<p>So, I'm a chemistry major and I'm a freshman in college right now and I've actually just started about a week ago. Now, I'm a chemistry major simply because I like science and I know that anything in the STEM field will pay off in the long run. My brother is also a STEM major and he's a big influence on me, therefore, along with my love of science and an influential stem major as a brother, he helped me on the decision of being a Chemistry Major. However, (as dumb as this may sound, along with the decision) I've never taken a chemistry course in High School, I do however truly enjoy the mechanism and I'm interested in the way chemistry works, so, I ask, is being a Chemistry major in college even though I never took a chemistry course in high school sound like a feasible plan/major? </p>
<p>(I took AP Bio in high school and got a 4 on the AP test, if this helps in any way.)</p>
<p>You’ll be fine if you work hard. Yes, there will be students in your general chemistry class who will ace the class because they’ve learned everything in high school already. However once you pass your first year everyone will be in the same boat (since all the other stuff is new to everyone). And your class will be starting from the basics (or at least, it should) so you shouldn’t need any previous chemistry knowledge from high school.</p>
<p>You might have to work a lot on unit conversions, significant figures, dimensional analysis, and stoichiometry if you’re not used to these concepts since many other students will be able to do this stuff in their sleep (it’s a huge part of chemistry in high school).</p>
<p>One more thing:
“I know that anything in the STEM field will pay off in the long run”
That’s not really the case for chemistry (or much of the pure sciences). </p>
<p>A General Chemistry course starts from the basics. As the previous poster pointed out, some students will know a lot of the material already, so they’ll breeze through it. You’ll have to work a little harder than some of them, but you won’t really be at a disadvantage. Everything beyond General Chemistry is going to be brand new for everyone. </p>
<p>@vega808 - Is there any way you can delay delaring a major? Maybe you could take a strong curriculum your first year to prep you for a variety of science majors and make a decision when you have more experience with the subjects.</p>
<p>STEM does not automatically equate to high paying job. There are specific STEM fields that are nearly guaranteed for good paying jobs…but plenty that are not. </p>