Don't take Chem from him unless you know exactly what is going on before entering the classroom. You wirtually are expected and have to teach the lessons to yourself in order to keep up and get a decent grade.

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He was the most horrible teacher I have ever experienced! And he is dept. chair and school will do nothing to help! Had to take his class because no one else taught. Expects you to do everything yourself and this is a basic Chem class. AND FOR GODS SAKE...KNOW YOUR SIG FIGS!! He is anal!

I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU DON'T TAKE STEVE SOCOL!!!!

Having taken chemistry in high-school I didn't think this class was going to be too bad. How wrong was I! I went home every night crying becuase I was doing so horribly, his notes are yellowedhe's used them for so long. He's department chair so no action can be taken and he's tenure. All he did was muble out problems from the book and expect you to

Horrible teacher! Doesn't explain things thoroughly. His way of teaching is by writing examples down on the bored, not explaining them, and moving on to yet another example. I would try and take chem with someone else if possible!

I'm in his class at the moment. He tells you of the bat that his class isn't very helpful, that all of the learning is done oustide of the class. I have gone to tutoring every week. Nothnagel is a lot better, he tutors me!!

Had him for Gen Chem. took it two times, he is the only instructor that taught it. DO NOT TAKE AT MCC!!

talks to you like you already know everything there is to know about chemisrty.

talks to you like you already know everything there is to know about chemistry.

Socol's chem class is the hardest at mcc. My nutrition teacher even backed me up on this. I passed by luck only. He is smart, but is rude and makes no sense. He is biased against people and if he doesnt like you you wont pass. I advise not listening to a word he says & just teach yourself from the book. Don't take unless u have to.

No support at all, discourages you and laughs in your face about it. No outside help given from him when you ask. Expects you to know a lot of things with no introduction to the subject. Assigns homework to be done outside class & then he uses them during the lecture to teach the class for the whole class period. I recommend never taking this.

the worst teacher i have had in the histpry of my life..

This was supposed to be an intro to chem course, but Socol assumes that students have a background in chem. Intelligent but disjointed teaching. Independent study is the only way to succeed in his class. Attending class is pointless, rely on the textbook strongly. By the end of the semester 70% of students dropped because of failing grades.

WORST TEACHER AT MCC!!!!! DOESN'T KNOW THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY ARN'T MASTERS OF CHEMISTRY!! SUCKS HORRIBLY NEVER TAKE HIM AS A TEACHER!!

WORST TEACHER AT MCC...his class feels like u are in a charlie brown cartoon and the teacher just says waa wa waaa waa waa....he makes no sense is not helpful and treats students like idiots DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS!!! I have a 3.8 GPA and barely got a C in his class :P

This teacher is absolutely awful. He puts old tests on his website to help you study, but the current ones are COMPLETELY different. There is no good way to study in this class. I will never take another class with him.

Horrible teacher, just like everyone else here says. Your better off choosing from another Chemistry professor.

Chemistry is really hard, but Socol manages to make it harder, I think! He admits from the beginning that in order to succeed in his class, a lot of independent study is necessary. So true. If you do all the homework you'll be ok b/c there's a big curve. But yeah, he's the epitome of "absent-minded professor"

TERRIBLE teacher. I've heard the same jokes too many times, and they're not funny. Don't take his class.

Took 165 and 166 with this teacher. Your better of taking chemistry somewhere else. BE READY TO TEACH YOURSELF IF YOU TAKE THIS COURSE.

For the love of god.. just wait to take chemistry at a different college.. you'll regret it i promise. thats of course depending on if you like independent study's and being in the sage center for hours and hours.

He is a great teacher at giving out hard test, writing on the board in another language, grading hard, and tripping balls while staring at the floor. Take this class if you enjoy getting low grades, falling asleep, or watching the teacher fall alseep, learning nothing, have a reserved seat in Sage, and MASTERING CHEMISTRY. . . . GOOD TIMES!

U WILL FAIL OR AT LEAST GET C IF U TRY VERY HARD

I had started chem with him and was in the SAGE for HOURS! The only reason why he is still at MCC is because he is on the 10 year plan. Pay the extra money and take Chem at a different college, I ended up taking my chem class elsewhere and got an A and I NEVER even got a B on Socals test. He SUCKS as as teacher!!!!

is a genius but shouldnt be a teacher. started this class with 47 other students and passed it with a B along with 9 others. he does use a curve and you dont need to memorize the periodic table but you teach yourself and the final exam is a statewide exam. if you study the sections at the end of chapters youll pass the final!!!!!!!

