He is a very horrible teacher. Avoid him if you can.

I cant believe that someone actualy likes him. In my class everyone hated him. His midterms are extremely hard and he is extremely unwilling to help.

the horror, the horror.

hes terrible at teaching, and worse his exams are difficult. Oh, and he is very arrogant. It seems like he only cares about the best students in the class and teaches exclusively to them. By the way, the best students are usually the graduate student.

No Comments

BADDDDD!!!!! Avoid him if u can!!!

He's insane and arrogant. The average for the first midterm was 39. Do I need to say more? DO NOT TAKE HIM unless you want to suffer.

OMG, such a horrible professor, cannot teach, does not emphasize, made the easiest chem class to the hardest chem class, take Nasiri, took her for Chem 118B, wish I took her for 118C also. horrible professor, do not take

He's the worst professor ever in my entire life. Why is he still teaching? Mascal is AWFUL. He expects us to know EVERYTHING in the book even if he doesn't cover it. CHE118c is supposed to be easier than 118B, but oh boy, Mascal made it 100x harder than 118B. Don't expect him to help you during OH,'cause he's useless and arrogant. Word.

What everyone else said. He is horrible. It's not fair that he tests us on stuff that he does not go over in lecture.

WORST TEACHER EVERRRR. do not take! you will fail the class!!!!

The reason why this professor's averages are so low is not because his tests are particularly difficult but because his teaching is particularly lacking--he does nothing more than merely write reactions on the board, and occasionally demonstrate synthesis. He makes no effort to podcast and better engage students

Tough teacher. Beware!!!!

Doesn't teach material well or clearly, makes mistakes during lectures, intimidates students from asking questions. Tests are unreasonably hard, doesn't teach the material he tests on and sometimes it is not even in the book but he expects you to somehow know it. Tests are very unfair. Take everyone's advice and DON'T take this class with mascal

This is the worst prof ever. I took 118B with Beal and it was good. But I got an F with this guy. Avg for first midterm is 40. Expects u to read and memorize the book.even the pictures and color of people's cloth. Expects you to know rxns not in book or not covered in lecture somehow.Not helpful in OH. I give him an F in teaching without the curve.

You need to go to class to do well on the multiple choice sections of exams. Small details/ facts mentioned in class comprise multiple points on test that are easy enough... if you wrote them down and remembered. Not a good lecturer, not very interested in helping you learn. This class is essentially self taught, but don't skip class.

The WORST professor ever on UC Davis campus. He cares more about his lab than his students. Makes exams very difficult on purpose and finds enjoyment in making them almost impossible to pass (avg 40's). He gave MT3 and a final on the day of the final for SS1. He refuses to help his students and expects memorization instead of actual learning.

Claims that you don't need to memorize anything and then, while going over the test, says, "If you remembered insert arbitrary, specific information here this was easy." Problem solving skills account for 10% of the tests and pure knowledge of special cases, mechanisms and specific values for IR/NMR groups is the rest. Self-study > his class

His class makes me want to cry. I have fears that I will not pass. His lectures never go in depth some people may be to study like this, yet I can not. If you need a professor who actually explains please do not take him. He says that his test are like the problems in the book but the book has 50 problems a chapter that are multipart.

This professor is the worst. He has extremely tedious and useless lecture. His teaching skills are awful. He is lazy to post anything on the canvas. Hard exam but no practice exam. You can't learn anything from him and he will ask you to read book. Also his attitude is also terrible for he is like this is so easy my daughter can does this

Mark Mascal expects you to have prior knowledge to ochem. Reading the textbook, doing every single practice problem in the book, and going to lecture does not ensure you will pass. His class is tedious, his office hours are not helpful, and he has a penchant for putting students down.

Never showed up for lab, gets mad when you ask questions. Wont tell you how to study because he doesn't know what he's gonna put on the test. Rude, seems to enjoy seeing his students fail. Terrible lecturer, seems to hate teaching and loves giving out Fs.

I had no idea how to study for the tests.

Ochem is never an easy course. Mascal expects you to memorize everything in the book, even the little details, so be prepared to read a lot. His exams are hard. Not really helpful during OH then complain how people are failing and no one goes to his OH. If you are taking his class, good luck studying on your own.

Mascal is probably the worst professor in the Chemistry Department. The average for a midterm was below 30% and he blamed the fact that it was an open note test, and he will not be curving to the average this time. No study guides, no idea of whats gonna be on the midterm, entire grade based off of tests. He really does not care about you.

No study guides or practice exams. Lectures are 20-40 minutes and he went through entire chapter in one lecture sometimes. Average was 40% for midterm 1 and 29% for midterm 2 (minimal to no curve). Blame students for bad performances when more than half of the class got around average or below (median < mean). Please avoid to save your sanity.

Will not provide you with resources such as practice problems or practice exams. Will not give you his already bad notes. Spends 30 minute lecturing an insane amount of material, while spending 50 minutes calling you stupid. Incredibly condescending. Ego and superiority complex. Blames the class for doing poorly. Avoid at all cost, save yourself.

