it was such a cool class overall. I feel so smart now. He's a cool professor and makes stuff hard but he actually wants people to learn.
After a bad 40A teacher, I was very happy with Klosterman. He gives lots of practice problems, weekly quizzes, and the best! review sessions every week. He tries to help make students be on top of the material and the tests are incredibly fair. Group project to pad the grading helps as well! Would recommend!
I got a B+ in 40A and I thought I would end up with Bs throughout the 40 series but Klosterman went above and beyond to help his students. Although there are weekly quizzes, they are meant to make sure that you are on top of everything so you aren't cramming before midterms/finals. Discussions are mandatory but they're grade boosters. Best prof!!
Prof. Klosterman is really accessible and helpful outside of class. He is really doing his best to help the students to learn and understand the materials. There are weekly quizzes, but they are not really hard and helpful for you to catch up with the materials. Funny lectures and interesting group project! Really recommend!
I really liked Prof Ks teaching style. Ochem is very hard on any level, but I feel like he did a good job of presenting it in a way that connected it to real life and made it as easy to understand as it can be. Of the Ochem profs at UCSD, he is a really solid choice and seems to really care about the success of his students
The worst ochem lab prof at UCSD, hands down. Doesn't respond to emails (rude in the ones that he does respond to), doesn't give answer keys, doesn't have clear guidelines, different TA's grade using said non-existent guidelines. Avoid this prof at all costs. I can't believe he is still teaching labs at UCSD after years of student's complaining
Fantastic professor. He actively seeks out feedback from students on what he can do to better the class. His lectures are engaging and he explains the material really well. Of course ochem is hard: you can't avoid that, but he helped me learn it effectively and for the long term.
Klosterman is a terrible professor. Shows little care for students learning especially with online platforms. He makes the class way harder than it needs to be and fails to provide students with necessary material to complete their assignments. Terrible professor.
I had Professor Klosterman for 40B and 43A and he is one of the best professors in the OChem department. The worksheets/experiment tested more conceptual questions so watching the conceptual videos helped a lot! As long as you understand the underlying concepts, the worksheets are very doable. Also, the midterms were easy and straightforward.
A decent lecturer with concise theory videos. However, beyond that, he is awful in all aspects (both as a professor and as a person) and really manages to make students HATE him. Klosterman does not post answers because "research shows" that it somehow hinders students' performance. Addresses concern's poorly with perfunctory remarks.
Took 40B with him during summer session, with asynchronous lectures and mandatory group sessions a few days a week. Had homework and quizzes, only a certain number of which counted towards your grade. Great lecturer, assigns enough work so that you won't have to study much oyo. Would definitely recommend if you need a solid understanding of ochem.
Thinks we have more time since online. Crams what's usually 2 weeks of work into one, 3 times in the quarter. Gives lectures to watch during weekend and hosts review and problem sessions during lecture time. Seems like he cares about student success but if you try to reach out he doesn't help. Also no answer key for any practice he gives. no curve
I am terrible at chemistry, and ochem in particular. Klosterman is THE FIRST chemistry professor I've had that makes the material super easy to understand, even if you come into this class feeling like you don't get hardly anything at all. Workload is pretty consistent - just be sure to do the practice tests/quizzes to do well on the exams!
Klosterman's theory videos were concise and clearly reflected the material needed for the coursework. Weekly worksheets for each lab were fair. I really enjoyed taking CHEM43A online. Best part? Independence in completing work, as there is no lab to attend during the allotted course time. Highly recommend!
he literally does not care about his students and online organic chemistry is hard no matter who you take, but klosterman not making it easier in his review sessions or being helpful with assignments WITH NO KEY is no way to learn properly if youre constantly unsure if youre doing anything right with no direct help from the professor. AWFUL!!!
Klosterman started the quarter with horrible past recordings of live lectures (the camera never focused). The updated screencast lectures were 1000x better. Unnecessary quizzes on smartworks. Gave easy practice exams with no answer key. Final was too hard and unfair. Doesn't curve unless avg is super low.
