Chem 1A or Chem 4A

<p>For someone who is seriously considering chemical engineering for a major, which chemistry class would be the best fit?</p>

<p>Chem4A. Be prepared.</p>

<p>Chem 1A-- There’s no use in adding extra work for yourself. You can always adapt to the ChemE life by taking Chem 4B second semester.</p>

<p>I used to be in a similar predicament once; read it about here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/923873-chem-1a-chem-4a-prospective-cheme-major.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/923873-chem-1a-chem-4a-prospective-cheme-major.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>4A. Harder but more rewarding; gave me a better appreciation of chemistry.</p>

<p>I thought all CoC students have to take Chem 4A…</p>

<p>The OP probably hasn’t transferred to CoC yet.</p>

<p>True, he hasn’t. He’s engineering undeclared right now but is seriously considering chemical engineering. He knows he has to transfer to the COC if he decides on this major. He is considering Chem 4A because he heard that it would be a better indicator as to whether chemical engineering was for him. True?? Not true??</p>

<p>completely untrue. In Chem 4A we covered basic thermodynamics, phase equilbria, and quantum mechanics, all at a pretty basic level. In Chem 4B we covered electrochemistry and…what the professors called “analytical chemistry” and “biochemistry,” but really, our treatment of the last two topics was just soooo shallow that I really regret taking the class given the amount of busy work involved. The thing is, in Physics 7B and ChemE 140 you will cover the thermo and phase equilibria in much more detail, and esp. in 7B the pace is slow enough that the background you get from Chem 4A doesn’t amount to much. Also, the 140 professor is a very good instructor. I get the sense that the quantum mechanics portion of 4A didn’t really help ChemE students when they took Chem 120A (or Phys 137A), quantum chemistry–4A was sort of hand-wavy on the topic, esp. since most of us had taken very little math.</p>