This man is a genius but he is the worst teacher on this earth. He zooms through everything very fat and teaches thing in a very hard matter when the problems are often not that hard. You will have to teach yourself everything. The sage will be your best friend. This man is real jerk overall. He wont encourage you or help you pass in anyway!!

WORST TEACHER EVER! never withdrew from a class before but had to because this guy is a jerk! He doesnt teach when you ask a question he makes you feel stupid and doesnt answer it anyways. Labs were easy but you have to teach yourself everything in the text book.

terrible teacher, he thinks he knows everything and will not help anyone

after 10 pages i think everyone gets the general idea on this guy, absolutly worthless teacher...

DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER. You will end upi dropping and wasting your money. He doesn't teach, he just stands up there talking to himself and no one can understand what is going on. He is smart, but also the worst teacher on the planet. DO NOT ADD!

Don't take his class because he can not explain the concepts of chemistry. You never know what the quizes and tests will cover and when you ask him he gives you the wrong information.

DO NOT TAKE HIM! that's all you need to know.

I don't even know where to begin. Makes mistakes all the time, but instead of admitting to them he marks everyones answer wrong. Talks way to much about his filipino wife...in not a good way. Threats/rudeness/unable to teach...thats what you are in for if you have him. Dropped the class and got an A at another college!

I loved chemistry before I took this class. He doesn't teach this class like a jr. college or a 4 year university course...he teaches it his own "Socol way," which provides zero learning and understanding. After dropping socols class, I took this course @ a hightly accredited 4 yr universtiy and recieved an A, loved the class, AND understood it!!

If you can DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE. DO NOT. NOT. NOT. NOT.

Horrible! Hard grader, doesn't use slides or other forms of notes, and gives numerous quizzes that most everyone fails. Not to mention he is rude, swears a lot, and tells stories about his personal life that no one cares about. Do NOT take this teacher!

Horrible teacher. Goes on tangents that make no sense and do not correspond with the class material. Plan on teaching yourself everything because you aren't going to learn anything from him

Class is worthless. Just teach yourself from the book and show up only for quizzes and exams.

Awful prof, could care less if his students pass. If it wasn't for his curve grading scale no one would get higher than a B, NOT resourceful at all. Doesn't like spending time with students outside of class to help. Class work barely relates to his exams, which are EXTREMELY hard he makes up all of them. Take it at a Univeristy, it'll be clearer

OVERALL POOR

This is the worst teacher I have ever experienced at MCC. doesn't explain what section we are learning about. jumps into problems with no explanation. only uses examples, but so socially awkward he doesn't even give the class a chance to answer nor even ask questions. he doesn't use any online method to follow your grades. hate him. do not take him

DO NOT and I mean DO NOT take this class! Horrible teacher. Doesn't care about students at all. If you take this class you will need to use a computer every single day. Homework is due almost every day (not joking, even Saturday and sunday). Gets off topic. Doesn't make sense. You'll never know what grade you have either until the end. TERRIBLE!!!!

The worst teacher. If you don't believe me go ahead and sign up. Take this class somewhere else.

The absolute worst teacher at MCC. Those who like him are chem majors. Considering this is a prerequisite for most schools, take it somewhere else. His explanations are horrible and you never quite know where you're at in the book. He doesn't care for any student that isn't interested in chemistry.

REALLY BAD TEACHER. Doesn't explain anything. NOT helpful rushes out of class don't take his class

I had him for 164 and I didn't understand a word he said!! I put afford into studying and always did my one work and I still failed!!

Socol is by far the worst professor i have had in my entire schooling career.. He doesn't explain what will be covered in lecture so notes are all over the place, Mastering Chemistry is a joke. Read you book, Go to SAGE Mon-Fri, get a tutor, print out practice tests and quizzes, watch Youtube videos and pray every day and maybe you'll get a C...

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD take someone else for this class. Trust me. I thought that people were just not putting in the effort so I decided to give him a try and I regret it with every molecule of my being. He does not explain a single thing and mastering chemistry has taken over my life. I am an A-B student and I'll be happy with a C.

