Sophia Hayes

2 or less hrs/week

This class was great! you got to listen to cool people talk every week. We had to write two tweets about what we heard and that was all the work we did. Very easy, very fun. I liked going to this class, it broke up my week.

5/19/2024

Weekly assignments are short and easy if you take solid notes during the once-weekly lecture from a practicing chemist (from many different fields). Low stress and not a lot of work. Go to the lecture once a week, take notes, do the one assignment that goes with it, and be done until the next week. A great FYP for people interested in chem.

12/22/2021

Hayes' Applications in Chem seminar is a very easy A. Just be sure to ask a question or two towards the guest speakers and you should get full discussion points. The assignments for each guest speaker are not difficult at all as long as you were mostly paying attention to the talk. If you aren't passionate about chemistry, it can be a bit boring.

12/8/2021

My least favorite chemistry course at Wash U. Prof Hayes is very unorganized, and she makes a lot of mistakes during lecture. It is not clear she understands a lot of the material. She does understand character tables, but she cannot teach them. Just a really frustrating semester. Take someone else for Inorganic.

12/20/2019

Don't take this class.

10/8/2019

While she's a disorganized lecturer, exams and grading are fair and she's incredibly nice/helpful if you go to her for help. Be aware that this class starts out as basically a rehash of 111 but then gets difficult by the end. The textbook often isn't very good--go to her office hours if you can!

12/19/2018

Hayes is one of the most caring professors. I didn't think she was disorganized, she would make mistakes sometimes but they were never such that you couldn't follow the lecture. Her tests were always straightforward and not tricky. I really think any problems were bc she taught from the book, and the book was horrible at explaining concepts.

1/4/2018

The material is well taught, though sometimes a little bit confusion but overall inspirational. Dr Hayes is funny and caring. Grades are reasonable. Definitely learn something from this course.

8/25/2017

Exams are doable because they are exactly like the problem sets. Hayes was an average lecturer, but she can be very passive-aggressive if you ask a question she feels that she has already answered. I relied on the textbook and the TA for this class.

5/12/2013

Nearly the same material as Chem 111, but not taught nearly as well. She is never prepared for class and does not handle questions well at all. Usually, the TAs can answer your questions, but they sometimes don't understand what Hayes is talking about either. Take Buhro for this if you can.

11/26/2011

What a waste of time. I learned nothing from Hayes, and barely anything additional from the TAs. Grading was arbitrary. I don't think she could do the experiments, so we shouldn't have to do them.

5/19/2011

Whenever she saw that the class was confused, her typical response would be something along the lines of "Don't worry it'll make more sense once you do the homework." However, the lectures were only marginally related to the homework. I ended up doing most of my learning through the textbook.

1/14/2011

Terrible. She does not know the material and does not care if we learn. The semester was a true disappointment. Is there another option? There must be...Loomis? Frey? Moeller? Anyone?

12/18/2010

Absolutely awful teacher. Cannot stress how terrible.

1/25/2010

I'm so happy the semester is over. This was the worst class I have taken at WU. Hayes is terrible, and her TA was even worse. I agree we should not have to take this course with her. AVOID at all cost.

12/9/2009

No doubt, she is the worst professor in Chem. and probably at WU. Why does Chemistry put her in a req. course? She treats us like we are 7 yrs old. She even yelled at someone for passing a note. I am trying to get ready for grad school, but I have no idea if I like Inorg. or if I want to go in that area. I feel jipped.

11/25/2009

Terrible teacher. Homework has nothing to do with lecture. Does not understand material at all.

11/16/2009

she's really smart

5/2/2006

If at all possible, avoid Professor Hayes. I was forced to be part of this section (rather than be in Frey) because of a schedualing conflict and still am upset about it. The other day my math class was cancelled and I was fortunate enough to attend Frey's class- SO MUCH BETTER.

10/6/2005

Professor Hayes is very nice, but if you get stuck in her class and are able to attend another section, do so! When I stopped going to her class and went to the other section, my grades improved significantly.

12/28/2003

She shouldn't give us exams that she can't pass herself

12/11/2003

Makes a lot of mistakes during class, absolutely green prof without a clue. Not good at all. Asks TA's for help on material during class habitually.

12/6/2003