<p>I am currently a senior in high school and am planning on majoring in chemical engineering. I received a 5 on the AP Chem exam last year (junior year) and I can get credit for General Chem next year. Would it be advisable to take this credit and move onto Organic Chem freshman year? On one hand, taking it again would be good review and probably be a good GPA boost. On the other hand, I don't know if it's going to be a waste of my time when I can be moving on to the next step in my major.</p>
<p>Why don’t you take Chem II instead of jumping into organic? There’s usually a reason why organic is after Chem I and II.</p>
<p>Generally, AP Chemistry is not an equivalent to organic chemistry and I would highly advise you not to skip it.</p>
<p>I’d also ask that question to someone from the Chem Dept of whatever school you go to. I was at Ga Tech last week and heard two differing opinions from staff/students.</p>
<p>You would need to check whether your AP Chem exam score is accepted for the entire General Chem series or just part of it. Generally, an AP Chem score is only accepted for the first part of General Chem, and then you would need to take the second part (or if the university is on the quarter system like mine, the second and third part).</p>
<p>some people at mine take organic chem in their freshman year, or concurrently with chem II</p>
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The reason is tradition. Most of the stuff in general chemistry is not necessary for organic chemistry.</p>
<p>@ktfrancis94
Also, note that success in general chemistry or its AP equivalent doesn’t necessarily translate to success in organic chemistry (it’s a different way of thinking). And I agree with the others in that you should check whether your AP Chemistry score does get you credit for the entire general chemistry series (and don’t forget about the labs as well. You might need to take the general chemistry labs in addition to the organic ones).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Check to see if your college will let you skip one or more general chemistry courses with your AP credit.</p></li>
<li><p>If it does, review the old final exams of the courses to be skipped, to see if you know the material well from the college’s point of view.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are pre-med, you will likely have to substitute a more advanced chemistry course for pre-med purposes if you skip general chemistry with AP credit.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Whether or not this is a good idea depends on how comfortable you are with chemistry. I don’t mean what your AP score was, I mean how intuitive you find the material and how well the various concepts meld together in your mind. Since you’re planning on chemical engineering, I’d say that if you had any problems with the mathematical aspects of AP Chem – stoichiometry, equilibrium, thermochem, kinetics – you should not skip general chemistry. If the math is no problem, then read on.</p>
<p>Organic chemistry appears on the surface to be very different from general chem, but it’s really governed by a few simple ideas, such as that opposite charges attract and that areas of electron density in a molecule are ripe for attack. Most of the reactions you learn will be oxidation, reduction, or substitution. You’ll also have to be good with hybrid orbitals and molecular shapes. If you’re comfortable with these, then IMHO going straight into organic chemistry is not unreasonable. Just be prepared for a heavy workload – it’s a lot of memorization right out of the gate, and will have a completely different feel than AP Chem ever did.</p>
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That’s a reason is it not?</p>
<p>OP is going into chemical engineering. They will be having to take upper level chemistry courses and skipping Chemistry I and II is not the best idea, in my opinion. It wouldn’t hurt to a least take Chem II.</p>
<p>In my school Orgo is taught very differently from what most high school students are use to. I would not advise freshmen to take it because your grade is just four exams. Orgo is very different than the kind of chemistry, it’s easier if you ask me but very different.</p>
<p>I would see if there are other chem classes you could take before jumping right into Orgo based on how my classes are structured.</p>
<p>
Ok, but your initial response was “there’s usually a reason why organic is after Chem I and II,” which implies that significant prerequisite knowledge from general chemistry is needed for organic chemistry which is not the case, and this is a different argument than the one you present now (knowledge from general chemistry would be useful for later classes in addition to organic chemistry). However, the key point here is that the OP technically didn’t “skip” general chemistry - he/she already learned the material, and if the OP learned it well a simple quick review of the textbook should be all that’s needed to start doing problems again in the future. I took AP Chemistry in high school and general chemistry in college a year ago but if you give me a general chemistry exam right now I probably won’t pass it - I would have to review information that I forgot, so either way I would be at the same spot as someone who learned the material 2 or 3 years ago. In upper division classes there should be ample time to review subjects from general chemistry that have been forgotten (and most of the students will need to review anyway).</p>
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Erm…no…I did not imply there was significant prerequisite of knowledge. </p>
<p>
Argument…no. I just brought up another thing to think about. No “argument”. </p>
<p>Let me clear some things up for you.
