2.5
Quality3.8
Difficulty41%
Would Retake101
Reviews41%
Would Retake
101
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
15
4
12
3
17
2
19
1
38
What Students Say
“I really don't want to be mean”
CHEM0310 - 1.0 rating“Horrible teacher with an attitude”
CHEM0310 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
57%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.28 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM0320
3.5
(2)0310
2.5
(11)CHEM0310
2.5
(72)OCHEM1
2.5
(8)0320
2.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CHEM0340
5.0
0330
4.5
340
4.0
CHEM310
4.0
0310
3.8
Reviews (101)
Kabirul, or should I say "Kabi rules!" Islam is actually one of the best teachers I've had here at Pitt. He is definitely passionate about chemistry. He is also so funny! I giggle so much, I sometimes call this class "Organic Chuckling". He may seem a little rough around the edges at first, but he's really just a big old teddy bear!
Kabi RULES I love this guy. Straight up thick accent and does not have good pronunciation of the most important words in organic chemistry but nobody loves their job and subject more than K
K is one of the best Ochem teachers you can take!! Very knowledgeable and helpful. His accent makes organic manageable. And the fact that he doesn't have TAs or recitation is great! K is the man. KABI RULES
kabi rules!!!! always shows up with a smile. tests are reasonable. if you want to laugh at a funny accent and awful pronunciation then definitely take his class.
Overall a pretty funny lecturer and nice guy in class. His accent is super thick though and it can leave you completely lost on some things. He follows the book almost word for word so no need to attend lectures. Recitations are really helpful though not many attend. He can be helpful in office hours, but normally he is pretentious and rude.
I really don't want to be mean... But this man shouldn't teach. I understand that this is his first semester teaching, but he consistently extends lectures and reads to us directly from the book, unless he's breezing through three chapters in a week while telling us to "just read the book to have this explained" every other sentence.
He clearly knows the material. He just can't present it. The chalk board ends up looking like a train derailment but there is sometimes logic in there somewhere. Everything is from the book. He tells us just to read the book if we don't understand what's happening. Tests are not proportional to the review material.
Tests are really straightforward & there were never any surprises, so doing problems in the book was more than enough to get a B or higher. Grading was really fair, but his teaching was unfortunately really unorganized. Easy class, but not helpful if you need to know O. Chem in the future.
He is an awful lecturer and a horrible grader. Yes his exams aren't that bad, but even one little mistake and he marks the whole problem wrong. If you need Ochem in the future DONT TAKE!
I want my money back. I didn't learn a thing, and honestly feel cheated by the university. The exams were easier than other classes but the problem was we weren't taught ANYTHING. For me, that meant doing poorly because I had trouble learning concepts from the book and resorted to memorizing. Would have rather graduated late than take his class.
Having a first time teacher as an OChem 1 professor is usually not what you'd hope for, but Kabir pulled it off pretty well. Accent was tough to follow at times, even for fellow Indians, but definitely not something you couldn't figure out using the book. Easy tests, fair grader, and overall acceptable professor.
He didn't seem to want to help us understand the material. Maybe it was the language barrier, but he avoided answering questions and told us to learn it for ourselves from the book. The questions on the 1st exam came literally directly from recitation and his practice exam, but the questions on the 2nd exam were from left field.
Very knowledgeable and approachable, but difficult to understand. Erases notes quickly after writing them on the board. Mostly learned info through reading the book rather than in lecture.
Kabirul is a truly terrible professor, avoid taking his classes at all costs.
He writes everything on the chalkboard and comes off very unorganized. However, if you read the book, attend lectures and recitations you will do great in the class. His exams are almost identical to the practice exams. If you go to office hours he is a lot more helpful then and easier to understand.
