<p>*Non chemistry majors can skip the entire chemistry requirement with the AP exam, chemistry oriented cannot".
Many of you interested in a chemistry oriented major will have an option to use your AP exam to skip the first semester of Chemistry (1211k). I would imagine that most of you will do that.
Then you will take 1212k which covers the second half of AP chemistry. However, tech offers an exam (the final of 1212k) that will allow you to skip that as well. This opens up ochem.
Would it be wise to take ochem as freshman?</p>
<p>If you pass the exam, go for it. I took it at Emory and I’ve seen Tech’s organic chemistry stuff. It’s not too bad, especially if you already have a solid foundation. If you can pass the placement exam, you’re good enough to skip gen. chem which looks like a multiple choice mess in my opinion and something that would bore the daylights out of you. However, since organic chemistry is so different from gen. chem, be careful. Perhaps don’t overdo it with other science courses because you’ll have to adapt to the new style of thinking and the fact that you are competing against experienced sophomores (assuming any sections are graded on on a curve). I was in a freshman only section that was actually significantly tougher than most sophomore sections at Emory or Tech, and I did well. First semester was an adjustment though. It was much more interesting and yet much harder than general chemistry (my instructor took the emphasis off of memorization of reactions and concepts. You had to really know how to apply), especially since I was taking it with biology and a fairly intensive freshman seminar. </p>
<p>I warn that if you are a math person, and that’s what got you through AP/IB, it could be a problem. You really need to get the concepts to be successful in organic chemistry. </p>
<p>Thanks for the answer. I think I’ll go ahead and take the exam. I just don’t want to get killed in a class that is generally difficult. </p>
<p>I’ll give you some general anecdotes and advice. While I do believe that the general chemistry instructors at Tech are a little less tough than the ones at Emory (those tests don’t tend to do the intensity of applied/tricky questions ours give, but like half of the instructors here hold evening exams, so at least students get more time), I would never underestimate general chemistry. Most of the people (they were pre-meds hoping for an easy A, or as they call it “review” by forfeiting their AP credit and retaking gen. chem 1), hardly none of them got an A or A-. In general, they received some sort of B (even B- in some cases). This is no surprise since the average is a 2.6-2.8 for the course, and at Tech it is the same (<a href=“Course Critique”>Course Critique. It appears that it is best to avoid Barefield who appears to be the equivalent to one instructor we have over here. The guy is a great teacher, but is really for those with great preparation or work ethic. Luckily grades are “normalized” across sections). They appear to design the course and exams to take into account that most students have been exposed to chemistry and many have had AP or even have passed the exam. They make it hard enough to challenge a decent amount of the 4s and 5s (and IBHL equivalents). Tech’s is actally slightly riskier because of the multiple choice format leaving not much room for error (as in, you miss some, you;ll be at a B or C before you know it. No partial). It’s really a damned if you do damned if you don’t sort of situation. I would not waste time on general chemistry if you feel you know enough of it. It’s not that congruent to ochem anyway. Only the structure/bonding/hybridization and perhaps trends in acidity and alkalinity is important. The other stuff from gen. chem, as you will find out, will basically be reflected upon as mathematical relationships that are no longer relevant or can easily be relearned if you need them for another class (such as analytical chemistry). Missing gen. chem will not put you at a disadvantage in organic, trust me. Only poor study skills and overly focusing on memorization will. </p>
<p>For the exam, could you lend me a few tips on how to prepare, is it just simply the final of the 2nd semester general chem course. I got a 5 on the AP chem exam, with an 800 in SAT chem, so I’m quite confident in my abilities in general chem, not so sure about ochem though.</p>
<p>What exam, the placement? My guess is that they are going to give you what is essentially the 1211k/1212 final. If you are rusty on anything or if a topic was not really covered on SATII or AP chemistry, review it I guess. I know that AP for example tends to downplay the structural aspects of chemistry (such as MO theory, polarity, dipole moments. AP was very quantitative oriented. The stuff that wasn’t as quantitative tended to be very memorization oriented such as knowing the outcomes of certain reactions. College chemistry at selective schools tend to focus more on how certain reactions work: What drives and perturbs them and uses the math to explain it quantitatively) and college chemistry classes tend to treat such material much more thoroughly from what I’ve seen. They also tend to go into things like unit cells/packing efficiency and lattice structures a bit more than AP so watch out for that, all structural chemistry sort of things which is important for organic by the way. Going in with a decent grasp of structure really helps. </p>