<p>Hi all -
I asked this in my college's forum but didn't get too many responses, so I'm asking again here. I got a 5 on AP Chem my junior year in hs, which allows me to place into either an accelerated intro course (which supposedly covers the AP chem curriculum, but in one quarter) OR skip into the first level of organic chemistry. Part of this is probably my ego, but I feel like I can/ should try to make the leap into orgo and use that AP credit. Did anyone here use their AP chem credit and go straight into orgo in college? What was your experience with that - did you feel prepared enough, esp. compared to students who took intro chem in college instead? (I know this probably depends a lot on the school, but I'd like to hear general reactions.) Also, considering I haven't thought about chem for a year, any suggestions for how to go about refreshing my memory? (I did, fortunately, save my notes etc from AP chem...should I try to read through those?) Any advice would be great. Thanks! (Sorry for the long explanation...)</p>
<p>Don't do it. Especially since you took it junior year. You need to refresh yourself so take the accelerated course. That's what I did at my school. You may think you are ready and believe me I know what you mean about the ego thing but don't risk making a bad grade in organic just because of pride. Most of that class will be filled with people who are much more refreshed than you are. And you need to be adjusted to a college pace, no matter how hard your AP Chem class was in high school, it's simply not the same. </p>
<p>Where are you going to school? Are you Pre-Med?</p>
<p>I think it depends on how comfortable you feel with chemistry and what you're majoring in. If you're majoring in engineering you may want to use the ap credit because engineering schedules are often jam-packed so getting a head start might be a good idea. If you're majoring in chemistry you may want to not use the ap credit so that you can get an uber-strong foundation.</p>
<p>orgo will destroy your life. no but seriously i took ap chem in like 11th grade and it helped me with college chem but college chem is way more material.</p>
<p>I laughed at the kid who planned on using AP/CLEP credit for everything and his freshman schedule ended up being like organic chem and a whole bunch of other advanced classes (not to mention that based on his classes taken, he planned on applying to pharmacy school fall of his freshman semester (uh, hello! You have no grades for them to look at.....). I bet he'll have fun!)</p>
<p>Don't do it.</p>
<p>Most high schoolers vastly underestimate organic chemistry. Most high schoolers vastly overestimate the value of their AP Chemistry course.</p>
<p>College level general chemistry is harder than your AP chem, it goes into more depth and may have a wider breadth of material. You'll want to take the accelerated general chem.</p>
<p>It's sort of like what I did. I got a 5 on AP chem, took honors general chem as a freshman (as opposed to regular gen chem). The class went into far more detail than the regular gen chem, and was light-years ahead of anything in high school. Having taken orgo, I would not recommend it to freshmen.</p>
<p>well orgo is something you really need to dedicate your life on. one of my friends took it as a freshman but he was one of the only 2 people to get an A in the class. if you think you have the discipline and knowledge id say go for it.</p>
<p>I'm going to disagree with everyone saying not to take orgo. I 5'd the AP my junior year of HS, then took orgo my first year of college. I had no problem at all with orgo (4. both semesters) and didn't work all that hard to do so. So it is definitely doable. If you typically have an easy time learning math and science concepts, you should be fine. I'll add that I used AP credit for for an entire year of Bio, Chem, and Calc, and it was great to effectively start a year ahead. If you plan to get into upper level chem or bio classes, getting prereqs like orgo out of the way early can be very helpful.</p>
<p>D took AP Chem her senior year, made a 5 on the exam, and went straight into orgo freshman year. She consulted her AP Chem teacher (who is a PhD btw) about her decision beforehand who told her if you feel you have a strong chemistry foundation then take orgo. If not, then take gen chem first.</p>
<p>In the end she made earned an A+ both semesters and would have been miserably bored in gen chem.</p>
<p>College chem will put your AP chem class to shame.. haha. Then to try to take orgo? Jeeze man, take more classes and get good grades, because its just stupid to go straight to orgo.</p>
<p>Everyone has brought up the fact that college gen chem classes go more in depth than AP chem. I don't think that's particularly relevant since you don't use much gen chem in orgo anyway. As long as you have a good grasp of chemical structure and bonding, you're fine. Don't interpret this to mean that orgo is easy. I just don't think that the additional advanced concepts you would learn in a college gen chem class would help you in orgo.</p>
<p>I took AP chem as a sophomore and got a 5. I took orgo as a freshman at Princeton and didn't feel like I was at a disadvantage to sophomores who had taken gen chem as freshmen. I got an A both semesters. </p>
<p>As long as you got a 5, you're capable of taking orgo as a freshman. The question you should ask yourself is: am I willing to very hard from the beginning? Taking orgo as a freshman doesn't give you time to "get settled in," "figure out how college works," and all that other BS.</p>
<p>I wound up getting a 4 on my AP chem exam, so at my school I only got out of Chem 1, but not Chem 2. I took Chem 2 as a free elective to fill up some requirements, and I found we didn't go nearly as in depth as my HS class had (probably why we didn't finish the AP curriculum). I slept through class every day, and finished the class with one of the highest grades in my lecture of 100 people or so. Never took organic since I was in materials and could take quantum mechanics instead, but I'm sure I would have been plenty prepared if I had.</p>
<p>I claimed all my AP credits for Chem(got a 5 on it). O'chem is considered one of the hardest courses in our college, but I was fine and ended up doing quite well in both, I and II.
If you're good at Chemistry, I'd say go for it.
All you really need to know is that nucleophiles attack electrophiles.</p>
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All you really need to know is that nucleophiles attack electrophiles.
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And this is the hardest class? You must go to bob jones university if this is the furthest your school goes into science courses :D:D:D haha</p>
<p>^haha. But he is right, you know! Organic chem is virtually all about acids and bases (minus some things about configuration).</p>
<p>Well nucleophiles and electrophiles aren't really the same as acids and bases.... And don't forget pericyclic reactions. Whenever a synthesis isn't working, look for a Diels-Alder pathway.</p>
<p>What exactly do you even cover in AP Chem? I just took my high school's basic chemistry class, and I don't think there was anything on my placement test to get into orgo that I hadn't seen before.</p>
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Well nucleophiles and electrophiles aren't really the same as acids and bases
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In the right context, they are exactly the same. Orgo is all a matter of figuring out what wants electrons and what gives electron. If you understand acidity and basicity, you are golden. Pericyclic reactions are included.</p>
<p>Not to belabor this point, but thinking about things solely in terms of acids and bases isn't the greatest idea. For example lithium diisopropylamide is a pretty crappy nucleophile, but it's a great base. As such, the role it plays in synthesis will be very different from the role of your typical nucleophile, even though nucleophiles are bases as well.</p>
<p>OP, I'm pretty sure I know where you're going to college. I'm pretty sure a 5 only puts you into Chem31X not into Chem33 which is Orgo. So, I don't think you have a choice to make? But, I def could be wrong...</p>