We had around 900 homework problems, not only are they not at all similar to what we go over in class, they do not help prep for the exam. The exams were also terrible and way more complex than any practice she ever gave us. Without the extra credit that she hands out to overcompensate for her terrible teaching, I would be close to failing.

The professor is sweet but does not execute her lectures in a way students can understand the material. I am an honors student with a 3.9 GPA and this class was ridiculous in the way lecture recordings were not provided, and exams did not reflect homework material. Passing is possible due to the given extra credit. As a student, I am disappointed.

Sweet lady but cannot teach whatsoever. She reads word for word from her slides every day and that is it. Has given almost 900 problems of homework. The homework and quizzes are nowhere near as complex as her exams. And she refuses to curve exams even though class average was a 50%. Only good thing is she offers a decent amount of extra credit.

I feel bad leaving a bad review because she is a sweet woman, but not a good professor. There is not one thing that she talked about that I retained. I spent so much time trying to teach myself because the way she explains things doesn't work for me. Lots of extra credit, but the exams are 100x harder than any homework/ practice set.

She is a sweet person but is not good at giving lectures as she only reads off the slides. She assigns a lot of homework questions for each unit which would have been helpful if the quizzes and exams were anything like the homework, but the exams in particular, are so much harder than any practice material you are given.

It didn't seem like she knew how to deal with problems that all students were experiencing. Our classes' average fort the midterm was 50% and she tried to convince us that this was normal for orgo. Everyone struggled and she refused to record lectures, focusing in class and taking notes at the same time when talking about orgo is impossible.

Exams are Super Hard, and do not relate to the homework. This course is homework heavy, close to 900 questions. She does offer a lot of extra credit that should boost ur grade up over 100 point. She does not record her Lectures since she believes people won't show up to class. She's kind but expects you to have a background in organic Chemistry.

Final exam scores were so bad. Class average was a 27% on the final. The highest anyone scored on the multiple choice was a 72%. Very disappointed

DO NOT TAKE ORGO WITH THIS PROFESSOR!!! The only reason i passed was becuase there was more extra credit points than exams. She did not explain things well at all, just read the slides. My TA was super helpful with answering questions but it did not help me on exams. Our averages for quizzes were 50%, and the final average was a 27%. Ridiculous

Never take CEM251 with her. We had almost 1000 homework problems assigned for barely any class credit and almost all of the homework difficulty was wayyy past the scope of the class. The midterm and final were basically impossible, with the final having an average of around 25%. Do not take his professor if you have other options

I thought that she was a nice professor but the class is extremely unfair.There were around 900 homework problems that take up way too much time and do not reflect whats on the exams. The midterm average was a 50% and the final average was 27% HOW CAN YOU FEEL CONFIDENT ABOUT A CLASS WHEN THE AVERAGE IS A 27%. Absolutely ridiculous avoid this class

Awful Just awful dont take this class

I never rate but I'm coming on here mid semester to say she is genuinely the worst professor I've ever had. Her exams are near impossible and she makes one question worth 50+ points. Gives the simplest examples in class and then puts outrageous questions on the exam. Do not take orgo 1 with her

Melanie Chiu is an awful lecturer. If you could chose between this class and eating cement, the latter would be less arduous.

I reached out to this professor multiple times begging for help because the class average was below 50% and she didn't even answer me for months. Mind you EVERY quiz AND exam the class average was near 40-50% which is insane to me.

Lied to me, in an email when saying the class average has been between 60 and 80 on all assignments (I have screenshots of our class averages on quizzes/exams being below 50%) and made me feel crazy. Problems in lecture are easy and then anything we get graded on is 10x harder and you get no understanding of how to do it. No answer keys!

If you don't find resources outside of the ones she gives you (recitation, help hours/office hours, textbooks, etc) you will fail the class. Everything she gives you is basic examples but if you actually want to learn the material you need extra help.

Do not take this professor. Exams are a majority of your grade and the averages are around 60% or lower. The extra credit that past reviews have mentioned has been significantly reduced. It will help a bit but you cant 4.0 the class with extra credit alone. The only positive is she is a genuinely good person and means well but is a horrible teacher

DO NOT TAKE!!! Please find someone else to teach Orgo. She is a nice professor but doesn't actually teach anything, she talks about the general overview of the topics. We are 5 weeks behind, and on the last exam, the class averaged a 30%. Extra credit opportunities are the only thing that may help me pass the class.