Wouldn't provide alternate exam dates (as every other professor at UCSD does even pre-covid for in-person classes) even if overseas or have a family emergency or mandatory work. Heard this from various students and TA. Didn't even teach us basic concepts to complete assignments - rationalized this as "making students critically think." Do your job.
Really not sure how he get a 3.2. If you just want an easy A in his class, I would suggest you not to take him since there are lots of work. However if you really want to learn about the details of organic chemistry and care less about your grade, he would be your first choice. His lecture go in depth about all the mechanism in a clear precise way.
Prof Klosterman definitely knows and understands the material that he teaches, and is very thorough in his lectures. However, this class is VERY HARD. And there's so much work. Even though he gives practice exams that are similar in format to the real exam, the questions are significantly harder... like A LOT... ngl he's pretty cool dude tho
Loved Klosterman for 40B but hated 43A. For 40B, his lectures were extremely thorough and had the same material on the exams. Chapter quizzes and homework were helpful and his exams are very fair and representative of the material. 43A labs did not have a clear grading criteria and were difficult. No curve for 43A so pray you get a nice TA.
This course makes you do weekly lab reports(post lab) while providing very little time for each labs that are all challenging. Moreover, this class contains two midterms and finals along with that. You won't be able to focus on any other classes if you take him for this course. Avoid him at all cost..
worst professor I have ever had.
OChem is a challenging class - as such, I think its important to cut some profs a break . Despite that, Dr. Klosterman, perhaps due to COVID, has made comments regarding both women and people-of-color that are clearly diminutive. Further, his over-eager invitations of certain girls to office hours reveals something creepily beyond professional.
bruh Klosterman is a good teacher but omg the amount of work in this class is ridiculous. It's like 5 classes in one. Theres hw and more hw and group projects and quizzes and honestly wtf
Klosterman is truly a great Ochem professor and WANTS you to learn Ochem. But be prepared. This professor truly doesn't care about the health of his students. The class consists of hundreds of students and yet he's made it known that he doesn't care about covid or his students. He disregards students' worries. He doesn't care about you.
Thorough lectures and he wants students to learn ochem. However, does not post solutions to hw problems and problems given during lecture. This makes it really difficult to learn the material! Would recommend taking with a different professor unless you have the time to attend office hours to go over solutions and/or scavenge from elsewhere.
Professor Klosterman has by far been the worse professor at UCSD. Avoid at all cost, not only to protect your GPA, but your mental health as well. I deal with depression and this professor has worsen it and made my anxiety much worse. So much work to do and he doesn't provide solutions for practice problems, you're set up for failure.
I am not the best at ochem, but i got an A in chem40A. However, this professor has made it impossible for me to pass the class at this point. He is very rude and condescending, as are his IA's. I have put so much hard work into this class, and I truly cry every night fearing that I will lose my financial aid if I fail this class.
His class is highly overwhelming. He expects students to watch all lectures before the week starts to attend review sessions. There are quizzes and homework assignments due each week. The worst was when we went over two chapters in a week and everything was doubled (lectures, homework, etc.). You really have to devote yourself to do well.
The class is extremely difficult to do well in unless you are godly at organic chemistry, due to the exams being difficult and there being no mention of a curve. I am generally a straight A student and am worried I'll get a C in this class. Avoid this professor at all costs.
If you're a student who benefits from repetition and practice of all concepts throughout the quarter, DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. There are so many assignments that there is no time to actually study; you see/practice material ONCE and then NEVER AGAIN, unless you don't have other commitments other than this class. Never take this professor!
don't take this professor if you aren't willing to put in HOURS of work. So much busy work, which can somewhat help ur grade (?). He did not accomodate for covid AT ALL. He provided no makeup exams, syllabus suggested dropping the course if you have to miss an exam. Made us take our exams in person even though the class was hybride Overall bad prof
Horrible professor. Extremely overwhelming, tons of assignments which don't help understanding of material, and exams are impossibly hard. I study for weeks and am still unable to do well on exams. Very unaccommodating to students' concerns. No mention of a curve, lectures are too easy compared to exam material. Avoid this professor at all costs.
