Very fair professor. His tests always covered material that was discussed in lecture. Slides were well organized and there was a clear order to the concepts being presented. Ochem is generally seen as a relatively tough class, but professor Goldman did his best to make it accessible and interesting to his students. Would definitely recommend.

He is the best chemistry teacher I have ever had. He takes time to organize this slides so that everything goes smoothly. The people who are complaining probably didn't realize that ochem is a hard class. I do agree that the weighting of the final was too much.

best chem prof I've had at UW. after suffering through terrible gen chem profs, he actually made me enjoy chem and made ocher much more understandable + manageable. i enjoyed lecture; he cracks bad jokes + legitimately wants you to learn + knows his stuff-- ask him anything and he'll know it. 224 is also easier than 223 if you know how to study.

Best professor I have had at UW! He is extremely clear, encourages questions, and always makes himself available. I had full confidence in his knowledge of the material and felt comfortable asking questions (I did this through canvas and got a response within the same day.) The course average is generally very high. Makes lectures enjoyable. :)

best gen chem lecture in uw!

He is a fantastic chemistry professor, his analogies for complex OCHEM concepts really helped me comprehend a subject that is not my strong suite. I would recommend him to any student interested in taking a chance with OCHEM!

Very good teacher, explains topics in lecture very well. He never gets annoyed at questions and answers them clearly and in a different way than was presented in lecture. Group quizzes were great to understand different ways of going about problems. Tests are hard, but here gives partial credit and questions are fair.

Larry is the man. He cracks bad (good) puns and makes his lectures thoroughly enjoyable. Since the class is somewhat informal he is quick to answer any questions you may have at any given time during lecture, which is impressive. Group worksheets (not graded) are atrociously difficult, but group quizzes are fair and help immensely. TAKE THIS CLASS

Dr. Goldman is one of the best Chem professors I've had at UW. He's clearly VERY intelligent. Gives great explanations, is very approachable, and makes some fun awkward jokes. Exams are pretty tough, but hey, its Ochem. Still fair and doable (except for the second midterm, which he admits he made too long, but he adjusted the curve accordingly).

I love larry. He is my favorite professor at UW. He is never stumped and annoyed when students ask questions during lecture. Im not even a biology major anymore and im taking the second part of the OChem series just so i can have Larry as a professor again. His tests are not hard at all.

The final was ridiculously long compared to the practice final, avg was low for a non-curving class. He is nice overall and tends to answer email really fast (maybe within one hour or two), so that's a plus plus about this class.

Test is really long and hard compared to class. Really low average grade for the class.

I took his class for CHEM 237 the first of the organic chemistry at UW and it was an awesome experience. The professor Goldman is very enthusiastic about teaching and making sure that the students know the concepts needed for exams. The whole class is non-curving, however, he changes curve accordingly and I was able to pull off 4.0.

Dr. Goldman is a great professor. Everything about his class (exams, quizzes, final, etc.) was 100% fair. The practice exams were a lot like the real exams and the averages were fairly high for an ochem class (around 75%). He really likes conceptual questions and mechanisms but highly emphasizes the things he deems important in class.

Best Chemistry professor I've ever had. His lectures are very easy to follow and will always offer alternate explanations if you ask. 2 midterms, 1 final, weekly group quizzes in quiz section. Homework is really easy to get 100% in because you get 10 tries per question and no points are deducted (other chem profs do this for Sapling).

Goldman is a great professor, he goes out of his way to give students online review sessions in the weekend prior to the midterms. There are a lot of practice homework, exams, etc. available to help you pass the class. Go take this class.

Good lectures, though he does not know how to pace the lectures, rushes through materials at the end. Great guy also, really cares about his students, holds review session before every test. Tests are fair but are really long.

Prof. Goldman has really clear and organized lectures (I learn best with a structured schedule). He talks pretty fast sometimes, but he does have a lot of material to cover! He's a very awkward and punny kind of funny. It's refreshing for such a long class. I never touched the textbook and studied by doing practice exams and quizzes and got a 4.0!

Goldman is a really likable guy. Ochem is hard, that's a given, but he tries to be as accessible to students as he can. He gives a lot of examples, is open to working student questions and examples during lecture, and offers test review. He cracks a lot of dad-style jokes and his lectures are enjoyable. As good as chemistry gets.

The lecture slides are well put together but he just reads them, or skips through them really fast as he summarizes. Not the fastest speaker but goes very fast to cover a lot of material. No real reason to come to lecture besides him having a nice voice that makes lectures more enjoyable in person than on Panopto. Watch out for final.

