AI Rate Professor

Chemistry

Peter Castro

CHEM8A · CHEM22 · CHEM8B · CHEM8A8B · 107 lifetime ratings

AI rating
38/100
RMP rating
3.5/5
Take again
51.85%
Difficulty
4.1

The decision

if you want ruthless ochem mastery and .

Best fit · Hardcore LearnerTest heavy ochemTough graderPolarizingOffice hours helpfulHard exams
  • Organic chemistry is extremely hard with .
  • some credit deep learning and fairness; many report trauma and drops.
  • , and office hours help only if you already grind hard.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

HardWork

26/100

Even A students call it a grind; exams and path.

; online stress is especially high with low averages.

Is the course easy?

BrainBurner

16/100

Organic chemistry under Castro is consistently described as soul-crushing and conceptually brutal.

In-person and online both rate extreme difficulty; CHEM22 is hard but slightly less than 8A/8B.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

28/100

and warn that missing class costs you badly.

Online and as mandatory.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

48/100

; half urge avoidance for GPA and mental health.

; majors.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Strict

34/100

Tough grader reputation dominates, though .

Format shift

credit; older and online reviews are harsher.

Workload

Heavy

28/100

, and constant exam prep make the load feel overwhelming.

Format shift

; online adds more self-study burden.

Teaching experience

Average

48/100

Quality and confusing or demoralizing lectures for others.

Format shift

In-person more often praises humor and office hours; online more often calls lectures inadequate.

Assessment method

FocusOnExams

86/100

Quizzes and labs.

Format shift

Test-heavy tags appear across online and in-person ochem and CHEM22.

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

41 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

inspiring hard teacher for and harsh weed-out for others.

Main concern

Exam difficulty, organization issues, and .

What students said

“i survived this class by the power of friendship im not kidding”
CHEM8B
“ if you want to learn organic chemistry. You would have to self teach yourself but ”
CHEM8A
“Overall not an easy A at all but he teaches ochem incredibly well & he's funny”
CHEM8B

Remote format

Online

9 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Hardcore Learner

, and mental strain.

Main concern

and frequent feelings of burnout or needing outside sources.

What students said

“His class broke me. Chemistry was my strong suit until this class.”
CHEM8A
“Lectures are terrible, he just goes over the simple basic material but gave us extremely hard exams, the average was like 50/100.”
CHEM8A
“You wont pass without the use of YouTube or some other source.”
CHEM8A

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Exams are the main gate and often much harder than taught material, with frequent sub-50 averages reported.

Test heavyHarder than lecturesLow class averagesPartial credit sometimesIndex card on some exams

Assessment risk

Strict

24/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and sometimes mismatch study guides; a few sections allow index cards or partial credit.

Test heavyChallenging quizzesIndex card on some examsPartial credit
“The practice problems and and he allowed us to have an index card for .”
CHEM22
“the .”
CHEM8A

Online

Online exams are described as extremely hard versus basic lectures, with low averages and .

Hard online examsLow averagesSelf-teach required
“gave us extremely hard exams, the average was like 50/100.”
CHEM8A
“both his sections got like a 50% average on the .”
CHEM8A

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice

“Prepare to be soul crushed, then get rebuilt by all the pressure.”

Voice snapshots generated from 50 reviews, balancing hard-learning fans and . Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

48/100

“I found his lectures & office .”

⚖️ Recommendation Split

48/100

“ it.”

🔥 Course Difficulty

16/100

“Hardest class I have taken so far. Be prepared to grind and study a lot.”

📝

24/100

“ teaches.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

  • He's funny and reasonable where I was not intimidated to ask for clarification.
  • he is so confusing and teaches.
  • Build us up, don't put us down.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

  • i survived this class by the power of friendship im not kidding
  • Not an easy A at all but he teaches ochem incredibly well
  • Literally the class average for finals was 30%.

Theme 3

⚠️ About Exams

  • .
  • both his sections got like a 50% average on the .
  • and it is nothing like what he teches in class.

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

50

Recent reviews read by the AI

107

Lifetime ratings

88/100

Evidence confidence

Fifty polarized but detailed reviews across years give a reliable picture of and split student outcomes.

Inside 50 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 549
4 out of 515
3 out of 59
2 out of 512
1 out of 523

Course coverage

CHEM8A27 reviews
CHEM2216 reviews
CHEM8B6 reviews
CHEM8A8B1 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

46 reported outcomes

A range

16

A+ 1 · A 14 · A- 1

B range

12

B+ 3 · B 8 · B- 1

C range

5

C+ 1 · C 4

D range

1

D- 1

F

1

F 1

No letter grade reported

11

Audit/No Grade 1 · Drop/Withdrawal 5 · Not sure yet 3 · Rather not say 2