PLEASE DROP HIM AND GET A DIFFERENT TEACHER

Many people told me to never take his chemistry class. Since I am an average B student I assumed when people told me about him they were joking and I would be fine. THEY WERE'NT. NEVER TAKE CHM164-165 WITH THIS MAN HE WILL LEAVE YOU WITH MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS. HE IS TERRIBLE! DROP OR SWITCH TEACHERS ASAP! "GEE-WIZ" YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

He's extremely smart, but hard to understand. He's not clear enough when teaching the material and expects us to know what he's talking about right away. He's very sarcastic, not helpful. Assigns WAY too much online homework which isn't even worth many points not taking into consideration some of us are full time students. He makes his exams HARD!!

I am now a Junior and I have never had a worse professor for any course. He understands what he's doing but is incapable of teaching. He does not teach in a clear manner at all and will mock you if you ask questions in class. I moved on and am taking a Chem class at a different college, after passing his. DO NOT TAKE SOCOL, you have been warned.

Doesn't care about what he's teaching or how he teaches it. As long as he's writing or talking or wasting time he's happy. NEVER TAKE THIS CLASS.

Coming from a 4 year institution and taken chem there, I have never been more dumb founded by a teacher in my life. He doesn't care about your questions and doesn't care to answer them. He doesn't like to help during class. He has no notes and doesn't even tell you what you're learning about. Take this somewhere else.

At times he flat us called us stupid because we didn't understand something. Notes are written on the board and half the time make no sense so you might at well just read the textbook to understand it. He doesn't care if you go to class or not but I would just to maybe understand what is going on a little bit. I would read before class to help.

Does not go over basic building blocks for each lesson instead goes straight to solving problems. Very hard of a person to talk to after class since he has a very condescending personality. A girl cried in my class because she couldn't finish the test because he yelled at her for using a graphing calculator and didn't have any more to give out.

Completely horrible. He explains things like everyone already knows them and doesn't care if you don't understand. Assigns approximately 300 problems per section and the quizzes have nothing to do with what he teaches in class. I NEVER want to take him again.

I love chemistry and i want to go into chemical engineering but Socol just makes me want to give it up. Do the homework and read before class if you don't YOU WILL NOT PASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He doesn't explain things at all. Very disorganized. Notes are messy.

Lecture almost never went along with the chapter we were on in the book.

First hour of lab was not needed. Could have saved a lot of time.

I have to say Socol is very intelligent man, but he lacks the skills that many individuals would consider to be a good instructor . Socol is monopoly at MCC because he's the only 165 instructor. So you have no choice but to take him. In the end I personally would never deal with anyone like him again.

I have no doubt that Socol is a good chemist and administrator, but he's a horrible teacher. His lectures are all over the place and digresses so often that it's near impossible to follow what he's teaching. He assigns a huge mass of problems for the online homework, and in order to get a decent grade you have to do it, so read the book.

Doctor Socol simply writes equations on the board and expects you to understand every ounce of the material without any trouble. If you plan on taking him, good luck.

Most terrible prof I have ever seen, terrible attituade, and he is a racial discrimination guy. Never explaining how to do.

All he does is writes problems on there board and says "alright let's do this together" but then proceeds to do the entire thing by himself with no explanation.

I think Socol is a great and funny guy and he really is smart, but he really does not know how to teach. He just writes problems on the board and completes them without explaining anything. Its like he expects you to teach yourself. He also goes off topic a lot which makes it even more difficult to concentrate during lecture.

If you have time to teach yourself the material, then spend hours on the Mastering Chemistry online homework, then more time to do more practice problems and then study for tests and quizzes, take this class!!!!

I learned to not even bother to go to class because I didn't get anything out of his lectures. You're better off just teaching yourself by reading the book and doing the online homework.

My biggest issue with Dr. Socol is how disorganized he is. Homework assignments ranged from 60-128 problems due every week and that's not including the 1-7 sub-parts per problem. He quizzes on the homework material days before it's due. To be successful, you need to be a week ahead of the schedule. Study a chapter ahead or you will never catch up.

Literally a straight A student in every other subject, science being my best subject, I still couldnt do well in this class. The worst teacher I have ever had. Straight up told me when I asked a question in class you wont get anything out of these lectures... Id go read the book instead

Very well educated teacher who can't teach a class for his life. Yes, he knows what he is talking about but he can't teach. He will write a problem on the board and solve it without any explanation on how he got that answer. Overall definitely the worst professor I have ever have and I would not recommend him to anyone. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO TAKE!

