<p>Is there really that much of a difference in difficulty???
I know one is mainly for Bio majors and Chem 20 for all other science/engineering majors. I guess 20 leaves you more option to change major. But what to take. I am doing pre-med as bio major, but not sure if i will stay that.</p>
<p>Since you're currently a bio major, I'd suggest that you stick to the 14 series unless you think that you may switch into a physical science major. I say this because most pre-med/bio majors that switch majors change to north campus majors (from what I've seen that is.) I can't give you a good description of the differences btwn the two series because I didn't take my Chem 20 series at UCLA and, with that, obviously, I didn't take the Chem 14 series. But, I have heard that the 20 series is a bit more difficult because it goes a little more in depth into the course material because it's geared toward the physical sciences. However, I'm not saying that the 14 series is easy. I have a couple of friends that are taking it and are struggling to a certain extent to get a decent grade in their classes. Anyway, like I said, my best advice to you is to take the 14 series unless you think that you may switch to a physical science major (i.e.: biochem, chem, physics and etc.)</p>
<p>does chem 20 have more math?</p>
<p>I don't know about Chem 14A, but Chem 20A has a little bit of math involved, like wave equations, stoichiometry and solving equations involving spectroscopy.</p>
<p>also do you know if i can take
Chem 20A , not like it and hten take Chem 14B...?</p>
<p>Nope - if you take Chem 20A and pass (get a C or above), you're not allowed to take Chem 14B anymore, because they cover the same course material. If you drop Chem 20A, however, then you can take Chem 14B.</p>
<p>yeah you can't skip arouund different series (from 20 to 14 or vice versa) once you begin. so i guess you need to make up your mind.</p>
<p>^ Actually, if you take the 14 series, you can decide to upgrade to the 30 series after you take 14B, but you CANNOT downgrade from the 20/30 series to the 14 series. Once you start the 20 series, unless you failed 20a and switch out right after, you're stuck. </p>
<p>"I know one is mainly for Bio majors and Chem 20 for all other science/engineering majors"</p>
<p>Actually, the 20/30 series are for physical science and engineer majors. The 14 series are for all the other science majors and most premeds take the 14 series. If you're pre-med, take the more laidback 14 series for the sake of your gpa- you don't want to compete in curves involving engineers and chemistry specialists. Plus, the 14 series is 1 less chem class and 1 less chem lab class in comparison to the 20/30 series.</p>
<p>well...seeing that UCLA engineering isn't at the caliber of MIT, Berkeley, Stanford etc. and therefore the UCLA engineering students as a whole aren't exactly ULTRA ULTRA smart, shouldn't the chem 20 series NOT have that many chem buffs/really bright students and therefore be easier than the 14 series dominated by pre-meds?</p>
<p>or are they about the same since the 20 series may have really bright biochem, chem engineering, chemistry, etc. who will just eat up chem for bfast? (sorry but im only mentioning these couple of majors b/c im assuming thats where most of the top students taking the 20 series will be coming from....who knows =P)</p>
<p>Qwerty, try taking a class with UCLA engineers. You'll soon discover we're some of the brightest people in the nation. Chem 20A with Scerri isn't easy at all, and you can expect to get a C in it. </p>
<p>I'm no idiot, but you have to give respect where it's due. Waltzing into an engineering class is a great way to fail out. A's are fully possible, (I got one), but I'd highly recommend taking Chem 14A instead.</p>
<p>^The students who make it into UCLA are also the same types of students who get into Cal, although I can't say the same about Stanford or MIT. Engineering is about as tough as a south campus major at LA can get IMO. You don't have as many obvious "weeder" students (believe me, you'll know when you meet one, as sad/mean as it may seem) in the 20 series as you would in the 14 series. Also, theres a difference in the difficulty of the two series. So as a pre-med, the logical choice is to go for the easier and shorter chemistry series. Also, if you feel like its going too slow for you and want a challenge, you can always move up to the 30 series later on. On the other hand, if the 20/30 series is hurting your gpa, you can never downgrade after passing out of 20a.</p>
<p>Edit: The 20/30 series is possible to get A's in if you study hard, but as a smart pre-med, why would you opt out of taking the easier course material, with a series that has a more generous curve? Also, you're done with the chem series faster than the 20/30 series so that means you spend less time overlapping your science classes each quarter, so you'll also have more time to study for your other science classes.</p>
<p>thanks for the awesome feedback guys</p>
<p>what if people arent sure if they wanna do pre-med, pharmacy, or research
i guess it'll depend on which schools you wanna apply to and exactly wut they require and how that gets translated to the courses at UCLA?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.assist.org%5B/url%5D">www.assist.org</a> helped me a lot but lets say were referring to UCSF and UCSD pharmacy...both say 14 or 20 are adequate pre-pharm preps...it's just that im not quite sure which chem series to take nemore...im sure both will be hyper competitive despite the fact that i got 39th on the national chemistry olympiad? perhaps...</p>
<p>My friend at Cal used assist.org to try to get ahead in some of her courses but it ended up wasting her summer as the classes she took at her CC were not transferrable after all. Be careful using it- I'd contact counselors on top of using that website so you don't have the hassle that she wound up going through.</p>
<p>Both chem series are adequate for pre-med and pharamacy anywhere. Do they take into consideration that the 20/30 series are more difficult than the 14 series when reviewing transcripts? No.</p>
<p>true, but i think that may be a cal quirk. a friend of mine whos an EECS major up at berserkeley is taking classes at UCI this summer, only to find out days after the drop deadline that none of the classes will count for credit at all...so yeah~
not only that but one of my other friends took classes at CC and UCI in high school, but at her orientation last month for cal she found out they basically rarely giv credit for anything, whether it be SAT 2, AP, IB, or CommColl/UCI classes</p>
<p>anyways...thanks for the advice</p>
<p>are you supposed to take lab first quarter? or after A</p>
<p>I signed up for chem 20A and I'm premed. I hope I'm not screwed. Should I switch over to 14A? Also won't the 20/30 series better prepare you for the MCAT since it goes into more detail and may require you to learn more?</p>
<p>true, the learning more part will definitely help prepare you more for the MCAT; im in 20A myself and now im pretty convinced the DIFFICULTY of the class really depends each quarter and who is taking it with you...whether it be 14 or 20/30...i mean, the material more or less cant be that far off or diferent...it's the first class of the series we're talking about here...</p>
<p>actually i would like to argue that its the premed students who screw up the curve. premed students are more worried about their GPA because getting into a medical school these days is really hard.. sooo they study like crazy because they want to get into a medical school.</p>
<p>lol; so there seems to be no clear answer?</p>
<p>I'm not sure how the hard the 14 and 20 series are. The 20 series is probably relatively more difficult than the 14 series, but i doubt that it really is as ridiculously hard as people seem make it out to be. The 20 series, or atleast 20A, uses the same textbook as my high school ap chem class did. But I don't know, it may actually end up being impossibly difficult. Arent there any UCLA premed students (not entering freshman) on this board with firsthand experience that can help answer these questions?</p>
<p>Oh, and kingrover, the labs are with 20B and 14B, but not with 20A and 14A.</p>