<p>I am going to be in the College of Engineering, as a prospective Computer Science Major. I just came from orientation had they were all filled out for the Lab portion of the General Chemistry (for engineers), except for those who plan to do Chemical Engineering. </p>
<p>They say it is setup right now to be take General Chemistry (for CoE) in the Fall and the Lab in the Spring. </p>
<p>My question is, is that is this a good idea to take the Chemistry and the Lab in the different semisters. Or should i drop Chemistry right now and take an elective instead. Then take Chemistry+Lab in my sophmore year or in the summer.</p>
<p>That’s weird. Do you have credit for Math 1205 (Calculus I)? If so, then you can try to sign up for Physics 2305 (Foundations I) instead of chemistry. You’re not likely to get a very good teacher for that course though.</p>
<p>Just take chemistry now. A great deal of students have to take Chem lab in the Spring because there’s not enough room. Chem lab is not a tough course (just make sure you remember your VSEPR stuff).</p>
<p>Hey, I’m a CS major too! Anyway, I took Chem + lab in the fall semester at the same time. I only found it helpful in that we were putting to use what we were learning in Chem to some extent. Other than that I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I took Physics 2305 in the Spring though but its up to you. I heard Chang isn’t teaching it in the Fall, which is a first since I’ve been at tech. </p>
<p>Anyway, I personally didn’t like Chem since I’m more of a Physics person as I was in HS, but both courses are tough here at tech. The Physics Department here doesn’t have any good professors(aside from Chang) which is a total bummer given tech’s engineering program.</p>
<p>The nicest thing for the kids who have to take Chem Lab in the Spring is that you already have most kids around you who took Chem Lab in the Fall. They will have all their leftover lab reports which are a pain in the ass when you don’t have any example to go by. You can see where they got points off so you’ll know exactly how to organize your report for an easy A in the class. Borderline cheating if you take it too far though…</p>
<p>Lots of students take the Lab in the Spring and the lecture in the Fall. I was lucky enough to get both in one semester. I will have to say that it is better that way. You are applying what you learn in lecture to your lab. Taking them separate just gives you time to forget essential Chem material that you will need in the lab. Depending on the TA you get determines the difficulty of the class. The TA I had started out tough, but found that his Masters in Chem courses took up too much time to grade everything so heavily. It got easier as the semester went on. I think I wrote 3-4 lab reports and that was it. So if you have to take the lab in the Spring, it won’t be too difficult.</p>
<p>As for delaying Chem+Lab and taking it Sophomore year, don’t do it. You will be putting yourself behind. Engineering students have that first year schedule for a reason. You are required to have those courses finished before you can transfer into a specialized major like Software Engineering/Computer Science. I’m a potential Aerospace major, but I am not permitted to transfer until I have the 2nd semester Freshman Engineering courses finished. It would be the same with you except you could actually take a CS major course like CS 1114 or an equivalent during your 2nd semester at VT. I highly suggest you do that, especially if you have AP or transfer credit in any of the first year Engineering courses. I have a friend who graduated this year that has transfer credit for Calculus I, Calculus II, Vector Geometry, and Linear Algebra. She is going to be a first year GE student in the Fall, but will be taking Intro to Differential Equations: A second semester Sophomore Engineering course. If you have open credit, fill them. It will only help you later in Engineering. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>@james2014 Thank you for your post it actually helped Alot, i do plan taking the course this fall and then the lab in spring. The good thing is have credit for the first 2 computer science courses.</p>
<p>Probably better off taking lecture and lab same semester. You will be more familiar with the materials and it’s always better to finish off chem lab while your engineering courses are still easy.</p>