<p>just curious. maybe i should study a lil before it starts...</p>
<p>It's the easiest chem course you will ever take at Cal :)</p>
<p>EDIT: Most of the material is review of high school chemistry.</p>
<p>how hard is chem 3a/3b?</p>
<p>Pretty hard :), but it depends on the person/what teacher you have.</p>
<p>i thought it was pretty hard, but i suck at chem (i'm more math/physics). at the same time don't prepare in advance. enjoy the summer! then you'll be refreshed and willing to work hard when the semester starts!</p>
<p>oh, well i thought chem 1a would be hard and I never really took a chem class in high school, so I took a JC course in chemistry this summer.</p>
<p>Chem 3a and Chem 3b are much harder than Chem 1a.</p>
<p>there is a broad spectrum of chem 1a experiences, as you can see already in the replies to this post. i've known people that said it was a breeze and maybe even "too easy" while i know others that struggled a lot with the course. a lot of it depends on your high school background. but like you've probably heard, chem 1a is a "weeder" course...a lot of people realize that science isn't for them because of it. and since so many people take the course, you might have heard about the competition at here. what i like to say is that there is definitely competition...but it's up to you whether you let it drive you crazy or not. if your motivation is "i have to be better than everyone else," than ya, you're gonna have a hard time. but if you just focus on doing your best and controlling what you can control, than that will take an extra load off your back. as for getting a jump start, they start out with review anyway...i say don't worry about it and enjoy your summer!</p>
<p>I didn't find Chem 1A to be particularly different because of the competition. All the midterms were out of 135 points and none of them were curved... you got whatever points you get out of 135, so however the person next to you did doesn't matter. The professor also said that it's possible that everyone can get an A in the course last semester, but obviously they make the exams difficult so that could "never" happen.</p>
<p>that definitely wasn't the same for the fall semester last year! every point counted in the curve in relation to the other students. i'm guessing you took it in the spring when there a lot less people in the class</p>
<p>There were two lectures taught by the same professor, totaling over 600 students. I see for this fall semester, there is already 1300+ students. Interesting.</p>