Even though Goldman is not a very good lecturer (he's way too fast), I took 4 classes with him (238-239, 241-242) because he's a very dedicated professor who would give you extra help if you ask for. His exams are surely long and can be tricky, however, unlike other professors, he would give you hints on the exam how to tackle the problems.

He was so interested in what we taught and was very funny. The labs were actually super easy, and don't be afraid of the unknown lab, it turned out to be a lot of students fave. The final was a bit tough but you only really need to understand why you add stuff so if you understand the science behind the labs, you'll do fine!

Definitely need to stay on top of the material and ask a lot of questions during office hours. If you do all of the practice problems and exams and come to office hours regularly, the class is not as difficult as it may seem. His exams always have small hints and clues to the answers too. Interested about the subject even though he talks fast.

One of the best chem professors at UW. He's super nerdy and his lectures keep a good pace- not too slow as to be boring and not too fast that you don't understand anything. He polls the class for their opinions on classroom procedures. All around, a true bro.

Great O Chem professor!! Super clear lectures and he always makes sure to provide extra study videos, exams, examples! He is always available to meet and you can tell he wants you to succeed! Great prof 10/10 recommend!

Goes at a great pace! Really organized and well structured slides. Has extremely useful poll questions. You learn a lot by going to lecture.

Great lectures, good grading! He actually means it when he says he doesn't want you to memorize things. He curves it really nicely, the curve ONLY helps your grade in his class (he boosts everyone's grade by a certain amount to make the average a 2.6/2.8, but doesn't lower anyones grade if the whole class does well like a lot of other classes do).

Yeah OChem Classes are very hard as expected, but all I can say is goodboi grades all the exams for all (almost 1000) students, and gives us an actual grade even when there is a strike during finals week... Not like some other professors, we worked hard for a whole quarter, and then the 4.0 turns to a CREDIT. Very much appreciated, earned my 5/5.

Larry was easily the best professor I had in the OChem series. He always took the time to answer questions thoroughly, work through example problems in class, and give plenty of feedback and clicker questions to help practice the material. Yes you will need to read the textbook occasionally to do well, but overall a very organized, approachable guy

He was a super good and organized professor with good explanations. Made weird smoothie analogies that surprisingly helped. Provided extra help when asked (extra worksheets) and holds helpful review sessions outside of class time. Tests were hard as they required us to understand why things were happening, not just how they happened but doable.

Dr. Goldman genuinely cares about teaching and his students. He's NOT one of those chem profs who are only teaching so they can do their research. After every exam, he made a video explaining both versions of the key which was super nice. Funny dad jokes, great lecture slides, and reasonable exams for a challenging course. 10/10 would recommend.

I liked his teaching style, his power points were clear and analogies actually helped me understand what he means. He was very open about what he expected from us. The material and tests are hard, but that's because Ochem is hard. Make sure to pay attention to the lectures and do lots of review and practice.

The tags I used don't do the best job of describing Goldman, but I thought he was a really good prof. His lectures were very clear and he explained the concepts well. Open to questions during the lectures. I would definitely take him again!

I had this professor for chem 238, 241 and I'm taking him again fro chem 239 and 242. He is a great professor. He provides you with all the resources you need regardless. He even posted lecture slides and resources from chem 237 for people to have a review source. He makes ponopto videos to any unclear concept. Clicker questions helps you a lot.

Goldman was a pretty good but middle-of-the-road professor. His lectures can be extremely dense and he doesn't always provide as many resources as students would like (saying we can do other things to prepare for our exams instead) but his tests aren't too hard considering the content and anyone can do well if they put in the work. Overall decent.

He sets lectures up to promote active learning and often throws (dorky and funny) metaphors in to relate to concepts, but they seem to draw out often. I never felt like he wasn't making any sense though. His exams are straight forward for the most part, taking directly from lecture polls, practice exams, and quiz section worksheets.

He gives great lectures, with additional metaphors and anecdotes to make connections between chemistry and daily life. Although the ungraded quiz section worksheets are tough, they help to prepare you for the exams. The class is extremely test-heavy, so study in advance and attend office hours!

He's very conceptual.

(introducing Grignard reagent): So what can we do with a C-? Well, maybe not med school... legendaric food analogies and dad jokes. Perry@. Tbh, this is ochem, you have to pay attention in class because there is no such thing as guessing on ochem exams. Show up to lecture, actually work in quiz section, stop by office hours and you're all set.

