Neff, Grace Ann  

Chemistry and Biochemistry

3.11/4.00

48 evaluations


CHEM 111


Freshman
C
Required (Major)
Jun 1999
Not a bad teacher overall. Her tone is pretty stale, but tests, worksheets, and quizes are not too bad. Yes this is a lot like most high school chem classes, and easy to fall asleep in. She makes the effort to know everybody's name, and did in my class. I would recommmend her if you don't mind "going back to high school" for class.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Oct 1999
Neff was a good instructor. She was a bit dry and confusing sometimes, but you've learned this stuff in high school already. Really helpful during office hours and she did take an effort to know everyone's name. I would recommend this professor.

CHEM 124


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
Pretty good. Not spectacular, but good. The class itself was pretty droll (especially for those that remember anything from high school chem) She is a pretty good lecturer, did material well. Tests were easy if you knew what you were doing. (again, high school chem or just study for a while). Pretty good.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
The class is not all that difficult, a little studying and it should be easy. She is very boring and does not change her tone. Even with all the things around me to play with I managed to fall asleep regularly. Tests are much easier than other chem 124 teachers.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2000
Dr. Neff is an excellent professor. Okay, the lectures can go on for a bit longer than they should, but she does her best to simplify concepts and to clear up questions and problems that students. The labs are the best part of the class though, because they are actually related to what you are covering. Her finals are fair, if a little difficult.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
May 2000
Dr. Neff was not my style. she spoke in montone, and resulted in very, very, very long lectures. It was not uncommon for her to lecture for 2 1/2 hours. She has trouble answering questions related to class topics, but she is very helpful in office hours. I pay tuition to learn in calss, not in office hours. I would suggest finding someone else.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
May 2000
Dr. Neff was one of the best professors I had in my first year here. Because of her I wanted to do more studies with chemistry. She does extra review sessions before the test, have extra office hours before a quiz. Mainly in her class, as long as you do what she tells you- which is read the book, do the homework you should be fine. I had one of the highest grades in the class, studio chemistry is actually a very fun class.


Freshman
N/A
Required (Major)
Oct 2002
Something is not right in college land when 70% of her chemistry class receives an F on the first exam, no one receives an A or B, and Neff is as tempted to curve the exam as I am to remove the periodic table that's jammed so far up her ass that she refuses to admit her own failure. BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Jan 2003
Her class would be okay if she would curve. She assigns too much work, and makes the tests and quizzes way too difficult for a class with no curve. She has no problem with most of the class failing a quiz/exam, she just says the students arent working hard enough. But really she did not give reasonable test questions. Anyway, shes not that bad, her workbooks are helpful and she is approachable for help, but I wouldnt reccomend her.


Freshman
C
Required (Major)
Jan 2003
dr. neff is a pretty good teacher. i got a c+ in the class cause i was lazy and didn't study for her tests. but, otherwise, she's an excellent lecturer and you'll learn a lot in this kind of pointless and pretty difficult class.


Freshman
D
Required (Support)
Mar 2003
I could have been sitting on hot coals and been covered with acid and I still would have fallen asleep during the lectures. Some of her tests are unfair as well. I quote "I know this is how the book explains it, but it is wrong." So WTF did I buy that $80 POS for then? She knows her stuff but she can't teach worth a damn.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2003
Neff was a pretty good teacher. It is very difficult to stay awake during ehr lectures but if you do, they are quite helpful. She goes over everything you need to know. She also gives optional workbooks on all the material that are just for practice which basically have all the material for the quizzes and tests. There's either a quiz or test once a week but it's not so bad. She really wants her students to excel and actually gets mad if students do bad in the class and don't go to her office hours. I barely studied for the final because she always inludes past material on all the tests so you retain all the information over the quarter. She's not the most exciting teacher our there but I hear she's the best chem teacher cal poly has to offer so take her if you can.


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Jun 2004
DONT TAKE NEFF! There, I warned you. If youre used to sitting through 2.5 hour lectures on the most boring subjects (i.e quantum mechanics) taught by the most monotone voiced teacher on campus, you may want to CONSIDER her. Neff doesnt explain the labs, instead tells you to read some website and learn from that, so you really wont learn from that. Labs are done by classes of about 120 students at a time, so you'll be waiting in 10-15 min lines to use scales and other equipment. You can expect to see errors on just about every worksheet, key, and test. I seriously doubt think she puts much effort into getting things right. Her test questions can be rediculously irrelvant and/or difficult. She doesnt explain individual concerns well if she can even get to them. Ive gotten an A in all my other chem classes and this one I had to struggle with! This is by far the worst taught class Ive had to take! I realize now why it was the only chem124 class with space in it now. NEFF = TERRIBLE !


