Do most people that haven’t taken AP chem and are premed or have bio-related majors jump straight into orgo (215/216) and 210/211 first semester freshman year, or do they take chem 125/126 and chem 130 first semester?
I didn’t take AP Chem and did 130. It was good for the general knowledge, but really hard. Mostly because my professor sucked and gave us false confidence on the first exam.
If you know general Chem trends (hybridization, electronegativity, etc) you should be able to handle orgo.
Those classes are weeders at Michigan. Walk before trying to run. Take 125/126 & 130.
@intparent So should I take 130 first sem, 125/126 second semester and then do 210/211and 215/216 my soph year, of should I take 130, 125 and 126 first sem, 210/211 second sem, and 215/216 first sem soph year?
Or, do I even need to take 125/126? Would it be reasonable to take 130 for a general review and then jump into 210/211?
@vkugal I did honors chemistry sophomore year of high school and did well but I can’t say that I remember most of what I learned. If I’m hardworking and passionate about science should I be able to succeed going straight into 210/211 or do you suggest I take 130 first semester and then do 210/211 second semester?
Did you place into orgo based on the placement test? Also, you would take 130, 125, and 126 together in one semester, then 210/211
@dm1325 To be honest, I don’t think 130 helped a lot… but obviously I took it and so it could have made a lot of chemistry principles easier to remember (hybridization, formal charges, resonance, orbital theory, etc). If you test into 210, then I’m confident (and the university is, too) that you can handle it.
General Chemistry helps you very little with Organic Chemistry. Take the placement test. Proceed as recommended.
Skip Gen Chem if you can