Peter Wade

School: Drexel University
Department: Chemistry
Location:Philadelphia, PA
Overall Rating
rated by 10 students
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
Rating Comment
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Easiness
 Pros: Organized lectures
Posts old quizzes and exams online and in a timely manner
Reviews old exams
Gives assigned problems out of the textbook that may appear on exams and quizzes at the beginning of the semester but are not due in class
Quizzes and exam materials are similar to lecture
Cons: Mechanisms on exams that may appear in lecture but no on quizzes
Overall, I thought Dr. Wade was a very good professor. His lectures were clear and there weren't really any surprises on quizzes or exams. He curves the grade so a C may turn into a B. He also drops two out of four quizzes so only your two best grades count. I also found that he was generous with partial credit. (He would give points even if you get all the multiple choice questions wrong.) As long as you do the assigned problems and study the material (especially whatever he goes over in class), there isn't any reason why someone can't do well in this class. Orgo is a make or break class - you either understand the chemistry or you don't. He gives a lot of chances and opportunities to do well in his class, and if you don't then either try again until you do or accept that chemistry just isn't for you. Compared to the Orgo 1 class I took at the school I transferred from, the professor made this course a lot easier to pass and to learn the material. I'd definitely recommend him.
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 Pros: Lectures are better than Scerbo's.
Cons: Quizes and exams were ridiculous! Atleast for my class, the back exams and quizzes were much easier than the exams and quizzes he gave us! He takes points off quite viciously. He may curve the course but I still did a lot better in Scerbo's class and regret taking Wade over him!!! If you are taking him, make sure you memorize every single thing he puts on the lectures!
Absolutey hated this class and professor!!
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 Pros: He grades fast, is very clear, actually teachs orgo.
Cons: very very very difficult exams. quizzes aren't hard, but exams are hard!
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 Pros: Dr. Wade clearly is very knowledgeable and conducts his class in such a way that you are basically forced to know the material. I would recommend him if you need to actually learn the material, and not just pass the class. Only takes the highest 2 of the 4 quizzes into account for the final grade. Only requires about a 45% for a C and 85% or so for an A.
Cons: You need to know the material to do well, and always takes the entire time slot.
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 Pros: Great instructor. He hand writes all of the notes for you and walks you through the process of each reaction. There aren't many hard problems in his exams.
Cons: Its Organic Chemistry.
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 Pros: he spells out everything. he's a good teacher and knows a lot about orgo chem.
Cons: he takes every second of every class
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 Dr. Wade conducts a class that seems extremely hard to do well in at first, but if you adapt yourself to his teaching style, you will do well. But this is a class that you have to put in the work for. If you do not, you probably will not do that well. Study really hard for all the quizzes (and don't underestimate the first one, because it is probably the most difficult of the four). If you do well on the two out of four quizzes that count towards your grade, you can relax a little about the exams. Study hard for the exams, and basically memorize EVERYTHING he posts on the slides. Reading the book is very helpful, because sometimes Dr. Wade writes notes that don't "categorize" information, so it's difficult to tell what you're supposed to get out of a section of notes. Skimming through the book and doing the assigned problems is really helpful as well. The exams are very difficult, but if you adapt to the way he tests, you'll do fine. After doing poorly on the first exam, I went from a B+ average on the first exam to the highest grade in the class on the second exam. The final is difficult, so memorize like everything in his notes from the beginning of the quarter!
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 Dr. Wade most certainly knows his material, and will answer any questions in class thoroughly. Somewhat old-fashioned, and any and all material is game for the quizzes. Study the back exams, because they are very similar to the actual exams he administers. Know how to differentiate between IUPAC and common names, understand mechanisms of reactions, especially ones that are tricky (i.e. ones that protonate the carbonyl oxygen first, and others that directly attack the carbonyl carbon and then protonate the oxygen). Understand the reagents used in each reaction and identify overlaps. Reading the book was tremendously helpful, and doing the suggested problems were also helpful since his test questions were very similar to the book problems. He does curve quite a bit. Do well on the quizzes to give yourself some leeway for the final: it is the hardest test of all. Going into the final knowing that you don't need an excellent grade will provide for a good cushion.
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 The midterms and quizzes were very straightforward. The only difference between the two was that the midterms included mechanisms. The final exam was pretty difficult, though, since there were two synthesis problems, which are extremely difficult to solve considering you would have to memorize every single reaction from the beginning of the quarter.
He organizes the reactions very well in his notes, but just studying the material in the textbooks would make the chemistry much more easier to understand.
He isn't very generous with partial credit, but he does curve significantly, which he states in the beginning of the course.
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 I absolutely hated organic chem for my first 2 terms. Wade is so straight forward that all you do is study the notes and how to apply them and you are golden. It is difficult to get an A without the curve because everything is worth a lot of points. But he is accomidating with the curve. He actually by the end of the course allowed me to understand organic chem and appreciate it. Words I thought I would never say!

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