Chemistry Courses

[dolsen20]

It seems there are a lot of different recommendations for what Chemistry classes to take. I myself am not the best student when talking about chemistry.So my question is are intro chemistry courses accepted or do they have to be the harder classes?

[Friction]

The vast majority of programs requiring CHM are going to be General Chemistry and higher.

[Will352ns]

I have yet to come across a school that accepts Intro to Chem. Gut through it, I hated chemistry....but think of it this way, It's nothing compared to the difficulty of PA school. Get used to the suck.

[GreatChecko]

I have yet to come across a school that accepts Intro to Chem. Gut through it, I hated chemistry....but think of it this way, It's nothing compared to the difficulty of PA school. Get used to the suck.

 

I can second that. Just take it one class at a time, go to office hours, the tutoring center, or even get a tutor, and push through.

 

For example, I am damn proud of my B- in organic. Furthermore, it was a non-issue when I got to the interviews. I was asked why I got a B- and I simply told them I never really got my head around it, despite constantly going to office hours, and spending a great deal of time studying. I made it clear that I was not blaming anyone but myself and that I did my best in the class. It just wasn't my area of expertise.

 

Definitely aim for a B in chem, but don't think that you need to ace the course to get into PA school. Just, get the A's where you are able to.

 

Checko

[Lemon Bars]

Yeah. Get ready for hell. Chemistry is the worst. Studying for chemistry is a full-time job. Sorry. And few PA schools will accept introductory chemistry or chemistry for nurses.

[Hemegroup]

Definitely aim for a B in chem

 

Never aim for anything less than an A. Always shoot as high as you can, then if you fail in some areas it will be less of a drop. Always shoot for an A.

[Kelly6890]

Start with the first level of Chemistry for science majors, according to the admissions office I spoke to earlier this week!

 

If you get through Gen Chem and then take Organic, you might find Organic works better for you, too. I did really well in Orgo and less well in Gen Chem.

[Latina PA]

I can tell you that the way I got through with Chemistry was with lots and lots of hours of studying, watching YouTube videos, buying books (like chemistry for dummies and others) , lots of $$ spent on tutors and taking advantage of the free tutors and student help that the University gives.

Try to find the easiest professor to take it with (ratemyprofessor.com) and go for it.

Also if you see that you are definitely going to fail and you can withdraw and get a W instead of D or F, go ahead and withdraw. It will save your GPA.

I withdrew from my Organic 1 class because I was doing very poorly and I took it the next semester with another professor and got a B+

[Moiraine57]

Definitely use ratemyprofessor.

 

The first time I took chemistry, I had a tenured professor who obviously didnt want to be there, made things as hard as possible, was inaccessible, etc. etc. just a bad experience. I ended up taking it pass/fail so it wouldn't damage my GPA.

 

Taking it again, I have a wonderful professor who is focused on teaching, breaks everything down simply so you can understand it, provides opportunities for homework to boost your grade, has office hours 3 afternoons a week, the school provides tutoring, etc.

 

The teacher makes a big difference.

[GreatChecko]

Never aim for anything less than an A. Always shoot as high as you can, then if you fail in some areas it will be less of a drop. Always shoot for an A.

 

Of course! However, at the end of the day in a weed out course, I was pretty happy with my B.

 

Checko

[Timon]

Something that helped me a lot was using my laptop with an Internet connection during class / lab. In class I would type everything the teacher said and then supplement my notes with materials and images from the net. At the end of class I would create a study guide (like an outline) that I could take with me where I couldn't have a laptop and review. In lab I took photos of all parts of my experiments which also helped me recall later what each step was and what the results were. Just throwing that out there as this is something that helped turn me from a 2.3 student into a 4.0 student. That along with one on ones with professors specific to what I had a hard time understanding.

[bjl12]

Che 2 is far more challenging than Che 1. There's just simply a greater volume of information that is more detail specific.

 

I'm not the biggest fan of Chem, admittedly, but it's not as bad as some people are making it out to be. Once you start studying it endlessly (which I'm almost convinced one has to do) you actually develop an appreciation for it. That doesn't mean I won't mentally discard of the information right after the final! Haha, but really don't sweat it. You'll need to work though (most people do).

[bjl12]

Never aim for anything less than an A. Always shoot as high as you can, then if you fail in some areas it will be less of a drop. Always shoot for an A.

 

Couldn't agree more. Your standards should always be your best. Don't go into anything with the mindset that it'll get less than your best. Unless we're talking art history courses... :;-D: (I, proudly, got a B- in Art History)

[whoRyou]

I have yet to come across a school that accepts Intro to Chem. Gut through it, I hated chemistry....but think of it this way, It's nothing compared to the difficulty of PA school. Get used to the suck.

This is why I have already accepted the fact I will have to fork over some serious dinero for a tutor because I never had to take it in high school nor when I received my bachelors of science in psych.Go figure you would think I would have taken it considering that I have a BS already

<shrug> Now that I am taking these prerequisites for PA school it is somewhat intimidating after all these years of taking a sabbatical, but it is what it is ... BTW I think my avatar says it all. :wink: