2.6
Quality4.1
Difficulty37%
Would Retake88
Reviews37%
Would Retake
88
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
12
4
16
3
20
2
16
1
24
What Students Say
“That said, O Chem didn't live up to the hype”
CHEM2301 - 3.0 rating“Tests are nearly impossible”
CHEM2301 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
16%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.04 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM23012302
5.0
(1)2332H
4.5
(4)OCHEM2301
3.3
(3)CHEM2311
3.0
(2)CHEM2302
2.8
(9)Difficulty by Course
CHEM4
5.0
CHEM2311
5.0
2302
4.5
OCHEM
4.5
2301
4.2
Reviews (88)
Great teacher.
No Comments
He hates pre-med students and tells you that.
he's conceited and unhelpful
hates pre-med...not very approachable
Kass was very unapproachable and made learning OChem really difficult.
good teacher, very aware of class, ie if we get it, if we don't. took the night class, gives a 20 minute break and you get out 15 minutes early, 4 tests and a final, lets you use your model kit in tests. Never said anything about hating premed kids while I was there...
Good teacher in lectures, but unapproachable and awkward with conversations
Tough. He expects more than anyone wants to applly.
Funny guy, knows what he's talking about. Good to study from practice exams. Very firm on memorizing mechanisms may need to "sacrafice your social life".
Professor kass had great lectures and his notes were very good. I agree that he is not very approachable to talkt o because of his attitude. His tests are hard and takes a lot of studying. But the key is to study the problems in the book, thats where he gets his q's from.
Very nice lectures!! If you try to learn rather than just trying to get a good grade you will succeed. There are a lot of things to learn from him..He is a respectable person from Yale Graduate school. I loved his lectures and exam.
Good teacher
Makes the class incredibly difficult. Awkward to talk to. Lectures were straight from the book. The tests were far more difficult. Problems on test were awkward.
Poor teacher. Seems like a nice guy, but crap when it comes to actually teaching the material. He throws equations and drawings onto the board but never explains how he got them or what he did. Doesn't explain the METHODS behind the material which makes everything difficult. When the class average on a test wasa less than 50%, something is wrong
worst prof i've had- not clear or helpful- writes examples on board without any explanation
Lectures are a good review of the book material. I think he explains things well. Tests are very hard, though, and do not correlate much with his practice exams. Did anyone find that he curves the final grades from the 80/60/40/30/20?
He is a nice guy, but his practice tests are nothing like the real test and his tests are ridiculous. The averages for the four tests were 80/50/45/62. I am an A student and getting a C- in his class. He offers help out of class, but often goes off in tangents and doesn't fully answer questions. I would recommend taking Tolman instead.
Tests are much harder than practice tests and assigned material, he doesn't use technology at all and his notes are very unorganized. i basically taught myself.
This guy is a toolbox. TAKE OCHEM WITH TOLMAN.
As my 2nd time taking Ochem, I thought he was very good. He is very clear, funny, with an odd sense of humour. I got a decent grade in his class on a reasonable amount of work. He gives suggestions on how to study well. He curves grades fairly. Lecture attendence and keeping up in the textbook is a must. He is awkward to approach.
Great professor, as long as you do all the problems in the book and look over the previous exams from the other years, you will get an A, guaranteed.
He can't teach! Spends a lot of time stuttering his words and waste time showing brainiac videos from youtube. I'm failing even with a curve. Rec Dr. Paulus if your lucky.
Professor Kass is very intelligent, however his lectures are hard to understand. He spends most of the time giving examples, but does not spend an adequate amount of time explaining them. He did have practice exams to study from, however, the material on the exam did not always correspond to the exam.
This guy does not teach; if you take the class, you will end up teaching yourself the material.
the final for this class is not as hard as previous ones. looking over the previous exams is helpful.
This THE WORST professor I have ever had!! I'm teaching myself the material because he doesn't actually ANSWER questions when asked, and the lectures are a waste of time and a summary of the chapter that you'll be more confused about after lecture. This is saying a lot because chemistry is my favorite subject. Take it with Grey instead.
Good professor, I'd say. Since it's organic chemistry, you really need to take the time to teach yourself the material - lecture won't help you. Get the flash cards from the bookstore and look at the old tests - he likes to recycle. But I can not stress the flash cards any more - half the final is flash cards based.
He seems to have a very nice personality. But a 3 credit class shouldn't be this hard. His grading methods may seem lenient (80%+ is an A), but even with that it's incredibly brutal. Expects you to do alot of work outside class with no direction.
