2.6
Quality3.8
Difficulty31%
Would Retake369
Reviews31%
Would Retake
369
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
369 total ratings5
45
4
65
3
78
2
78
1
103
What Students Say
“you will not do well with Linda”
103 - 1.0 rating“This is not an easy class and you must work for your grade”
CHEM103 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
65%
Textbook Required
7%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
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Declining
-0.97 avg changeRatings by Course
77296
4.0
(1)CHEM329
4.0
(1)CHEM327
3.8
(6)CHEM104
2.6
(84)CHEM103
2.6
(141)Difficulty by Course
103
4.1
CHEM329
4.0
CHEM103
3.9
104
3.9
CHEM104
3.7
Reviews (300)
She talks way too fast in lecture and all she does is spit out numbers. I went to every lecture and I only passed one test out of 3. I would highly recommend getting a new professor.
Attempts to teach out of textbook.
Teaches straight out of the book and doesn't cover everything in class she expects you to learn. You basically have to teach yourself everything in this class. You should go to lectures, but they don't help at all.
First off, she's listed in the staff as a lecturer, not even a professor. READ THE BOOK. Her tests are pretty tough. Class average was 65% on 2nd midterm. Study her quizzes, because there are similar questions on the exam. Honestly hardest class. It's a weed out class.
She is a very smart lady. However, she thinks in her head a lot and doesn't explain things very well. It was difficult to know what to study for the test. I found this class very difficult. On top of that, I had a horrible TA. The only thing that saved me was the CLC.
She is a good professor and knows what she is talking about. The readings will help you understand the lectures the better. The tests are fair and the objectives are clear-cut. There are daily questions that count for your grade so attend as many lectures as you can.
This was the first time Zelewski has taught 103 since '09, and it kind of showed. Overall she was a good professor, but wasn't always completely clear and assumed we knew some of the material. If you ask for help she is more than willing. Tests are similar to the practice and aren't bad if you get the concept and study. Helps to have a good TA also
The worst professor I had all semester. Her lectures are terrible.
She flies in lecture and her tests are an abomination. She will mention very insignificant things in lecture that will be put on the test; for instance, on the periodic trends test she put all of the exceptions to the trends which she barely touched upon in lecture. Listen to every word she says in lecture if you want an A.
you can tell she's obviously passionate about chemistry which is nice. some of the material she covers she doesn't exactly explain in depth and just kind of assumes you know how to do it already. first time teaching chem 103 since 2009 and you could tell she was a little rusty. tests aren't too bad, except the second one on thermochemistry.
Lectures are long and cover only the basics. She expects you to do a lot of the learning on your own by reading the textbook. Lots of Mastering Chemistry homework. Tests aren't too bad.
Take a different professor if you haven't taken APIB Chem. She's fine with having 9% of the class get an A. She doesn't explain in depth. Do all of the mastering chemistry. She helps a lot outside of class. She's boring to listen to. Need to go to class to know what she'll put on exam. Read the book.
She was awful, and the class was awful. The averages on most of the midterms were barely passing. They are extremely difficult, even if you go through all of her objectives. Get a different professor for sure.
Great teacher when you approach her 1-on-1. Lectures were sometimes confusing and covered a lot of material that didn't go together. Midterm exams were fair, aside from one of them. Final was multiple choice and a little tricky, but class grades are curved at the end of the semester.
Go to lecture, discussion and actually read the textbook before lecture. Zelewski is actually a great professor, her tests just require you to conceptually understand the material which is difficult to do for a topic like chemistry. If you're willing to put forth some effort and go to review sessions this class is doable and can be interesting.
She tends to speed through some topics. A lot of work for the class, but it isn't too hard if you study. Attendance is technically non-mandatory, but there are clicker questions during lecture.
Going to lecture is important, especially because she always included demos or examples on tests. Exams could be tough, including the final, and were very conceptual based. However, she set a pretty generous curve at the end of the class.
Sucked. Tests are the major part of the grade, but they are nothing like the lectures or the book. Overall a very difficult .professor and hardest tests I have ever taken
Labs are excruciating. Emailed her for help and she told me to meet with my TA and that she would be unavailable outside of her office hours. Exams were very difficult. Homework was lengthy, would take me around 6 to 7 hours to complete. Some demos in class were cool but her lectures were overall confusing. DO NOT TAKE CHEM 103 WITH HER!
Linda rushed through her lectures, and towards the end of the semesters, the lectures turned into her just doing example problems on the board with no explanations. The second test is IMPOSSIBLE. Study hard. Worst chem 103 teacher out of the rest of them- try for someone else.
Overall a very challenging class. You definitely have to put in a lot of work. Your TA could make or break your semester.
Just help yourself out and don't take this class with her. The multiple choice part of the exams worded very weird and are hard. I ended up attending another professors lectures to understand the material. If you have a good chemistry background however, you should be fine for Chem 103 with her.
you've got no chance man
Dr. Zelewski was an okay teacher and seemed very nice but her tests were challenging. She expected a lot of reading from the textbook and most of the material was just covered in class anyway.
I'm very confused by these reviews because I absolutely loved Zelewski. She's very enthusiastic and easy to listen to during lecture. The tests were very fair compared to other Chem profs I've had. Do the readings, show up to lecture, and attend her weekly problem solving sessions if needed and you should be able to walk away with an A.
Overall, Linda is a good professor. Her lectures are ridiculously fast paced, but if you can keep up, she gives you everything you'll need. Her office hours are incredibly helpful if you're not understanding the materiallabscalculations. This was my most demanding class; exams are intense, labs are long, and grading is tough.
Professor Zelewski is really good for Analytical! She works fast, but she tells you exactly what you need to know for the exams. The book is fantastic for her class, so lecture attendance isnt totally necessary to get an A. Make sure you can do every weekly hw. The class is hard, but Zelewski makes it manageable!
Linda definitely knows what she's doing, but she talks at lightning speed and has a voice that will drive you nuts.
I don't like chemistry and I usually don't do well. But Linda is very clear and gives really fair tests. She explains concepts really well and gives many examples. I would take her for any class!
you will not do well with Linda. She has no desire to help students learn and is the toughest prof I have ever had. I went in thinking I would major in chem and left contemplating my own existence
Zelewski is a horrible professor. She goes way too fast in lecture and does not stop to answer questions. When you do get the chance to ask questions outside of class she treats you like you are stupid. Tests are way harder than homework or lecture. You have no chance. If she is the only professor, take the class a different semester.
You're really gonna need to put in the work if you wanna get a good grade in her class. She's unclear in her explanations and makes mistakes sometimes which make learning the material difficult. Do the work and it's possibly to get an A though.
Brutal at explaining things. Most lectures consist of her writing endless equations and calculations on the board. She will answer questions during lecture, but it always seems as if she panics and most times her answers don't really apply to the question asked. Tests are fair enough, but multiple choice will get you. Not the best, but doable.
Not only a horrible teacher but a mean person as well. I once went to her office hours and she made me cry as she yelled at me saying I was not putting enough work into the class (even though I scored above the curve on the most recent test). You will put SO much effort into her class and get little outcome. She does not care about her students.
Great professor, lectures are really clear. Focus in lecture and you're good to go. Homework is expected but very efficient plus there's a problem solving session before the deadline to submit the online homeworks. Really great but requires a lot of money for textbook, iclicker and OWL homework.
Linda's lectures are straight forward for the most part and not very confusing. They're power lecture though which can make them a little boring. As long as you can stay focused for that whole time you'll grasp the material and be fine. She is very helpful when asked a question and will re-explain confusing concepts if asked.
In lecture, I guess she's ok. In that she covers the material and explains all equations, not well or to the level that would be ideal for a class that plays such a foundational role for the future success of so many people. Her tests are also much harder than any practice material she gives you, and are graded very harshly.
