Reviews of professor Elizabeth Bess

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Bess is probably the best chemistry teacher I've ever taken. I did not receive the grade that I hoped for, because the majority of the class got an A on the final. The best advice I could give for this class is do the homework early! Trust me, do them a week (or 2) early, and you'll have an easier time getting by.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Shes nice and runs with that persona. Unlike other ochem professors she doesnt drop or replace your lowest midterm score. RUDE and INAPPROPRIATE in emails. Wouldnt recommend at all. Curve was ridiculous and was fine with giant gaps in midterm grades (almost all F, few had 100%+ so averages were way too high than actual).

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor Bess was the nicest professor I've ever taken at UCI. Her lectures are really good and she simplifies everything. Tests were fair and she gives extra credit along with a lot of free participation/homework points. Do the homework, watch the lectures, go to discussion, and you will get an A.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Prof. Bess was a great lecturer. The material was hard but she did a great job. Her midterms were incredibly hard but they curved a bit.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Bess is a great lecturer and v. passionate about teaching. HWs and discussion are the extent of practice, 4 exams are usually fair with a few tricks thrown in (memorize pKas for EC). Curved and adaptive grading to benefit each student, accessible outside of class, passionate in lecture, makes clear what she tests. Very caring. A great OC choice!

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor Bess has so far been my favorite professor for the 51 series. I loved her note taking strategy. The examples she gives in class are similar to those that are on the exams. Practice textbook problems to further memorize the mechanisms. Lots of opportunity for extra credit so take advantage of it.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Professor Bess makes organic chemistry way more understandable than other professors have in the past. She's really caring and puts a lot of effort into making sure her students do well in the class. I recommend her to anyone taking 51B!

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Bess was a great lecturer and provided students with fill-in notes that were EXTREMELY helpful. Her exams were very fair, but it's on you to make sure you learn everything very thoroughly because after all ochem is not easy. Accessible outside of class and a solid choice for 51B.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Her lectures were good, but the exams were difficult and somehow she managed to curve the class up from what was previously established which was unfortunate.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
People cheat in this class because the class stat of the final is so different from all other midterms. The Final is way harder than other midterms, but there are 60 people who got A+ whereas in the past only 5-10 people get A's. This does not make sense, and this causes the curve to be so little. So unfair.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
lectures weren't structured too well, difficult to learn from