Lectures are short and often blast through material. Grade solely consists of exams. Provides no resources (hw, practice sheets, lec notes) to go by. Tests are substantially difficult, even with averages in the 30-40% and a distribution skewed to the lower half, curve is not that great. Lectures can be somewhat condensing

Mascal has the largest intelligence complex and truly does not care about a single one of his students. He'll go through an entire chapter in a single lecture (usually only 30 minutes long), and yet goes on for 50 minutes to demean and blame his students for the low, class averages on tests. Please, for your own sanity, AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS!

I took him over winter quarter 2021 and it was torture. His exams were extremely difficult and he does not give students much time to complete them. The averages on the exams were in the low 30s and he assigned no hw and very few practice problems problems to work on to prepare for the exams. I do not recommend taking him if you have a choice!

This class was insanely difficult. I read the textbook every week, sometimes the same chapter three times, and took notes, which I recommend. Theres no homework, so assign it yourself. He hardly gives any practices. Exams scores were low, and he indirectly states students are stupid because of their scores. Dont take if you have a choice!!

Good luck with passing this class if you are enrolled in it. Given the pandemic situation, prof shows no empathy and supports to the students. He does not provide any resources that would help student and tell student just to read from the book. Refused to acknowledge problems with his teaching style even though the AVG is 28.8%. Do not take him!

I thought I loved ochem, but then I took his class. It was singlehandedly one of the most difficult classes I've taken at UCD. His class was very curve-dependent, and I was so fearful of flunking throughout the quarter. The averages range around 30-40%, and to do well, one must study relentlessly and ask any/all possible questions he might throw.

Mascal is the worst professor I have ever had in the entirety of my academic career. He makes me question the professor selection of UCD and the chemistry department. He makes me want to switch majors not only because he ruined my quarter. He is demeaning, rude, and unwilling to change his poor teacher style. DO NOT TAKE HIM.

I cannot put into the words the anxiety and stress this class gave me. There are no resources other than lectures that basically restate the textbook. You are essentially teaching yourself ochem in hopes that the material you happen to self learn is on the exams. Curve is not that generous and tests are hard. Please avoid if you can to save yoursel

HE is the worst professor I have had at UC Davis. The only real resources you are given are the textbook problems (which barely relate to the tests) and his lectures. He is so bad at explaining things clearly I barely scraped a B in this class and he did not want to curve our tests properly because he was mad that our class average was low.

Do not take his class. He is the worst professor to teach ochem at UC Davis and does not show any empathy or care towards his students. When students were having issues previewing the recorded lectures right before a midterm and brought the issue to him, there was no responses back. He essentially skims over the textbook and reiterates the content.

The stress from this class gave me reoccurring migraines, test-taking anxiety, and imposter syndrome. You have to teach yourself all the material, find all your own practice resources, and essentially memorize the book front to back cover. Curve is not the best either. Professor barely provides the bare minimum. Avoid this prof if you can.

I cannot believe that I have to pay tuition to attend a poorly taught class. I think that organic chemistry, while having a reputation for being tough, can be an amazing class if actually taught well. Mascal's lectures were essentially a copy and paste of the textbook and we were thrown into tough finals with averages in 30-40%. Avoid this prof !!

He structures his class like a weeder class by only evaluating students on 3 exams that make up your grade. He makes hardly any effort to teach, most of his lectures were recorded from a previous year, and hes unhelpful towards students during office hours. avoid this professor if you can

If you have no choice and must take this class then prepare to dedicate lots of time studying for this class. Almost all lectures were prerecorded from last year and were essentially a regurgitation of the textbook. Your best bet to pass the class is to review the text and do all problems from the book since there are no practice resources provided

I've taken his 128B course, so I knew what to expect. He doesn't teach; he reused his lecture recordings from last year for us to use. His exams were painstakingly difficult, and the curves don't help. He complained a lot about our class, and didn't take our course evaluations seriously. Overall, I would not take him again. Avoid if you can.

This professor is not only a terrible lecturer but also rude, dehumanizing, and plain cruel to students. Mascal does not care about the success of the students and enjoyed berating us. The stress from this class triggered migraine attacks. Ochem is a hard class as is and he loves watching students fail. Avoid if you can for the sake of your health

where do i even begin... on the first day of class, he provided "resources" which included the textbook and internet. There is no language barrier but somehow there is with the way he teaches. Grade is based on 2 midterms and a final which counts as midterm 3/final. I only took him because I had no choice and he really makes me rethink my major.

If you are reading this, Im sorry he is your only option. Hes a bum. Not very accessible and not very clear what is tested. He half rambles during lecture and there is no clear direction with his teaching. Its like he's drunk behind the wheel. Awful teacher so I would suggest just reading LibreTexts or other resources on line.

This professor is one of the worst professors I have had so far. His lectures are unclear and draining, so you have to rely mainly on the textbook. His midterms have unclear instructions, and he offers very little help for the course. You are on your own for the most part. The only thing saving this course was the TAs.

