<p>is it as hard as a B- average indicates?
and i'm somewhat daunted by the 3 hour lab sessions- what do students do during those hours?</p>
<p>well…it’s not necessarily difficult, but the curve is apparently such that a B- is the median grade. if everyone had a great grasp of the material it could still be graded so that the median grade was a B-.
if I remember correctly lab didn’t necessarily run for the entire 3 hours, but it was nice to have that time allotted in case something went wrong. if you finished early you could leave. however, you’d be surprised how the time flies when you’re handing in reports, receiving instructions, setting up, doing the experiment, recording everything, and cleaning up.</p>
<p>should i take honors chem instead?
if i’ve scored a 5 on the ap, i can place out of it.
but do i want to?</p>
<p>Honors chem is harder than Chem 207-208.</p>
<p>Yeah, the 3 hour lab sections are a jump from high school, but 2070 lab isn’t that bad. Most are pretty fun and the lab manual has all the instructions listed in an easy-to-understand format.</p>
<p>hey, norcalguy- are you the cornell ex- premed who’s moved onto bigger things, like med school?
would you recommend honors, or regular?</p>
<p>what do you take if you are taking the credits for AP?</p>
<p>I’d recommend the regular route if you’re premed. Take the honors route if you’re a chem major.</p>
<p>chem 207 the course that you take if you get a 5 on AP?</p>
<p>You can take any course you want regardless of your Chem AP score. I’m just saying that Chem 215-216 isn’t that useful for the MCAT. I would know since I took Chem 215-216. If you want to challenge yourself, you can certainly take honors gen chem. Most of the people in that class got a 5 on the AP test but just because you got a 5 on the AP test doesn’t mean you will make an A in the class (again, I would know).</p>
<p>wait, so there is no way in which you can utilize ap credits for chemistry? I was told different</p>
<p>You will get some AP credits for taking Chem 207-208 but not the full amount. To get all 8, I believe you have to take Chem 215-216.</p>
<p>Ah, norcal, you were a Chem. major? :)</p>
<p>Nope. Hence, the advice not to take the honors gen chem sequence if you’re not a chem major. I did well in Chem 215 but significantly worse in Chem 216. I had very little interest in what was taught in Chem 216 (all the stuff about bonding theories, quantum mechanics, SALC’s, etc.). None of it was familiar to me and none of it was covered on the MCAT. The only good to come out of it was that I got a few extra AP credits but Chem 216 ended up being the only class I took at Cornell where I scored below the median.</p>
<p>is there a reason you are rushing to get AP credit for things? unless you are in some kind of credit crunch (trying to graduate early, dual degree, that sort of thing) you shouldn’t be that worried. you will benefit from your AP experience when you take 2070. I only got a 4 on AP chem, so I had to take 2070, but my AP chem knowledge was still very useful.</p>
<p>I heard that the more advanced courses have an easier curve. I am not in a rush, but since I am not a chem major, i wish to have time for other classes i am interested in (even though i love chem)</p>
<p>The median grade is higher if that’s what you mean.</p>
<p>But, it’s not an easier class.</p>
<p>Chem 215 is everything you learned in AP chem crammed into one semester. Chem 216 is likely stuff you haven’t seen before.</p>
<p>I thought, w/ AP credits, you just take the second semester of general chemistry. I was not planning on taking the honors one</p>
<p>Med schools won’t accept AP credit for gen chem. You have to take Chem 207-208 or Chem 215-216. If you skip a semester of gen chem, you have to replace it with a semester of upper div inorganic chem.</p>
<p>If you got a 5 on the AP exam, CHEM 2150 will be a breeze. But CHEM 2160 is filled with material that you definitely haven’t seen before. If you’re majoring in chem or a closely related field, then take 2150-2160, otherwise stick with 2070-2080. The curves are higher in 2150-2160 (curved to a B+ rather than a B-), however the material, at least in the case of CHEM 2160, is considerably harder.</p>