Great teacher. The class is hard, which means you'll have to spend time outside of class studying the book and flash cards (buy them, they'll save your grade). The practice exams he has are very useful for test prep, and he is willing to give help if you need it. He may not be the most approachable, but you'll find a way to get help if you want to.
O-Chem isn't known for being the easiest class. But between his lectures and his grading curve, it isn't too bad. You have to work a ton to get an A, but getting a B isn't too tough if you do the practice tests and read once in a while. His test style is pretty easy to pick up on.
unorganized lectures, confusing tests. wastes class time with goofy videos and calling on students to take guesses at the answer he is looking for. However, he is very helpful and approachable after class so you will do most of your learning through the book or office hours
His lectures are clear, but I didn't feel like they helped prepare for the exams. He would go through basic reactions, but the exam problems were everything but basic. Make sure to actually understand the mechanisms rather than memorizing reactions. The only good this about this class was the curve.
really nice
He's entertaining and funny. He did request that we do the text book questions. But those were barely helpful in the exams. Just do the past-years and you should be fine. I also stress that you pa attention during class, because the stuff he doesn't cover during class and is in the text book will most likely not appear in the exam
He can lecture but needs to make more effort helping students truly learn. I strongly recommend taking this class with a different professor.
He once told us before a test, "I never taught you how to do this, but I've showed you enough reactions that you might be able to figure it out." That one quote summarizes 70% of the questions on his exams
He was very lenient on his grading curve which was very nice. I just wasn't interested in the subject at all.
Kass is a great professor. He only tests on material that he has covered in class. Study past practice exams and you will do well on exams.
Hardest tests ever. However 40% is a C, so the curve makes the class better. If you study you should be fine, the book is helpful and the old exams are posted. I recommend doing lots of problems that are DIFFICULT, because there are no easy questions on the tests.
If you have Kass for OChem I would switch to another lecture. Kass is not bad in lecture, but he makes his expectations of you very unclear. The textbook is very helpful, but his exams include a lot of specific material covered briefly in the textbook and often not even mentioned in lecture.
Kass is a super nice guy but can't teach AT ALL! He has unrealistic testing expectations regarding tests vs what was actually learned in class. Do not take O CHEM with him switch to another lecture. He can't explain reactions well. He too smart to be teaching at this level.
I took ochem with him and never explained what he was doing on the board and was never very approachable when I would go up to ask him questions. I feel so far behind in the class even though I studied. His tests were always very different from what was in the book or from what he taught.
Kass is the man for 2301. 4 exams out 110 points, and 10% curve no matter the average. also 70110 70% . ALSO you're able drop the lowest exam. Also makes exams on usually 3 chapters. Say you study your butt off for one exam, theres only three chapter so you get 90110 which 90% +10% curve. And there you go, you just got 100% on an ochem exam.
Kass is actually quite adorable in some bizarre way, he seems very passionate about the subject but it is clear that he goes off on random tangents, does not stick to one type of material, and is completely random. He also doesn't answer questions or explain at all. However, there is good in his class, his curve is amazing and worth the effort!
The lectures are worthless, consist of example problems with poor explanation and absolutely no order whatsoever. Recommend skipping lectures, get the useful notes from friends, and just reading textbook and doing example problems (buy sol. guide). Tests are hard, with almost no partial credit.
I have never worked so hard in a 3 credit class in my entire life. Kass is a nice guy and somewhat entertaining but way too difficult of a teacher. Test material will be anything and everything. Commonly puts reagents and reactions you have never worked with before on exams. Take with someone else if possible or be prepared to struggle.
Very difficult class, and Kass didn't make it easier. His lectures are disorganized and hard to follow, he often would write reactions on the board without explaining why it was important. I always went to lecture, read the book on my own time and it was still very difficult. I recommend taking it from another professor if you can.
Gives very unclear lectures. Didn't even go for second half of the semester and just learned from reading the text book. Really friendly and smart guy though when you ask for help.
Very nice man, but probably represents a certain breed of chemistry professors/researchers who don't have much business teaching a more introductory course like this. That said, O Chem didn't live up to the hype. It's totally doable if you take the time to read and do problems. Lectures move fast and are vague but give a framework for reading.
This review is probably a little biased considering I took and dropped Kass' O. Chem 1 class. The tests are nearly impossible. He includes material on tests that we have literally never seen or covered in the lectures. Makes preparing for a test almost impossible. Nice guy, terrible professor.
Cannot teach. Doesn't care whether class is understanding information.