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2004
First off Chem Sucks! AND chem. 124 sucks even worse! 2.5 hour each wed and Friday is not fun at all. Labs are straight forward once you start going its really easy to know what you got to do next and if not you have 7 other people sitting at your table. Sure waiting in line isn


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Oct 2004
A lot of people hack on Neff! But i thin she really knows her stuff...yea sometimes when she teaches you don't understand it but she pushes her students to learn the material. To actually having to learn the material so that you don't fail is a good thing especially since chemistry will come back to haunt engineers in thermodynamics and otehr courses. WARNING: TAKE THE SI CLASS FOR THIS CLASS. The SI instructor is VERY helpful and there for the students. Neff isn't a horible teacher, just be sure to practice practice practice problems!


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2004
Neff is the best. She is a teacher that forces you to work hard. She gives you tons of worksheets and makes you try to solve them all during class. This may sound tough, but Chem 124 is a tough class with any teacher. But Neff makes you learn the material. Her worksheets cover more than everything on the test. No matter what Chem 124 class you are in, you will have a quiz EVERY Friday. But, in Neff's class you are more prepared for the quizzes. Also, you have 3 midterms and one final. Also, your final grade is adjusted after all grades are in. I was sitting on the fence between B+ and A- before finals, but the adjustment gave me a solid A. No other teacher works so hard and gives you as many worksheets as Neff. Take her if you can. She will teach you well.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2005
First off, Chem 124 with Neff is a hard course. Out of 62 students in my class, there were only 1 or 2 A's. Most people got a C in the class. In order to do well in her class, you have to put in a fair amount of time studying outside of class. The best thing to do is to just go over the course notes. The tests and quizzes were based almost completely off of the notes. Rarely was their a question on a test that was not from the notes or the labs. Also, she is very helpful if you ever need to go to her office.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2005
Dont expect to make it through this class on lectures alone. It was so much easier to just read through the chapters than to try and decifer lecture notes. The worksheets she gives in class help when reviewing for tests too. the tests are really hard to get an a or b somethimes, but a c is very doable, and with a little work, you can get consistent b's. I would reccomend her as a teacher if you are expecting to learn. If you just want to get it over with, find another teacher.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2005
As stated below, don't epect to learn much from her lectures. Not only does she go too fast, but has a very limited grasp of the subject matter. She knows about as much as a student who passed the course with an A. She's late often and is very unorganized, and very unprofessional. She once told us she wouldn't be there, wouldn't have office hours, and would have to leave early becuase she had a job interview and was having a "busy week." I wonder how she'd have looked upon students who ditched class becuase they were having a "busy week." If you ask her questions, she just looks up at the ceiling and says "I'll look it up," or "I'll get back to you later," and then doesn't. And these are relevant questions, not random junk not associated with chem. And she grades like a NAZI. The book is decent, so just put on some headphones during lecture and read it. Overall, Neff has been my worst experience with the Chem department, and as one person said, in a group, she's a "cast iron bitch."


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2008
Awesome teacher. Easily one of the best I've had here. Before I took the class, I heard horror stories of people failing 2+ times because Chem was the hardest class at poly. Dr. Neff proved those all wrong. Yes, there was a lot of material to study, but is was easy once you learned it. Dr. Neff knows the class is hard, especially for people who don't have a strong background in chem. After taking her, chem is a breeze. I would definitely recommend taking Dr. Neff.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2009
Dr. Neff is an amazing professor! I would recommend her 100%. She thoroughly understands if you are having difficulty learning the material and will help you in office hours until you get it! Office hours are VERY helpful. She is very open and dedicated to her teaching. Quizzes and tests are straight forward and the workbook she posts online really helps for tests and quizzes. I learned so much important information in this class. I honestly never used the book, though, - her notes and workbooks suffice. I was lucky enough to have her for 124 and 125 and really caught on to her teaching style. Dr. Neff really is a wonderful person!


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2009
Neff is great teacher. She presents the material very clearly but is also really helpful if you need more clarification. However, her notes are really disorganized. If you go back and try to read them before a test they're not very useful. DO THE WORKBOOKS, she writes them and all her tests use problems from the workbooks with different numbers. Don't buy the book, you don't need it. It's hard to read and the problems are useless since she gives a workbook and a workbook key. I got a B mostly because I was too lazy to study hard for the final. Go to office hours and don't be afraid to ask for help. She's really lenient with people who consistantly go to office hours and ask for help.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Aug 2011
Neff is awesome! does a great job helping her students out and she is really understanding. The way the class islet up with both lecture and lab is really nice, pluss you get out early a lot of the time. Just make sure you actually do the work and study for the quizzes and tests.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2011
Neff explains concepts clearly. You get out early 90% of the time. Supplemental workshop = GOLD.

