2.3
Quality3.6
Difficulty17%
Would Retake98
Reviews17%
Would Retake
98
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
22
4
7
3
7
2
12
1
50
What Students Say
“easy peazy lemon squeezey”
008B - 5.0 rating“His email responses were the worst”
CHEM112C - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
51%
Textbook Required
50%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.88 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM12B
5.0
(2)OCHEM112C
3.8
(5)CHEM112B
3.1
(11)CHEM112
3.0
(4)OCHEM112B
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
008C
4.7
CHEM008C
4.3
CHEM008B
4.3
CHEM242
4.0
CHEM112B
3.7
Reviews (98)
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Understandable, approachable, organized, and he actually cares about whether or not the students understand the material. And most surprisingly, he's not a condescending **** in office hours, as my previous ochem professors were.
Nice, Fun guy in class. Tests are approachable but totally unexpected on the first midterm. I studied the book, lec notes..was confident (not oveR) that I'd do much better than I did but =(. Tests could be a little bit more clear. Like instead of "write condensation product" maybe say "aldol or claisen" so we dont go flippin' out. okay, pirrung?
Awesome teacher, fixes his own mistakes, helps the students with their needs. Talks about the "fun" stuff in ochem and not just reactions and more reations. Overall nice guy, 5 out of 5, take him than any other prof.
Dr. Pirrung is one of the best Professors out there: he makes himself accessible during office hours, asks for periodic teacher evalutions during the quarter, and actually makes ochem interesting. His enthusiasm for the subject rubs off on his students, plus his exams are straightforward...go to lecture and you'll do fine!
the absolute best chem teacher i ever had...and thats saying a lot. he makes things clear...pirrung makes us understand the material by making the class fun. midterms are ok...questions could be a little bit clearer, but not to the point where he gives away the answer. GREAT JOB PROF PIRRUNG!
Pirrung is a great professor. His lectures were actually interesting. Like previous posters stated, I wish his tests questions were a little bit more clearer. Attend lecture, study 1066, and do the homework problems, and you'll do fine in his class
This is a kind of laid-back class. He presented the subject matter very well, the stuff was actually interesting. The tests were fair; the final was clever too. I also felt that I learned a lot. I liked the 1066s so that we can know applications of organic chemistry. My advice: get a head start on the reactions and get to know the amino acids.
Dr. Pirrung is one of the best OChem professor in UCR. The class is easy if you do the homework and attend lectures. Exams are similar to practice exams and homework. Don't worry about the grade too much because the class is curve, the priority is to learn the material.
Dr Pirrung is that best teacher that i have ever had. He is so inspiring and his classes are fun to attend. I wish he would teach all my classes. He actually makes chemistry fun and his lectures really stick. He really cares about his students and will make time for you.
Pirrung is only out for himself and seems bothered by the fact he has to teach. Stay away from him at all costs.
okay teacher....however there are other much smarter professors out there than him...also extremely extremely cold and very inflexible
Pirrung is not the greatest thing since sliced bread as everyone is making him out to be. Sure, he's an okay professor, but he most certainly isn't the best. Marsalla is way better.
This class was sooooo stupid. Instead of learning some actual organic chemistry, we just studied polymers and drugs half the time. 1066's were stupid. Like no one really cares. You have to use to book to learn everything since lecture is worthless. One of my least satisfying A's. I would have rather taken Morton to ACTUALLY learn.
The class is fun with lots of knowledge of drugs and their syntheses... i got to try some out. The materials aren't that bad, just the polymers and stuff are just pointless... I just don't see the point of memorizing what barbituate looks like!! overall, an ok A class if you work a little hard.
He is not an easy professor for ochem. He's not like some of the other hard professors because they are going so into the ochem, he's hard because his lectures are pointless and he expects you to memorize everything since he doesn't allow the use of notecards. take Marsella if you can!!
This professor is THE worst ever. I get that most ochem professors are hard but he can not teach if his life depended on it. Yet he expects us to know plenty of materials that he did not go over in class.If you love teaching yourself then be my guest. And the assign hw questions he gives you they're not enough, do every problem in the assign ch.
you need to put in the effort. HE gives you both concepts and problems to drive home the point of lecture and helpful quizzes that he then goes over in class. When he assigns problems. Thats where he gets his questions. Do the problems, EASY A. I promise, also make use of the office hours, he willl work with you one on one. he is very helpful
This class was hard...plain and simple. I scored in the top three for every midterm and I'm assuming for the final too. He rates the average at a C+, so you have to go more than one standard deviation above the average--which was around 15-20 for the midterms and 30 for the final. From my experience, his class takes a HUGE amount of time away.