He knows what he is talking about but is horrible at explaining it. The online homework is treacherous and leaves you confused trying to figure out what the heck you're doing because he doesn't explain it in class. He writes a problem on the board and expects you to know it just by doing that. Chemistry is not as hard as he made it.

Doesnt teach

worst teacher of all teachers you will ever have i guarantee you that, would not recommend

Socol is very bad at conveying the information, appearing that he even wants to be there, and ultimately teaching the class. The information in the extensive homework is usually spottily covered after the homework is due, and he explains the material very little. When doing problems in class, he acts as if it all common knowledge.

He knows his material but does not explain it well to the class. Basically get ready to teach your self by reading the text book and spending hours on homework.

Worst teacher I've had in 23 years. Dreaded having to go to his class & when I did go I left near tears/angry. Learned all of chemistry from youtube/owl. Listening to his lectures actually confused me more, started to think he was doing it on purpose. Puts you down if you ask question & contradicts himself. Talks badly about former students

Do not take Dr. Socol, worst teacher ever. Expects you to know the material before class. He goes over problems on the board and reads of notes. Does not teach at all. Took him over the summer because it was my only option.

I took this class for nursing credits. Let me just say that I dreaded going to this class because the lectures were so boring and it was hard to stay engaged. The one thing I liked was that he handed out old exams to study from (he doesnt change his tests very much). I hated how much online homework there was and I had to teach myself most times

Do not take Socol if you can avoid it. Most of what you need to learn will be in the book and the tests can cover any small detail that is mentioned in the book. Homework will take ages to complete and is very tedious. You are better off reading the book and watching youtube. He's a good guy, but a very very poor teacher.

My god. This guy actually has no understanding of how to teach. Nobody denying that he's like a super genius when it comes to Chemistry, but teaching is a different skill entirely. He does not have this skill. People warned me to avoid Socol and I didn't listen. I should've listened. I self-taught myself the entirety of this class. Not fun. At all.

Steve is worst and laziest teacher I ever had in college. Some how he's been teaching here since the 90's. He would gossip while there were students trying to learn his material in the sage center and he wouldn't even go over to help. He makes strange child-like awkward smiles at you. The warnings about him are true. Stay away at all costs.

He does little to teach. It may be better to just read the textbook than listen to this teacher. Its like if I took an Algebra 2 student into a Calculus class and told them to sit down and learn. They would have no idea what was being taught but could vaguely catch on. That's what this teacher felt like.

I don't know how his rating isn't lower.

Doesn't explain anything, says "uhhh" for most of the class, and is never clear with his instructions. He really shouldn't teach anymore. Way too old.

Unironically the worst teacher Ive ever had. He simply does not care about his job.

Absolutely avoid this professor. If you are a freshman and got stuck with him because of your counselor, please do yourself a favor and drop his class. It is not worth it.

If you are looking for a class to sit down and listen to a guy rant about random stories and a "uhh" between every word, this is your class. Recommend that you stay as far away as possible. he simply does not know how to teach a class

Never ever take this professor for a class. Horrendous teaching style, if it even counts as teaching. Lots of homework, around 100 questions per chapter. Takes like 2 hours to complete 30 questions. Will destroy you physically and mentally. If you are a freshman that got one of his classes through your counselor, drop it IMMEDIATELY.

It's amazing how Mr.Socol will somehow always find a way to make something complicated. I think he forgets sometimes that students in chem 1 have not been learning chemistry for the last 20 years as he has. If you like having ridiculous amounts of homework every week, this teacher is for you.

Never under any circumstance take this course. Not only is there 100+ FRQ/Multiple Choice questions a week for homework(most with multiple parts), but his grading is absolutely brutal. Not only will he forget to mark off which questions were wrong on a quiz or test, but no partial credit is given. On top of this he is not friendly in the least.

Socol is easily one of the hardest graders I've seen while going for an associate in engineering. Not only is there no such thing as partial credit, but all you'll receive as far as feedback is a pen mark through your answer, with the occasional helpful comment such as "wrong". I would avoid at all costs unless you love to pay to educate yourself.