BEWARE AT ALL COSTS. During Karibu's class I felt fine, getting by with the B+ I ended up receiving in the course but that confidence went away quickly after the first day of OCHEM 2. I had to read essentially all of the OCHEM1 material over again. He loves the subject, just is bad at teaching it. Great guy, but wait to take another teacher
Hard to understand at times, but easy exams if you read the book. Funny guy who truly loves the material!
His accent is pretty tough to get through, but if you read the book you'll do great. He literally says that EVERYTHING he does is out of the book and he's right. His tests are pretty easy compared to others I've heard. If you just need this class for credit for your major I recommend Islam.
The class isn't that hard for organic but you learn nothing. He literally reads from the book and writes things on the board.. poorly. I took the class again out of sheer fact that I don't know exactly what we did.
He lectures slower than other professors, but his tests are easy. That being said you still need to study it's Ochem. Also sometimes he doesn't go deep enough with the material which can be a problem for Ochem 2. He is a funny and chill guy some americans just can't get his personality.
Great guy!!!! Really knows his stuff. Go to recitation for similar test questions.
Had him for 2/3's a semester and really missed the TA we had teaching the first third of the semester when he came back. His English isn't the best and his writing on the board (which are the only notes provided) is hard to interpret chicken scratch. Had to teach material to myself.
People seem to be really hard on this guy. He knows his stuff and is very personable. Unlike most professors at Pitt, he wants his students to succeed and doesn't try to fail you. With that being said, yes, the class is on the easier side of OChem but if you struggle with chemistry in general I think he is a good professor to take.
He's an awful professor. He's unprepared for lectures, doesn't manage semester time well. Grading mistakes were frequent, and the whole grade is only 3 exams so every point matters. I did a lot better teaching myself outside of class, but going solely off of his lectures, you would be insanely unprepared for both the final and Ochem2
He is the worst there is in this department. He just is a real bad teacher. Nobody gets here without knowing their stuff, so I am sure he does too. But that is not a reason to teach. let him do his work in a lab and not give him courses to teach. he has no patience when asked to explain. this come through in his approach. too high handed
Prof. Islam has little interest in teaching and is unprepared for most of his classes. Avoid him at all cost.
Horrible teacher with an attitude. Ask him a question about the exam and he'll tell you just look at the study guide answer key which doesn't say much.
Dr. Islam's first two exams are extremely easy, as they are only on 2-3 chapters of information each. However, the final is extremely hard and significantly harder than either of the two midterms, not to mention, it's worth 67% of your final grade and covers 13 chapters. I did well on the first two exams, but he only lets you keep one so that sucks
Go to lecture and take good notes. In addition, I did jOeChem and Ochem as a 2nd language. These resources helped so much so I would highly suggest spending a bit of money on them. The first two exams were fine, but make sure you study the reactions for the final as it is a lot of material. 20 pts of bonus which helped a lot!
This class was hard. Youd expect OChem to be hard. But Islam compounds the difficulty level by being difficult to understand, using the chalkboard exclusively (dont sit in the back!) and skipping material from each chapter. I nearly had a breakdown because the final is worth 2/3 of your grade and its cumulative. I wouldnt take him again.
His accent is so heavy that it is hard to understand fundamental words in ochem. He writes chicken scratch on the board. He gives no homework or anything to keep you on track in the class. The only two grades that factor into your final grade are a midterm and a final. If you are not a chemistry major, you could get by. If you are, don't take him.
People go too hard on Islam. He's funny, which makes class interesting and even though everything was written on the board (no note packets or powerpoint given), I thought he taught/explained well. I do wish that there was some kind of cushion for your grade (i.e. TopHat or quizzes) and I feel the final was worth too much (2/3 of your grade).
I loved professor Islam. Yes Ochem is extremely difficult and you need to be extremely dedicated to studying, but it is possible. First two exams were super easy and the final was much more difficult because it covered a lot of material, but he gives you all of the information you need to know with his class notes, study guides, and bonus.
This Prof is not bad and not so good. He is prepared for class and illustrates the course contents clearly. However, I think he can teach more advanced stuff to prepare us for Ochem 2. I think gr should also give more difficult exams to distinguish smart students.
