I actually really enjoyed this class despite it being a weed-out. Prof Varani wasn't too bad, and the content and workload were pretty manageable, although a lot.

We go over equilibrium, acid-bases, buffers, thermodynamics, and electrochemistry. Everything is all connected, so a deep understanding of each topic is needed. Labs are ok. Lab 5 is actual hell: 14 titrations in 3 hours. Be speedy. ALEKS is annoying, but do a little bit every day and it's manageable. Just show up to the discussion section.

Prof Varani is very passionate and knowledgeable, especially about thermodynamics. He is also so funny and entertaining. He follows the textbook pretty closely, so you could skip lectures and just read the textbook, but I would still go to lectures because he makes some pretty hilarious jokes. Exams are a time crunch and concept-heavy. Not only are there calculation problems, but also short-response questions and concept-based multiple choice. During the entropy lecture, sit on the right side of the lecture hall, just to mess with him.

Read the textbook!!! I also highly suggest doing textbook problems and explaining the key concepts of each topic to review exams. Time yourself doing calculations because Varani gives long exams in a short amount of time. Labs can be difficult/confusing depending on what kind of TA you have, so you might want to join the class Discord server. Also if Todd is a TA, go to his office hours!!!!! Todd literally carried me through this class.