If you have Amy for your CEM lecture consider yourself lucky. If you have another professor, switch into Dr. Pollack's class immediately. She was one of the greatest teachers/professors that I have ever had and a great person as well. She explains each concept clearly and directly. She also does at least two examples of each concept in class. Of course, she can't go over every single kind of problem that you might encounter in your CAPA or on the test but she always volunteers to answer questions after class, before class, and in her office hours. She is a professor who wants her students to succeed and is constantly trying to make the class interesting in order to encurage attendance, connects concepts to real life, and encourages people to go to her office hours and to the help room as often as possible. She is extremely kind to and concerned about her students and whether or not they learn the subject matter. I wish that every professor at MSU would take a lesson from Amy in how to teach a class. Also, she is a perfect example of a smart and attractive, successful woman in science. Best prof here.

Pros: Great teacher

Teaches everything well

Cons: Very difficult class

Exams are very hard

Pros: easy homework

Cons: difficult tests

not super hard if you put in the work and study

I had Dr. Pollock for CEM 141 & CEM 142. Great teacher. She goes slow and nails the basic concepts. However...



141 & 142 require A LOT of work if you want to 4.0 it, but the good thing about this class is it is set-up in a way that allows you to succeed, unlike the majority of the difficult science classes MSU has to offer.



I absolutely hated the chem OWLs, as they are (or were) set up in a way where you HAD to get 2 out of 3 questions right to get 1 point correct in a set. I often times got the first question right, the 2nd wrong, and the third wrong, meaning I had to re-do the entire set all over again. This is a huge time killer. But the good thing is the OWLs are what taught me the majority of what I needed to know. They are a big reason why I 4.0 both classes.



The Text Exam Booklet is also a necessity if you wish to do well in the class. The exams contain a majority of the problems from the old exams. If you score high on the practice exams, you'll do well on the real one.



Finally, this class has a recitation period. For my 141 class they were optional, but for 142 you had to go to a certain amount to receive points. I liked the fact that they were optional, as if you had trouble you could go to any recitation you liked.



Overall: Great teacher, very well set up class. Don't be scared by what you hear your friends say about this class. Those who do poorly don't study. I'm just an average student who put in a lot of work in both classes for my 4.0.

Other people seem to like her, but honestly, I thought she was awful. No matter how intently I listened during the lectures, or how detailed my notes were, I could not for the life of me ever figure out what she was talking about. She lacks any enthusiasm and you get the impression she'd rather be anywhere doing anything besides teaching. There is required weekly problem sets on OWL, which were extensive to the point that they'd take anywhere between 5 and 10 hours weekly. These were the only way I learned anything in this class. Concepts that she would make extremely complex and confusing in class suddenly were very simple and made complete sense after UNlearning what she attempted to teach and teaching myself from OWL. There are two exams and a final. Before the first exam, I went to class every day, listened, and took notes. I came close to failing the exam. After this, I completely stopped going to class. I didn't attend any of the lectures, and just taught myself the material using OWL. I got a 3.5 on the 2nd exam. So overall, her teaching is completely terrible, and she has succeeded in creating a class that not only doesn't help your learning, it HINDERS it. UGH.

Dr. Pollock was an oustanding teacher. She was always cheerful and nice and willing to help you. After class she would answer questions, but I advise you to make an appointment or walk in during office hours if you need a lot of help. She was willing to acommodate any schedule. She definitely knew the material. Those that hated the class hated chemistry to begin with, which most definitely affected their feelings toward the professor. Chemistry is not a class everyone does well in as the test rankings showed so you have to study. The class is as interesting as your interest level. Even if you're not that interestsed getting a 3.5 or 4.0 is very doable. You have regular homework which is a pain but if yo do it all it increases your grade A LOT. Do it. The curve in this class is unbelievable as 80 percent was still an A. I got a 50 percent on one test but did fine on the others and still managed a 4.0. Overall, the teacher can be as much help or as little help as you make of her but she is very nice and good to work with.

After HATING General Chemistry, I was pretty worried about taking Orgo. But Dr. Pollack is a wonderful teacher. Since none of the students taking CEM 143 are chem majors, she makes it very easy. I'm hoping to get a 4.0 (something I never would've thought at the beginning of the semester!). Don't buy anything for this class though!! I'm kind of upset I bought the book and the answer manual because I didn't use them once. If you take good notes you'll do well in this class because the quizzes and tests are practically the same as the notes. Make sure you go to every class though! This is one you can't miss!

Pros: Everything that you need to succeed and get a 3.5/4.0 in this class is given to you. It's just up to you to do the work.

Cons: It's chemistry.

Shes a wonderful professor. Explains things in a way that you understand and is always willing to answer questions

Pros: Easy 4.0 just read ahead in your lab book and do the online weekly homework.

Cons: Can be confusing to students unfamiliar with lab techniques.

Easy 4.0, but only 1 credit

Pros: Very good at explaining material

Cons: Talks to you like you're a child and makes it hard to remember how to do the problems once you get home

Pros: Exams are hard

Cons: She went over material well. Yes she treats you like a 5 year old but that's what you need to learn the material well

Pros: She takes the time to re-explain things after class and at her office hours- extremely helpful.

Pros: She explains everything and she's very kind.

Cons: none

Best teacher for cem 141

Pros: good at teaching

good with examples

went at a good pace

Pros: Knows the material.

Provides a lot of examples.

Cons: None.

Pros: EASY

Cons: boring and hw sucks

Pros: Easy labs

Cons: Rather tedious

Pros: Teaches slowly.

one of the best professor I ever known !!

she explained the material very well !! she was so helpful during the office hour. she hold a help room before the exam which you need not to miss, she will not prepare any material to give but she will answer all of your questions!

her exams are a little bit hard which you really need to study! but believe what?! her grading for 4.0 is to get 800 from 1000

The Final exam was easy because she put similar questions from the Exam 1, 2, and 3.

there are three exams and you can drop the lowest one !

Each Exam worth 200, except the final which is worth 300.

and there is owel set, Homework, due every week except the week you have exam or vocation !

I really recommended her. she is one of my best professors. you will enjoy and learn so many things will benefit you in your life.

" you need to attend the class, cause most of the Exam questions are going to be from her notes not from the book !"

I hate chemistry, especially because my chem teacher in high school taught me absolutely nothing, so for me this class was challenging. The first exam is pretty easy, the second was okay, and the third was the most difficult for me. I definitely slacked off the second half of the semester, so that hurt my grade. I 3.0ed the class, but could have 3.5ed it had I studied more. The owls are a bitch and will ruin your social life for awhile, but just get a group of smart friends to do them with. Prof. Pollock was really nice and does a good job teaching the material. She also held review sessions before exams that were helpful if you needed any questions answered. You don't need to buy the book, just buy the lecture notes and book of past exams and you will be fine. Overall the class is difficult if you don't have any chem background like me, but Pollock is a good teacher to have.