I had to self-teach myself most of the material, because I couldn't understand what he wrote on the board and the way he explained things was really unclear. He does give hw problems for all chapters, it's in the syllabus. But a lot of the problems are things he didn't cover in class so it's basically useless. The exams were all relatively easy!!
very very respectful and patient professor. One of my favorite professors at Pitt. The class is heavy at the end, and the final is HARD. It is MUCH harder than any other exam or problem set in the class. Pay attention to his lectures, use the textbook, and stay on top of things and youll do just fine. He really roots for his students to do well!
He was a really understanding and respectful professor. I think you need to be as clear as possible when asking a question, but he's very very fair and genuinely wants his students to succeed.
Prof Islam is smart, respectful, and understanding. He genuinely cares about his students understanding the material. O Chem is hard, so obviously you will have to put in time and extra effort to get a good grade, but I found that Prof Islam explained concepts well, had very organized lectures, answered all questions fully, and gave fair exams.
Dr. Islam is a very caring professor and he explains everything, but orgo is hard so you will have to put in the effort. His grading criteria is clear, and gives of extra credit at the end of the semester. The class starts out pretty slow, but it picks up quickly towards the end
Was not accommodating with switch to online class. No TAs, recitations are just office hours. Sent us an email saying to not schedule private office hours with him. Has ungraded hw. Ochem is hard, but he doesn't give you much resources. Tests are all online, no drawing. Grade is 4 tests, you can drop lowest grade, then an extra credit assignment
Prof. Islam is a nice professor who does really want to see his students succeed. Unfortunately, he usually does a poor job explaining concepts in lecture. The first 2 exams are very easy. The third and final exams are much more difficult but the grading policy makes it easy to do fairly well in the class. Nice guy just not the best choice for orgo
Ochem is tough but if you supplement Kabis lectures with other videos and study lots this class is a blast. Kabi is really funny, his favorite molecules are discussed in chapter 9, and he really cares about his students. Final grade was the top 3 of 4 midterms (final counted as a midterm). Perform well on the first 2, they are easier than the rest
I didn't mind him & he's nice. I liked his use of the PowerPoints, and he would draw on the screen to help us visualize during recitation and lecture sometimes. Only assignments graded were our top 3/4 exams, he curved nicely at the end, and he gave an extra credit assignment for like 5-10 points (I forgot which). He always answers our questions!
Ochem is a hard class, but Dr. Islam isn't the best at explaining the topics. His class moves extremely fast and does not provide much help outside of recitations and textbook readings. Get ready to teach yourself chemistry.
Dr. Islam is very responsible. He gave well organized slids and they include all the details on the test. His problem sets and study guide are very similar to his tests, so you will be fine if you finished and reflected on them. Also, he is polite and accessible outside the class.
Dr. Islam is so nice. Go to office hours and he will answer all the questions you have. Recommend making your own chapter summary sheets, and keeping up with the lectures. I did the couple of practice problem sets leading up to each exam, reviewed my notes based on his slides before each exam. Go to exam regrades, he is generous and understanding.
THIS MAN ROCKS! I was retaking it from failing in the fall and I understood bounds and leaps more than I had before. He is totally accessible and if I wasn't so burnt out and actually went to lecture Im sure it would have been an easy A even for Orgo. Super clear and concise notes/exams AND he really cares- what more can you ask for?
He is very hard to understand in class, and he is rude when asking questions many times. Additionally, his exams are not representative of what we learn in class, and he makes them very unfair. Overall he does not seem to care and we waste so much time and skip so much important content in the book that other ochem professors cover. Do not take him
He has an attitude and when you ask him a question about the exam he tells you "look at the study guide, or look at the answer key". I want to understand WHY but he is unwilling to teach. He has NO office hours, and will not respond to any emails. He also is unwilling to schedule individual office hours or to help his students succeed.