Covers ALOT of material during lecture periods.
Linda was very all over the place with notes during the lecture. Her tests were very challenging and didn't reflect the homework at all.
She's alright. Not great, but not terrible either. She's one of those really smart professors, who understands the material so well, she sometimes makes it seem harder/more in depth than it actually is. Sometimes she lectures fast. But the most annoying part of the class were the tests. They were very hard and didn't reflect the lecture/homework.
Fairly straightforward of a lecturer. Not extraordinary and does problems on the board too fast to both write down and understand. Tests are nothing like the problems learned earlier and are exceedingly difficult. Avoid if possible
Everything in class is quite clear to understand. What you need to do is to focus and put your own effort into it.
She's clear, concise, and fair. It's what should be expected out of a professor. She didn't make me adore chemistry or anything but she did her job and taught me the material well.
Love her
Prof Zelewski isn't the worst lecturer. She definitely knows her stuff and does a good job of getting the information out in lecture. The lecture problems are also very helpful in that they get concepts out there and can help teach them. Her tests are very difficult but partial credit is offered. Her lectures are a bit disorganized at times too.
I funneled most of my time last semester into this course to finish all of the pre/post lab requirements and homework. She does a good job of talking about the majority of the test content during lectures, and reading the textbook is helpful to reinforce the topics.
I took Chem 103 with her in the summer. It's probably pretty different from the academic year. In general, she is a very well organized professor and speaks very clearly. I recommend taking a course taught by her. She cares about her students unlike many other professors.
She is a very easy to understand professor. She does a good job of explaining concepts and seems to really care that students understand. I used to hate chemistry, and she makes it very fun! Definitely not the worst professor I've ever had.
Most of your grade comes from the tests, which are relatively straightforward, but not easy. She doesn't really go out of her way to trick you, and the tests are pretty much only on stuff you cover in lecture. She has lots of time for discussion during lectures, and if you sit near the front it is very easy to ask her questions during this time.
Pros: very easy to understand, explains content well, available at office hours. Cons: one of the most boring people you will ever meet, puts content on exams that was not discussed in lecture, often does not finish lecture slides
Class is taught well and going lectures are interactive, which I think helps with the learning of the material. There is a grade for attendance, which is taken through answering questions during class (not for correctness, just participation).
Dr. Zelewski lectures quickly but if you write down everything she writes on the chalkboard, you'll be fine. If you sit in front or near the center aisle towards the front, she will always be willing to help you. Midterm 1 is not too difficult, Midterm 2 is quite difficult, MidTerm 3 is all concept based. Make sure to do plenty of practice problems
I think her rating should be much higher. Her lectures a little robotic, but they are clear, concise, and well-organized. The class is a lot of work, but that's not necessarily by her choosing. She is friendly and available to answer questions. Her exams are fair and reward those who review the homework and discussion worksheets. Would recommend.
Her lectures can be a bit disorganized. Sometimes she goes way too fast. Both my TA and tutor have said multiple times, "I'm not sure why she taught the material like that." Most of the lecture is spent reviewing prelecture stuff and doing TopHat questions. Most learning must be done on your own time. She is willing to help during office hours.
Her tests absolutely had nothing to do with her material.
Great professor, but a lot of material
Dr. Zelewski frequently has typos and other errors in her lecture presentations. Many of her demonstrations went wrong, almost as if she had never done them Before and spent no time preparing. She lost one of my lab reports and is forcing me to either redo the lab during finals week for credit, or take a zero on the lab.
This class might be easy if you like chemistry. Linda expects you to know a lot about chemistry before taking this class, so if you don't, you're going to have to put extra time into the class.
The class works essentially as a flipped class where you learn content on your own before lecture and do examples in lecture. Linda also does tophat in lecture which means you pretty much have to go as part of your grade is based off of answering the questions. Beware of exam 2. Overall okay teacher with annoying voice.
Great professor, solid choice. Be prepared to be structured, organized, and prepared to pass the class.
Loved her class
Dr. Zelewski has been one of my favorite professors by far. Everything she teaches in Lecture and the worksheets in discussion are reflective of the tests she hands out. The only vice I have is that her demonstrations in class don't always work, however this really isn't important towards chemistry knowledge. Would highly reccomend!
Dr. Zelewski is really good at what she's doing. The class is not difficult if you knows something. Her grading criteria is the easiest among all 104 professors.
Shes straight forward, a good lecturer, understands what she's doing, and grades fairly. I don't expect anything else from a college professor. As long as you do the HW, go to lecture, and study well you'll be fine. I don't understand why her rating is low.
Overall good lecturer, fairly easy class if you show up and do all assigned work.
She really knows what she's talking about and her lectures are pretty straight-forward. Don't skip lecture, there are tophat attendance questions. Class is pretty hard and a lot of work, but that's not necessarily because of Linda, that's just the gen chems. I really liked her teaching, would recommend as a prof
Linda is a great person, however I would not want her as my teacher. She reads really fast from the slides and expects you to know it right away. Although on the surface it may seem like she is explaining things in reality she is not.
Professor does not clearly explain material and spends more time on clicker questions than actually teaching. Very tough grader, and often has hardly discussed material on tests.
Linda isn't as bad as everyone says she is. Her exams are fair. In my opinion, Linda's Chem 104 course is much easier than Chem 103. I found the Chemistry Learning Center worksheets really help when studying for exams
Linda is a great chemistry professor! Her lectures have a good mixture of content and examples, and the tests are not too hard. I definitely recommend her as your teacher!
I had her for 103 and 104 and both were relatively straight forward. At the root of it, chemistry is hard regardless of the professor but she made an effort to make it not as hard. The curve is based off of the whole lecture and is usually super generous, like 73+ has been an A. Do the work, go to class, get help if needed, and you should be fine!
Linda was far from an ideal teacher. She basically teaches with tophat questions which are graded for accuracy which means you literally cannot skip a single class. Her voice is also kinda annoying and she doesn't give enough materials to review for the exams. On the first exam we got one short practice test, and we got nothing for the final.
103/104!! Professor Zelewski is an intelligent professor who is up-to-date about Chemistry. You must pay attention during lectures because she moves fast and briefly covers topics. Her class is basically based off of your three exams and the final exam. This is not an easy class and you must work for your grade. Heavy lectures and heavy homework.
Linda moves fast in class and her top hat questions are graded for accuracy not just participation so going to lecture is necessary. She does not give a lot of practice material so seek it out on the chemistry website and do practice problems. She won't test on stuff from hw, only lecture
She is super nice, but her test a very difficult. Multiple choice is worth more than the short answer and you are not given many opportunities to get partial credit.
Had her for chem 104. Lectures were boring and not very helpful when it came to understanding information, she basically read off her slides and clicked through them without explaining stuff very well. Didn't give practice exams or problems before her exams. Exams were pretty much multiple choice and much harder than the material we did in class.
Is super robotic in lecture, and seems to teach just go through the motions of teaching. Tests are pretty difficult and if you don't fully understand the material, they are very challenging. Grades pretty harshly but gives a lot of materials to study for. Grade is largely dependent on TA.
Professor Zelewski rarely makes it through all of her slides, she skips over information during lecture, and you end up teaching yourself chemistry most of the time. Many times, she assigns quizzes in which you learn the content after the quiz has been taken.
The way that Linda structured this course makes it easy to succeed if you do the assigned work. Although I often skip readings for classes I found that if I did the pre-class reading/homework and post class homework I did not need to do much to prepare for exams because the in-class questions are really helpful for better understanding the material
I had Linda for 103 and 104 and I thought Linda was a great professor. She wants her students to succeed and she makes that very possible as long as you can keep up with the work. Her in-class questions are helpful and make this course feel less like a large lecture because it is more interactive. I would take another course with Linda.