He's quite conceptual so be prepared to explain concepts for a decent part of exams. You definitely have to go to class and pay attention (Ochem can be easy but you have to work at it). Make sure to study for exams (for exam 1: practice NMR!) and budget your time (especially for synthesis). If you do a lot of practice problems, the exams are easy.

If u don't take ochem with him, then ur wasting ur time. Goldman is hands down the best professor. Do yourself a favor and trust me. Ochem in general is hard, but goldman makes it enjoyable. His example of applications are the best as well (how to make viagra for u college bois). I took 238 with him in person and 239 online and both were bombbb

Dr. Goldman is the BEST ochem professor at UW. I took all three ochem courses 237-239 with him and I would do it again! Make sure you attend every lecture and engage with the class (it helped me stay focused since classes are long), also try to make it to as many office hours as possible (very helpful) and do a lot of practice. You'll do great!

Lectures were very clear and understandable and office hours were super helpful to clarify any confusion. Tests were not difficult as long as you did all the practice problems and went to OHs to ask questions when you had them. He also provided extra credit for hw corrections. I highly recommend taking ochem with Goldman if you can.

Took summer online with Goldman. His course is very well organized and has a clear criteria on what it takes to succeed. However, exams were very difficult and hard to complete on time. Had a 56% average on one exam. Otherwise, lectures were decent and I truly appreciate the effort he put to organize the class.

To be honest, I really enjoyed Goldman's class because I felt like his tests were very fair to his lectures! He also gave pre-lecture videos that helped me understand lecture topics more. Reading the textbook isn't necessary to understand the material. I'd say his teaching is a little mundane, but he does the job. I appreciate his organization!

Goldman's lectures are straight forward and to the point. All the material you need to know for the tests is presented in lab or lecture but not always heavily emphasized so it's important to study everything. I think he explains things in a very clear and understandable way and is definitely the best ochem prof I've had.

Goldman is a solid ochem prof. his lectures are reflective of exam material and he doesn't deviate or throw curveballs at you. answers questions very clearly in lecture, not so much on piazza so be sure to ask there. heavy on synthesis problems so really understanding and practicing application is important. all in all fair, taking him again

Dr. Goldman is great and a must-have for the ochem series! His grading criteria are clear and he is very knowledgeable about the subject. He effectively transitioned to the online environment and had helpful slides. Watch the supplemental videos and attend office hours - you can gauge topics that are emphasized in class to prepare for exams.

Goldman and Dunford are both on par w/ each other in terms of how well they explain the material + plan out the syllabus. Read/ skim the chapter before coming to class so that you can get the most out of opportunities to ask questions. Goldman is not rude about answering them, he actually takes time and effort to help his students which shows.

Goldman is my fav chem prof so far. He really cares about his students, and makes sure no question goes unanswered. To succeed in this class, I had to do the most but I feel like Goldman's teaching style is admirable in that if you put in the work you can succeed in o chem. I feel like he truly made the class interesting and is a good prof.

Great lecturer, articulate, extremely capable of illustrating content, good office hours, clear expectations for what is going to be on tests, tests weighed heavily, decent curve. You will get out what you put into this class; Goldman is a good prof.

Goldman's lectures were always very informative and prepared you well for the exams. His exams were very fair and he was a reasonable grader. Lectures were sometimes a struggle to get through but his witty comments kept it interesting.

Goldman's class was difficult for sure, but he made sure that we were truly understanding the material. The exams made you think "above and beyond" from just the basics which was a struggle but now, in 238 and 241, I'm very grateful for this teaching style. He really prepares you to be successful in your next ochem classes.

Prof Goldman is an eccentric man and comes off as snobbish to many. However he is an extremely effective lecturer and is a good teacher overall. I found myself learning more about CHEM239 topics from CHEM242 because of his explanations and thoroughness. He is however a hard tester and will give very challenging exams.

Personally I really enjoy Goldman's teaching and lecture style. He is very to the point and his explanations & use of models makes ochem a lot easier to understand. He's testing out...weird grading policies right now but that was my only con of the quarter. Otherwise great professor!

Overall, really solid professor. Grading system was really weird for Autumn 2022 since he's trying out a new system, but lectures and quiz sections were great. Goldman's very clear in lectures, and doesn't use confusing terminology or anything, and the course overall is really well organized. Definitely read the textbook though, it helps!

Prof. Goldman is a solid choice for the first of the ochem series. He's extremely clear in what he expects you to know for the tests and gives you ample practice problems and practice exams that are comparable to the actual test. His specifications grading scale was a bit annoying (could only get 4.0, 3.7, 3.5, etc.) but it worked out in the end.

