<p>Hiya,</p>
<p>given ChemE's reputation as a toughie, I'm sure many of you are tempted to say 100% of both memorisation and understanding concepts (of Math and Physics)</p>
<p>Haha, but would anyone care to break it down in more details?</p>
<p>I'm sure some golden rules of Physics have to be memorised, like PV=nRT, but how about complicated Chem formulae, must those be memorised too?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>In general, there is very little memorization in Engineering. The attitude for a lot of people is “If you can look it up and use it immediately, there’s no point in having it committed to memory.”</p>
<p>When I attended engineering school, the hardest test were the open book tests. I majored in ME, but there is a lot of overlap with Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, Thermo, Heat Transfer, Fluid Dynamics, etc. The classes will require mastery of higher math, like triple integrals later on.</p>
<p>Thanks fellows! I’m heartened to hear that. I too agree there is no point in rote learning complicated chemical formulae when in the industry, it is how and how much og Chemical X you use that matters.</p>
<p>If you are memorizing a lot, you are doing it wrong. It is much more useful to learn the basic concepts, and then memorizing won’t be a problem because you should be able to derive everything else (or at least remember how it was derived because you are good at the basics). Of course that is just for learning the material… for actually using it in industry, you can just look it up in a book.</p>
<p>Sorry, there is a lot of memorization that goes on in any discipline. Not what you wanted to hear, but still. Everything you know or can do right now you have memorized at some point in the past. Alternatively, the difference between memorization and learning ought not be overemphasized.</p>
<p>Yeah! I’m getting more and more excited for ChemE.</p>
<p>Sometimes I forget how much more open and alive, so to speak, learning is it the US of A. In Asian countries (especially the biggest one touted to be the next ‘superpower’), it’s just rote learning and more rote memorisation.</p>
<p>As Engineering students, do you guys even feel like you’re missing out on seminar-style discussion and debate that many other majors get to enjoy? I chose colleges with small class sizes because I really wanted to have lvely discussions with professors in class. But for E and hard sciences, H2SO4 is sulphuric acid. Period. No room for interpretation or further discussion with your professor at all. Does it suck a little that office hours are spent clarifying a concept (like ‘remedial’), instead of dreaming up brand new ideas?</p>
<p>There is still plenty of discussion that goes on. Not everything is as black and white as chemical formulae. I suppose you will learn that soon enough though.</p>
<p>You know exactly how I feel, mamaroneck. I love those kinds of classes where it is more active participation. but it is really hard especially if you go to a school that just has a bunch of lecture classes. One solution I found (an expensive solution) is to take summer classes since those are generally so much smaller and people are more willing to actively participate in the course</p>
<p>oh my…bringing back some memories</p>
<p>those unlimited time, open book, ChE exams</p>
<p>torture</p>
<p>some students finished in 2-3 hours, others took 4-6 hours…</p>
<p>there is of course some memorization, but there are usually open book exams. However, the main topics and the base of all ChE actually make sense. You will realize that almost everything (85%) come from a couple of equations. As long as you understand it and know how to apply it, you should be fine. Just remember this: Do not overthink, I think thats what most people have problems with.</p>
<p>Thank you! I’m picking out 1 commonality from all the advice here:</p>
<p>Master the handful of golden rules for ChemE, and you can build on those and get really advanced.</p>
<p>About these golden rules:
-are they normally taught at lower-level (freshmen and sophomore year) classes?
-are the many instances where some students just “CANNOT GRASP ONE OF THE GOLDEN RULES, AHH!”, then have to change major away from Engineering?</p>
<p>mama, in my ChE classes, discussion always occurred. If you didn’t understand something, you just raised your hand and asked.</p>
<p>In addition, many of the problem sets were so tough to complete that group sessions were welcomed and even recommended by the school in order to complete these homework assignments. We therefore worked in groups of 4 to 5 students at night to discuss these problem sets.</p>
<p>then there were the ChE labs which were done typically in groups of 2-3 students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>mama, we started with 46 ChE’s in the class and graduated 32. Many felt that it was just too tough for them and went on to do well in other majors.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks John! It’s roneck if you must, I’m too young to be a mama! Lol :D</p>
<p>Omgosh, I am so undecided!</p>
<p>John, your anecdote here (while welcomed) “If you didn’t understand something, you just raised your hand and asked.”</p>
<p>still suggests that discussion revolves around remedial/ clarification for people who didn’t grasp the ‘facts’ the first time round. No fresh possibilities or ideas. But maybe this is too much to ask at the undergrad level. Maybe the ideas can flourish only at graduate school Engineering? After all, we gotta learn the basic concepts in college first, right?</p>
<p>I am so undecided! It is possible to get a Engineering degree, then choose to do ‘fluffier’ jobs that general degree holders do. But vice-versa doesn’t occur. The field of Engineering is forever closed to you if you did not do E in college. I like the options, ya know? John, you can probably fight for the same jobs as the liberal arts degree holders!</p>
<p>And I didn’t take a rigorous high school courseload for nothing, right? If I do something I find kinda cool but fluffy like Sociology, where will all my Chem “AP” and Math “AP” and all go? (“AP” because I took the equivalent of it. Different edu system)</p>
<p>Aah!</p>
<p>(from my capitalisation of the E in Engineering, I realise I revere and am intimidated by it.)</p>