Not the best teacher, but I got an A so no complaints. Just do the optional homework and you will double the average on all the tests.
He tries his best. Pretty fair. Do optional homework assignments and you are golden.
WONDERFUL! Helpful. Go to his office hours, he will answer your every question in DETAIL. He uses homework problems on his exams, so do the problems. Read the book. He bases the exams off the book RELIGIOUSLY. Do all these things and you will receive an "A" or even an "A+" Isn't an easy A but easy if you work for it. Good luck!
horrible. stay away. lack of teaching. study the book as if your life depends on it for this class.
His lecture notes are useless. He can't teach at all. I received an A just by reading the books and doing hw problems. He's also very rude and doesn't care at all for his students. He replies to your emails in a very disrespectful way.
Pirrung's class required lots of time. Contrary to what people said in the past, you do need to pay attention to his lecture. He specifically tells you the material that's gonna be on the midterms. ex- know THIS mechanism etc. Master the homework problems/practice midterms and you'll be on your way to an A
Cold blood professor! Take someone else if you can.
Easier than 112B, harder than 112A. No notecard made this class hard, but doable. Do all hw and PAY ATTENTION in lecture, esp the 1066s. It'll help in studying for midterms. Reading quizzes are pretty easy, try to get full points to help your grade. Study any practice exams provided. He's a likable person and his exams are extremely fair.
One of the worst professors I've had. He should really focus more on teaching than seating charts. Unclear during lecture and ridiculously long exams. Avoid at all costs.
The worst professor I have ever had at UCR. Not approachable at all, spends too much time during class that is not needed and absolutely is horrible at teaching. Take the other professor or better yet do NOT take organic chemistry at UCR!
Taking this professor is the biggest mistake I have ever made at this school. Horrible is an understatement. Just take the other teacher.
Horrible professor, does not even want to help his students. Makes you feel like you're the stupidest person ever. Take any other professor and you'll be happy.
Extremely rude ... doesn't want to help you. Self learn!
Gets sidetracked too often ... talks about stuff that isn't relevant to the class material. Also does not want to help his students and is extremely rude in person and through email!
professor is horrible! take the other professor if available he is much easier
His email responses were the worst. One word answers and some spiteful or demeaning sentence that just makes you feel like you wasted his time. Every time. Overall Professor Pirrung proved to have a cold-heart and simply made the experience for those of us who enjoyed o-chem a serious drag. Worst Professor I have had at UCR in my first two years.
Don't take this teacher. Grading basis for this class is inconsistent and so are the tests.
Honestly, he isnt bad professor. Just generally ochem curriculum is bad at ucr. he is super passationate, organized, and give you all the resources u need for the class. it's just hard to keep it up for each letcutre cuz it requires a lot of time. his tests r fair. if i studied better i wouldve got better grades.
Pirrung was a great and practical professor! Always helpful at office hours and truly cares about each students success. Just look at his class notes for the midterms and do the practice midterms. He doesn't look at the book but do the homework because selected problems are on the test.
The class would be super easy if you can read textbook and teach yourself. I stopped paying attention in class after first midterm. Study hisnotes(posted on ilearn), do the textbook problems and practice tests and you are set for an A. He likes to test students on useless details and has inconsistent grading criteria(you'll take 3 midterms+1 final)
Get ready for midterm averages that range 30-40% because the tests are tough. The class is basically all memorization. The book is your best friend as he repeats exactly what the book says. There are easy point for completing online quizzes posted before each lecture but not enough point to keep you afloat.
Tests are tough, however, they are definitely do-able. As long as you read the book and THOROUGHLY understand the practice problems, you'll be okay. Average for the first midterm was 37%, the second midterm was 50% and the final was about 42%. Just do above average and you're solid. DON'T SLACK OFF!!