Not a good professor, I can't understand him in class at all. He is also not available to students at all.
If you have found a way to study is effective, the exams are not a huge problem. Dr. Islam is funny and is confusing at times but you'll get around to understanding it as the lecture continues or with review. I think his exams are pretty reflective of what he teaches (ofc its harder bc its an exam). recitation & practice problems help a bunch!
Dr. Islam is passionate about what he teaches, but I just had a bad experience. When I scored poorly on the first exam (I had never studied ochem before), he had been dismissive and rude to me, but was kind to my friend who had scored well. He doesn't teach material well, and a lot of people in his class will most likely fail.
Dr. Islam has a great personality. His lectures are super fun and he tries to convey tough information in a relatable and simple way. His mantra is, "Nothing to memorize here." His problem sets reflect exams. My only issue was his everchanging office hour schedule and the fact that he would sometimes teach concepts during office hours too.
The absolute worst professor I have ever had and I had Pete Bell, that's saying something. His recitations and lectures are him going on off on tangents instead of teaching. His problem sets are nowhere near representative of what is on exams. He is extremely disorganized and never knows what's going in. The syllabus is a complete lie. DO NOT TAKE.
Islam is a great choice for OChem 1. Yes, the other reviews are clearly brutal, but with hard courses, you need to take that with a grain of salt. O Chem is a hard course and you need to study hard to do well no matter what professor you get. Islam is very informative and gives so many study recourses. Compete his problem sets & you will be fine :)
Dr. Islam is a GREAT choice if you want a good grade in the class. He curved the class quite a bit at the end of the sem and gave a take home and feel good exam as part of the grade. He also counts attendance to lectures to boost our grade as well. Gave lots of practice to prep for exams. Sweetest guy, class clapped for him at the start of exams.
Kabirul is quite the character. He can make lectures funny, but that is only sometimes. He isn't great at answering questions, and he would teach during office hours so it was basically you were required to go. He grades by a few things but if you put in the effort you can pass.
Islam has pretty disorganized lectures and is not very accessible outside of class, especially over email. He cancelled his office hours constantly. He does give you points for attendance and a take home exam, which help your grade. He also gave a nice curve at the end (exam averages were usually in the 50s).
He was unresponsive to students, he had no respect for students, exams were tough and did not reflect the problem sets. The exams were vague and not well prepared or made. Lastly, the class was very disorganized, office hours were cancelled for 5 weeks in total, and makes office hours required... even if you cant make them. Made Ochem harder.
Dr. Islam is a great person and very funny. He gave problem sets that were similar to exam questions and a point for attending each lecture. HUGE curve at the end although there were less actual take home assignments than listed on the syllabus. He would generally teach through office hours but they were recorded.
Dr. Islam is a good professor. OChem is hard, but he made the class passable. Very funny and entertaining during lectures. His downfall is his lack of organization, and unresponsiveness to students, but at least this wasnt a huge problem for me. Definetly a great choice!
This class is a mess. He rarely responds to emails, the averages on every exam are in the 50's, and you will not pass if you don't teach yourself the material because he can't teach. The exams don't reflect the study guides, and his power points and lectures are super difficult to understand. I'm doing better than most in this class but I hated it.
He is a very poor professor who does not teach you everything you need to know to succeed in this class, but more importantly, to succeed as a chemist and in OCHEM 2. He is REALLY poor at explaining topics, and he does not cover core concepts that other ochem 1 professors teach. No one in our class knows any ochem at all, and he is very rude!!
I was retaking CHEM0330 this semester, and this class left me even more confused than the first time I took it. Lectures are very hard to follow and he does not really explain topics- just throws them at you and expects you to remember them instantly. Probably one of the worst classes I have ever taken. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
Dr Islam is a fantastic professor and the complaints about him come from students that don't put in the work necessary to succeed in Organic Chemistry. After all it is a hard subject so don't expect it to be an easy A. However, Islam provides you with all the tools to succeed and his exams are VERY fair and his practice problems are very helpful.