Zeleweski's lectures are very straightforward as she heavily relies on top hat questions more than she explains concepts. She moves very fast.
I had her for 104 only and I think she really keeps her lectures entertaining by heavily relying on top had questions. I think this really help understand the material she's teaching. The exams are fair, even thought she seems to like putting one very tricky question per exam. If you work enough you can definitely get A
Zelewski's lectures can be helpful if you print the slides ahead of time or take notes on your computer; she flies through her lecture slides very quickly so make sure, if you write your notes, you can write fast. She also does a lot of TopHat questions which are difficult but she gives quite a bit of time for her students to complete them.
Never finishes lectures on time. Incapable of explaining complex material without getting confused. Literally explained how to make a notecard 0/10 do not recommend
Good professor who explains the concepts very well. Lectures are basically a set of top had question to test your understanding which is great. Go to lecture, do the top hat questions seriously and you wont need to study much more to get an A
moves very fast in lecture, yet makes the material clear. Uses tophat a lot in lecture which can be annoying cause she spend 5 min on a tophat question yet 30 seconds on a slide filled with info. Super approachable and pretty fair tests
Dr. Zelewski was amazing. I had her for a summer course and enjoyed going to lecture. She made it worth it for me to show up because her demos were helpful. The exams werent too bad and the final was fairly easy
Decent at explaining concepts. Never finishes all the slides. Spends 5 minutes at the beginning of the class talking about nothing that is relevant to chemistry. Annoying voice.
Obviously Chem is difficult, so the class was definitely challenging. But Linda is more generous on the exams I have heard. Very heavy on tophat questions during lecture, so pre-class is important.
I actively dreaded every single lecture with Linda. She spends too long on tophat, then doesn't explain the answer well even if a significant number of people got it wrong. She ever finishes her slides but somehow lets us out early, blames us when the test average is low, and once refused to answer a question in class. She's not hard she's just bad
She seems to be a nice person. Chemistry is hard in general, but when the pre class doesn't line up with what we do in class, it can sometimes be confusing. Majority of the time we were let out early, which was probably the reason why we were a week behind than what was anticipated. Also recommend getting a tutor or enrolling in the CLC.
Zelewski was the better of the 2 general chemistry professors that I had. She was very good at explaining the tough concepts in chemistry 104 and made things simple for us to understand. Her exams were easier than the rest of the professors for chem 104, they were very straightforward and never any tricks.
Not a bad professor by any means, but not really great either. Exams were fair (from what I've heard, easier than other chem 104 professors), and she provides plenty of materials to prepare for them. If you do all the material you can besides what is required and budget your time effectively then the class isn't too bad.
Linda basically reads off of her powerpoint for lectures and does not explain things otherwise. It is mandatory to go class because of the tophat, however, to do well in her class you need to use your TA and ask questions. Also, be prepared to study independently for her exams.
Linda is an average-at-best professor. She has an annoying voice, loses track of time in class, spends way too long on things in lecture, always lose our "review day" because things get pushed back. Her lectures, then, didn't line up with the discussions. She also takes a very long time to get grades back and has a confusing grading structure
Awesome professor in general
One key advice is ASK QUESTIONS. She enjoys it best when students do this so I highly advise it. The class overall is a workload but every effort will be worth it. Dr. Zelewski is extremely in the sense that she teaches A and tests A. The curriculum is tough so grading is tough but it's not the professor's fault. Attendance is adivised for TOPHAT.
Professors who teach freshman level courses are the true heroes.
I liked Linda as a professor but my main problem was with my TA. He wasn't very good at explaining anything so that is where I mostly struggled. Linda is pretty good at teaching, the course is just difficult. Be prepared for lots of homework and studying. Attendance is MANDATORY to understand course material and answer TopHat questions.
You better hope you have a great TA, because the prof is utterly useless as an instructor. Exams have very little to do with the material presented in class. Be ready to memorize formulas for an exam, or derive them, because the formula sheet for the exam is pitiful.
Prof Linda uses tophat ALOT so make sure you go to class. She also gives a quite bit of homework but if you practice the homework questions a couple of times before the exam, you will do well. There is a slight curve at the end of the semester so do not stress out much. She is super helpful and accessible outside classroom.
Dr. Zelewski is overall a great professor, however your TA is more helpful as discussion is where you will do most of your practice problems and be able to ask more questions. Hopefully you get a good TA! In lecture TopHat is used frequently. The slides are posted the night before lecture so I recommend taking notes before lecture, it really helps.
It is quite obvious she cares about her students and tries hard to give students the tools they need to succeed. The class isn't an easy A without prior chemistry experience but if you try hard and get the homework (sometimes a significant amount) done, you can do fine. Tests are not too bad as it is very obvious what will be tested on.
The class will take up a lot of your time but if you do the readings and homework nothing on the exams will surprise you. Lectures can be boring but she explains concepts well.
I really liked Linda as a professor! She cares about her students. She uses Tophat every single lecture so you definitely need to go to class. The class is set up so that you learn the material prior to coming to class through reading the textbook and doing pre-class assignments. There is a lot of pre-class and homework assignments. A great lady.
Zelewski is a below average professor who doesn't do anything besides read off the slides during lecture, then proceed to give exams that reflect nothing that we learned in class. Her exams are based off of random things we never learned. Avoid her class try to take professor Paul H or anyone else for chem 103/104.
seems like a nice lady but honestly doesn't really teach. Just reads off the lecture slides and makes you answer TopHat questions on stuff you haven't been taught yet. Tests are hard, but the curve helps a lot so just make sure you're above the average and you'll do fine.
The second midterm was extremely difficult and graded tough. The last page was a 16 point question, and I know multiple people who got 0/16. You cannot do enough practice problems for midterm 2. Her voice is also annoying to listen to, and she reads off of a notecard during her lectures. The curve helped a lot since I got 65% on two exams.
Do homework problem sets religiously. Its more physically exhausting as a class than difficult content wise. Lecture slides and give you everything needed to succeed
Linda was a straight forward professor, but she was not easy to pay attention to. A lot of my learning came from doing things on my own. If I didn't have TopHat I wouldn't have had to go to class.
Linda is one of the worst professors I've had at UW-Madison so far. She reads straight off of the slides and does not explain anything, I genuinely used my high school AP chem notes and google more than her slides. All homework is busy work and a waste of time. Switch if you can or hope you get a good TA. 10/10 would not recommend.
Linda's lectures were not great-she would just read off of slides and not go into much detail on them. We would always fall behind in lecture because she would spend too much time doing TopHat questions. If you want to do well, be prepared to put in a significant amount of time outside of class doing practice problems and reading up on concepts.
Fairly mediocre; she reads directly off the slides in lecture. I genuinely feel like I didn't learn anything from attending lectures. There were maybe 1 or 2 lectures where we actually got through all of her slides. Slow grading as well; took a week to grade our final, which was entirely scantron. She does mean well and wants students to succeed.
She reads off the slides in Lecture and you answer TopHat questions unrelated to anything you'll see on an exam or quiz. You won't learn from lectures and have to teach yourself from the textbook outside of class. During office hours and over email she's very mean and doesn't seem to care about students. If you get below 80 on exams you're screwed.
Reads straight from the slides during lecture. There is a clear disconnect between course content and exams; teaches us one thing and tests us on something else
She was a fine lecturer, and I felt like I always understood what was going on in lecture. However, the examples in lecture were way simplified than that on the exams. I did all of the problems and got great grades on them, but the exams were killer, and no practice is that level of difficulty. You aren't taught what's tested on the exams.