NO. Take Marsella if you have a choice. Study all 10 hours for this ochem class, then you will get A. Good luck. BUT there's a good curve because the average is approx. 40/100
Terrible professor- lectures and notes were unclear and no help or resources were given to prepare for the exams. He did not stick with the grading on the syllabus, but instead took it upon himself to change it last minute and fail a good portion of the class. I learned more from Supplemental Instruction at the ARC than from him. Learn by yourself.
First class I got below C in my life. Avoid him if you can.
He is a good professor. Knows Ochem very well and is available to help. His exams are challenging butttttt theres a nice curve at the end!
Pirrung is one of the best professors I've ever had. His material is challenging, as are his exams (but to a lesser extent than the practice, in my opinion, & he explicitly tells you what is on the exams) He is very approachable, and his lectures and office hours were highly enjoyable. If you want to learn Ochem right, take Pirrung, period.
This man is the god emperor of organic chemistry. Greatest lectures in the world, believe me. His lectures are very clear and easy to understand. Terrific review sections and he cares a lot about his students. His tests are not hard, do the practice problems. Tremendous lad. Take. His. Class. NOW.
While Dr. Pirrung is a genius, he is a horrible professor. He is all about memorizing rather than concepts, also makes some borderline-racist jokes, sooo. I went in the class liking ochem and left hating. If you can avoid him. If you can't then GO TO CLASS and study 10+ hours a week, otherwise you will have a horrible time like most of my class.
Dr. Pirrung is a difficult professor. I learned in his class but had a terrible time. Do everything said in lecture to succeed. He never proctors his own exams and is difficult when it comes to regrades. The curve's nice, but people still fail. His class convinced me not to pursue Ochem upper divs. GO TO HIS LECTURES! Rewrite reactions to study!
Worst professor for ochem. Very pretentious in his work and not well respected by students. Unable to effectively completely do his job and is a horrible professor overall.
easy peazy lemon squeezey
Probably one of the easiest professors at UCR. I would highly recommend him to anybody trying to take Ochem. People complain about him because they are incompetent and refuse to put in the time to study. Just make sure you study and read before class. Easy A If you do that.
Micheal Pirrung is the best and most caring person. His class is also incredibly easy. Just read the book and you'll be fine
Honestly, he is not a bad professor. My recommendation is to do all of the optional HW problems on the syllabus. That is were he gets his questions from. Do those and I promise you that you will double the average.
He was absolutely condescending. I made a mistake that I tried to address with him over email, and instead of giving me a concreate answer he just sent me philosophical riddles that were not helpful, and made me feel even worse about the situation. Overall I don't think that I would ever take a class of his again.
The worst professor completely disgrace for UCR. He was absolutely not willing to help me when I asked to explain reactions. Do not teach in United States!
Don't skip lectures: he probably won't post his notes online, and his in-class notes are great. If you have questions about mechanisms, compile them and make an appointment. Anyone who thinks ochem can be taught over email is sorely mistaken, and it's a good way to let him know you don't have the time to learn this stuff properly. Give an effort.
Honestly he is probably the rudest person I have ever met. He acts like he is a God of chemistry. Class was not that difficult, just read the book and do the end of chapter problems, you will be fine. As a person, he is not nice or helpful. Take someone else if you can. If you have to take him just avoid any interaction.
Pirrung is a decent lecturer and provides resources for learning, but it is basically all about reading the book. If you had hooley for a/b it is a big adjustment. He is heavy on fancy names of reactions. this class is all memorization. the class is not too difficult in regards to content. I agree with other reviews, he is very rude and pretentious
Worst professor I have ever had. Absolute disgrace to UCR. Not only is he an awful lecturer, but he is a rude and mean person. He obviously doesnt want to be a professor, or he just enjoys being mean to students.
Absolutely the most difficult professor I have ever had. His quizzes have multiple right answers. you can literally read the right answer in the book and he will say it is wrong. not looking forward to the midterm, which i am sure will be the same way. He is rude and narcissistic.
I am an A student and I got a 46 on the midterm. He had a horrible format with questions unlike anything he posted on ilearn. 50 questions in 50 minutes, noone finished. He has no idea how to run an online class. I emailed him for help because I did poorly on the midterm and he was just rude and insulted me and my test taking skills.