Organic Chemistry is hard but Dr. Islam was the absolute worst man for the job. Terrible lecturer... goes off on unrelated tangents... his accent is hard to understand... horrible handwriting... mandatory office hours... grading system is the worst and I learned more from jOeCHEM in only a couple youtube videos than from Islam in a semester.
This class is graded on like 4 things and his grading is extremely tough. Lectures are hard to follow and consist of scrawling on the board with little context or care. The final is ridiculously hard and not curved, none of the practice problems given could prepare you. I had above average on both midterms and the final ended me. Avoid.
Worst prof. Strong accent & practice problems nothing like exams. I learned nothing from him. His office hours were also mandatory because he was very behind on content... very unfair. Very rude as well & does not respond to emails or is receptive of questions after class. Recitation was a waste of time since he never actually cared to teach. Avoid
he's alright. nice guy. attendance is mandatory (attendance sheet goes around) but he's very lenient and lets you mark it here the lecture after or if you came in late. disorganized lecturer, he goes on tangents and is hard to understand. exams are difficult but that's just ochem. deal with the accent, he's trying his best.
Dr Islam is a pretty good professor. His lectures are decent and he provides a lot of supplemental material to practice, hes also a super nice guy. Overall not a bad choice for ochem
I don't see how anyone could complain about Dr. Islam that isn't just a problem with ochem itself. He has a strong accent but he is still easy to follow. I failed ochem 1 with a different professor but he explains things in a way that makes sense and always relates examples back to the big picture, etc. Honestly just a really nice guy
I really enjoyed Dr. Islams Ochem 1 class. I think a lot of people who did not like him did not put in the effort. The textbook is not required, but i would recommend it for practice problems and readings as his lectures allign with the textbook. His exams are mostly fair and he offers partial credit.
Overall I did not feel prepared for his exams from his lectures. I had to self study and read the book because he was very difficult to follow during class, and his accent was difficult to understand. I wish that he was more organized with his lectures and that recitation was used better to cover more questions.
This class is very test heavy, so if you are not a good test taker, I would avoid taking Kabirul Islam. Otherwise, he is a good professor, and provides detailed lecture slides and problem sets for every chapter. His grading can be unclear at times, but typically the class has 2 midterm exams, a final exam, an open note exam, and a pop quiz. No HW!
Attendance isnt mandatory but u get points for showing up. Really nice guy but he often goes on tangents and can be hard to understand. I always understood the lectures and then thought the exams were impossible and I had to teach myself. He runs out of time so he teaches during office hours, good luck if u can't make them...
I had Islam because he was the only prof with any seats left when I enrolled. He is a funny guy and it's obvious he is passionate about what he does. There was a significant language barrier. He is unresponsive to emails and your grade is like all exams He is disorganized on the board. I recommend reading the textbook before lecture and watch joe.
I could write an essay about how horrible Islam is as a professor for this class. The only reason I got a B+ is because I taught myself through JoeChem and the textbook. He teaches new content during office hours and recitation so if you need help its probably not going to be from him. Its also pretty much impossible to access him outside of class.
Very passionate about orgo, excellent lectures and put in a ton of effort to explain things when you asked questions. Tests were hard but all of organic chemistry is. Gave a ton of partial credit and supplemental work to help boost your grade. Definitely helped me with a solid foundation of organic chemistry, would highly recommend.
Dr. Islam's class was really disorganized. For an OChem class it was a lot easier than I thought and I definitely could have done better if I put in more work. However, lecture information was inaccurate to what was being tested. Overall a really weird class. If you just need to pass, take this course. If you want to learn, take someone else.
Very disorganized
When Dr. Islam was the only professor left for Orgo 1 and I saw his reviews, I said to myself, “it can't be that bad.” I was wrong. If you want to succeed, avoid him like the plague
actually terrible.