Lectures rely heavily on graded tophat questions, subject of questions often not taught beforehand. Exam difficulty does not match tophat examples or quiz questions. She speaks almost at double speed in lecture--its ridiculous.
Subpar lectures. Expect to rely on the textbook for learning. Ive noticed a pattern of anger/disrespect to students with this professor. She once mocked a student who answered one of her tophat questions incorrectly. She also set a midterm two days before thanksgiving with no reschedules, which is very inconvenient for out of state students.
A lot of people disliked her lecture style, but the best way to understand is through practice, which is what Zelewski drives home. Lectures can be long. Make sure you understand what you're doing in lab, which is probably the most painful part of the course. Zelewski chem 104 more tolerable and simplified, solid choice.
I have to agree with the other comments that felt she was rude to her students. She specifically told me she 'doubted my mental capacity' when I came to her with a question outside of class. Got an A, but also started therapy. Please, dont take her if you can. Fast but sloppy lecturer with super tough exams. 0/10
Works us til we cant think anymore and then gives absolutely no leeway for technological issues relating to submissions.
Awful. It's a beginner Chem course and she expects you to already know chem concepts. Unclear in teaching, strict, and will have study guides that do not match the test.
She doesn't teach anything. She grades very hard and doesn't have any sympathy. She blames the students for poor performance. Her lectures are difficult to understand, she draws on a trackpad, and has chats and audio disabled. She assigns the most homework I've ever seen and what she teaches and the homework are completely different. Avoid her.
Passive aggressive when you ask for help. Do not take Chem 103 with her. There are so many assignments, and they cover topics that she hasn't taught in lecture. Quizzes and exams have problems that are way harder than what you are taught, and you're expected to know how to figure it out. No accommodations for virtual learning, you teach yourself.
Do not take this class, Professor Zelewski assigns 20 pages of module homework a week and expects you to complete it while assigning 4 hours of new lecture material prior to each exam. She only shows up for 1 hour per week and reads off her slides and doesn't even her camera on. No tolerance for any late work and do not take this class ever!!
The class is marked as beginner yet they expect that youre already familiar with the content. When struggling she is passive aggressive and basically just makes you do it yourself. Youre just teaching yourself through the textbook since in whole class she just reads off slides and puts the job of teaching into the TAs.
Chemistry is a difficult topic to master. I have no issues with the way lectures are held. The examples and Q&A help show and clarify concepts, but cannot be relied upon entirely. Most of the class is self-taught as there is a lot of material with little time to cover it all. Work very hard outside of class, and the exams aren't super challenging.
She expects to know concepts already despite this being an introductory course. She also expects you to learn everything yourself. The amount of homework is completely unmanageable and she blames the students for her shortcomings. When I asked her what I could do to raise my grade she told me to drop the class. Avoid this class at all costs.
You teach yourself everything and there are no accommodations for online learning. Tests are harder than all of the practice material and you'll be tested on things you've never really learned then are expected to just figure it out. The class average on every test so far has been like a 60/100 yet somehow it's just all of the student's fault.
Professor Zelewski seems to not care about her students at all, especially with the change to online learning. The tests have no correlation to anything done in the class nor the work given. Every test has an average of a 60%, and she blames all her shortcomings on her students. If you can DO NOT take her as there are much better options.
She blames the students for their performance. Regardless of how much you study, you will be given exams that do not fairly test the content you learn in class. I did tutoring for 6-10 hours a week and still practically failed every test. Avoid her and take a professor that can recognize when they are at fault.
Avoid Linda if you can. A friend asked to take a quiz on a different day because he had a family members funeral that day, and she said "funeral services only take 1-2 hours, can you check your schedule for the rest of the day?" Her quizzes and exams are so much harder than the other professor's and she doesn't let us ask questions during lecture.
I was nervous coming into Prof Zelewski's class after reading some of her reviews. However, I found her teaching style to be very enjoyable and she was very thorough and clear when covering course material. Although her exams were more difficult, she always had fair curves which I actually preferred as opposed to having easier exams.
Dr. Zelewski is the worst professor I have had in my academic career. Not only does she not care about her students, but she was incredibly insensitive during COVID and was not good at teaching the material in a course that is mandatory for many majors. She is the worst. Period. If you can take this class with literally anyone else, do it.
I will never take a class with this professor again. It is blatantly obvious she does not care about her students and has little passion for what she is teaching. She has not even attempted to make adapt her class to an online learning environment and in turn made her tests harder than what would ever be in a regular environment. Dont take class
Honestly, it doesn't really matter too much who your professor is because they all use the same canvas course. You'll be fine with whoever as long as you read the book and make sure you understand the pre-class. Linda is one of the tougher profs, However. Each exam averaged around 60-70%, but there was a generous curve. Definitely my hardest class.
I will start by saying I am not a chemistry whiz. I would not recommend this professor if you do not have a solid understanding of chemistry concepts from prior education. I am sure she is a wonderful professor for people with a better understanding of chemistry!!
Professor Zelewski's version of chemistry is significantly more challenging than all other professors. Despite having the same content, exams had a much higher level of difficulty and her grading was very harsh as well. Chemistry is no doubt a tough class but sadly it was not made any easier by Professor Zeleweski.
Not very nice to students
If you are thinking about taking chem 103, I advise you not to choose Zelewski as your professor. She expects her students to know everything and forgets that teachers are meant to teach. She also blames the students for doing poorly on tests when, in actuality, it is a direct reflection of her teaching.
I joined her class mid September. I was in another Chem course, but found the content too hard and was put in her class. She expected me to complete the content from the previous three weeks (& assignments) for the first exam ten days later. In October I had covid, and was hospitalized three days before the second exam. She still made me take it.
Dr. Zelewski is, form what I've seen, a very caring prof. She really wants to see her students succeed. She is always there for help during her office hours and answers all questions in her lectures. Her exams are a bit harder but she does usually have a nice curve. I took AP Chem in high school and never had to read the textbook.
Decent professor - easy to understand and very straightforward. But she's a super tough grader. She does a thing with partial credit on certain problems where you get points off for something wrong so if you get half right, you get the same score as someone who didn't get anything right. Basically removed the point of partial credit. Study hard.
Don't be scared to email if there was something that prevented you from taking the test properly, she will deal with it properly.
Just no.
Chem 104 was a very hard class, to begin with, and there was not a lot of extra support from Linda. She wasn't very involved in the class, you are interacting with your TA a lot more than her in Chemistry 104.
Professor Zelewski is pretty average I suppose. I did well in her class. I can't speak for in-person classes, but her online course materials were pretty disorganized, not helped by the fact that she assigned SO MANY different homework assignments per week, on at least 4 different platforms. Once you get in the rythmn of the class it was just okay.
Professor Zelewski did a solid job of teaching CHEM103, but nothing more. Often, would be hard or unable to reach regarding the class. Learned most of the material on my own through the assigned textbook readings. Quizzes and exams are somewhat difficult, although with studying the material, you'll do fine.
She's decent enough to talk to about issues that arise and clearly very knowledgeable. That said, her tests are incredibly hard and don't match homework/labs/discussion/quizzes or anything really. This semester she hurt her wrist and most of our lectures were watching an FA do practice problems. Don't recommend.
Shes clearly very knowledgeable of chemistry but will not reflect on her teaching methods when 300 students average 60% on all exams. You will need to teach yourself from the textbook or heavily rely on your TA.
One of the worst teachers I have ever encountered. She reads off of her presentation like she's doing a 5th grade research report done the night before. Gives practically 0 additional explanation besides basic rewordings of slides. Often she is simply wrong. If you don't mind a bad professor by all means join, at least 1/4 of the class gets an A.