Goldman is one of the best professors I've had at UW. His expectations of what we needed to know for exams were clear & his lectures were easy to understand. Exams were fair. He tried a new grading system- can only get 4.0, 3.7, 3.5... The assignment category with the lowest score (usually exams) is your grade. I still recommend taking it with him.

Good lecturer although with one topic he taught it backwards and confused me which hurt me a lot on the test. Weird grading criteria when I was taking the class but it worked out fine. Very accessible in office hours.

Prof. Goldman's exams are very clear and cover what was on practice exams and lectures. He's a great lecturer but also loves talking about hypotheticals which can get confusing. I had him during a year that he was trying a new grading system, so it may have been easier for me to get a high grade - regardless I still think he is very good.

he had a new grading scale this quarter, which had some pros and cons however his lecturing and general exam content was very very clear and easy to follow, which I respect.

I love goldman he was an amazing lecturer, tests were super fair. He was very clear on what was important to know on exams and details that were not so important. Practice exams were very similar to tests. Will be taking for 239.

He writes very fair tests that targets broader understanding, and lectures/tests were not math focused at all. Super clear lecturer and a fair grader.

Goldman is easily the best chem professor I've had so far at UW. His lectures are well designed and I rarely ever left lecture feeling confused about course content. Tests are totally fair and the grading system/overall class organization was very clear. Tests were also very much lecture and HW heavy, didn't focus much on the readings.

Chem 152 is hard, 200 people lectures and ALEKS and everything. Dr. Goldman is more qualitative than quantitative when explaining things which is helpful. Tests are similar to worksheets and focuses on explanation, not math heavy. He has office hours 3 times every week which saved my exam grades.

Lab with Professor Goldman was well organized and I always knew to a certain degree what was going on. All class expectations are very clear and understandable and he provides a lot of supplementary material to help students understand. His final was also very fair because he provided a lot of practice material and drew his questions from lecture.

There are a ton of prelabs, lab reports, and small assignments to finish. My best advice is get them done ASAP. Labs were overall fun to me and my section didn't use the entire 3 hours each lab section. My biggest warning is the final. My grade dropped quite a lot because I did poorly. I would try to study as early as you can for it.

definitely a bit more work than a typical 3 credit class. however, goldman is easily one of the best profs in the department. hes super organized, consistent, responsive, and clearly has all his stuff together. his exams are super fair, but the pacing of lab reports could be better.

Labs were very enjoyable and reports were easy and short if you understood what was going on. Left early from 3 hr labs often. He is very knowledgeable and funny in lectures and he explains things very well. Due to the number of breaks in the quarter, we had one huge final at the end which was hard and points were deducted over small details.

Goldman gives good lectures and explains topics exactly as they will appear on exams. However, this means that you will need to but VERY familiar with the intricacies of a topic. On exams, there is a degree of forgiveness for small errors. Overall, the course drilled the fundamental topics and the tests were very fair.

Just be prepared for all your exams, and exam corrections

Goldman's grading contract may be scary at first however, it is really fair and gives you the opportunity to fix your mistakes. Your grade is pretty much entirely dependent on your test grades but there is lots of partial credit and as long as you get 2/3 of the question right you get full credit. Goldman is my favorite chem teacher so far.

I found that Professor Goldman isn't the best lecturer (his handwriting is very difficult to read), but his tests are fair. He provides practice exams that are similar to the midterms and great for studying with. His grading policy is the biggest plus for taking his class; having four midterms and dropping your lowest score was a great policy.

I loved this professor. Ensure that you pay attention to EVERYTHING he says in lecture - it's all important. His practice problems were exactly like his tests so rely on those too - make sure you understand the why behind everything. Hes not the friendliest person so I'd ask TA's questions over him, but he's super clear with what he expects of you.

Best at explaining material of the professors I've had in Ochem. Very weird grading system that has it's pros and cons. Very tough to get a good grade, but is the case in all Ochem courses. Doesn't curve. Still a nice professor who is interesting to listen to and funny at times.

Goldman's grading system gets a bad rep but it's honestly not bad if you take the time to understand the concepts he teaches in class. I tanked one of the midterms but was able to use my tokens to correct my mistakes and went on to get a 4.0, so it is definitely achievable. His midterms are very fair and his lectures are pretty easy to understand.

The class is tough, but Larry is a great professor. Tests are more conceptual but going through the practice exams gives you a great idea of what to expect. Definitely try to take all Ochem classes with Larry if possible, it's worth it.