Ok clearly Islam has VERY negative reviews. These people didn't put effort into the class. If you can learn from a textbook, read the textbook before class, and be able to follow along with what he says, you will be just fine. He is very passionate about this subject and seems like a genuinely good guy. Take him - IF you will actually put effort in
I learned mostly from YouTube. Lectures are alright but recitations are disorganized. Graded on almost nothing (no homework, all exams). Exams are EXTREMELY difficult and so much harder than the practice problems and study guides; grading on the exams are also very tough, so be ready to fail them.
Get ready to teach yourself all of Orgo 1! He is very nice, but the average for one exam was a 45, while for another professor teaching the same course the average was a 77. If you have the misfortune of taking this professor, use Chad's prep as he will teach you more in 20 minutes than Islam could all semester.
don't do it to yourself... take someone else
He is such an amazing professor and truly cares about his students
Such a great professor.
He is such a great prof who cares about his students.
Wouldn't recommend. 2 midterms and final, take home exam and feel good exam. Midterms are significantly harder than any practice given to us. Will not give clear answers about anything you ask him related to exams or information regarding the course. Only does basic example problems in lecture. Makes many mistakes. Claims we are the experts not him
He is the worst Professor. Do not take him
WORST in teachin, no explanations, cant understand what he speaks
TERRIBLE, DO NOT TAKE HIM, HARD ACCENT, UN ORGANIZED, BETTER TEACH YOURSELF
he's very nice but bad at teaching. very disorganized and hard to understand. exams weren't too bad. do ALL the practice sets or fail (exams are similar to them). i taught myself by watching JoeCHEM (but don't do joe's practice worksheets; some r wrong). my grade was bumped from a B to A so curve is huge. feel-good exam gives a lot of extra credit.
Dr. Islam makes orgo horrendous. There are 2 midterms and 1 final, take home exam, and feel good exam. Midterms significantly harder than practice problems, lectures, or final (TA suggested to use OrgoTutors hard practice problems to study) Purposefully vague about the exam format, hard to understand, but massive curve. Avoid if you can.
Avoid Dr. Islam if you care about your grades. If you take him, get ready to teach yourself everything. He's is inaccessible out of class and doesn't host weekly office hours himself (makes TA do it). Lectures are hard to follow, and he makes mistakes during them. Syllabus is disorganized and he announces the last midterms last-minute
The worst professor I've ever taken at Pitt. Orgo is hard but Islam made it unapologetically harder. Exam averages of other orgo 1 classes were consistently higher than ours. Take anyone else if you can.
I taught myself everything via ChadsPrep. That being said, exams are hard and the grading criteria was inconsistent. No office hours, TA was unreliable, and exam format was basically kept secret. The entire class was curved which helped a ton. I would not take again.
Get ready to teach yourself organic chemistry and probably have to retake it because you will be confused! 2nd midterm average was 45% and take home exam was 66% average (given over thanksgiving). Passionate about organic chemistry but doesn't know how to teach. Doesn't hold office hours and very inaccessible out of class.
Kabirul is not a bad professor, but he isn't the best. Lectures can drag, but they are essential; recitations are really important, too. 3 exams and a take-home. His class pacing could have been better, and his communication skills can suck. However, he was a decent professor who graded fairly and gave ample practice problems. Be ready to study!
He's a really nice guy and does care about teaching orgo, but he just does not do a very good job at teaching. Overall he does curve but you need to teach yourself most of the material (JOECHEM!!) and do as many practice problems as you can. His lectures are helpful, but his exams do not reflect them and are super hard. Take someone else if you can
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
57%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.28 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM0320
3.5
(2)0310
2.5
(11)CHEM0310
2.5
(72)OCHEM1
2.5
(8)0320
2.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CHEM0340
5.0
0330
4.5
340
4.0
CHEM310
4.0
0310
3.8