She is a nice person outside of teaching. However her lectures aren't helpful (if you don't understand, the lecture wouldn't help you). You need to put in a LOT of effort to get at least a B in the class. This class is fast paced, lot of reading. This class will hurt your GPA if you fall behind. Unless your really good at Chem get a tutor ASAP.
I would not recommend taking her as a course. She is not very good at explaining during lecture. She expects you to know how to do all of the preclass info before class. I had an injury and needed extra time for a test and she never responded to my email. The tests are 10x harder than any of the practice and you have to know lab info on tests.
Expects you to know everything based off the pre-class readings and she reads off lecture slides. Not very engaging. Exams are EXTREMELY hard and averages are always in the 60s (lowest of all chem profs). I HIGHLY recommend signing up for the chem learning center if taking with her! You learn more with them than anything else.
Dr. Zelewski just read directly off lecture slides and had us do TopHat questions during lectures. The lectures were just about things we had to do as pre-class work, so essentially she taught me nothing and I just had to teach myself. She also has some of the hardest tests among the 103 teachers and usually has pretty low averages.
I wish I could give Dr. Z a 2.5/5 because she isn't that bad but she isn't that good either. She is very intelligent and knows a lot about what she is teaching, but she often won't explain things very well and then give difficult practice problems over the concepts. She wouldn't be my first choice but if you have to take chem with her, you'll be ok
Dr. Zelewinski is not a good professor at all. She basically expects you to learn everything in the pre-class work and does not explain anything in lectures. She reads off slides and doesn't engage with students at all. If there is a hard problem she just goes past it and doesn't explain. Her exams match nothing that you are given in class or in hw
I was nervous for this class after reading some of Prof. Zelewski's reviews, and most of the reviews were spot on. You basically teach yourself all of the material and the lectures are pointless. She glazes over the material and talks extremely fast. The exams are very difficult and the averages are always super low. Would not recommend.
Her exams are nothing like the practice or sample exams and are often composed of questions I had never seen before. Yet, exams are the bulk of your grade and determine where you will fall on the curve. Her homework is consistent and once you get into the routine of the course, it gets easier, but the exams ruin her as a professor for me.
She's one of those professors that doesn't make you realize how bad you have it, until she's absent one day and has a sub fill in for her. Insanely hard tests that have problems unrelated to any previous material we've done. But a very generous curve (because everyone's failing)!
Prof Zelewski has a strange way of teaching lectures. Instead of explaining and walking through problems and their answers, she puts the answers up and expects you to understand the process yourself. She doesn't actually "teach" but rather reiterates information from the textbook in almost the exact same complicated, robotic way.
Great professor overall very approachable in class and office hours. Lecture is boring, but mostly because how easy the class is
I truly think that this professor does not care about her students. There is an immense amount of work and she does not even teach it. She simply goes through slides during lecture from concepts we had to learn ourselves in the pre-class assignments. If you are sick, don't even bother emailing because she will just say to go to the doctor.
Does not really teach and is not understandable at all. Half the class taught themselves chem and lectures are very pointless. If you want to succeed in Chem, enroll in any chem that is not taught by Dr. Zelewski
I took Chem 103 with her and spent way more time in her lectures confused about the tophat problems than actually learning. She doesn't explain anything in depth, so get ready for a semester of basically just reading an online textbook and learning from that alone. The lectures are pretty much just some cheap practice problems with minimal teaching
Was not a fan of Linda's class set up. The lectures were not helpful, all she did was read off of the slides. I wish she took time to explain things. The averages for the tests were always D's and F's, and she took a week at the least to grade each of them. Not good if you have not taken higher level chemistry prior to this course.
She is overall a good professor but you will definitely have to teach yourself most things.
Professor Zelewski is a nice and caring Professor who genuinely wants you to learn. She makes herself available during office hours and is easy to reach. But, unfortunately, her style of teaching isn't very engaging. Her lectures are dry, and she flys through her slides faster than you can take notes. Overall likable but not great at teaching.
Linda was not a great professor. She was not engaging, you learned everything by yourself or with the help of discussion. This class was way harder than it needed to be and there was so much homework. Do not take Linda if you have the choice. You will regret it. The curve is generous though because everyone suffers together. Still not worth it.
Zelewski was an okay chem professor. Her lectures were not as engaging as I would've liked, but she did an adequate job of teaching the material.
It is unknown how people like Linda teach in a university that claims is top 10 in chemistry (it is not). She doesn't care, and is rude. She reads off the slides without explaining anything.
Takes WAY LONGER than other professors to GRADE EXAMS and its VERY OBNOXIOUS
Slow grader and slide reader. Kinda boring but the top hat questions were useful. Overall mid professor
she basically just reads off the slides and doesn't expand off of them. also has very low averages and takes a really long time to grade exams compared to other chem professors. overall not terrible though. mid.
People over exaggerate how hard she is, if you can pay attention and do the pre-class you can easily secure a B
I think that this class was on the same level as 103, and I had kinda for both. She is a fine lecturer and most people hate her because they don't understand chemistry to begin with. As long as you try you can get an A.
Literally just not a good lecturer. While different lecturers appeal to different learning styles, she most definitely did not appeal to most students. If you get Zelewski, just skip lectures and watch the recorded ones online. Does not seem approachable.
I think that Zelewski is a decent lecturer. She sets aside time in class to go over questions that we discussed with peers. She posts lecture notes online so you can access them when needed, which is super helpful. Her tests are hard though. I've always walked in confident and left feeling dejected even though I did well on the practice material.
Linda is a good teacher, but in general you are going to have to teach yourself a lot of things. I think this is very general for chemistry, but she does care about her students. Going to lecture is definitely important, but there is a lot of homework for this course.
Chemistry is a hard class and takes a lot of effort, but by all means, Linda's class is very doable if you put in the effort to do well. She was very accessible within lectures and would come over to explain top hat problems if I was having difficulty. Go to lecture as the top hat questions are very helpful and essential to learning the material.
She had hard tests and I did not find her to be super helpful. I would try to take another professor if I could because 103 is a tough class and it is a struggle keeping up at times.
Had Linda for both 103 and 104 and I preferred her in 104. Was more engaging and she did a bunch of demos in class. Doesn't always get through her lecture slides but she'll continue with the stuff she didn't cover in the next lecture. Lots of work outside of class.
The lectures were incredibly dry and she reads straight off the slides. However, in office hours she is helpful and nice. in my opinion the TA you get will make a much bigger impact on your learning than the professor in this class.
Linda herself was so annoying, her voice alone made chemistry miserable. She consistently had the lowest average test scores. She did not teach, and instead simply read off the premade slides. She put minimal effort into the class.
Like Chem 103 with a set schedule however the grading was a bit harsher. It really depends on how well your TA can teach and explain harder concepts. I relied on the textbook a lot
Definitely not the best in the chemistry department, but she is friendly enough to ask for help if needed. If you put in the effort you will be fine but it's easy to fall behind. She does spend a lot of time on individual in class problems which is great for getting help in the moment from herself or TAs but can get tedious.
I don't think it matters which teacher you get for 103, but the TA. There's a lot of homework, but there's the CLC & the TA's that are willing to help if needed. Zelewski was fine, her lectures weren't recorded, but she posted unnannotated slides before class & her class structure was nice. Just put in the work & you'll probably get a B or higher.
This professor is very organized and well-versed in what she wants to teach. You will always be aware of what is expected of you. Despite this, she is a little difficult to follow at times. She will continue to load up the homework, but it will be worth it if you can push through.
Chem 103 has a heavy workload because of the homework, pre-class assignments, weekly quizzes, labs, and exams, but as long as you stay on top of it you will be fine. Dr. Zelewski is a great teacher although sometimes she doesn't cover the information with enough detail and office hours or youtube is required to understand the material well.
