<p>is it hard class?!?!?!!!!1?!?!!!/1?!?!?!?</p>
<ul>
<li>yes, it’s a legitimately challenging class. </li>
<li>it teaches the math and physics of how chemical processes occur. the simple chemistry stuff (stoichiometry, lewis structures, equilibria) is left up to you to teach yourself.</li>
<li>it unfairly targets freshmen who come from HS thinking “honors” = they need to take it. this is college. honors just gives it a fancy title, but uc berkeley used the same textbook for their chem majors and they don’t have “honors” in their course name.</li>
<li>>95% of all freshmen taking general chem their first quarter pick the regular track</li>
<li>by winter quarter, enrollment in honors dropped from ~90 to ~60. the rest had bailed for the general chem series.</li>
<li>the vast majority of chemistry majors don’t even bother with this series</li>
<li>it doesn’t prepare you for the MCAT. the regular 6 series is designed to do that.</li>
<li>weare has taught it many times so he’s not new to the course, but he’s kind of off-the-charts “brilliant” (which might be interpreted by some as “crazy”). we had homework sets that were chock-full of triple integrals that nobody understood. our TA (an otherwise brilliant biophysicist) couldn’t do most of them. i remember walking out of one exam where a classmate remarked that he hadn’t even learned integration in his calculus class yet.</li>
</ul>
<p>one advantage i can think of:
- there’s a slightly higher curve (B+) to reward you for your efforts</p>
<p>the class appeared to be better when hoeger taught it, but since that isn’t the case this year, i’d say to avoid it. it’s not worth it unless you really really like theory.</p>
<p>found this from my 6AH class, midterm 2 solutions: [imgur:</a> the simple image sharer](<a href=“http://imgur.com/cfegX]imgur:”>Imgur: The magic of the Internet)</p>
<p>still gives me headaches.</p>
<p>Dont take this class. Weare is the worst prof no one gets what hes talking about at all. not worth taking.</p>
<p>ok well i took apchem in high school and got a 4 on the exam so they said i either take 6a honors or 6 B and i dont want to just jump into 6B because i forgot a lot of the stuff and i want to have a good starting background…</p>
<p>any more options/advice</p>
<p>yeah, the majority of folks in 6AH are in the same boat as you – 4s on the AP, not sure what to do. so, if you’re even THINKING about pre-med/dental/pharm/etc: just take 6A fall quarter. </p>
<p>you’ll need the full year for your applications. you won’t get course credit (so your grade won’t count in your GPA calculations), but you’ll get a chem refresher, meet lots of new people, and get a huge ego boost from the A+ you’ll inevitably receive.</p>
<p>(this friendly advice is coming from someone who graduated with a BS and MS in chemistry from UCSD and TAed 7 quarters of general chemistry while she was there.)</p>
<p>Ah I took chem6AH with Weare this fall. I think it gets easier each year (no triple integrals this time around!), but it is still quite challenging. And yes professor Weare is very hard to understand >_> But his TA (who has been with him for a while now i think) explains the stuff pretty well. Still, I wouldn’t recommend this course to anyone.</p>
<p>I took 6AH with Weare 2 years ago, and there were definitely no triple integrals on it (to solve). Lots of MO and quantum theory though, if you’re into that kinda stuff!</p>
<p>I got a 5 on the AP chem test and I really don’t want to waste my time taking classes that don’t count for anything. I’m always up for a challenge and I love chemistry; I’m also a regents scholar. I really don’t know what to do though…</p>
<p>@astrina</p>
<p>if i am taking only 3 classes during the fall and i spend a majority of my time on chem then would it be that bad?</p>
<p>i havent decided what my other 2 are going to be yet, but im not taking 4 classes because i would rather do 3 and do summer school after 1st year</p>
<p>also, how many overall hours would i have to study (on average) for the class?</p>
<p>if u could answer all questions it would be appreciated</p>
<p>@dyno0919 - just go into ochem. my roommate (psychology major) did the entire series and ended up hating chemistry, but she definitely got to bond with the other freshmen who were taking it. if you’re pre-med/dental/whatever, you can always take 6A-C in one shot during a light quarter. my classmate did that winter quarter of her senior year.</p>
<p>@chemistrywarrior - if you got a 4, you remember more than you think. 6A is little more than lewis structures and stoichiometry. 6B does acid-base equilibria and thermo. my AP chem curriculum was probably more advanced than chem 6A-C. you should not be spending “a majority of your time” on a class you already tested out of. if you take 6A, you will likely be breezing through everything and your classmates may resent you for messing up the curve. just sign up for four classes. chem 6A does not count as one you need to dedicate brainpower to.</p>