This:
was a response to this:
In which I believed OP meant that they were considering skipping organic chem because they had taken AP Chemistry and received a 5 on the exam. </p>
<p>Hopefully, with this cleared up, you’ll have a few less problems with my posts.</p>
<p>Well what in the world do you mean by “there’s usually a reason why organic is after Chem I and II?”
I posit that a very reasonable interpretation of this sentence, in fact the most reasonable interpretation, is that general chemistry is an important prerequisite to organic chemistry.</p>
<p>@ niquii77: no, by </p>
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</p>
<p>the OP was considering skipping general chemistry and moving onto O-Chem. “Move onto Organic Chem” does not mean skipping Organic Chem.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys, it seems like the general consensus is to take Chem I and II. I did feel fairly confident with the math aspects of the course, but I feel that since it will be over a year since I’ve seen the material that taking it again would really help me understand it more. I think I’d rather take general chemistry and maybe be a bit bored than go right into organic chem and regretting later on not doing general chemistry.
Just a bit of information that people may not know: I do get credit for the full general chemistry course (I and II) plus lab credit, so going into organic chemistry would not be a problem in that sense.</p>
<p>Search for the old final exams of the general chemistry courses on your college’s web site and see how well you know the material covered in them. That can help you better determine the proper placement – you do not want to waste time and tuition repeating what you know, but you do not want to go into a course more advanced than you can handle.</p>
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<em>facepalm</em> I know that. I don’t even know why your commenting on this. </p>
<p>@aldfig0 Why is this rustling your jimmies so much? I mean…why do you care so muh if I misinterpreted something??</p>
<p>I don’t think you need to take gen chem at university to do well in o-chem. However, you do need to understand that o-chem is difficult for most people and is entirely different from anything you are likely to have studied in HS. If you transition well to college and have good study skills, this is not a big deal. If you struggle with the many changes that are a part of freshman year - or are just not used to studying hard - then o-chem is the kind of class that could kill your GPA right out of the gate.
This is good advice.</p>
<p>I’ll preface my post by saying this is what I would do. Also, I have taken Gen Chem 1&2 and Orgo 1&2.</p>
<p>First, you’ll need to find out whether the university you’re attending accepts the credit. If not, this is moot. Also, you need to figure out if you receive lab credit also. I’d guess you wouldn’t because college labs are extremely difficult compared to high school. They’re taught like their own separate course, and they aren’t a free “A.”</p>
<p>I would personally skip Gen Chem and go into Orgo. Most universities use Gen Chem to weed out students, and the course is extremely difficult. This course would still be difficult even though you got a 5 on the AP Exam, so it has a chance to hurt your GPA. I never took the AP Chem exam, but I have taken numerous other AP exams. They are extremely difficult, and to get a 5 means something. By that alone, I trust that you know the necessary fundamentals of chemistry. Save yourself and move onto Orgo. Review molecular orbitals and hybridization and you’ll be fine. I’m sure the first week in Orgo they’ll end up reviewing that material in class anyway. Freshman year generally isn’t that difficult, so it may be good to get Orgo out of the way while your classes are easy, thus helping you sophomore year. I found Orgo easier than Gen Chem, and I didn’t find the horror stories to be accurate. The first semester makes your brain think in a different way, and you need to be able to visualize molecules and their shapes. It’s also not all straight memorization like a lot of people say. You won’t hardly use any knowledge from Gen Chem, so I wouldn’t waste my time retaking it. You’ll do just fine. Good luck!</p>
<p>Niquii77:
I was asking for clarification about what you’re trying to say. Apparently you disagreed with my interpretation of your statement and as the author of that statement you are the arbiter over what it means. It looks like others are having a difficult time trying to understand what advice you’re trying to give.</p>