Okay we know this is a tough class, but Klosterman makes this class equal to the work of 3 classes. So much work for this class. But I give credit as he explains lectures well and gives a good grading buffer with assignments. Curve is also nice in the end. Exams were hard and I at least spent 15 hours a week on this class. Just way too much work.
He is very strict for no reason really. The material is hard on its own and his system of being hard on the students does not help that. He barely curves which means the stakes of each lab is very high. The tests are fine and his teaching methodology is quite good. His course is very assignment heavy.
He made the class tougher than it already is. He care what the students think, kind of rude, is a very tough grade and not always willing to answer students' questions, tough exams (and you won't even know or have record of what you did wrong unless you schedule 1-on-1-meeting with him, which is very intimidating). He's not a supportive teacher.
I wish I could give him 0/5. He is very rude and condescending towards his students and the TA's. There is absolutely no reason to treat people the way he does. There is a lot of work to do before each lab which is feels pointless (even the TA's agree). The labs are tedious and the grading is very strict.
Incredibly unaccommodating Professor that does not care about students. So much work and takes up way more time than it should. Post-labs and data reports are graded extremely harshly. Posts videos that are supposed to explain techniques but they are literally from 14 years ago and the quality is so bad you can barely see what's going on. Avoid.
I would give 0/5 if I could. He is very condescending and rude to his students and the TAs. So much work before and after labs. He yelled at me in front of the entire lab a few weeks ago which wasn't nice. Grading is done so harshly! Students spend 3-6 hours on post labs and still get low B's or C's.
He never fully explains mechanisms/concepts, he just draws them out. His handwriting is poor, so you will spend time trying to figure out if something says "resonance" or "electron" somehow. He doesn't answer questions he thinks are "stupid", he skips over problems that "are too hard" but expects us to know. I don't recommend. Curves to a C+ avg.
This professor is one of the worst professors I've ever seen. His lectures are focused on getting the material down on the chalkboard rather than properly explaining it. He also loves to take up time after lectures to keep teaching. He does a poor job of explaining concepts, the exams are much harder and often confuse even the brightest students.
The problem sets are easy enough to do, but they do nothing to prepare you for the exams which are too long and hard for the time frame. Exam averages are 50-60% with no sign of a curve. Lectures get confusing quickly and the textbook is necessary to understand what he's talking about. Good luck to whoever's unlucky enough to have him as a prof
Worst ochem prof ever. Lectures are hard to follow, doesn't explain concepts clearly. Couldn't understand his handwritings / drawings on the chalkboard. Never gives answer keys to any of the practice worksheets or practice exams which makes things worse. Tough exams. Had to do a group project that should be worth more points than he assigns.
The worst Professor ever. He gives useless lectures, homeworks and problem sets. His test never reflects what he teaches in the class. The weekly quizzes never help for the midterm. Because the quizzes are understandable but exam is another story. The project is just wasting of time and not helpful either. If u have choice DO NOT choose him.
Lectures have no connection to what's on the exams, quizzes and group project are barely weighted to the final grade. He's horrible.
He gave failing grades to TAs in strike for 43A in fall2022. Smh for this... But he is clearly informed and he offers extra review and problem sessions every Friday, which are helpful. All lectures and extra sessions are posted. His exams are very HARD but a relatively good score is doable if you understand concept and practice a lot.
Klosterman makes organic chemistry much harder than it really is through his difficult exams while not providing insightful practice to prepare for these exams.
In this dismal course, the lecture videos are the only redeeming quality. Relentless grading on postlabs and incomprehensible discussion responses frustrate students. A lack of clarity FORCES students to seek guidance during office hours. The exam, while fair, contained unexpected material, contradicting the professor's emphasis on study tools.
the post labs are graded so harshly and by the entire IA staff so the grading system is not cohesive. I went to my TA office hours more times for this class than my entire time at UCSD. For the final, Klosterman was accommodating, I didnt fill out the Scantron on accident, but I reached out and Klosterman graded it for me and resubmitted grades.