CHEM 125


Freshman
D
Required (Support)
Jun 2000
I hated this class. Her lectures are long and boring, and she speaks in monotone. She doesn't ever explain why things are the way they are, she just wants people to memorize dumb shit. Her tests are hard and unfair, and worst of all, she DOESN'T GRADE ON A CURVE. Overall, not a good professor. She's hard, vague, and boring, find someone else.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Aug 2000
Dr. Neff could sound a bit dull and unethusiatic at times but she presents the material clearly and effectively. If you understand her lecture notes and her handouts you don't even have to touch the book. Be warned her exams are challenging and she does not curve, but if you want to understand chemistry take her class.


5th Year Senior
N/A
Required (Support)
Dec 2001
The teacher is ineffective. The lectures are spent staring at a computer screen listening to a monotone voice through the overhead speakers. This teacher could not keep my attention in the class. I studied hard and still got a poor grade. SHE DOESN'T CURVE! ~~FIND SOMEONE ELSE~~


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Jun 2005
Neff may have a monotonous voice, but she's very helpful and willing to answer questions. I mean, one time I didn't understand the lab, and I asked her 5 questions spaced 30 seconds apart, and she didn't get mad. I'd have to agree that the lectures were long and often boring. What I really liked about Neff were the worksheets and workbooks and the online answer keys to them (very detailed solutions). These were so good that I never read a page from that useless textbook and I still fully understood what was going on. Her quizzes, midterms, and finals were based off of the worksheets and workbooks, so be sure you understand them. Neff doesn't curve, but then again, the class average was about 75%, so nothing to really gripe about. Plus, she's really good at giving partial credit. If you really want someone lively and not monotonous, then take Dr. Baker. But if you take Dr. Baker, be prepared to learn everything inside out, work your ass off, and then have it handed to you.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Aug 2005
Get ready to write fast during lecture. She writes so fast that if you are not paying attention for one second you're going to be way behind. She won't tell you anything you don't need to know for the tests or give you worksheets that aren't relative. Do the worksheets and know them. If you do that you'll be ready for the tests as they are taken right from the worksheets in workbooks. She is the clearest and most percise chem teacher I know of.


Senior
N/A
Required (Support)
Apr 2006
NEFF IS A PIMP!!!


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Jun 2006
Great class to take for people that passed the AP test and are looking for a breezy course to take. The only work you'll have to do is the lab reports. For others, chemistry is a difficult subject for anyone and it'll require a lot of study time and effort but Neff is a pretty good teacher that's always ready to help.

CHEM 127


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Apr 2001
Dr. Neff was a very good teacher. She is a good lecturer and her tests are very fair. There are two tests, 2 quizzes and a final. She assigns a whole lot of practice problems from each chapter. She never collects them, but just recommends to do them for practice. I would definitely recommend doing the problems and having a study group. I found that to be very beneficial. She is a very fair grader, but she absolutely does not curve. She knows everyone's names because she learns them in lab, and I found that to be very impressive. I went to her office hours regularly to ask questions and she was always very helpful. I am taking her right now for Chem 128 and would recommend her to everyone.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2001
Good teacher when it comes to explaining things. Some problems with her teaching style that I noticed. She teaches at a good pace, however she lectures you about concepts for an hour and a half and then tests you on stuff that makes you relate to the concepts, so it's kinda difficult. Would recomend to take a SI with her. If you have a basic understanding of chem then it's not that bad though.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2001
Dr. Neff is an excellent professor. Besides being knowledgeable of the material, she truly enjoys chemistry. The one thing that separates her from all of the other science teachers is that she actually has a personality. She is caring and understanding, and will do everything she can to help her students. The class is somewhat hard, but what chemistry class isn't? If you do the assigned problems and take notes in class then you will do just fine.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2001
Personally because of Dr. Neff, i Understood Chemestry wonderfully. Her lectures are easy to understand and at sometimes fun. Yeah you heard riht, chemistry is fun. Well no not the chemistry, butt he things that she does can be fun, like burning the gummy bear and all that good stuff. Well from what I heard she's the best but for both 127 128 I had Dr. Neff I and I couldn compare her to anyone but personally I thought she was a great teacher and she has a great explanation to everything with handouts and tons of example problems. She's an overall great teacher


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Jan 2002
She is a great teacher. But if you can take the class that's two days a week for an hour and a half long. It's just easier that way.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Jul 2003
anyone struggling in chemistry needs to take Dr. Neff. She is my favorite professor at cal poly. She is theost wonderful caring woman who will do anything and everything to help you succeed. she does not use power point -- so she writes on the board/overhead at the same pace you are writing the notes. she has challenging test but overll you benefit from her class in every way.


