"General Chemistry for Majors"

Colleges and Universities A-Z Virginia Tech
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<p>I just got back from orientation. I got a 5 on my AP Chem exam, and when I told the person working with me (not an orientation advisor, it was someone from the biochem department) that I wanted to retake chemistry and not accept the credit, he advised me to sign up for General Chemistry for Majors (CHEM 1055) as opposed to regular General Chemistry (CHEM 1035). Can someone please tell me the difference between the two (preferably in as much depth as possible) as well as your personal opinions & advice about this.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

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<p>I would advise you to use your AP credit, because to get a 5, you obviously have proficient knowledge of the subject. Believe me, I thought nothing of AP tests when I was a senior, but by the time I was in college, I was delighted to get placed out of as many classes as I was.</p>

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<p>You want to retake it and not accept the credit? Chem I is a big class. You can just show up and not take the tests.</p>

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<p>I want to retake it because I’m looking at med school and med schools generally dislike AP credits. Some also dislike credits from community colleges and “other” (didn’t even specify “lower”) institutions - I took english semesters I & II for dual-enrollment while in high school… oh well. </p>

<p>I do realize that (luckily) chemistry is easy for me, and so the General Chemistry class will probably be a bit dull (probably mostly just stoichiometry, balancing equations, other basic chemistry skills). I am interested in this General Chemistry for Majors class and was advised to take that class. I’m wondering what the differences are between the two; does one move faster than the other, cover more material than the other, etc. and how much so? As well as any other differences, such as class size, dif teachers, (if dif) teacher reputation, credits, etc.</p>

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<p>I’ll imagine that it’s more difficult and moves more quickly but still not a challenge if you did well on the AP. Just be careful if you do decide to take it: I slammed the AP test too and had buddies who also did but took the regular chem anyways. An A- and B+ later they were kicking themselves while I didn’t have to suffer the penalty of even slight complacency. Maybe consider taking initiative to do something else with the free time to ‘make up for’ accepting the AP credit? That’ll probably look way better than having taken a chemistry class that med school won’t care about.</p>

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<p>How about you just take a chemistry class that you normally wouldn’t have had to later on? Take the second semester now, and then later on tack on P-chem or something. I can’t imagine they’d hold that against you.</p>

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<p>You could audit the course or take it pass/fail if you want so you don’t miss anything they teach in there and you don’t have to work as hard although if you know it pretty well which it looks like you do it should be no problem and would be a good review anyway. </p>

<p>personally I put no effort on my AP exams in High School because I wanted to retake the course in college, It basically is the same material but I taught better sometimes in certain circumstances.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I’ll try to sit on them but I doubt I’ll change my mind. I’m very hardcore and dead serious and determined about medical school right now. I’m assuming you guys don’t know too much about medical school adcoms, probably because it’s not what you guys are pursuing/pursued - also, because if you did, then you would totally be advising me to flee from accepting my (science) AP credit(s). </p>

<p>Regardless of medical school actually NOT liking AP credits and actually looking DOWN upon AP credits, I still have considered accepting certain AP credits (and still am… lightly), but definitely leaning more towards not. Something that would definitely help my decision making is more information on the differences between General Chemistry (CHEM - 1035) and General Chemistry for Majors (CHEM - 1055). Information on this would be REALLY appreciated. Suggestions and advices are always appreciated & welcomed, but hopefully someone can supplement that with my main concern?</p>

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<p>Are you really worried about a med school not taking you because you took some AP credit? I’ve never heard of that but I guess it could be the case. The two girls I know considering medical school from HS (Just finished up ‘freshman’ years at Duke and Johns Hopkins) took every AP class my high school offered and accepted all applicable credit to get a boost. I know every point counts and schools are super competitive, but I think it’s going to be what you do with the later years of your schooling that sets you apart. </p>

<p>And I know you’re dead set on medical school and that seems like the absolute only possibility, but the numbers don’t lie: odds are pretty good your focus on medicine (or anything, for that matter) will waver. I’d advise you to hedge your bets a little bit. Even if you stick with medicine, you’ll be more well rounded.</p>

<p>There’s a limit to the volume of pass/fail credit you can use, so I don’t think you should use it. I doubt anyone will have a comparison between the two…so consider taking the class and dropping it if you decide to take something else.</p>

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<p>Ahh… I hate hearing stories of exception students & such… I mean, I hear stories of students who accept AP credits and get hammered for it during their interview. I hear stories of students who transfer their community college credits and get hammered for it during their interview. Etc. etc. I just don’t want to risk anything. My desire for medicine has started since I was a kid, and I educated myself about it throughout high school and during high school is where all my wavering has occurred. The only thing I will waver from medical school for is either engineering or research; engineering I have crossed from my list (it took a lot to cross it out… I love physics), so I’m (hopefully) sure my wavering is done with. I’m not the typical student who is prone to cold feet because of his lack of knowledge in matters, though I guess everyone would like to say that. You said that it’s what you do with the later years of your schooling that sets you apart, and I absolutely agree as long as you’re speaking in terms of getting involved outside of class. From what I understand (and I’m sure it to be correct for the most part), medical schools generally don’t care about your course selection. They don’t eye ball it and examine the classes you took. They care about your performance - there are kids who get into MD/PhD programs, which are probably the hardest to get into, only taking ~12 credits a semester. </p>