Postlab writeup grading lacks consistency and lectures are not that useful--less than experiement manuals... Exams are okay: some technical mistakes in final due to a version of exam printed without graphs. There was some extra credits.
He was a chill professor. Homework and assigned take-home quizzes (13% of your grade) basically give you enough to get a B on the midterms. You're encouraged to go to discussion (they're worth 7ish% of your grade) and discussion is somewhat useful to get a summary of the lectures that week. Overall, do recommend him as a professor.
Klosterman does a great job making the lectures engaging (he isn't just talking at you for 80 minutes). Very accessible outside of class and provides every opportunity for you to get an A if you put in the work; he hosts weekly review sessions and exam review sessions on his own. Exams score around a 60% average but I found them to be very fair.
I liked Klosterman as a person and he was very clearly passionate about organic chemistry, but the lack of answer keys for practice exams ruined his class for me. He's a fine professor and persoanlly I enjoyed his teaching style although I would've preferred he included solvents for his reactions instead of just the reagents, but overall he was ok.
I took his class during the summer session. He only does Q/As in "lectures", asking us to watch lecture recordings from 2020. Quizzes didn't reflect on course contents or things we did in labs. Post-labs are graded harshly due to his weird rubric. He was there only ~3h/week when we spent 3h/day in the lab and another ~2h/day in his homework.
TOOK FOR CHEM 41A! Had him for summer session 1. He tried out a new system of teaching for the summer and it was a great way to get the most practice in those short 5 weeks. Left for a meeting during the last week of instruction and that sucked with learning reactions without him being there. Other then that great professor!
Extremely fast paced but expected for ochem. Random group project w/ 4 people but was ez. DI is mandatory but LE isnt. His notes didn't make sense but the material is all defined in his tests which were fair and optional HW w/ weekly quizzes. first midterm average was a 70. Wouldn't go out of my way to take him again but not bad.
Enjoyed his lectures. Was very clear and explained the material thoroughly. O Chem is a tough class so a lot of self study is helpful to actually let the information sink in. Overall Professor K does a good job of explaining and teaching to students.
Prof K is actually a very good lecturer. His tests are very similar to the practice ones, the only downside is there is no answer key. He only writes on the chalk board, so there is no slides to reference, but he is great about answering questions and reexplaining. He deserves more than a 2.5 bc he genuinely cares, he just teaches ochem.
For such a hard class, klosterman works hard to make the info as accessible and interesting as possible.
Professor Klosterman is a quite helpful teacher on helping students overcoming the harsh organic chemistry course. His lecture could be hard to follow without previewing since Ochem do have lots of stuffs but he is also easily accessible through online discussion board or coffee meet. He provided considerable amounts of easy and extra credit.
Klosterman does not treat his TAs well. He does not treat his students well. He is not very accomodating. The grading is unclear. He's a fine lecturer, but that's about it. To all the TAs that have had to work for him, I am sorry and I hope your future bosses are kinder and more understanding.
I had this man three times for Chemistry: 40A in Fall, 40C in Summer, 43A in Winter. In my opinion, his lectures are great, but avoid his lab at all costs... I'm talking wait taking 43A if you have the option to.
Dr K is a very engaging lecturer and clearly explains the theory behind each lab. There were so many available resources to help us (online/irl lectures, quizzes, simulations, videos, textbook). Yes, the postlabs are graded kinda harshly, but if you read the feedback in Gradescope, it all makes sense, and you can improve if you put in the effort.