AVOID at all costs
This professor wants to ruin your GPA, he is a horrible teacher and a rude person. I took Castleman for chem8A and Hooley forchem8B, and pirrung is by far the worst teacher in the chem series. Got an A in Hooley and Castleman. DO NOT TAKE
He's been teaching for 40 years now, very outdated, and tends to be really grumpy. Curriculum is very simplified and an exams question usually would take like a good 3-4 minutes to understand. But hey! don't worry you have 50 questions to do in only 50 minutes, so you do the math. open-book though, but you don't have time to look at them.
Terrible professor. Very rude in emails, which is the only way to communicate with him during the online courses. Exams are 50 questions in 50 minutes, so nobody can finish. I think he wants students to struggle and fail. I liked ochem before this class, but he has made me dread it. Do not take him.
First midterm, did practice problems on syllabus and all reading, and scored around average. Second midterm finished questions but ran out of time to bubble in on iLearn, emailed him asking for help and I got back the nastiest email Ive ever read, insulting me and my test taking skills. Had to drop the class, not worth it. Avoid at all costs
Not a terrible lecturer, but he is seriously so rude and inconsiderate. Especially during the pandemic, he has been so inflexible and rude to students. Whenever I email him I get rude responses about my test taking skills and basically saying I am incompetent. He is very unapproachable I do not recommend taking him, especially during online classes
Dr. Pirrung seriously has no compassion at all for his students, especially during this pandemic. He has made his exams so difficult and long nobody can finish. He is acting like this is our only focus, when the world is literally falling apart around us. Designed a ridiculous and difficult final. He is rude and arrogant. do not take him!
Theeee worst professor I have ever taken at UCR. No compassion at all for his students. He told me that he doesn't see anything any challenge with this quarter... Um sir we are literally in the middle of the pandemic and people are outside fighting for their rights. To top it off the exams are 50 questions for 50 minutes. I would avoid taking him
Horrible. He is incredibly rude, I emailed him asking a couple questions and received the rudest response I have ever gotten from a professor. The midterms in the online class (due to the pandemic) are 50 questions in 50 minutes, so its nearly impossible to finish all the questions and score well. Also, he is unclear about the curve.
the worst professor I have ever had. He is so rude and does not care for teaching at all. I have no idea what my grade is, he doesnt know how to figure out the average and standard deviations from our exams. In the middle of the pandemic he is giving 2 final exams, each an hour and 50 questions Idk what his problem is but he wants to ruin your gpa
He thinks there is nothing difficult about the pandemic this quarter, seriously? he is obviously extremely privileged to be in a position to say that. He does not care about his students at all and enjoys being rude and mean. I stopped asking questions because of his nasty responses and ended up hating ochem by the end of the course. do not take!
Professor Pirrung has been the worst professor I've had yet at UCR. First of all, he made the transition to online learning so much more difficult for us with the midterms consisting of 50 questions to complete in 50 minutes. I received the rudest response when asking to accommodate and be flexible for the final insulting other faculty as well.
He is so rude and a terrible professor. Does not care at all about student success. Insults students and other faculty. Says I have an issue with comprehension and test taking skills because I didn't understand a concept. Terrible with the online format, doesn't even know what the average or what any of our grades are. avoid taking him!
He was the, without a doubt, worst prof I've had at UCR. The pandemic started and then the protests began and not one statement from him to address any challenges his students might face. He gave us 50 questions in 50 minutes & he was the ONLY one of my profs to do so. So much stress this quarter because of him & HE DID NOT CARE. no leniency at all
THE WORST professor I've ever had at UCR. Just like the other comments, he did not care about the pandemic and protests. I was one point from his cutoff and he p much said he didn't care about the difficulties I had faced this quarter. I got A's in my other classes, so it's not like I didn't give it my all, I did all assigned readings too!
Pirrung is absolutely the worst professor at UCR. All of the UCR professors addressed the pandemic and the protests. They even made accommodations for their students who were heavily impacted by what was going on in the world. He didn't care and never mentioned anything. His lectures are pointless. Horrible professor. UCR needs to let him gooo!
