New professor

Awesome professor and great at explaining ochem to my understanding so far!

New professor at pcc, very dynamic and went out of his way to make the class interesting. Worked in pharmaceuticals so he has a lot of interesting stories of "real life" chemistry. Very helpful and has an open door policy so you can just drop by and ask him questions. Not an easy prof. Demands a lot but fair. Attend lecture, ask lots of questions!

Very helpful and nice guy. He's really interesting when he talks about everything but chemistry. The book is your way to passing his class. You will definitely pass especially if you make friends with him!

Castro is a very hard professor BUT he is very helpful and loves to help you. if you need help, he will jump to it and help you. also, he will always be in office hours waiting for you :) he gives TONS of hw! all his test is based off of hw AND book..so basically "EVERYTHING on the book is fair game".his labs are always fun!!he is a funny person!!

A super structured professor he is not, however he always took the time to explain during class and office hours if something was unclear. You would be silly not to take advantage of this time. I believe that most of the students in this class were not Chem majors so he was extra mindful, but still pushed for us to learn Organic Chem.

Prof. Castro is a good, kind, helpful Professor. I didn't really study the textbook hard but I was paying attention on his lecture and did all the Home work Assignments. I got a 'A' in the class..Go to his office hours! He will help you. Its good to take his class if you are Chemistry or Biochemistry Major and interested in Organic Chemistry.

The COURSE itself is challenging; requires you to WORK BEYOND what you do in class. The professor's very KNOWLEGDABLE and very helpful. if youre one who just wants to be given info that is going to be on the exam, his teaching STYLE and ANY chem course is not suitable for YOU. Tips: read book, understand concepts from lecture,lab, & practice!

I came into Prof. Castro's class with a pretty weak background in Chemistry, but his class was great!! I took the summer session which was pretty accelerated but he takes the time to go over a lot of the material during lecture or lab. Chem isn't an easy subject so you do need to study and read a lot but Castro is great at making concepts clear!

Tied for my favorite chem prof so far. I had no chem background b4 this class. He gives real world examples. He's fine w questions during class. Helps during office hours. He's no pushover - you have to work, which I respect. He'll often pick the hardest cumulative math problem for tests, quizzes. Just do the hardest prob in the chapter exercises.

Dr. Castro is one of my favorite professors. He genuinely cares about his students and will accommodate the group in any way he can. Just don't expect to take him and not put the work in, his class (as well as any ochem class) requires plenty of self studying. As long as you attend lecture and practice on your own, you'll do just fine. Fun class!

One of the most caring professors that I have ever seen. 100% would take his courses again. He is very understanding, he can empathize with his students, and he is very open. He responds to emails, has interesting lectures, however, he isn't a professor that you should take for an A -- he does give challenging work; just don't be lazy.

Dr. Castro is a great teacher. The class was super hard. I just happen to know that 714 students failed (many dropped) the class that I took. However, if you want to be a great chemist, you definitely want to take his class. His lectures are amazing. He works really hard to teach, I don't see why we can't work harder to learn if we're Chem major.

Prof Castro is one teacher I wish taught ever subject. I had him last semester and I wish that I had one teacher this semester that was half of what he was. Most teachers just teach the examples right out of the book, but he wants you to read the material before you get to class that way he can make up material right on the spot for you. Genius.

Dr. Castro is a smart and inspirational professor who knows exactly what he's talking about and strives to provide detailed and professional lectures, with fun labs and exercises. Make no mistake though, he knows what he's doing an will definitely make you work for the grade you want. He made me love chemistry! Would definitely take again.

Sweet teach who knows his stuff. Tests are cumulative and challenging. Provides in depth lectures and makes you work for it. Would take again.

I took this course during summer. Chemistry in general is difficult. He is very clear&concise with what to do&has fun labs! The tests are tough. Classmates passed with B's and C's. Material is interesting&he's really helpful in explaining it all! Great powerpoints! Always go to class bc it's just a hard subject. Go to office hours. He really great!

First time I've had a class where I looked forward to all of the lectures. Explains concepts well, and he will draw a lot of real life comparisons, and add in his own anecdotes. Really wants to prepare you for future studies in chemistry. I wish I could take him for every class.

He is nice and kind, cares about students who have language problems. All homework due are changeable, no extra credit, no curving. but he did lower the percentage of each letter grade. ex:an A is higher than 86% instead of 90%. If you want to have a good grade and understanding , you will have plenty of homework to do. Online quizzes are important

he is kind in giving xtra credits to help students . He gives quizzes almost every class meeting to encourage you to read ahead so that you won't be lost in his lecture. he likes to give problems for students to work for during lecture instead of lecturing the topic. strict in grading formal reports and lab reports. overall he's okay.

Professor Castro is such an amazing professor. Not only will he teach you the foundation of chemistry but he will also give you real life examples on how you may apply it. I took his summer course during the year 2015, which I felt was a fast paced course with tests practically every single week. Gives many quizzes and test are strictly timed.

