I am a high school student wondering what classes a person with a chem major took to get their chem major? Also, if you remember, how did you like your chemistry department in general? How many chem classes total did you take? What was the hardest one/ 2? Did you like most of the professors? Any advice for a high school student who wants to major in chemistry, particularly at Indiana university? All feedback is greatly appreciated!
I’m not at Indiana University, but the undergraduate chemistry curriculum is pretty standardized so what I’m going to say should be useful. Most chemistry degree programs require you to take calculus, physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, and physical chemistry. All of these classes have associated labs that you may or may not have to take. Some schools might add their own additional requirements such as multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, programming, electrochemistry, computational chemistry, etc.
For me, the hardest chemistry class I took was probably inorganic chemistry as my professor covered a lot of topics and it was all new material to me (it had little to do with the topics I learned in general chemistry). I did pretty well in that class though. Most of my professors were great - the chemistry department at UC Irvine hires lecturers whose only job is to teach, so they can spend more time on teaching instead of research. And the research professors themselves were fine teachers themselves. Sadly I can’t say the same for many of the other departments but I have absolutely no issue with the chemistry department here.