<p>Hey. So I'm a first year student studying chemical and biomolecular engineering, but I've begun to have doubts. I completed my second semester, but I got a D in Organic Chemistry 1. This was really off-putting. I did have a heavy courseload of 19 credits, but I did fine in most of my other courses. I really like the field of chemical engineering from what I've read, but I've begun to have doubts if I can succeed in this major. I am good at math, and I'm good at physics as well, but I've always been a bit shaky with chemistry. I really enjoy chemistry itself, making reactions and whatnot, but I feel I'm not the best at it. In high school, my teacher tutored me a lot and I did well because of that. In the fall when I took general chemistry, I got a B+ but felt I didn't really grasp much of it. Organic chemistry though has been a complete nightmare; sitting through every class trying to figure out what the prof is doing. I couldn't ask questions because anyone who asked questions was put on the spotlight and he was pretty harsh with them. I went for tutoring at my school's tutoring center but there was only one person who could really do organic chem and it only helped with the basics like Sn1 and Sn2 reaction mechanisms. I know that all it really has to do with is the movement of electrons in molecules but it's ridiculously complicated at times and I just got discouraged after trying to read several different textbooks and make sense of the material. The notes were not helpful; it was just a bunch of reactions without knowing what was going on. If I retake the class in the fall, my new grade will count towards my GPA and the old one won't, but both will appear on my transcript. The problem is I don't know if I can even do better the second time around. I'm afraid I might just be wasting my time and I'm not cut out to be a chemical engineer. I know traditionally they don't use organic chem a lot, but in the new fields that are emerging it has become more and more important. I was wondering if I should just make the switch to electrical engineering although I won't have any chance to repair the damage Orgo did to my GPA. In electical engineering, I will just have to use math and physics which I am comfortable with and I won't have to rely on chemistry. I'm just worried since physics is honestly kind of boring to me at times, but I'm a lot better at it. Chemistry is interesting but I just don't know if it's something I can master. There are so many random rules and whatnot and I feel it's just not as elegant as physics at times. I'm interested in pursuing alternative energy sources in the future, by the way. Any adivce?</p>
<p>Jimbo, I wouldn’t let that discourage you from continuing on with ChemE. I forget what I got in Organic 1. Bit I took organic 2 in the summer with a full course load (and a bunch of premed students who were only taking that one class) and dot a D. I survived. After that, I had PChem which I enjoyed. The reality is in your ChemE classes, you won’t need to do any of the nitty gritty organic chemistry.</p>
<p>I hope you don’t write your chemical reaction equations like writing your post.</p>
<p>Don’t go to EE simply because it is easier… Because both degrees are equally hard. You think physics is easy because you haven’t touch the hard stuff yet. Plus, other than physics there are electronic materials, circuits, signals and integrated circuits that are hard.</p>
<p>Definitely don’t just switch.
I think the problem here is that you don’t really understand the fundamentals. That’s fine, I’ve had classes that I’ve even got A’s in without fully grasping the concepts in a lasting manner. But you just have to go back and brush up on those. Chemistry is a little bit annoying if you don’t like it, but it really is not that bad.</p>