Mauro Di Renzo

Di Renzo is a great teacher. People here don't seem to understand that, and I got the same vibe at the beginning when I took his Chem I class. He's a seriously harsh grader at times and will sometimes take off points for no reason. Also, if you ask a somewhat obvious question, he may or may not respond to you in a condescending manner. That said, if you listen in class, you will understand the subject. He teaches in a very entertaining manner, with some weird non-PC humor at times, but overall the class is pretty straight forward and he always makes himself available at his office hours to answer any questions about the theory or the assigned exercises. About those exercises: for every test, he picks out 2-3 of the problems from those exercises (usually on the harder end) and sometimes modifies them slightly, sometimes leaves them as is. Basically, what that means is that if you don't do the problems, he'll know. Another thing, just listening in class will not make you pass the class. I learned that the hard way the first time around, as did most people in the class. The exercises can be hard, but the harder they are to do, the better you'll understand the subject. He posts all the class notes ahead of time on Omnivox so you won't need to write anything down (besides little footnotes on the side if need be).

Too long didn't read: he is a good teacher that doesn't deserve the low rating, he gives quite a bit of homework, but that's just how it is in a science program, just put in the work and you can get 90s EASILY. AMAZING teacher. I have no clue why he has such a negative score, he's just realistic. His labs and assignments are the only really difficult part of the class. An "assignment" is what he does every few weeks, its one hour and a half class where you are put into a group with 3 other random students, and you are tasked with solving really hard questions, the assignments count for VERY little and just serve to bring your closer to your classmates and really come into your own and try and solve problems that require a bit more thinking. For labs he is just in general a bit of a harsh grader, the smartest kids in the class got low 70s, but he really is just giving a reality check of the professionalism that will be expected of you in the future if you pursue the sciences in your education or your career(also labs only count for 10% it's not a big deal). His tests are extremely fair, not many challenging questions, I for one did well, averaging an 88 for the test section. As long as you DO THE ASSIGNED PROBLEMS, and take the time to understand the course material, which i cant stress enough, you will be fine. As an actual teacher, he's very energetic. I had him in the morning but his energy made me feel wide awake, definitely not a boring teacher. He also cracked jokes a lot, really funny guy but I'll warn his jokes aren't for everyone. Another thing about him though is he isn't afraid to be honest when you are doing something that isn't the smartest. He will make fun of you, don't take it personally, we all have those moments where we ask stupid things, just acknowledge the fact you may have done or asked something that wasn't exactly the smartest. If you do get on his good side he is a very enjoyable tacher, I had such a fun semester and actually hope i get him again if thats possible. In the end, ignore the other reviews saying he's really hard, he's not, just do your work and go see him if you have trouble. I had him for general chemistry, which was a very easy semester, he teaches INCREDIBLY well, even saving a period each week for students to ask questions which is rare. general chem is easy so don't be too worried just have confidence and use your brain.

Very interesting course