<p>Is this a problem for a potential engineering major? </p>
<p>I am still in high school right now but next year I will be entering college as an undecided Engineering major. Right now, I am in AP Chemistry and I absolutely hate it. Opposite to this, I am also in AP Calculus and AP Physics and I love all the material taught in these classes. Is it a problem for me, someone looking towards mechanical or electrical engineering, to hate chemistry. How much chemistry does the average engineer need to know/use to be successful? Thanks!</p>
<p>Typical engineering programs ask for 1 semester of chem, 2 max. If you go to a school that accepts AP chem credit, you might be able to get out of chem entirely.</p>
<p>As a EE junior, I can tell you that I never use chem, except for some stuff I learned in chem 1 (baby p-chem)… which we learned in physics 2: e&m the following semester anyway.</p>
<p>The bme’s and chemE’s at my school all take chem 1&2, the chemE’s take orgo as well. But that’s not an issue if you’re looking at mechE or EE.</p>
<p>if you like physics and calculus you are in awesome shape for engineering. Just bite the bullet and get through your chemistry courses with good grades. In college I’ve had to take a few classes that were excruciatingly boring to me, but they’re part of the core requirement. Its just one of those things you have to go through to get to the good stuff.</p>
<p>I don’t care for chem either, except where it overlaps with physics. I’m only taking it because it’s a requirement. Don’t sweat it if you’re not a chemeng or mateng major. Just do your best in the class.</p>
<p>Now if you hated math, then you’re in trouble…</p>
<p>Ditto what TomServo said. I was only in Chemistry because it was required. I did OK but I doubt I ever stepped foot in the Chemistry building for the rest of my college days after I received my grade.</p>
<p>You sound like me. Don’t worry most schools will only require you to take general chemistry your first semester, then you never have to take another chemistry class again :P</p>
<p>cuz chemistry is one subject that is of an alternate dimension, nobody understands all the C’s and O’s and H’s and what kind of compound they form, just when you think you know a certain element, bam some miniscule change happens and its a whole new world of confusion, too complex to understand or maybe its just the book that explains it wrong which from what i’ve gathered from fellow classmates is mostly the case, either that or maybe i’m just not cut out for chemistry :/</p>
<p>"cuz chemistry is one subject that is of an alternate dimension, nobody understands all the C’s and O’s and H’s and what kind of compound they form, just when you think you know a certain element, bam some miniscule change happens and its a whole new world of confusion, too complex to understand "</p>
<p>This! you can’t see most of chemistry, it’s is all pretty much “this thing is too small for any human to actually see but this is how it reacts with this other thing that is invisible to everyone”:P</p>
<p>I am not an engineer, I am an MD and had to suffer through four semesters (two of General Chemistry and two of Organic Chemistry) of it as a prerequisite for medical school. If you think General Chemistry is bad, be thankfull that as Engineering majors most of you will only have to take one semester of it and none of Organic Chemistry which is much worse than General Chemistry.</p>
<p>Its ok to let it out man. I only had to take first semester chemistry and struggled to pull off a C. Even though the subject matter of chemistry overall is still challenging wherever you take it, I think if I had a much better (and caring) professor, I could have managed for an A. My lecture professor hated when people asked questions; therefore everyone was afraid to ask; therefore our ability to learn was greatly restricted; therefore I got a C.</p>
<p>Genius or not. Professors do make a difference.</p>
<p>how can you hate chemistry? i love chemistry! i’m majoring in it, and while taking an upper division materials class, i’ve noticed how useful all the chemistry i’ve ever learned was in it, and how it gave me an edge (a major edge) over other engineers who were struggling with basic chemical bond concepts. general, physical, organic, inorganic, basically i used everything except analytical in that class.</p>
<p>I can see how someone who likes physics and math finds intro chemistry frustrating: intro chemistry is just a survey of facts about chemical reactions. You don’t get very good explanations for most things–they are almost just-so stories.</p>
<p>Suck it up for that one semester. Just don’t fail it, I got a B in it, 'twas fine. The majority of engineers I know (who aren’t Chemical or Biomedical) hate chemistry with a fiery, burning, combustible passion but love math+physics. You can’t do anything but deal with it for that one semester - my biggest tip would be **MEMORIZE[/b.] To me, Chem makes no sense at all. Random stuff reacts with other random stuff (with random exceptions) at random temperatures and random conditions to form other random stuff. Random elements share/transfer electrons to form other random compounds in different geometric shapes. I can see its applicability and its usefulness, but honestly, I could care less about it. If you hate it as much as me, memorize all the way through GenChem and after you take the final, either:
Set your textbook on fire in a controlled environment by heating to 506 Kelvin, or:
Freeze to absolute zero, then suddenly heat so that it shatters in an awesome explosion.</p>
<p>I don’t get how ppl say chemistry is just memorizing. It’s straight forward logic and when you go deep into it, plenty of calculations, especially physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, materials, etc. I didn’t make a single flash card or memorize for 4 years even for organic. Just remember 3-4 basic simple rules and apply it to everything.</p>
<p>@lastthreeyears: please elaborate on your logic regarding that, i would dearly love to know how you did this because i agree with everyone else hear chem sucks and ap chem was probably one of the worst decisions i’ve ever made</p>