The first midterm average was 60% (probably lower) and the second midterm average was 30%. The quiz averages are constantly below 50%. There is a lot of extra credit but likely not enough. She's a nice person but a horrible professor. Unfortunately, she was the only one teaching CEM251 this semester. DO NOT take her. Take orgo another time.

i never write about anything only review. but this professor does NOT know how to teach. Very nice person. But extremely bad at teaching. she skips over steps that are essential for learning and we are extremely behind. our class averaged a 30% on our last test out of 366 ppl. her exams are extremely difficult for no reason.

Her class averages for quizzes are 50% & our last exam average was a 30%. She explicitly said that she makes the quizzes harder than homework problems, and exam questions more difficult than the quizzes. The first time seeing a complicated problem on an exam is a terrible way to teach. If you don't go to extra recitations or office hours good luck.

Did not teach me a thing. 350 students averaged a 30% on one of her midterms. Studied for days to get an 18% on multiple choice. Grad assistants struggled on the exam when taking it. Doesn't respond to emails; don't know if I will pass, grades depend on extra credit she throws in when whole class fails. Made this semester a living Hell for me.

Very bad lecturer and professor overall, she is unprofessional and does not know how to teach or use the technology. Very hard grader and tests are way harder than assignments and homework. Seems like she wants to purposefully fail everyone, do not take her class.

If you start falling behind in this class, you're basically doomed. Her exams are 50% multiple choice (where the answer could be all the choices or none of the choices) and 50% free response. Her average for the exams has been 60%, 50% and most recent one is 30%. Her lectures move reallllly fast, and the quizzes are 5 questions and 25 points.

DO NOT take her if you don't want to tank your gpa. Out of 350 students her class average for an exam was 30%. Grad students took the second exam before we did and struggled with the content. She told us certain content wasn't on the exam and then still included it. Intentionally makes exam questions way harder than any practice she provides us.

Yeah I was pretty much cooked from the start, she made chemistry look confusing and I took intro to Organic in HIGHSCHOOL! The class average is below a 50% and the latest exam was a 30% average. The whole entire class would've been impossible without the exam redos and EC. Please do not take this course 1/4 of you could be on your way out.

The only good thing about this class is the extra credit. Our last midterm exam class average was a 30%, but since we did so poorly she allowed us to do a take home re-do to earn 80% of the points we missed back. Her lectures move too fast and there is so much material to understand. Do all the extra credit you can, do all the HW, and READ

I have considered dropping out of college because of this professor

Do not take any class with her if you want to actually know what you are doing in chemistry. She gives you a lot of extra credit but doesn't actually teach you well enough to do good on the exams in the first place. The only reason she gives extra credit is because the class fails so badly she has to. I'm not gonna know a single thing for orgo 2.

This may be null and void by next semester, because I have a feeling professor Chiu will not be allowed to teach this course ever again. While CEM 251 is expected to be rigorous, she found a way to make succeeding in her class an impossible feat, and hides her poor teaching with mountains of extra credit. Avoid at all costs. Last exam average = 30%

DO NOT take this course. I would be shocked if she is allowed back next semester. she brags about have 25% on her finals and that this course is impossible. without extra credit I doubt you could get above a 50%. Do not take this course unless you love the idea of failure. You have been warned....

never in my life....

Very tough exams and instead of making the exams easier and more understandable, she just gives us redo exams. I would rely more on extra credit and homework, but she doesn't even tell us our final grade so I cant even tell if im passing or not. Take her class if you want to fail! :)

I mean, throughout the course, she tells us how hard it is, then proceeds to give trick question exams and make the course even harder. What is the point if over half the class is failing every exam? You're evidently doing something wrong. If you have the option to avoid this course, I highly recommend you do so.

This professor was very nice but cannot teach at all. The class has fallen so behind because of her lecturing style and we have been cramming content. I am going to get a good grade in this class solely because of extra credit which she uses because of our horrible exam averages. I have never felt so hopeless in a class, and her exams are brutal.