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Aug 2003
I had Dr. Neff for the first two quarters of the series and was quite pleased at the time. She has a great personality, is sometimes a bit long-winded and motherly in lecture, but is really sincere. I breezed through her first two quarters with minimal effort. The thing that has made me reevaluate her style of teaching is when I had to take other chemistry courses in the future. Neff's supposed strength, that she provides you with lots and lots of worksheets, turned out to be my downfall in the future. For better or worse, no other chemistry or other science instructors do that and expect you to take a bigger role in your education. I wished I had learned early on how to stand on my own earlier because later courses were a lot tougher than they should've been. By spring term my classmates knew how to study while i was struggling to keep up. ** Keep in mind that this is just my personal subjective take on things and I know loads of poly students who would love to have the easy teacher.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Apr 2005
Dr. Neff is very helpful, I don't know what you all are talking about. All you have to do is her worksheets (which there are many of) and you'll do fine. Her office hours are the most helpful as well. She really makes sure you understand before you leave. She may be rushed and hurried, she is a good person. Take the workshop if you want an A, it is extremely helpful because it forces you to review what we went over in lecture, and then you'll be ready for the lab quizes.


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Feb 2006
Neff is really good at helping u learn the material from the lectures especially if you have a crappy teacher. She's also really funny.

CHEM 128


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2001
Dr Neff is a very nice professor. She is very willing to help in her office and in lab. I would recomment her to anyone. I have her in 128 right now. She is a relief from most of the other engineering teachers because she actually has a personality. Do her handouts they will help a lot. I would recomment her to anyone


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2001
Dr. Neff is an excellent professor. Unlike other professors I have had, Dr. Neff has a personality. She is very very helpful during office hours. Her tests are very straightforward, if you do the assigned handouts and homework. She makes it a point to learn the names of her students and is very friendly. I would recommend Dr. Neff to anyone who will put forth a solid effort...it will be reflected in your grade.


Freshman
N/A
Required (Major)
Mar 2002
Dr. Neff is one of the most genuine and sincere professor on campus. In my Chem 128 class, we had 3 midterms and a final. No curve was put on the exams but they were not relatively hard. She doesn't try to put problems on the test you've never seen before. Neff provides you with a workbook and with a key posted on her website for you to prepare for the exams. She always has a study session outside of her class time right before a midterm and a final. Utilize her office hours because she is very approachable and helpful.


Freshman
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2002
I used to hate chemistry, but Dr. Neff changed all that this quarter. She made the topic interesting and fun. The amount of work she puts into the course...the workbooks, extra problem solving sessions, and extended office hour were all really helpful. She had a good way of using analogies to explain the more difficult topics of the course. Overall her tests were pretty straight forward...they were pretty much identical to inclass examples and workbook problems. I definitely recommend her for 128. I wish she was going to be teaching 129.


Senior
A
Required (Support)
Sep 2002
Dr. Neff is a fantastic teacher. She is very organized, helpful and approachable. She does many extras to ensure that students who want to succeed in her class can--extra study sessions and office hours, workbook/study guides that are very similar to the actual tests, "concept checks" in class to make sure you are getting what is important. She is a very nice person and was willing to spend a lot of time explaining anything I needed help on--clearly and easily. I would recommend Dr. Neff to anyone, she is a great teacher!


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Sep 2003
Dr. Neff is an incredible Chemistry teacher. She takes an overall horrible subject and makes it interesting and understandable. Not only are her lectures very organized and well prepared, but she also goes out of her way to make sure her students understand. Coming from someone who hates chem, take Neff.


Sophomore
N/A
Elective
Mar 2015
Grace Neff was the sweetest and best chemistry professor. She was very approachable in and out of class and wanted all of her students to be successful. There were 10 quizzes and all of them were straightforward. The exams were a bit more challenging. Each week she posts a "check up" sheet and I HIGHLY recommend you complete them that week, right before the midterm and before the final. She also posts extremely detailed study guides for the exams. Some of the questions I missed on exams were my own fault because I didn't take the time to compare the two similar this IE deltaGknot vs. delta G (advice, distinguish between those two early on!) As for the final, the MC were extremely straight forward and the free response were basically the check up problems. Advice for the final, if you feel comfortable with the type of math in the problem, set it up and move on. I definitely learned effective study habits for this class. Good luck, this class was (as a science and math geek) enjoyable and challenging.

FRSC 740


5th Year Senior
B
General Ed
Nov 2016
I learned that if I were to take up hunting, I should shoot deer, not bears, because a bear will hunt me back if I successfully wound it. Fascinating! I didnt know that the key to production and operations management was so brutally simple!