Take his CHEM 22 in the summer. Lots of online quizzes and take exam every week ,but he is really nice and humorous professor. Would like to take his class again.

To be honest his ochem class is not hard. Don't be discouraged by your friends or your friends' friends. He focuses more on practical knowledge in biochemistry and talks less on the teddies details. Only lecture on key points instead of everything in book, so be a self learner. Bad TA to grade your report unfairly but you have many extra credits.

Best professor ever! his lectures are really clear and easy to understand. I thought I wouldn't do well in o chem (considering I got B's in 1A and 1B) but Professor Castro was a really great professor and allowed me to do well and get an A. He gives out plenty of extra credit as well.

He's the best professor for ochem at pcc in my opinion. He makes sure you actually learn the material and loves answering all your questions. He gives out tons of extra credit and his late assignment policy is really generous. He really cares about his students. You can't leave pcc without taking him!

I3Castro! One of my fav chem profs. I like that he makes u think in a diff perspective. The labs are way more fun than the other classes b/c he likes to switch up the labs. Beware of pop quiz everyday (only 5pts) Altho his tests & quizzes are hard, he gives pretty good partial credit, lenient on late work, if u take his class, u'll pass ochem clas

Really chill professor! He's really passionate about chemistry and is always willing to help you out if you have any questions. As long as you pay attention in class and complete all your assignments you should be fine. I would definitely recommend taking his class!

I have a difficult time comprehending so I'd read the book myself as well as take notes before lecture. It's time consuming but what do you expect? By lecture it was great bc he'd reiterate my notes. Repeating info really helped me out a lot. I also used O.H. before the 3 out of 4 exams, seriously guys GO TO ALL YOUR PROFESSOR'S OFFICE HOURS!

I hadn't taken chem for over 10 years when I took his class (and got a D then), but he makes it digestible. I appreciated how he tied chem into real world applications. Now that I'm taking more chem- I see prepares you well and starts good habits. He's accessible outside of class and even if he isn't, PCC offers tons of tutoring! You can do it!

Professor Castro was one of the best chem professors I've ever had! He ties in a lot of real world examples so it's easier to understand such a difficult course. He is very, very accessible outside class. During office hours, he makes sure you understand the reasoning behind the concepts to better grasp what's being taught. I love him!!

Took Professor Castro for college 1 and boy was he so chill. You take notes on the very interesting lectures he gives and most of the class he spends talking with the class so you really get interested in what he says. Little hw and the poster is the majority of the grade. Really cool dude would definitely recommend for college 1!

Don't take him if you're not willing to learn and you won't get an easy A here. If you take this class and stick till the end, you will walk out of the last day with a decent knowledge about chemistry. Test and quizzes are straight forward ( Do your homework ) and he always included extra credit problem in them. He's helpful, caring and funny!

I've had Professor Castro for two Chemistry courses. His lectures are always interesting because he talks about real world applications as well. You need to read the sections before coming to class. His exams are challenging so you need to do the hardest practice problems. I recommend you take him for 8A and Chem 22 because you will learn a lot.

I've had Professor Castro for two Chemistry courses. His lectures are always interesting because he talks about real world applications as well. You need to read the sections before coming to class. His exams are challenging so you need to do the hardest practice problems. I recommend you take him for 8A because you will learn a lot.

Professor Castro is an excellent teacher. He makes chemistry relatable and interesting while engaging on a personal level with his students like no other. he does tend to grade a little on the tough side, but this is a subject you need to be ready to work hard on. You truly will come out of it a better student. In short: Take him, he's amazing !

Castro's presents all the tools necessary to succeed in his class. He shows us exactly how to do mathematical problems and his lectures include the important details needed on the exams. There are moments where he may appear as pretentious, but that becomes easy to live with as the semester goes on.

He is the Gem here. His tests were pretty hard but they were based on his lectures and textbook. He also gave a lot of extra credits. Work hard and go to his office hours to ask questions!

He is the best organic chemistry professor around! I wasn't good at chemistry and I ended up loving it. For the people who say he's hard, what do you expect? It's ochem! He will definitely give you all the tools and motivation to do really well in his class. It's up to you if you get the A!

Castro is honestly one of the best Professors I've had. He's hilarious and his lectures are pretty good(even though he often goes off on tangents). Gives a ton of extra credit and curves your grade. His tests are somewhat difficult but many of the questions are straight from the textbook! Overall would highly recommend.

professor Castro is funny and enthusiastic, gives a lot of cool facts.

lots of work, interesting class overall

Dr. Castro introduced us to the unexpected joys of the most diverse and colorful tool, the periodic table- by telling us great stories behind the elements. His humorous stories and relevant references opened our ears- and kept them open! His online lectures also purposefully heightened our engagements, and it helped us actively learn the materials.

Professor Castro is a pretty solid option. Although he makes silly mistakes sometimes, it's clear he has a love for the subject. I think I would have rated him higher if classes were still in person, as it seemed like he had some trouble making the transition to remote instruction. It's clear he wants his students to succeed. Pretty easy A.

