Hi, I wanted to know whether I could do a major in chemical engineering if I don’t like chemistry?? I don’t hate it, but it is not my favorite science. What interests me about the field is the production and mechanics of pharmaceuticals and petrochemicals, but I don’t exactly like the basic chemistry stuff like periodic tables and matter. I heard that chemical engineering is more based on engineering and calculus classes. Thanks.
If you took AP Chemistry and score well, you are likely exempted for inorganic chemistry, but you will still need to take Organic Chemistry which is far more challenging.
You certainly could major in chemical engineering without much interest in chemistry. I’d recommend that you have a strong base in terms if beginner chemistry knowledge (gas laws, naming mechanisms, basic organic reactions, properties) to do well in the major. Chemical engineering definitely delves deeper into math and physics than it does into chemistry (transport phenomena, thermodynamics).
There are also many jobs in the pharmaceutical industry that are not ‘chemistry intensive’. Nonetheless, a strong knowledge of fundamental chemistry topics is strongly recommended.
You’ll be dealing with a lot of chemistry in one form or another, even outside of Gen Chem and Organic Chemistry. You’ll likely have to take Physical Chem as well. Rate laws and stoichiometry are all over the place – chemical reaction engineering, bioprocess engineering, chemical engineering lab, etc. Even when there is no reaction going on, chemical properties are fundamental to just about every topic in ChemE – equilibrium, mass transfer, thermodynamics, process design, the list goes.
If you like the “mechanics” of production, but not the chemistry, you’d probably be more suited to mechanical engineering?
You - don’t - like - the - periodic - tables - and - matter?
Isn’t life sorta tough when you have issues with matter?
Chemical engineering has a lot of physics in it but chemistry, at least through organic and physics chemistry is essential. If you work in pharmaceuticals you need to know something about the molecules your are scaling up to manufacture…
You will find it difficult toward your last years. Let me break it down lol,
Sophomore and Junior years you might avoid chemistry you know by doing thermo, fluids, transport, engr math yada yada,
Also in your junior year you will do a lot of reaction engineering classes that dont demand a lot of chemistry more into differentials etc etc
But the problem is in your senior years you will have to deal with bio courses, electives, petrochemical courses that require, you know, to put it simply reaction pathways+catalysts+structures+conditions etc so I would say don’t worry now…
All the chem crap grows on you like you will visit the PTable everytime you do molar calculations and energy balances for reactions etc so you will get used to it — just focus hardly on organic chemistry and the rest will set itself
one of the problems most of my friends had is you are into so much problem solving that you lose the tack to memorize as you seniorize lol so do it now when you start (organic)
good luck!