<p>@astrina</p>
<p>as my freshman year i think 3 classes would be better and then doing summer school for G.E. and stuff would benefit me the most</p>
<p>i was talking to my mother and she said that i could possibly do chem 6b (regular) instead of A and then just studying some of the chem 6a over summer</p>
<p>i guess what im asking is, if u were me, would u do 6ah or 6b fall quarter?</p>
<p>also, i will possibly consider 4 classes if u give me some good reasons</p>
<p>I’m a math major and am not pre-med, I’m just genuinely interested in chemistry. I also love math. I guess I’m just wondering if, with a sufficient amount of studying and paying attention, is it possible to get an A?</p>
<p>You didn’t answer my question a while back: is there even any need for you to take 6A?<br>
If not, enough of us have given our opinions of 6AH. Your call now.</p>
<p>My opinion is that EVERYONE should sign up for four classes. It’s a waste of your allocated class units if you don’t. Say you only sign up for classes A, B, and C. What if class C turns out to be the class from hell? You can’t drop it and wait for a new professor during another quarter – you’d fall below the 12-unit minimum to maintain full-time status. It’s NEVER a position you want to be in. </p>
<p>Always make sure you have insurance. Signing up for four classes is NOT a binding contract. You have four weeks to decide if you want to drop a class without any consequences. But you only have two weeks to add a new class – and honestly, once you’ve missed the first week of lectures, it’s not always easy to get back on track.</p>
<p>well i dont know if i should be answering questions</p>
<p>how the **** am i supposed to know if i need to take 6A or not? i just have the mindset that its good to start out with a good knowledge but i think i will just go up to 6B</p>
<p>also, what are good classes to take besides chem 6b and math xx and writing (cat something )</p>
<p>@dyno0919 - Definitely. Ochem is one of the best courses I’ve taken at UCSD and we’ve got a number of talented faculty who are brilliant researchers AND excellent teachers. I just checked the fall quarter schedule; try with all your might to get into Ternansky or Hoeger’s class. (If you’re around UCSD on a weekday, consider sitting in on one of their classes for your own amusement. Both are very talented lecturers.)</p>
<p>@chemistrywarrior - if you do decide to take 6B fall quarter, you’re in luck with kim albizati. i usually don’t recommend people to take their sequences off-track (on-track being A in fall, B in winter, C in spring) because there isn’t much freedom in choice of professor or class times. i will add the caveat that 6B in the fall is “not as easy” as 6B in the winter, which is “not as easy” as 6B in the spring. this is because the students of fall qtr 6B are fellow HS grads who got 4s on their AP – they’re smart. winter qtr is run-of-the-mill average. spring qtr is folks who took chem 4 during the fall, and chem 4 is for freshmen who have had NO chemistry in high school at all. </p>
<p>“not as easy” = while the tests and lectures remain the same, the class’s collective understanding of the material varies widely. the curves reflect this trend.</p>
<p>I can take the ochem series as a freshman? I’m regents so I have priority registration. Getting classes shouldn’t be a problem. Is it possible to take both ochem and the honors series? In that order? I plan on minoring in chemistry, so I’ll probably take a lot of chem classes. This isn’t like a GE thing, I actually want to take a lot of chem classes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>THAT’S how you know if you need to take 6A or not. No need to be frustrated.</p>
<p>And I wasn’t in Sixth. Start a new thread if you need advice with that. But before you do, you could answer your own question by consulting the Sixth college website for the GEs you need to finish, the requirements for the major(s) you’re considering, and check the schedule of classes to see which ones are actually offered this fall.</p>
<p>wait im confused</p>
<p>are you saying that if we want to go to dental/pharm/med school we SHOULD take 6a?</p>
<p>
Yes, I said so already. The course prerequisite is 6A-C, for which you’ve already received credit with your 5.</p>
<p>
Of course it is. You could even take both the same year if you wanted to. But the 6honors series is for people who like math and physics. People who like chemistry will take upper-division organic/physical/inorganic chemistry and then take specialized classes in whatever they find interesting. I took a few cross-listed grad/undergrad electives in organic chemistry, some were really interesting.</p>