<p>I’ll give you my analysis on why I’m not accepting AP credits:
+ med school doesn’t analyze your course selection, so advancing myself with AP credits would only benefit you as a person but not you as an applicant
+ given that they don’t inspect your classes, by giving up the AP credit and retaking the class, it’s an easy A - a GPA booster. Maximize your gains, and minimize your losses. I’m maximizing my gains by getting as many A’s as possible; I’m minimizing my losses by (hopefully) refraining from getting anything less than an A.
+ I’m not sure of your opinions on science AP courses, but I think science AP courses in general do not suffice for college level of the like. And then of course it can depend on your teacher. IMO, the only two AP courses that really meet college expectations are AP Physics C and AP Calc AB/BC. The rest don’t exactly cover things as well as a college course would - especially AP Biology. AP Chemistry can depend on your teacher, and my teacher was horrible. As well, the AP Chem curriculum does not cover as many things as a college curriculum does anyway. Now granted I did get a 5, but that was due to major cramming 2 weeks before the exam and cramming never* sticks.
+ med schools truly do not like AP credits. That’s not to say that it will completely hinder you from gaining acceptance, but it definitely (from what I’ve seen) can raise a red flag during your interview (as well as during their initial viewing of applications). I have read on a few medical school websites advocating against using your AP credits - they actually state that they prefer you to not use them. I read on some med school’s secondary application (not completely sure if it was a secondary or what, I forget) that explicitly stated that they prefer students to not have used AP credits, transfer credits from community colleges, and transfer credits from other institutions. NOTE: that when they wrote “transfer credits from other institutions,” they didn’t bother to specify that they meant “from other ‘lower’ institutions” which would be a logical specification. Rather, they simply said, from “other” institutions (I made note of this in my original post, I assume no one understood what I was speaking of due to its lack of context).
+ by retaking these classes, this just gives me THAT much more time to spend getting involved outside of classes and in research. I’m hoping to land a spot on a research project that is looking to design, engineer, and develop tissue that will mimic the functions of liver cells (SO COOL!). By being in classes where I would more often just review rather than study, I can spend a lot of time finding & obtaining opportunities elsewhere.
+ secondary, by retaking those classes, I am able to load on heavier schedules (if I need to, likely won’t). But in that respect, I will be able to take hard classes alongside it that otherwise would generally be unwise to do. By having a class that for most of the times I simply have to review rather than study for, I can enroll in other difficult courses/I can spend more time studying for other courses.</p>

<p>What do you think - agree/disagree? Suggestions on my analysis?</p>

<hr>

<p>On the non-advice side, I guess I’ll bump my question again.
Can anyone explain, in detail, the differences between General Chemistry and General Chemistry for Majors?</p>

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<p>BUMP:</p>

<p>Can anyone explain, in detail, the differences between General Chemistry and General Chemistry for Majors?</p>

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<p>I have never heard of a med school trashing someone for accepting AP credits. It would be like trashing them for doing well in high school which does not make a lot of sense. Its a pretty ridiculous notion. Believe me, all rational people except AP credit, I highly doubt that any advisors would tell people interested in med school to retake courses that they don’t need to. But the good thing about college is that you can do pretty much what you want, so if you feel the need to retake a course it is definitely in your power to do something like that.</p>

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<p>Rational people should not be spelling accept as “except.” </p>

<p>I’ll have to stick to LAConfedential’s side here and say that medical schools don’t like AP credits. Can’t say I’ve heard anyone getting questioned during interviews about accepting AP credits, but definitely have heard of students being questioned during interviews about their community college credits - which, ideally & logically, you would assume it to be the other way around. kindaslick89, you shouldn’t provide insight where your knowledge is lacking. Medical schools do not like AP credits, and the rational thinking behind AP credits as a pre-med is NOT necessarily to accept it. In fact, more often than not, the most rational people who have done complete & thorough research will not accept it (though I know of many who did and didn’t have any problems - to him his own). Perhaps I should bring a few of the much more knowledgeable CC members from our pre-med forums.</p>

<p>Regardless, with all this “rationality” aside, the OP appears quite set on not accepting his AP credits (by now… he would have already denied or accepted them anyway, so why bash him?). </p>

<p>To answer OP’s concern, I don’t know much about the differences between the two. I hear if you got a 4/5 on AP Chem then taking Gen Chem will probably be a bit boring to you, and that Gen Chem for Majors would be more suitable. It does move faster, cover more and more in depth, but the class sizes are also much smaller. Don’t know about the professors for Gen Chem for Majors, but if you go with regular Gen Chem 1035, get Amateis.</p>

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<p>Hey, I have Amateis!</p>

<p>I’m kinda in the same boat with pre-med and a AP-Bio credit. I signed for theme housing though, so I’m putting that as an excuse for denying the credit if they bring it up.</p>