Just reads off the slides and goes so fast. Expects students to understand concepts after a glance at it.
Chemistry 103 by itself is insanely difficult outside of the professor. In lectures she is decent at explaining concepts, but she does go by pretty fast and somewhat assumes that you already know the material somewhat well the bulk of the course is going to be self taught. She does give out an insane amount of work too.
In my experience, Dr. Zelewski is okay at teaching in lecture and tends to read off of the lecture slides. What I like about this professor is that she will start the next lecture with what was left off at from previous lecture. She doesn't get annoyed when someone asks questions. Do the pre-class work and use resources the department has for help!
She doesn't teach anything, she only reads off of the slides and expects you to understand after one minute. Would not recommend.
Professor Zelewski reads off of her slides with little to no further explanation in lecture, and the concept questions in class are not a reflection of content presented in quizzes and exams. Chem 103 is a difficult class in and of itself, but if you can, choose a different professor.
Just know that this class is very exam focused. You can get 100s on everything else but its really the exams that determine your final grade because of the curve. As long as you read the textbook and do the preclass yourself you will be fine.
I do not think she is as bad as people say. I had her for Chem 103 and have chosen to have her for Chem 104 again. Her grading scale was clear from the beginning of the class and your grade really depends on the effort and attendance you put into the course.
Everyone saying that you have no chance in this class is over exaggerating. Yes, the exams are difficult however, all the professors use very similar exams so you won't have an advantage or disadvantage by switching to any other professor. You really should go to lectures because she uses Tophat- not mandatory though.
Professor Zelewski was clearly very knowledgeable about chemistry but tended to have difficultly translating this over to students. Lectures proved to be quite monotonous , with little effort to engage with the students in the lecture halls. Lectures were very timely and organized, but lacked passion --which couldd make them hard to get through.
Dr. Zelewski read off of her slides during most lectures and did not really go in depth teaching wise. I think most Chem 103 classes will have a lot of homework so I'm not sure if that is specific to her course. Discussions really helped me to understand content and if you study all of the discussion packets, you'll do fine on the exams.
Linda is a super nice lady, but her lectures weren't the best. I found that she tended to regurgitate the information off the slides, so it was difficult to stay engaged with the material. I thought the TopHat questions she used in lecture were alright, but they could've been more difficult to help prepare for exams.
I took her for 103 and 104, and she's very much by the books. She reminds me of a "default" college professor. Like if they made college professors in a factory in bulk, Linda Zelewski would be that. Linda is the type of woman to assign 21 homework questions over spring break. That's all you need to know.
I'd guess that Chem 103/4 are not easy to teach because of the sheer amount of content covered, and I think Linda honestly does a decent job. Her grading is fair, the class is well organized, and she uses demonstrations to make lectures engaging. I think her RMP rating is kind of unfair and probably skewed by the difficulty of the course.
Take a different professor. She does not care about her students success
Linda is clear about what will be on upcoming tests, and as a person I find her fair. However, when comparing my experience to other professors there was less effort put into her lectures. Calculations are entirely done ahead of time on slides, so when the answer is just shown to you it's hard to grasp what to do. Prepare to teach yourself often.
Linda doesn't grade that fairly and asks very tricky questions that are meant for you to slip up. She doesn't teach much in lectures and reads off of the slides.
I took Chem 103 with Professor Zelewski last year and changed my major, I then took Chem 104 with professor Hooker and found that with the right professor, chemistry can be accessible. I can't recall learning anything in the lecture with her and felt like I had to do everything on my own. Take Professor Hooker instead for Chem 103/ 104.
She isn't terrible, she mainly reads off of slides so you don't really need to attend lecture. The only helpful part of lecture are the practice questions, but she zooms through the answers so take a picture. Don't go to office hours, she's really rude and blames everything on you. Best hope you get a good TA.
This was your standard huge freshman lecture. Dr. Zelewski herself reads off her slides and is not very accessible outside of this. Your TA makes a HUGE difference! Homework takes a long time and is where you learn most of the course content. Graded on 33% midterms, 20% final, if you follow her instructions for exam studying you will be fine.
Whenever I did not understand what was going on in lecture (which was often because she just read off the slides) she would get mad at me in office hours for not understanding. A TA will also help you learn more than you can in lecture. Not a bad person, but not the greatest professor. Try to get Hooker instead.
Linda is a decent prof and her lectures aren't bad, the course structure overall is what makes Chem 103 so awful. She's decently nice but can be rude sometimes I've heard. If you want a good/high grade be prepared to put a LOT of studying and practice in (at the expense of your mental health and sanity, unfortunately). Don't take unless you have to
Drop 104 or 103 if you get Zelewski as a professor. During lectures, she barely teaches anything and instead will just fill her slides with tophat questions that are nothing like what will be on the tests or quizzes. Additionally, she is a horrible test maker and makes her tests abnormally hard, and again, they are nothing like the practice work.
People don't give Linda enough credit. I believe that if you go to lecture every time and actively pay attention, she can actually be very helpful. I would say I learned a lot from her, as she is a pretty good lecturer. She's nothing extremely special though, she's a pretty standard professor, however she can be a little bit demeaning at points.
Chem 103 with her was a lot of busywork, but that happens no matter who you take: all professors have to give the same lectures with the same assignments and the same grading criteria for exams. She isn't an amazing lecturer but she isn't bad either. Shout out chad wilkinson
I was having a tough time in the class and scored so horribly on the exam my only option was to meet with Zelewski. She told me that I was not learning by choice, and that tutoring doesn't work so I should talk out loud to myself instead. These are the ramblings of someone deranged who enjoys watching students suffer. Switch classes!
Zelewski test averages are some of the lowest in 104, don't be discouraged, your grade is relative to other students. Lectures are necessary, TopHat question heavy. She can be very helpful in answering questions, especially while answering TopHat questions. I wish she would've been more clear on our grades throughout semester. Class is hard, study.
Lectures are very, very tophat heavy- most of the lecture time is working on tophat problems then barely glimpsing the answer before she goes to the next slide, and often the problems are done before you learn how to solve them. chem104 in general is torturous with all the busy work and prelab material. Biggest piece of advice- DONT FALL BEHIND
Avoid Linda at all cost. Does not teach whatsoever. Would be better to just read PowerPoints outside of class. Explanation of practice problems is non existent. Plus her exams always contain problems 100x harder than any problems seen in class or practice exams.
Lectures are pretty much the professor reading off the of slide and are VERY tophat heavy. Even so, I recommend attending lectures because it is good to be exposed to the subject matter. The professor it pretty inaccessible so you should rely more on TA's for information. Tests themsevles weren't too bad and were pretty fair.
I went to all the lectures, discussions, did all the HW. I went to the tutoring. When I went to her for help or suggestions, she told me that tutoring is a waste of time and that only saying things out loud would help. She was mean and unhelpful, and her teaching does not match the tests.Not a teacher but a researcher. Do not take a class with her.
She is very knowledgeable about chem which is clear. However, she can not teach. Her class consistently had lower averages on exams than other professors. Not extremely eager to help students either.
Professor Zelewski's class is quite challenging, but with dedicated studying using tools like ChatGPT and unstuckstudy AI, it's manageable. Attend lectures, read the textbook, and stay engaged to succeed.
The work isn't too heavy, but there are a lot of assignments like pre class, pre lab and post lab so it feels lie your always working on Chemistry. But she is very accommodating to problems. I was sick for a whole week and she answered quickly and helped me get through it. She is very smart so sometimes expects us to know more than we do.
Did everything I could to succeed in this class and professor Zelewski was no help. She is very smart and knowledgable in the subject of chemistry but CANNOT teach. She just reads off the slides and doesn't explain much. The exams are mostly conceptual and have very unexpected things we've never seen before. Take chem with Prof Hooker!