Klosterman is definitely a great professor as he teached and go through the contents detailedly and comprehensively, and he really did try to make everyone engaged and be interested in organic-chemistry. However, his course has super large workload, and be prepared to have quizes, homeworks, group project and optional practices (optional but vital)
yall ungr8ul frfr. dont know how good you have it. i took him for 41a in fall loved o chem got a fair grade UNCURVED BTW!!!! then i took 41b and 41c with horrible professors and it made me miss this class like crazy. they dont make em like dr. K frfr. hes the GOAT UNDERRATED GOAT. glorious chalkboard explains very well.
ACTUALLY TEACHES. TEST IS ACTUALLY REFLECTIVE OF WHAT HE TEACHES!! HE GIVES EXTRA CREDIT AND LETS U REDO ONE QUESTION ON THE MIDTERMS. I WOULD LOVE TO TAKE HIS CLASS AGAIN. PLS DR K TEACH ALL OF MY CLASSES I ACTUALLY LEARNED SOMETHING
This class is very exam heavy and it is very hard to get your grade up if you score low on a mid term. You have a weekly quiz online that hurts your grade if you dont do well on drops you so much. Blackbaord prof, the exams are every hard compared to anything else we see, will spend so much time working on just this class if you cant memorize fast.
Despite his reviews, I had a great experience with this teacher. He's very nice and seems to care a lot about wanting his students to actually learn. Goes the traditional route and uses a chalkboard to slow down his pace, and its easier to take notes. Lecture is not worth points, but discussion is. Go to lecture and discussion and you will pass.
Good choice if you take the course in the summer. He explains things clearly. The workload is not too heavy in summer. He does a huge curve, so it's easy to get an A. (For this ss2 83% is an A)
His lectures were lwk not that useful, but he did post practice exams that were basically identical to the actual tests.
bro goat. ong
He gets a bad rep, but that is only because his exam forced you to have a very deep conceptual understanding of Ochem. Though if you do, all the questions were extremely fair, as they are all relevant to his lecture, and quasi-easy if you truly understand Ochem. Also, always attend the weekly and exam review sessions, Ochem click for me once I did!
Lecture may not be mandatory but show up since podcasts kinda suck. Really well done lecturing style of using the chalkboard so I do recommend you sit closer. Does not use slides so he is not going rapid fire on material. Practice exams help a lot with what to focus/master on midterms. Do the discussion sheets as they are helpful knowledge.
HE IS THE GOAT OF 41A! Actually teaches, gives plenty of extra credit opportunities, and hosts review and problem set sessions. The ol' chalkboard teaching style is so goated for this class. I wish he taught the entire 41 series. The tests actually reflected what he taught in lectures. The review sessions really help. I would highly recommend him!
HE IS GREAT. He knows what he lectures on and is good at it. He can be funny at times and keeps people engaged. Practice tests are relatively good at providing what the test will be like and overall is a GOAT.
For a class like organic chemistry, Prof. Klosterman makes the material digestible and always brings a ton of energy to class. You can really tell he just loves the class and wants his students to learn. You will have to put in a lot of work in though, so make sure to do the practice problems and attend every lecture in person if you can.
Very difficult course, do all the practice and be sure to attend all lectures and as much of the extra sessions prof. offers as well (problem review sessions). Prof is very enthusiastic and does inspire a love of chemistry.
Very engaging lectures and very insightful. Good amount of credit recovery and extra credit options. Overall very solid professor to get into ochem. Grade is based on 3 exams and preparation points (HW, quizzes, discussion attendance). Recommend reading textbook before lectures. Black board lectures (no slides) and has weekly quizzes.
He's very enthusiastic about Chem 41A and cares about your success in the rest of the sequence. He offers many chances for receiving help and even a redo on one exam QUESTION of your choice. He offers a fair amount of Extra Credit. I would recommend going to lecture as the recorded video doesn't fully show the board (Really Matters)
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
32%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.17 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM40C
4.7
(3)chem41a
4.5
(15)CHEM40B43A
4.0
(1)CHEM40A
3.1
(10)CHEM1A
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CHEM1A
5.0
CHEM40B
4.4
CHEM41B
4.3
CHEM43A
4.2
43A
4.2