Worst professor I've ever had. Averages are low, retakes for every exam including the final (which we haven't taken yet), quizzes have such low averages that the last one was open book, unlimited attempts, and online. Feels like I haven't learned a thing. Rushes thru lectures bc the first ~30 min are to answer questions from select students.

It's almost like she wants the class to fail. She does not change the difficulty of the exams, despite low averages and the need for retakes. She gives extra credit, but I don't know my grade in the class. More homework that was released and it's due in a week. She makes things way harder than they need to be. Should not be a professor.

INSANE to have a "pre-do" for the final. She knows we're all going to fail. We've had two "redo" exams for the midterms. All of these second chance points so she can hide her failure. I'm cooked. ❤️

please do yourself a favor and listen to these reviews. she is the worst professor I've ever had. 30% exam average. gives the most simple examples in class and then puts outrageous questions on the exam. lectures are on tophat so half the time you don't get the slides beforehand. i wish i could give a 0 rating,genuinely the worst prof I've ever had

Professor Chiu is truly very intelligent and passionate about her field, but her class was an absolute dumpster fire in more ways than I can even write about. It is currently 8 days before our final, we have one lecture left, and we are an entire unit behind. Listen to the reviews, and take my sacrificed GPA as a warning, take anyone else's class.

Do NOT take with this professor. She read directly off her slides that were basic examples and would give us quizzes and exams that were extremely difficult and gave us no materials to help. We were a month behind the whole semester and she tried to cram everything into the last week. Exam averages were 30%. I learned more from youtube than her.

As much as I want to be compassionate and give her a chance, this class was miserable. She did not explain anything well, gives out a ton of homework, in order to get a passing grade you have to do triple the amount of work in extra credit, and never really seemed to care for her students grades. Avoid her at all costs.

Professor Chiu is a nice person, but is genuinely the worst professor I have ever had. She does not explain anything and whenever she writes on her slides it is illegible. The test questions are unrealistic and are no where close the practice and homework that she gives us and what she teaches. Seriously do NOT take her class.

Genuinely one of the worst professors ever. Exam problems are harder than anything you were exposed to. TA said that she purposefully tries to trick students on exams. You can ask TAs for help on exam redos, but even then, they can't get the right answer sometimes. Lots of extra credit, but she makes everything more stressful than it needs to be.

Worst class I've ever taken. The professor seems nice, but she is not a good teacher, and I always left her lectures feeling more confused. Exam averages were terrible (last one was 30%), and the professor didn't seem concerned and didn't change the class/exam structure to help us. Relied heavily on extra credit and exam re-dos to pass the class.

This professor has had maybe the worst impact on mental health I have ever seen done by anyone in the Chem department.

do not take any class with this professor. She has no respect for her students and thinks it is funny to produce a 30% average on her exams. Beware before you take this class. DO NOT RECCOMEND

this professor is very rude she has a average test grade of 30% and dose not care for her students, she already has a final redo out because she has no faith that her student will do well DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH THIS PROFESSOR!!!

I am genuinely shocked by this professor. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Last exam average was a 30%. She makes everything 1000x more confusing and difficult than it already is. This class would only be improved if it was taught by a different professor.

10/10 do not recommend. This class is tough as it is but this prof makes it 10x tougher. nearly impossible to pass the class and if you do it won't be with a good grade. averages exams around 30% and has to give out exam re-dos and a final exam pre-do just for us to get a good grade and for her to look like she is doing a good job teaching

Sucks because she's a nice person. If you can avoid it, DO NOT TAKE CHIU. Doing the extra credit, homework, and trying your best on quizzes will save you if you do bad on exams. Exams are impossible, even GA's say they are difficult. Go to office hours. Just because you are good at something, doesn't mean you can teach it! Never again!! :(

PLEASE do not take cem 251 with her. She makes the exams super hard so then everyone struggles and proceeds to make 3 questions worth like 50 points alone. Our exam 2 average was a 30% average to which we had to have a "redo" for (as well as our other THREE exams.) By far the worst class I have taken at msu because she was the professor. 0/10 tbh.

Welcome to CEM251, oh I mean hell on earth. Don't ever think about taking this professor she should go back on academic probation.

CEM 251 was the hardest class I have ever taken, strictly because of this professor. Professor Chiu is the worst professor I have ever had. The exam is filled with problems that you have never seen in your life, compared to the easy lecture. This professor should be fired immediately. I hope Michigan State sees how poorly her students think of her.