Describes things well, but we were often behind in content. Never kept up with the pre-class materials
She was a great lecturer and made the content very clear. She covers everything you need to know about a topic in lecture.
Surprised she has a lower rating, as I thought she was solid. Not overly friendly, but she was good at making lectures engaging. We always stayed on pace and I never felt extremely lost in the class, but you definitely need to keep up with notes and outside of class work--just going to lectures won't cut it.
Very hard.
Yes, the content is challenging and Professor Zelewski doesn't go above what's expected to communicate ideas. She almost exclusively reads off-slides and sometimes has a hard time pacing the class. If you are confident in your ability to independently study and don't get a terrible TA she isn't all that bad and it's a very doable class with work.
i failed the first exam and she told me to just withdraw from classes because she asked what my goal after college was and I said I don't know yet, bad at teaching and just read off the slides, very inaccessible, doesn't give points back on exams even if you were correct, she'll find a way to make your answer wrong, very mean and rude to students
She's a nice person but a terrible lecturer. She just reads off the slides. I attended one of Dr. Hooker's lectures and realized how awful she really is. Content of the class is obviously tough but having a bad professor just makes it harder and sucks. I ended up dropping the class and taking it next semester with a different professor.
this was the worst professor I ever had in my entire life. all she does is read of the slides, word for word. does not teach at all, im better off at looking at the slides on my own. the organic chem tutor was my life saver(on YouTube). love him.
Dr. Zelewski knows what she is talking abut but cannot articulate that information to students. Her lectures include her reading off the slides and I found I could teach myself better by reading the textbook or finding youtube videos. Avoid getting her as a professor.
this was the worst professor I ever had in my entire life. all she does is read of the slides, word for word. does not teach at all, im better off at looking at the slides on my own. the organic chem tutor was my life saver(on YouTube). love him.
Her lectures were very boring, and she didn't really explain anything. I was better of learning the content myself.
just reads off slides. better learning on ur own
Linda is not able to teach concepts of chemistry, she just reads the slides and moves through. She isn't able to teach chemistry and just adds piles of notes on in order to make up for it, but barely develops on the notes.She lacks chemistry knowledge and can't effectively explain past the answers she's given, so its confusing and misunderstood.
Reads directly off the slides and barely explains the practice problems we do in class. You have to put in a lot of time and effort out of class to do well
I think the only reason I did decently in this class was because I took AP Chem in high school- and my TA was kinda helpful, unlike most of the TAs. Zelewski is a terrible lecturer and really just reads off the slides without explaining anything. Take Chem 103 with a different professor if you can. This class is a LOT of work.
I didn't take AP Chemistry in high school, so I jumped into CHEM 103 with Linda. The course is rigorous (not introductory), and TA waste of time. Linda focuses on conceptual understanding, so you need to master the material BY YOURSELF watch videos, and do LOTS of practice tests. If you're taking this course, start tutoring early.
Professor Zelewski was a fine professor. Her lectures weren't that helpful usually, but they had moments where they were beneficial. Chem 103 is difficult regardless. She was also very accommodating for emergencies throughout the year (i.e. making up exams or quizzes). I would say she was very neutral overall.
Chem 103 is just insanely difficult in general. The professor was okay...just read off the slides. I didn't dislike her as much as others have told me.
Terrible professor who was not accommodating if you needed a makeup quiz due to family emergencies. The lectures were not engaging, nor were they helpful for exams. I went to her office hours and was redirected to the CLC rather than answering any of my questions. I also had a terrible TA who lacked experience and empathy.
Dr. Zelewski gave me a lot of grace when it came to the personal matters that I had dealt with over the semester, but I saw here not be as kind to other students. When it comes to her teaching and lectures, they seemed kinda useless most of the time except for the times where certain questions from the lectures popped up on tests
I GREATLY DISKLIKED this professor. With all due respect, she is a terrible teacher, and the entire lecture is literally just Tophat review with very little to no explanation on any of the problems presented. She is also incredibly uncaring and does nothing to help or aid her students to succeed. Do NOT recommend!!!
Terrible professor. I literally wouldn't recommend her to anyone. She was not nice or accommodating whatsoever, and more importantly, she literally didn't teach; she just simply read off the slides or stood up front and expected us to work independently. I sent her an email regarding an assignment one time, and her response was incredibly rude!
Prof. Zelewski was hard to follow with along during lectures and I ended up learning everything on my own anyway because she rarely elaborated on the topics presented to us, not straying from the slides. A plus was that she always came to lecture prepared and never went over time, even ending class a little early on occasion.
Lectures aren't very helpful, she just reads off the slides, which are posted to canvas. Lots of top hat questions, and the answers aren't posted anywhere, so that may have been the plus of coming to lecture? If you don't thoroughly read through the pre-class assignments and take good notes, you won't pass. You pretty much have to teach yourself.
would not take again
only read off the slides, doesnt know how to teach and didnt really seem to want to be there or care to even know what she was lecturing about that day.
Linda did not know how to teach unfortunately. I would highly recommend seeking a different professor, if possible.
dr. zelewski is just fine as a professor, don't let these reviews scare you. the most important thing is to use your resources - find a study group, join the CLC if you can, ask questions, and put in the work. I took this course as a freshman w a different prof and got a D, now i took it again last semester and got an AB. LEARN HOW TO STUDY!!
You basically had to teach yourself all the content from the pre-class activities and then she would quickly go over stuff in lecture. If you like/can learn on your own you will be fine. The exams often included expanded info that was not talked about in class/lab/readings, make sure you are understanding not just memorizing to do well.
mean human don't take her courses
Zelewski is a good, concise lecturer, and the TopHat questions in class(that count as participation) were very helpful for material understanding & test prep. Not going to lecture was the reason my grade wasn't an A, so I must stress attendance. Do the Pre-class work, pay attention in class, and do the homework, and you should be fine.
Solid chem
Not very good at lecturing, not specific about what we need to know for exams. Also not very helpful in office hours or outside of class if you need extra assistance with something.
Tends to just read off the slides and move through explanations far too quickly. That and her dry teaching style makes it hard to stay engaged. Very prepared and organized and times lectures well (typically making it through all the slides without going over). Chem 104 has great resources like the CLC outside of profs though, so still manageable!
dont do it
Professor Zelewski gives off the vibe that he genuinely hates teaching.
If you have ever seen LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring, remember the scene where Gandalf is about to enter the dark mountain doors and dies inside? Yeah that's this class and the professor is the Balrog.
It's unfortunate that theres a character limit. I cannot put into words how much I hate this professor. She (barely) gets the job done, but I genuinely don't think I learned from her. She read word for word off the slides and didn't teach. She also showed up every day seeming like she hated us and hated her job. Take 103/104 with Hooker if you can.
She might've changed her teaching style but from my perspective she's an incredibly kind and good teacher as of CHEM 104 spring semester. She's not overly nice and very direct about things, something I appreciate. If you do the pre-class and pay attention in class you'll be find it's literally not that bad.
She just reads off slides and did not give me an extension to take a quiz when I had contagious pneumonia.
She was probably my least favorite professor. To be fair 103/104 were poorly structure, so it's not entirely her fault, but wow she was boring. The worst part was that she wasn't only boring, but she also was kinda mean. It seemed like she didn't wanna teach the class and she was just generally very unhelpful.
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Dr. Zelewski isn't the worst professor, but she's not effective at teaching chemistry. She mostly reads slides and moves on quickly, making it hard to take notes. Lecture questions are poorly explained and build on each other, so if you're lost early, it's hard to recover. If you learn best from structured lectures, switch sections.