This is the first teacher I've ever had of his kind: made suggestively belittling comments towards students during lecture, talked about Nobel Prize awards more than necessary, & noncommunicative with our TAs. He gives almost no practice outside of lecture (which doesn't even cover everything we need to know) & no info about our exams. Avoid him.

Lectures aren't recorded but even if I go, I STILL don't know what's going on because all he does is ramble about something, be upset at us for not understanding ochem, complain about something irrelavent, and scoff at questions. Info from the discussion manual isn't ever tested on despite how important the info is + no practice/mocks for exams.

Honestly I took his class so I didn't end up taking a professor that doesn't curve, BIG MISTAKE. He was never consistent with the material and when material is taught wrong then you should "know better". He is about as miserable as they come and it seems like the only time he is happy is when he is in a different country instead of at your exams.

Lectures were okay but he is so rude and condescending! Made Nasiri's attitude toward students feel like a huge relief. He refused to provide any resources and doesn't even want you to rely on his lectures. Must attend lecture live, take good notes and read textbook. TAs saved us

Horrible professor and person. He expects you to read so much before each lecture and will just glaze over the textbook in lecture. He'll spend 5 minutes on a new topic and say "I won't explain further because you should already know this". He answers questions rudely if at all. If you have him it's mostly self teaching so read and go to tutoring.

this guy is buns LMAOOOOOOOO his test doesnt make sense to literally the smartest people i've met at davis

No homework, grades are based only on exams and labs. Exams are very difficult and he does not do a good job of preparing you for the tests (exam averages were 30s-40s). Tends to tell you to read the textbook in response to questions. Also, does not record lectures and only posts notes (which are illegible). Do not take :(

If bare minimum was a person. I don't think I've met a professor who seemed to care less if students understood anything. I went into this class knowing it wasn't going to be great, but he has blown by all expectations. Get ready to self teach, lectures are very weak. He expects the textbook to be the only needed source. Run away, run far far away.

If you have to take him, do not take any other heavy major classes. You will have to practically study every single day by reading the textbook to do well because he expects you to know stuff going into his lectures. Exams were difficult and primarily made up the grades but generous curve. Avoid taking other stem classes if you take him.

Mascal is a very difficult professor that doesn't record his lecutres and expects you to read the entire textbook before class even though you have other classes to study for. Exams are difficult and some resemble questions directly from the book. Relying on lecture alone isn't enough to pass the class...seriously.

Bad at lecturing. Just writes notes on paper and expects you to follow. He doesn't record lectures so make sure to go in person but he's so boring. He seems like a nice old guy until you actually talk to him tbh. Tests are graded very difficult, very little partial credit is given out, especially on NMR. Lab is a savior for your grade tho. Bad!

Mascal is one of those people who is smart, but can't teach. Exams average were about 30-40%. Doesn't record lectures (not like going helps). Extremely tough grader, and very passive aggressive. He tells you not to trust what he says because sometimes it is not true. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but I should've taken 118B in a later quarter

average for first midterm was 47%, average for second midterm was 35% average for third midterm was 34% average for final was 47% these are out of 100% btw. and after regrade requests. i hope students read this and run.

Terrible class. His Canvas page is a mess with no resources. Tests are hard + key is only given in lecture, but he also doesn't record his lectures (which were at 9 am)! He doesn't even have lecture slides--only his nonsensical, badly handwritten notes he took mid-lecture. He clearly doesn't care about teaching. This was a waste of money and time!!

bad, makes nasiri look like a diamond in the rough. exams weren't awful, but percentage wise, never above 50%. very condescending and doesn't take criticism well. handwriting is awful, terrible lectures, and very egotistical. ochem isn't meant to be easy, but to have an average so low, that should say something :/ passed with a b

Probably the worst class that I've ever taken at UC Davis. Curve is generous but doesn't take feedback well. If you want to save your GPA, please wait till the next time they offer the course. He doesn't have high hopes for anyone beyond undergrad. If you don't know failure, Mascal will teach it to you in 10 weeks.

He was a horrible professor as his averages for midterms and finals were 35-40% and he said he would curve however his curve did not help anyone. He raised our expectations and I ended up being disappointed with my grade. Bad teacher & hand-wrote notes which were not eligible!Expected to study from the book even though he didnt cover anything.

Lectures are basically reiterated from the textbook, but somehow he manages it to be more confusing than the textbook. Just read the textbook. Takes direct questions from the textbook sometimes but the rest of the questions are as hard so it doesn't even matter. No graded homework so the class is fully dependent on the graded tests. Avoid.

Ik Ochem is supposed to be rly hard, but Mascal makes it worse. His unrecorded lectures are very hard to follow, I just read the whole textbook and taught myself. I had to I put in more work in this 3 unit class than my other 14 units. They're no homework to boost grades or practice problems to prepare you for his impossible exams.

This joke of a professor grades only on three exams, and that final was so diabolical that it was reported that he was smiling at our misery. Avoid him if you can, even if it means delaying graduation. Every class is the bare minimum of a review session, and his lectures are very disorganized—generous curve at the end, tho, but not a good teacher.