<p>hi,
i'm going on the pre-med track and read that med schools require a year of general chemistry. and, i also took the ap chem test and got a 4..which made me exempt from chem 6a. since med-schools want to see a yr of general chem and i want to have a strong chem foundation i'm planning on retaking chem6a. however, if i take regular 6a i won't get credit but if i take honors 6a i will get credit. i've heard that the chem honors series is really hard. does it cover much more stuff than regular 6a? how much harder is it?</p>
<p>soo..should i take regular or honors 6a?</p>
<p>if i take 6a honors, i'm planning to drop to regular 6b afterwards. i found a pretty good deal on the chem6 textbook plus sol'n and was wondering if i should buy them now? or, should i just buy the chem6 honors textbook and wait to buy the regular textbook after first quarter, like in case i decide to stick with honors?</p>
<p>also, to students who have taken the honors or regular series or have dealt with a similar type of situation, what would you recommend?
since gpa is most important for med school, would u drop back down to regular? or would u continue with the honors? or, would u take regular 6a for no credit?</p>
<p>sorry for all the questions. and any advice would be appreciated! :)</p>
<p>I like your plan (:
I was about to suggest that to you, if I hadn’t already read your post.</p>
<p>Go for Chem 6AH, then drop down if you feel like the honors track is too rigorous.
I wouldn’t jump right into 6B, it’s known to be the hardest of the sequence.</p>
<p>funny, i thought 6B was the easiest of the sequence :)</p>
<p>i also got a 4 on the AP and was planning on taking the entire 6honors series. but 6AH was so theory-based (something that i’m not a fan of) that i dropped to 6B the following quarter.</p>
<p>looking back, i didn’t take anything worthwhile from 6AH – and if you’re planning on going to the regular series anyway, why bother with the extra textbook? by starting in 6A, you’ll get yourself friends/study buddies, a good idea of how the series is set up (lotsa differences between honors and regular), and even if you don’t get credit, at least you’re guaranteeing yourself an A – med schools like that! and there’s no question of “but med schools want me to challenge myself!” because lots of smaller schools don’t even have enough students to offer a separate honors chem sequence. </p>
<p>conclusion: 6AH was not worth my time. i should have just taken another class in its place, and if i was premed, it would have been 6A.</p>
<p>I skipped chem 6a and went directly to chem 6b in the fall. ended up with an A- (mind you i forgot nearly everything from chem ap and also got a 4 on the AP test). By the time it hit spring, I took Chem 140a (first quarter organic chem and got an A. skipping chem6a really has no effect because the things you learn in each class are more or less insignificant to the next in the series of upper divisions. </p>
<p>radiance, astrina, and malarky33: thank you so much for your input!
as of now i’m planning on just retaking 6a for no credit.
but, i’ll do more research as malarky33 stated, and hopefully come to some conclusion of whether or not i should skip 6a. :D</p>
<p>edit//
usc’s website says “Applicants with CLEP or AP credit in basic premedical courses are advised to take a full year of course work in the same area at the more advanced level.”
does that mean it’s acceptable to skip 6a since i’ll be going on to ochem anyways?
is that what taking a course “in the same area at the more advanced level” means?</p>
<p>“advanced level” is referring to classes (ex.) such as cellular biology, molecular biology, mam phys, etc. they are BIOLOGY courses and will suffice for med school requirements if you opted out of general biology through APs.</p>
<p>im also looking at going to med school and i got a 5 on the AP Chem test last year. should i skip gen chem and go onto the next series or take chem 6bh for credit? im guessing i wont be able to take chem 6ah. im just worried that if i skip gen chem, i wont be prepared enough for the next classes. im a bit rusty after not having chemistry for a whole year. </p>
<p>im also looking at the classes right now on the class planner to plan a tentative schedule and there doesnt seem to be a chem6bh/ch class listed. does it not exist?</p>
<p>since the honors track isn’t that popular (~90 in 6AH and drops every quarter after that), each class is only offered once a year. 6AH in fall, 6BH in winter, 6CH in spring.</p>
<p>if i was in your position, i’d move straight into ochem. the honors track of gchem isn’t going to teach you anything more MCAT-relevant than the regular series will. unless you’re a chem major or super-into theoretical chem, the honors track is kind of a waste of time.</p>
<p>oh i forgot to mention that i am a chemistry major, but im thinking of switching majors and going into biochem instead. im just scared that my chemistry will be too rusty that ill absolutely die in ochem. its just a bit intimidating to me.</p>
<p>well im planning to take ochem but by taking gen chem, i can brush up on everything ive forgotten in the past year or so. i just dont want to enter ochem armed with no recollection of what ive learned. will i still be able to take chem 6ah for credit with a 5 on the AP?</p>
<p>khoang91: yeppp!! u can take the Chem H series 6ah 6bh 6ch for credits
i would say that is the best thing for u to do, since u AP-ed out of the entire regular series. and since med-schools want to see a yr of gen chem and since ur prolly rusty from chemistry as well.</p>
<p>since i got a 4, i’m just going to retake the regular 6a for no credit and then 6b, 6c for credits :)</p>
<p>khoang91: i think u should still take 6ah even if there’s no credit…well just to make sure u have a strong chem foundation and biochem and chem needs a lot of chem :]
up to u tho :)</p>
<p>6AH doesn’t give you the kind of background you’ll need for the rest of the “regular” series or ochem. </p>
<p>it’s more of a theory-based, “think out of the box” kind of approach rather than having you learn the basic principles by rote memorization and application – which, although sounding slightly less glamorous, is still the best approach for most students.</p>
<p>thanks for the answers everybody. what would be the best thing for me to do then astrina? im just being careful because i want to make the best decision possible in terms of selecting the correct chemistry class for myself. :)</p>