Ive read he was hard but really helpful and I found that to be true. It was hard to be a student during the shutdown, I imagine its harder to be a professor. Sometimes he was frazzled but he tried very hard to get the subject across. Someone on here said hes lazy, thats not true. Gave lots of extra credit. Thats why D students got Cs.

Great professor! I took Dr. Castro's class during the pandemic where we were forced to transition to online learning. He was PHENOMENAL! Dr. Castro found youtube videos to help us better understand the material and was extremely lenient (and really funny!) you need to take his class! 1000% recommend!

I took both of his organic chemistry classes back in 2018. They were the hardest classes I had ever taken at the time, and after having transfered to UCLA I'd still put them in my top 5. I'm thankful he was so demanding though. I wouldn't have survived UCLA had it not been for what I learned from him.

Yes, it is a lot of reading but that is to be expected it is ochem. You have to study outside of class but then again this is a hard class. He is very understanding and he is very fair when it comes to grading. He is always willing to help when you show up for office hours. He genuinely cares about the students and is always there if you need him.

I took Chem 8A in class with him and 8B online due to the pandemic. I would recommend him only if you are a chem major. His test is hard because he requires you to UNDERSTAND the material. I can guarantee that if you need to retake ochem after you transfer, you already know your stuffs and you won't need to study and still pass with an A.

Good prof but tests pose unnecessary psychological & physical hurdles due to time/difficulty ratio. On some questions we "didn't think enough" to extend some concept to a novel situation (a gamble in exception-heavy subjects) yet were "overthinking" in cases with wording/answer mismatch. No time to check work before submission no time for error

VERY hard class, but Dr. Castro is incredibly fair and encourages asking as many questions as possible to gain understanding of the material. He wants his students to pass, but with a good understanding of the material. Ochem is hard for most people. I can't say I didn't struggle tremendously, but I learned A LOT. Also, LOVED his fun chem facts

Prepare to be soul crushed, then get rebuilt by all the pressure. Professor Castro intends to reshape your habit, attitude, and mindset for further studies, which can be extremely painful and stressful. Overall the class is a grind, but once adopted, all the transition is extremely beneficial for your future life. Don't give up easily.

Hardest class I have taken so far. Be prepared to grind and study a lot. Organic chemistry is a hard subject and professor castro does a great job at teaching it. He definitely pushes you throughout the semester. The material is hard, but I'm sure it will prepare you down the line.

Really great professor but he grades very harshly. If you do horribly on homework and then ace the exams then you will be fine. and if you do great on homework and fail the exams you will most likely fail. You have to REALLY understand the concepts behind the work cause the exams are nothing like the study guides.

I took Dr Castro for 8A/8B last year. Take him if you want to actually learn ochem. Quizzes/tests are challenging but doable if you understand the material. Go to office hours and he'll explain topics until you get it. He's generous with partial credit on tests and labs. Overall not an easy A at all but he teaches ochem incredibly well & he's funny

The only review you need Tay was more difficult Castro was more personable, made lecs more interesting while Tay was cold cut all ochem the entire lecture Castro requires more self studying, also gives less practice material Castro scares you into studying harder during lec, Tay scares you into studying when you fail quizzes imo Castro > Tay

I feel the bad reviews were unwarranted. I understand the class is pretty test heavy, but I would not blame it on him. I felt the lectures were pretty thorough and as long as you do the reading as recommended you will do fine. The practice problems and homework I felt were exactly like the test and he allowed us to have an index card for each exam.

Professor Castro's class is a real grind, but using tools like Unstuck ai alongside the textbook can really help. Exams are tough, but putting in the work pays off. Avoid falling behind - this class will test your resilience, but the lessons learned are invaluable.

Professor Castro is very passionate about what he teaches, and he is very patient, he likes answering questions and explaining things with detail. He is pretty chill, considerate and lenient, although sometimes a little disorganized. If you know well your basic chemistry you'll be fine, if not, make sure you take advantage of his love for teaching.

Had him for Fall 2024 & Dr. Castro is an incredible professor. I found his lectures & office hours to be very helpful in understanding the material. He's funny and reasonable where I was not intimidated to ask for clarification. Take advantage of study groups and practice problems! My class put many hours into studying together to pass. Good luck!

Professor Castro is very kind and understanding. Attend office hours, put in the time and the work and you will get an A. The labs are fun and enjoyable, don't be afraid to ask questions. Grading scale is curved!

Really helpful, and nice actually idk what why people saying he puts them down when i never saw that in any of my classes. it is difficult but you just need to stay on top of it and read ahead on the material. lowk a baddie too 10/10

Castro is a very nice guy and seems to be an opposite of Tay in terms of class style. Castro often gives full credit on labs and assignments (partly because he's a bit lazy to care), gives EC every quiz and exam, dropped the two lowest quizzes and lowest exam. Only down side is he has quite difficult exams compared to other Ochem professors.