4.0 in high school, studied heavily (12+ hours) before each exam, was still caught off guard by the difficulty. She makes no effort to explain content, especially to the depth she expects you to know it. Try to get Paul Hooker, he's a dream.
Linda is the human equivalent of a white bread. Very tophat heavy. She expects students to understand material fully before class because she goes over very surface level material. The one time I met with her during office hours she seemed like she didn't want to be there and did not make me feel open to asking questions.
Linda Zelewski does not know how to teach. All she does is read off of the posted slides word for word. Instead of using class time to explain the problems she wastes it on tophat questions. Additionally, she is very hard to hear, also not fun to be around, and is very condescending to students even when they are asking questions.
She didn't spend enough time teaching in lectures and just wanted you to teach yourself. She expected you to be able to write super fast on lecture slides, especially when showing the answers to a problem. Do not bother trying to write down the answer, just take a picture and copy later. If you can avoid her, would recommend you do so.
Linda Zelewski is not a good professor but beyond that she is just mean. She does not respond to emails, and is just harsh about everything in general. She creates incredibly tough exams when other professors make 104 exams much easier. Lectures are very fast paced. Did not enjoy.
She doesn't teach she just reads off slides and expects you to know everything. Exams are so hard and the final was the worst. I would take 7:45 MWF with any other professor than take a perfect time slot with Linda.
Zelewski gave horrible lectures, usually asking an inordinate number of polled questions without explaining concepts. She failed to ever teach, simply reading off her word-heavy slides while condescendingly pointing with her laser. She was CONSTANTLY yelling and incredibly rude to students. She makes her own exams with many trick questions, beware!
Linda did not motivate me to learn chemistry at all. Explains simple concepts too thoroughly and the more difficult ones at what could barely be considered surface level. The final was very difficult and did not match the material what she said it would cover. The CLC worksheets were my best friend and the way I got an A.
She doesn't know how to teach and honestly one of the meanest teachers I've ever had. She's not flexible and doesn't care about her students. I would highly recommend finding any other chemistry professor except HER.
Honestly smart woman, but very rude. Only reads off slides, makes no notes on documents or slides. Not very good at explaining. Rude at times with back-handed comments. Would not recommend or take her again.
There are plenty of incredible, kind professors at UW who care about thee wellbeing of their students and believe in them. Zelewski is not one of these professors. She's passive-aggressive, rude, and sometimes downright mean to students. Just because you have a master's or PhD doesn't mean you should be teaching.
Strictly reads off the slideshow and hardly adds commentary. She is too knowledgeable about chemistry to teach an introductory class. Lecture is very TopHat heavy so you must attend. Everything I have learned in this class is from the TAs and YouTube videos, nothing from the professor that is making 6 figures.
Avoid her at all costs. I went to office hours once and instead of helping me with my question, she ridiculed me and suggested "If you don't know the answer to your question, you shouldn't be in this class." I immediately switched out for a different professor who cared about their students and helped judgment free, and easily achieved an A.
Lectures are not engaging, prepare to teach yourself most of the material.
Literally the worst teacher I have every come across in my life. Avoid her at ALL costs. She reads stricly off the slides, adds no commentary and will ask top hat questions way more difficult than the material she had taught. Anyone I have met in the class struggles regardless of how strong their chemistry skills are. Be prepared to teach yourself.
I thought she was nice at the beginning of the semester until I had a family emergency and would miss a discussion quiz. At the beginning of the semester my entire discussion group had our quiz excused due to a fire drill, we did not have control over this. She would not excuse my quiz that I missed due to my grandpa's funeral, so it was dropped.
Just no. Why am I going to lecture just to walk away with more questions? Use outside resources and try your best to learn on your own.
She's honestly not as bad as other people make her out to be. She can be rude at times and sometimes I'm convinced she lives off of making her students suffer, but she explains things very well in lecture. You do need to teach yourself majority of the concepts, but the things she does explain in lecture, she does it very well, for the most part.
Some professors on here get unfairly bombarded with bad reviews due to fact they are teaching a hard class. Zelewski is not one of those professors. Every 1 star review was earned by her abhorrent teaching style. She clearly has no interest on whether or not student succeed in this class, never deviating from the slides and offers very little help.
As a lecturer, she isn't good. She talks fast and basically just reads off the slides. She doesn't record lectures, and she's not very charismatic.
There are so many reasons I do not recommend Dr. Zelewski. She was condescending while we met for accommodations, reads off slides quickly with no explanation, makes exams harder than the practice material, and overall is not interested in what she is teaching or if her students succeed. I have never struggled this much in a course.
Dr. Zelewski isn't as bad as she is made out to be. Chem 103 is just a hard class, no matter the professor. Taking notes on the preclass readings helps a ton as although she isn't awful, she isn't great. Lectures are surface level, discussions are useless.
She is an okay teacher, very straightforward and passive aggressive. I wouldn't say she is completely bad, you just have to get used to her tone and the words she says. I didn't mind it, but sometimes, she isn't nice when explaining things, and it comes off as her being hypercritical about the students. We are freshman, and she needs to be nicer.
I really was nervous going into this course because of her ratings on here but she really isn't as bad as everyone says. She's not out of this world but she always makes sure to emphasize that its okay to ask for help and she encourages students to ask her questions. The lectures keep students engaged with top hat questions.
Chem 103 is so standardized that the professor doesn't even matter. You are given the same content no matter who you get. Only exams are dependent on professor really. Be prepared as this class is graded on your performance compared to everyone else. No grade cutoffs, purely curve.
Professor Zelewski was very unapproachable and did not adequately accommodate the needs of all students. Nearly nobody felt comfortable asking questions in lecture.
She can be brutally honest sometimes, but I thought she was a lot nicer than how some describe her. I didn't really enjoy chem 103, but I thought Zelewski was perfectly able and cared about the success of her students.
Do not take her class. Her exam averages are always at least 7% lower than other blocks of chem103 (due to her teaching and her exams being harder). She is extremely rude and condescending when you email her or go to office hours. I don't think I ever learned a thing from her and woke up every day DREADING her lecture. Take literally anybody else.
Genuinely the worst. Your tests when talking with others will legitimately be 2-3x harder, especially the final. Lectures are the most simplistic of concepts yet the exams are conceptually heavy and sophisticated. The approachability of her doesn't matter, it's the skillset of her as an instructor being poor, and her tests being exponentially hard
You need to be a good independent learner to succeed in this class: do all the pre-class readings, go to lecture, take notes, study consistently. I had no issues with Zelewski, but she just reads off slides. If you struggle with understanding chemistry concepts or aren't good at independent learning, I recommend finding a different professor.
When you read most you'll come to find she isn't so bad if the student had got an A in the class. Chem 103 is a difficult class and she is of no help. If you are an independent learner and have that skill set I'm sure you'll succeed, but for many this is your first taste of it. Her tests are way harder than the others, 103 is not standardized.
If you're a freshman and seeing these reviews and panicking, I was in the same boat. Let me tell you, she's not really bad at all. Her lectures are decently paced and not too slow, keeping my attention. She can be rude in office hours, but it's moreso just tough love because she really wants you to understand. Success is more dependent on TAs.
Amazing professor, good at explaining everything.
Many people don't want to say good things about Linda, but her class is not bad at all. Her lectures were great, usually under 50 minutes, even for an 8:50 class. I didn't expect to earn an A since my exam average was around a 78, but the curve was very helpful. Overall, she explained the material clearly and made the class manageable and fair.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
65%
Textbook Required
7%
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B+
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77296
4.0
(1)CHEM329
4.0
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3.8
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2.6
(84)CHEM103
2.6
(141)Difficulty by Course
103
4.1
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4.0
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3.9
104
3.9
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3.7