This sucks to say because she is actually a nice person but SHE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TEACH!!!! The Class average on the last exam was a 30% and offers so much extra credit just to cover the inability to teach. She knows we are going to do bad on the final and is offering us a exam pre-do to get points on our final.

Professor Chiu is a nice lady however, she is not cut out for teaching at this level. She reminds me of a really bad calculus professor from a community college I took a class at. Her exams are extremely possible and she CANNOT teach in a way that is beneficial to your learning. She knows this which is why she tries to throw little bits of EC.

DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS. Sign up for a different professor or take it online over the summer!!!! You will have to teach yourself everything and you will still fail her exams. Very little extra credit is given.

CEM251 is hell. I was recommended this class by my advisor, even though it wasn't required for my degree... Professor Chiu is nice but she does not teach well. The topics she covers in lecture are simple but she beats you down with the exams, and then covers up how awful her students are doing with EC. You won't learn anything. DONT TAKE THIS CLASS

I was extremely disappointed by CEM 251 with Dr. Chiu. Course pacing was horrific, with easy content taking forever and hard content rushed. Extra credit was a band aid on poor teaching and grades. Grading expectations were unclear, feedback on exam problems was practically nonexistent. I would recommend taking this course with another professor.

RUINED MY GPA! Not going to medical school anymore, thank you. Very difficult class, exam questions are extremely tough to understand. Not only does she make her exams hard, she gives an exam redo which is even harder. It is impossible to do good in this class.

Terrible professor. Exams, hw, quizzes, & extra credit were way harder than what we learned in class. Class averages were always low, yet she seemed completely unaware that her teaching methods were the problem. She rushed through lecture slides without explaining them properly but still expected us to understand everything. I didn't learn a thing.

A lot of people say she's nice—that's fine—but it doesn't excuse the fact she's terrible at teaching. She only knows how to teach students who already understand the material, because that means less actual teaching for her to do. Save yourself the mental exhaustion and take someone who actually knows how to keep their students from falling behind.

She's not great at teaching. Please don't take this class with her.

She is such a genius that she expects us to understand everything quickly where she doesn't explain concepts and talks so fast. all of our exam averages have been below 50% (around 30%). She has given extra credit but makes the problems so hard it's impossible, same with the exams. Everyone is struggling and has fallen behind, barely surviving.

Professor makes it hard for no reason, making the homework extremely difficult compared to lecture.

Most stressful and unfulfilling class of my life. The lectures pacing is awful, zooming through slides until a question, which are easy, like the quizzes, leaving you completely out of luck for the exam. The exams are obscenely hard, claiming to make them hard because she "believes we can do it" despite a 30% class exam average. Avoid this class.

This was one of the most difficult classes I've taken and it's not even

This class was extremely difficult and it wasn't even the class, it was how fast the professors lectures were. Don't take her if you don't want your gpa to tank :/

Run as fast as you can. Exams were literally impossible. 2nd exam average was a 30%. She gave us a pre-redo for the final.

Please take literally anyone else for CEM 251.

Her tests, quizzes, and homework problems do NOT align with each other. She lacks empathy for her students and flies through material without any care in the world. If I had to take this class again, I would find anyone but her to take it with - even if it put me a semester behind.

Do not take this class with her. Tests would be almost impossible, the questions would be immensely harder on the test than they would be on any homework or practice problems. The average on her exams was 30 percent. Did not care about her students or their success in the class. Only provided "re-dos" for her exams to bring her averages up.

Puts free response questions on exams that are virtually impossible to solve during the time given on exams. Her lectures are ok but gives out the most simplest examples which doesn't help me solve the harder problems given on exams, re-do exams, and homework. Most of my learning came from online (YouTube). Not enough extra credit is given.

I'm sure she's a lovely lady but not a good teacher at all. Nothing makes sense I did all the work and extra credit and still got my first ever 2.5 (I'm a senior in college) bc her exams and quizzes make no sense and no feedback

She is a very sweet person. But I did not learn anything and it is making further classes much harder. Do not take. The next semester orgo 2 average was below 50, and most of us took Melanie for orgo 1 and do not understand the fundamentals.