Honestly doesnt teach

Socol worst professor ever. I know u cant get more lazy/less in tune, during tests he would be sleeping. I dont know how he didnt think hes the problem, the average on tests r F. Homework is 4-13 hours a week. Bright side 55% is passing. If u HAVE to take chem he might be your best bet bc other teacher arent much better and at least grades r skewed

I thought these reviews were just some sort of joke or mistake, that since I was so smart I could just work hard and pass. DON'T ENROLL IN CLASSES WITH SOCOL.10+ hours of homework with HUNDREDS of problems assigned each week. He doesn't teach, he reads examples from his awful chicken scratch notes and expects you to already know everything. AWFUL.

Socol is a very wise person,it's very obvious that hes very smart when it comes to chemistry.Unfortunately,this does not mean he is good at teaching.Socol will constantly go off on side stories which do not relate to the class,and his teaching style is questionable.Homework was unbearable(~100 questions per week,) but thankfully labs were enjoyable

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Homework is 10 plus hours a week. Average on all tests are almost a failing grade. Does not teach. Obviously is very intelligent when it comes to chemistry but does not know how to translate information so students can learn well and succeed.

this is one of the worst professors he legit dose not teach anything and expect you to know everything he gives homework's that are over 6 hours he dose not explain the lab he expects you to know how to do everything. never take this professor.

Socol does know what he's talking about. However, when it comes to teaching he's definitely the worst professor/teacher I've ever had. Writing practice problems in class just asking for an answer is not teaching. I experienced 8+ hours of homework (~100 questions/week) plus pre labs due Monday, and weekly quizzes. Over half dropped from my class.

Would NOT recommend. Very hard to follow and doesn't explain things well at all. Everyone is barely passing and the only reason people are is because the class has to be on a curve to make people pass.

Steven socal was so bad that it actually makes me frustrated to see any positive reviews for him here. He was rude, a really hard grader and would tell bad stories for most of class. But the worst part of it all is that he just does not teach the class at all! You will have to teach yourself chemistry. Best advice I can give is drop the class asap.

I can tell that he cares about his students. However, this does not excuse the fact that he is a horrible teacher. Class is only practice problems, he doesn't take notes. The problems are useless if the whole class doesn't know how to do them in the first place. Homework is an excruciating 100+ questions per unit. Please don't take him you will cry

I highly recommend not taking his class. His teaching is unclear, he uses outdated videos, there is roughly 100 questions for homework each week and none of these problems are almost ever gone over in class. Chemistry can be a hard class of course but even worse when the teacher doesn't know how to adhere to the students needs.

I have no doubt he was a funny and eccentric teacher but he's lost his passion. Hw: 7% of grade but takes hours to finish. You cant learn from his lectures, try using Chads Prep just dont buy it. No study guide just hw and textbook. No attendance grade. Every letter grade is a range of 15% not 10%. If he improved his teaching, he'd easily be a 5/5.

I've graduated with BS from 4 year and went on to graduate program for MS. Of every professor encountered in my academic career, Socol is the worst. He has zero teaching skills. If you have to take his class you will be teaching yourself out of the book. Surprised he is employed if I'm being honest. The guy is a joke. Good luck.

WORST teacher I've ever HAD. Never actually teaches in lecture, just writes the questions down, asks if we know the answer, then proceeds to answer it without actually explaining it to the students.Talks about random subjects in class most of the time that never relates to chemistry, you can not learn anything in his class truly AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Expects his students to understand the subject that he's been teaching for decades and is essentially unavailable to understand student struggles. Confusing gradebook, 15+ hour homework assignments per week, confusing tests, etc.

Take Irena if you know what's good for you.

I showed up for my first day of class and immediately knew I had to drop. Socol didn't give any sort of outline or guide for the semester nor the hour and a half we were in class. He asked the class random chemistry questions, that he expected us to know the answers to despite a lack of reading before hand. He condemns those who guess incorrectly.

He is nice and seems pretty smart, but he CANNOT explain anything. He just shows you and expects you to know it. He also tells many random stories that just end up making you confused on what he is trying to teach you. Also, he gives a TON of problems for homework, 7+ hours with sometimes.

I seriously don't think he knows how to teach. Doesn't really care what you do in class, his grading scale is the only good thing about this class

Dr. Socol is a nice guy, but has a very old school teaching style that doesn't work with a lot of his students. He teaches mainly by using practice problems and brief notes, so reading the textbook is a must to understand anything going on because he barely teaches. For chem 165 I would recommend taking Irena if possible