For my course, he really only lectured about the concepts that we were going to be tested on, and he did a great job of clearly explaining how those concepts worked. It was beneficial to go to class, as opposed to just reading the book. Plus, he is a funny guy.
Tests are nearly impossible. You can study using every resource and still find new material on test. Average on most exams was less than 50% Grades are posted online with secret ID code so you can see other's scores. There were some students who got 90's on one test and 20's on another. 4th exam half the class (72 students of 127) failed the test
Kass's lectures are super vague and hardly relate to the things that are on the exams. He would just do examples and not explain concepts. Likes putting tricky questions on the exams. I do not recommend his class. I recommend taking a class that also isnt 3 hours of lecture once a week for OChem.
Kass's lectures are super vague and hardly relate to the things that are on the exams. He would just do examples and not explain concepts. Likes putting tricky questions on the exams.
Do NOT take a class with him if you don't have an amazing knowledge of the subject beforehand. He teaches nothing, although he is definitely a nice guy. Test averages were in the 40s for every exam.
Pretty horrible as a professor, I've had worse though. He's a really tough grader and inaccessible. My biggest issue with him is that he expects more out of you than what he teaches or what is in the book. He expects you to understand concepts he's never discussed because they're similar to other concepts. If you have a choice, take someone else.
Prof. Kass isn't that bad of a professor. His lectures aren't that useful, but if you read the book and do the practice problems then it isn't hard to do well. He literally takes problems out of the book and puts them on the exam, ON TOP of letting you use a 3x5 notecard. Hes a funny guy too.
I actually gave Kass a low rating earlier in the semester and I'm retracting it. He isn't a good teacher but he tries to test you on things you SHOULD know based on the book. If you're bad at ochem, he may not be good for you. Also, there is always 10-20 points of extra credit which is so nice. DO ALL THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS & PRACTICE TESTS.
Professor Kass really isn't that bad. His lectures may not be the best, but if you do the readings and practice problems (do a lot of them), you'll manage. Although, the exams are very hard, he allows a note card and some of the questions are straight from the textbook.
Kass is incredibly smart, but should not teach. You get a note card for exams and one exam is dropped, but tests are super challenging with tough grading and his preset grading scale doesn't help at all. Averages were very low. Better off never going to lecture - focus on practice problems in the book, that's where he gets exam questions. Avoid.
Kass is such a smart person but should not be allowed to teach or interact with students. He is a nice man and tries his best, but his lectures are terrible and boring. The class is not that hard overall because his exam questions come directly from the textbook, so if you do the problems and study them you should have no trouble getting an A.
By far the best professor I've ever had. His tests are incredibly hard (averaging 40-50%) but he allows one note card per exam with notes. His lectures can be hard to follow and long but he's a really funny guy and great professor. He teaches the content so it's clear how all the concepts are related and work together. Take his class!!!
stopped going to lecture and just taught myself because he was not great at teaching. Averages in the class are so low (50%). He drops a test and homework is worth 12% which was nice. If you do not like chemistry this class will be very difficult. Need to read the textbook and practice a lot outside because you won't learn much in lecture.
He's a nice and intelligent guy, but his exams are extremely difficult. I was convinced I was going to fail the class, yet ended up with a decent grade because of how low the averages were (40-50%). If you're not someone that's good at chemistry he may not be the best professor for you.
Steven Kass is a fairly difficult professor, but he is a very kind man and he is very willing to help you if you need it. His tests are indeed quite difficult, but this issue is counterbalanced by his grading system (80% and above is an A, one test is dropped, and he gives 10 points of extra credit on every exam). Go to his office hours!
Kass is a nice person and is clearly very smart, but he's not the best teacher. If you talk to him individually, he is ok at explaining things but he wastes lots of time in class doing demos and going on tangents. Tests are difficult and have very low averages, but there are 10 extra credit points and he curves well. Reading the textbook is a must!
Fantastic prof. Allowed notecards on exam, gave extra credit on each exam and had dedicated lectures for question review. The best STEM professor I've ever had.
I took this class with Kass a few years back. It was a 3 hour Wednesday evening lecture that he managed to make entertaining enough to not tune out or fall asleep. He gave us generous breaks and also did demos half way through to keep our attention. He only lectured writing on the board, but that made it very easy to keep up. A solid choice.
