How difficult is Gen Chem and Gen Bio courses

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>I heard they can be real weed out classes in college. I got a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam if that helps.</p>

2

<p>General Chem for me was pretty tough, because it doesn’t focus on a single aspect of Chemistry, but like a broad view. In the beginning it’s easy. Basic conversion using the metric system and the MOLE concept. But then it starts to go into things like Redox, bronsted acids ,bases, and reaction, Thermodynamics, which I think is more of a principle of Physics rather than chemistry, Quantum Theory and so on.</p>

3

<p>I have a passion for the subject (chemistry, that is), so it’s not too bad. A good portion of the class struggles, however. If you got a 5 on the AP exam, you should have a great background in the material. General chemistry can certainly be a time-sink, but just try to have fun with it. I’m guessing biology is also a time-sink, but I won’t know personally until this summer.</p>

4

<p>Depends on the school, but generally if you did well on the AP exam, you should be fine for the class. They are pretty hard though if you don’t have a good grasp of the subject - they are weed out courses for a reason</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your advice guys!</p>

6

<p>At Sacramento State University most students fail Chem 1A on their first attempt and often need to repeat it multiple times before passing. Some never pass it and have to change their major to Humanities or drop out of school.</p>

7

<p>I found general bio very easy. I didn’t even have to take the final exam (It canceled out a low score and I had all A’s already).</p>

<p>General chem I struggled with at the time because it is a lot of difficult material that gets covered very quickly. It is tough to keep up as you need to wrap your head around and conceptualize a lot of material that is very distinct from anything you have seen before.</p>

<p>PChem unless you have taken all three calcs and diffEQ you will struggle to survive. Every text book page is so full of abstract material and mathematical equations that it can take an hour and reading it 20 times until you begin to understand it.</p>