<p>Hi folks, I was an idiot and decided to take gen chem 1 before ever even taking so much as even a single chemistry class in high school. I am also taking pre calc, and gen chem 1 lab as well. I absolutely need pre calc because my major is comp sci, and if I fail it Im screwed because so many other classes depend on me passing that class. I shouldnt have taken this class without taking intro to chem, but I needed a 2000 level science and lab and they wouldnt take intro to bio and bio lab and I didnt want to wait and delay my degree any longer. </p>
<p>Also, the teacher doesnt help either. The man has a very thick Indian Accent and I cant understand what he says, he flies through the lectures, and he already assumes that you know intro to chem. The man literally writes these crazy E=MC2 Albert Einstein equations on the board and I am completely lost in the woods. In fact, the class almost seems more like physics than it does chemistry. He told me point blank that I would probably need to study 20-30 hours extra a week in order to pass his class because I didnt know intro to chem: that on top of the fact that he already gives 16 hours of homework per week. He tells me that I will probably fail the class. Also, dont forget I still have to constantly study for pre calc as well. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that all of this is too much for me to handle and the semester just started and Im pretty much failing all of the my classes except for chem lab because its not that much work. I would have already dropped this class but I couldnt find a substitute class and I need to have it in order to get my loan money. I desperately need that loan money because it is my only means of income and without it, I would be homeless (and Im almost there now just waiting for it to come). Plus, its now too late to drop the class with a full refund. Im thinking about just staying in the class until my loans come and then dropping the class. What is the right thing to do here?</p>
<p>You should probably post this in the financial aid section. Someone there will know if there is an impact on your loans if you drop it later. Could you REALLY not find another class (not a science class, but just anything that allows you to keep your loan)? I assume the answer to the question in your thread header is obvious to you at this point… Perfect solution would be to drop back to intro chem now, of course.</p>
<p>Lol your thread is asking a question for something you’re already 4 months into which is currently taking the class. I went with the physics route in HS in 05… no Chem experience and jump in General Chem 1411 in 2011, passed with A, also A in Chem 2… I liked the math and online Hw masteringchemistry. So ya it’s doable. See if u can find a cheat sheet with formulas to help… I thought most of the class consisted with math solving. Half life, etc</p>
<p>You should be OK. I had never seen chem before I took General Chem I, and it was a little annoying but fine. The lab was more of a pain than the lecture, really.</p>
<p>I think I’m gonna go to the adviser tomorrow and ask them if I can get into any intro to chem classes and if I can’t, I think that there’s a good chance I’m gonna just withdrawl from this class after I get my financial aid. It’s like 30-40 hours of work a week and that’s not even counting my other chem lab class and pre calc class. Plus, the teacher got a ph. d from MIT and can’t seem to dumb down the lectures for anyone. The man is too smart for his own good, and thinks that everyone knows what he is talking about, when everyone is really lost in the woods.</p>
<p>Is this a compressed summer semester, I guess? (Sorry, I didn’t read the whole thread.) If so, that’s too much I think. I will never take more than one class at once over a summer. I did it last summer, and it was incredibly terrible. 6 hours is a lot, and that’s if one of them is not a technical course. 7, where both are tough…ugh.</p>
<p>Yeah, I just called up the financial aid department and they told me that I could drop it. I just got my financial aid refund money today, so I’m good on that as well. They just told me that as long as I do good on the rest of my classes then I’m good. I will be put on academic probation after this semester, but as long as I succeed in all my classes next semester I’m good. I’m dropping this class.</p>
<p>The way you describe your class is exactly how my CHEM 167-Chemistry for Engineers at Iowa State was. The instructor flew through the chapters and the lectures were very boring. The only people who did very well were people who had taken AP Chemistry in high school, most people with no previous Chemistry background passed but with a C.</p>