The exams are THE most difficult exams i've ever taken. Previous exams he gives are so much easier than the one he writes. In class he only goes over easy problems and then expects you to know how to do the most difficult questions Flat out says that the average on the exams is 50% or less, so I don't understand why he doesnt make the tests easier
Kass gives extremely difficult exams on topics he only briefly discussed, or never touched on. His averages on exams are in the 40s and I only ever see 2 or 3 people finish on time. The old exams he gives as a study resource were consistent in format since 2015, but when you go to take the real exam it's totally different. Would not recommend him.
Be prepared to teach yourself everything and cry while doing it. Kass is a horrible lecturer and seems like he doesn't know what he's doing half the time. You will feel confident about all the material, and then he will switch everything on you during the exam. Avoid taking him at all costs. This is by far the worst class I have ever been in.
Kass is a decent professor and his lectures are pretty useful. He also clearly cares about his students and is a funny guy. His tests though are often unfair as they contain some questions that are not in the chapters he says are on the test. If you want an A in this class, you need to read, take notes, and practice like crazy.
He gives no partial credit; making the exams absurdly difficult, hence killing your grade. There are weekly homework assignments usually around 14-20 questions but the whole chapter assignment is only 5 points. 4 exams, if you do bad on two or more you won't pass the class. Do not take it with him, find a prof who gives partial credit :/
I think professor Kass gets a really bad rep because Ochem is a difficult class, however, I personally think he was a decent professor. He gave us a note card, the old exams of past classes, and extra credit on every exam. Lectures were a bit useless but if you did all of the end of chapter questions and watched YouTube exams were generally okay
Kass is a really goofy guy, and very smart, although not the best teacher. Lots of tangents, which can be entertaining, but useless. He does gives you a notecard for exams, and bases most of the content from the book. Read the book, do the all the questions, and watch youtube for anything you are stuck on, and you should do alright.
He is very vague in the lectures, so recommend reading the textbook. Very intelligent but not the greatest teacher, he's okay. Went to every lecture this semester and still ended up spending Friday through Sunday cramming by watching youtube, practice problems and old exams to prepare. It's a lot of work but worth it. Tests are very difficult.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH STEVEN While its possible to do well in this class Steven essentially dooms you to do poorly in 2302 as he has to curve the class so drastically just to end up with the same average grades as other professors. You may get the same grade as other students with other profs but will know significantly less making 2302 hard
Kass gets distracted in his lectures very easily. His tests are very hard and he does not offer much help. He does have plenty of practice tests though.
Honestly don't understand the negative reviews for Kass. His lectures were super clear and I followed along easily. Wrote on the whiteboard, which helped with pacing. Tests were a bit difficult, but definitely doable with studying (basically the same as ochem 1). Overall, it's not a walk in the park but Kass made the content quite understandable.
OChem 2 requires a lot less first-principles understanding and much more memorizing, which is why I think my experience with Kass was great. His exams were a mix between very tough and fairly easy problems. He used online graded HW (which I personally hate) and is not very tech savvy. My advice is to do tons of book problems leading up to the exam.
Kass is a great lecturer. His understanding of organic chemistry was very thorough, and he went over HW/exam problems in class. I truly despised the HW system he used, but that didn't detract from the wonderful lectures. Studying NMR/IR/Mass Spec is essential for a great grade. Lots of memorization too, which isn't my strongest area.
Steven Kass is very knowledgable in organic chemistry and explains topics well. He makes sure to explain the physical organic chemistry, giving reason for reactions instead of just making students memorize them. Exams were difficult because you often had to explain chemical phenomena or write mechanisms for a new reaction, but very rewarding.
Bad, PLEASE don't take.
He is clearly knowledgeable in chemistry, but just is not helpful at all. Seems as though he doesn't care about his students. Do NOT take him if possible. Lectures are a waste of time, better off learning by yourself. And homework gets assigned and you have 24 hours to do 5 hours worth of homework sometimes.
If you are going to take this course... don't. Take this with a grain of salt, but be aware. You might succeed, but you might not (currently not sure I'm going to pass). I watched all of his videos and went to all of his lectures, study for hours on end for exams, and get tutored 3 times a week for many hours, yet can't manage to get above 50%.
3 hours long lectures, USELESS!! You'll feel like you learned something after attending lectures but once you take that exam, you'll most likely do worse than you thought. Homeworks assigned but not given enough time to complete them.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
16%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.04 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM23012302
5.0
(1)2332H
4.5
(4)OCHEM2301
3.3
(3)CHEM2311
3.0
(2)CHEM2302
2.8
(9)Difficulty by Course
CHEM4
5.0
CHEM2311
5.0
2302
4.5
OCHEM
4.5
2301
4.2