Definitely was easier for 242 than 241 and his grading system makes it easy to get a good grade as long as you do well on lab reports. Very willing to answer questions but sometimes comes off a little bit bluntly. He wasn't my favorite prof or the most warm or engaging guy, but I don't have many negative things to say about his class or workload.

Made ochem a lot less insufferable. The best chemistry professor I've had at UW so far. Changed his grading system so you get partial credit on exams now. Take him if you can. I used to struggle so much with chem but he just makes everything make more sense to me. Also very funny and personable guy who made class fun.

Supplemental videos before lectures, clear informative lectures, need to attend 7/9 quiz sections to bump up grade, worksheets not graded but helpful, practice midterms reflect actual exams, changed grading system to partial credit + tokens, likes to add a lot of conceptual questions on exams so make sure you actually understand the topics.

Doesn't allow any tech in labs-EVERYTHING has to be written in your lab notebook. Lab reports are pretty easy, mostly conceptual questions, and the expectations are very clear. Lets you drop 3 entire labs/discussion days, and there is some extra credit opportunities. Pretty average lecturer, your experience is more dependent on the TA you get.

Loves conceptual questions - make sure you understand reasoning behind everything. Good lectures, also good at explaining things in office hours so def go to that. Fall 2024, there was partial credits + tokens, which worked out well for me and for majority of the class. Nitpicky with what answers he wants though, especially for concept. questions

For an ochem class, you really didn't have to do most memorization. Goldman really emphasizes the logical basis that chemistry operates on. He more often tests about the stuff he says verbally than the stuff on the slides. If he repeats it a lot, it's going to be important for testing. Ask him for a fit check!!

People dislike him because the course is hard, but he does try his best to give examples and make the class as entertaining as organic chemistry can be. Some people can't look past their grade for the class, and blame the teacher for any possible shortcomings. Orgo is hard, just study, practice, and genuinely do the work assigned for the class.

Larry Goldman is bae and he gives retakes for 3 out of 8 exam questions for full points so any existing beef should be resolved after that tbh

He is a great lecturer overall, so you don't need to read the textbook, but it is helpful. He allows second-chance exams, but there isn't a curve, and the grading scale is a little messed up. To get a high grade, you can only miss a few points on exams, and doing the hw + quiz sections can only raise your grade from a 3.7 to a 3.8 at each cut-off.

imo hes good at explaining things, but i had to rewatch most lectures to fully get it. i would take ochem again with him. retakes were usually very similar to the exam. he can come off as uncaring, but he will answer your question. like ive never heard him call a student dumb or weird if thats comforting!

Super good teacher, really good at explaining things if you ask him in lecture or in office hours. Lectures were helpful and he honestly talks about everything you need to know to do well on tests. Tests are definitely pretty hard, but his retake policy is super forgiving. Definitely cares a lot about teaching and his tests were tough but fair.

Did a bi-weekly fit check at the beginning of most lectures creating a welcome learning environment. Highly recommended learning mechanisms which ended up showing on his exams. Good professor.

Very funny professor, always starts class with a funny pre-class poll (ask for a fit check!) Somewhat strange grading system that relies almost exclusively on exam grades, but very generous second chance policy allows you to get significant points back.

Take Goldman for labs I had him a couple years ago and the 242 course has gotten much better. His exams are pretty easy and the grading contract is really nice now. The only thing that sucks is that the final is weighted so heavy, its almost like whats the point of the labs? But goldman is lowkey the best ochem prof out of all of them.

He is a great lecturer and its easy to understand the content. The grading is forgiving with second-chance exams. However, being just 1 point under the 4 category and no curve gave me a 3.8. It just sucks there's no in between. I think it would be really great if the grading contract had room for getting 3.9, 3.7 based on test scores.

I had Sasaki for 241 and Goldman for 242, and the only real difference is the final. Sasaki's is shorter and requires more understanding of mechanisms/reactions, while Goldman's is longer and more tedious, with questions about minute procedural details. Goldman's lectures were easier to understand but in my opinion neither were too useful.

Take him! Grade is based upon exam scores BUT you have a 0.1 GPA boost for doing the homework and quiz sections. I thought grading, the exams, and courseload was extremely fair. He individually handles all regrades and was very kind and caring when doing them He offers supplemental videos instead of textbook readings that were very helpful to learn

All the old comments are wrong; this guy is great. Larry always opens the discussion to questions and allows for humorous comments when given the time and opportunity. The exams are pretty difficult given as it is ochem, but he allows you to do a second chance which is super helpful for areas you're struggling in and for more points back. Awesome!