all I can say is this prof is an ugly mean person who must hate his job. Class is very difficult but an A is achievable, I had to work harder in this class than any of my other classes before. He is extremely rude, DO NOT EMAIL HIM. he will just insult you. Honestly, try to avoid his class if you can. Made me hate ochem
AVOID! seriously I wish I had listened to these reviews, he is by far the rudest and meanest person I have ever had to talk to. IDK why he thinks he is God's gift to chemistry but his ego is huge. Dont talk to him or email him he will just yell at you and tell you that youre stupid. Hardest A I ever had to work for. Take anyone else
Literally told me "This isn't rocket science" when I asked a question. When I asked him why a certain rxn yielded a certain product his response was "because I said so"... all of this was documented on email and reported... how has UCR not fired him yet? I seriously dont understand how it is acceptable to talk to students this way. do not take him
Dr. Pirrung is a snob and is difficult to communicate with. Even though he claims top-notch knowledge, he always uses cheat sheets. No way I would recommend him.
takes great enjoyment in belittling students,I had MCAT the same day as the midterm,he was unwilling to budge(kept giving examples that should he give to every student that had a funeral/wedding to attend or who slept in late accommodations)if you got into a car accident before the test this man would say that has nothing to do with me,drive better
Honestly avoid if you can unless you're really good at Ochem. Averages were so bad (M1- 31% M2- 33% and Final- 25%). Exams are only free response and you can use a 3x5 card for cheat sheet. Exam questions go beyond material covering, you'll have to do a lot of self-studying. Huge curve (obviously based on averages lol).
His lectures were easy to follow. But his exams were extremely difficult. He offered a lot of resources for practice, like chapter practice problems, but they were nothing like the exams. In our class, 62% of the people didn't pass. He is refusing to tell us our grades. He's pretty rude and doesn't really seem to listen to students
One of the worst professors I have ever had. Constantly belittles students. Basically called our class dumb for having lower averages than others he had in the past. Extremely hard to approach as he will sometimes yell at students for asking questions. He also will not tell you the curve to know if you will pass. Do not take at all cost.
Exams were nothing compared to what you spent hours studying for every week. He also failed over 63% of the class even with the students who scored average. Quizzes, homework, lectures et cetera did not help for exams as they were basically impossible and covered material we did not learn. Do. not. take. him. He also has personality issues.
so incredibly rude!!! and not only rude but a terrible professor!! he failed 2/3 of the students in his class and did not care about the class average! DONT TAKE!
AVOID! Hardest class ever. Lectures easy to follow but exams way harder than lecture material. Exams are only free response. Averages were very low(~30%). Class avg about 35%. Failed 2/3 of class. Had no idea where I stood the whole quarter. Wont tell what curve is even after grades inputted. Expect to spend hours teaching self to even pass.
Horrible professor that is arrogant and egotistical. Failed more than 100 of his students claiming we were the problem, but a professor willing to fail more than half the class has failed as an instructor and a mentor. Do not take at all costs. Teaching credentials should be revoked as he does not deserve the right to teach.
failed 64% of class ad won't show his grading scale.
20% average tests worth entire grade, only passed top 33% of the class.
If you want to teach yourself organic chemistry, take him. Lecture notes are not clear, expects you to "spend 10 hours each week studying material apart from lecture a week" (from his syllabus). The averages for the midterms are comically low, though there is a curve, more than half of classes have been failed in previous quarters.
i wish i listened to these reviews but now that I have taken him for a quarter, if you want to spend hours to get a decent grade do not take this professor. His tests are extremely difficult (all free-response), with averages like M1-35%, M2-32%, Final-10%. Unforgiving, heard horror stories from my friends. His class is doable, but is it worth it?
Above-average lecturer with few tangents (straight forward explanations + records, so ez to review). Notes written on the board can be confusing. Very tough grader, quizzes before every lecture (open note), and difficult exams w/ low averages w/ 3x5 notecard. More slow-paced than other professors.
mans is the GOAT of chemistry. what a legend.
Hardest A+ in my life. AVOID him if you don't want to drain your mentality in ochem. His lectures are dried and not very clear. He wants you to know everything from the textbook from start to end with lots of rxns, mxns, and nomenclatures. Self-study, practice hw/chapter problems, and heavy reliance on TA,ARC, outside help are a MUST to succeed!
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
51%
Textbook Required
50%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.88 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM12B
5.0
(2)OCHEM112C
3.8
(5)CHEM112B
3.1
(11)CHEM112
3.0
(4)OCHEM112B
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
008C
4.7
CHEM008C
4.3
CHEM008B
4.3
CHEM242
4.0
CHEM112B
3.7