I got a 4 on the AP chem exam, so I thought I was allowed to skip out of Chem 4A? Now it seems I have to take a placement test to get INTO chem 4a. If I fail the chem placement test does that mean I have to take WLD 41? That means failing the placement test would be the equivalent of never taking AP chem correct? Also, what exactly is WLD 41?
On the assumption that you mean CHE 2A…
You have to take the placement exam to place into CHE 2A, regardless of any AP test scores (exception: Apparently if you get a 5 you don’t have to? Source: http://www.dbs.ucdavis.edu/students/freshmen/placement_exams.html). If you got a 4 on the AP chem exam, that should be a piece of cake. You need a 21/44 to place into CHE 2A, and the placement exam is mostly algebra. I got much higher than that with only a bad chem teacher (non AP) my sophomore year of high school and only looking over concepts on sparknotes beforehand.
And no, with a 4 you can’t skip CHE 2A. You need a 5 to skip it. You get 8 units towards graduation and credit for CHE 10 with a 3 or 4, but CHE 10 has nothing to do with the CHE 2 series. Source: http://catalog.ucdavis.edu/PDF/CollegeBoardAdvancedPlacement.pdf
Yes, if you get 20 or lower you have to take WLD 41. You still get your credits towards graduation from the 4, but can’t go on to CHE 2A until you get a high enough placement score. My understanding is that WLD 41 is basically just going over fundamental concepts for success in CHE 2A. I took CHE 2A without taking workload chem though, so I don’t know from personal experience.
@PhantomVirgo can you explain what you mean when you said “you get 8 units towards graduation”… is that if you get a 5 (4 units from chem10 and 4 from chem 2A)?
You get 8 units towards graduation from the AP chem exam as long as you get a 3 or higher. If you get a 3 or a 4, you’re considered to have completed CHE 10, but not CHE 2A. If you get a 5, you’re considered to have completed CHE 2A, but not CHE 10 (as far as I know at least). In either case, you get 8 units towards graduation.
Honestly, I’m not sure where the 8 comes from. CHE 10 is 4 units normally and CHE 2A is 5, but I’m not sure where they get the extra 3 and 4 units from.
@PhantomVirgo alright, thanks for the help!
I think you should be fine. I took it yesterday and got 34/40 and I had bombed ap chem. You just need 30/40 to pass.
^ Not even that. You need 21/44 to place into CHE 2A. The 30 is for the honors section, which is entirely unnecessary for most people.
@PhantomVirgo i was meaning to ask you, what benefits do you get from taking honors classes? Is it better for employment? Is it worth taking them? How much harder are they than thr regular classes?
In cases like the CHE 2H series, the honors section is basically there for advanced students who also happen to love chemistry. The honors section is a lot smaller than the regular sections, the labs are more intensive, and there’s more expected of you in general. I know with the labs, they take the lab from CHE 2A (or whichever specific class in the series it’s from) and go a few steps beyond that. Personally I wouldn’t bother unless you’re really into chemistry. I placed into honors and ended up taking regular because I’m not super interested in it.
I know for the PHY 9H series it’s 5 classes instead of 4. I don’t know much beyond that. I can’t think of any other honors sections for specific classes off the top of my head.
The honors challenge gives you access to certain resources that you might not otherwise have. Details here: http://honors.ucdavis.edu/ I’m not in the honors program and don’t know specific details firsthand.
Departmental honors, at least for Letters and Science, depends on what department it is. Most require an honors thesis your senior year, which would certainly be a boost for grad school applications if you’re considering that.
As far as employment, employers won’t notice or care if you just take a couple honors sections. Grad schools might consider it depending on how well you do, but I can’t see that being a deciding factor on acceptance. For the honors challenge, it gives you something to put on your resume but again wouldn’t make or break your application. And for the honors thesis for departmental honors, again it’s something to put on your resume but doesn’t make or break your application. On the other hand, a thesis does look good for grad schools.
The long and the short of it is that you should only do honors if you honestly want to; don’t do it just to look impressive, to make your family happy, or for whatever other reason besides you wanting to do it.
Ahh got it. Thanks again @PhantomVirgo !
@PhantomVirgo hey, if we do end up failing the placement test online, we can take it again at the orientation right? can’t we take it twice any academic term?
There are 2 testing sessions for the Chem placement per quarter but you are only allowed to take it once a quarter.
From the Chem Placement Website:
Chemistry Placement Examination
The Chemistry Placement Examination is only available online. There are two testing sessions per quarter that CHE 2A and/or CHE 2AH is offered. Students may only take the exam once per testing session.
If you do not pass, take the Workload Chemistry class. It puts you a quarter behind, but it may help you get a better grade in CHE 2A since it is a notorious “weed” out class for many Freshman.
yay! i passed! for anyone else viewing this thread worrying about the chem placement test, don’t overstudy… you’re gonna ask yourself why you studied. just skim over sparknotes, and skimming over sparknotes (everything until the acids/bases section) got me a score well over the pass mark. You don’t need to know anything in depth… just the superficial stuff and basic calculations.
Now onto math…
Congrats!
For the math placement, I found that a bit harder than the chem placement, but not by much. I remember freaking out about it because I hadn’t taken math since AP Calc in my junior year. I ended up getting somewhere in the 40s (too lazy to look up the exact score right now) when I needed a 35 to place into the 21 series, and I remember feeling silly for freaking out as much as I did.
General advice for any freshmen that may read this thread later: Don’t blow off the placement exams, but don’t freak out over them either. Just do some basic review on Sparknotes or by going through your old notes and you’ll be fine if you’re actually prepared for the classes you need.
Thanks @PhantomVirgo for the honors info. Now I know even though my score qualified, I’m not taking it! Don’t need the added pressure. Congrats @iamjack good luck on your math too.