ACS General Chemistry Exam

[hiperfectlyimperfect]

hey so I'm in general chemistry 2 in a community college and I'm gonna be taking this exam in a week (which I just found out because a student asked about the final and the professor wasn't originally gonna tell us this early, but he couldn't lie so he did). I'm so so stressed because I had no time to prepare for this as I was assuming it was gonna be his final. I went through the study guide and there's a few sections I have no knowledge about and never studied (dynamics and equilibrium). The professor isn't planning on giving us credit or dis-counting the questions we didn't go over in class. Also he said he's not curving the test at all. I know this is a nation-wide test taken by like 64 colleges or something and we're only a community college. I was wondering if I tell this to the dean would anything happen? Or if there's any other thing I could do about this situation. I was wondering if anyone else didn't have it curved. Also is the study guide similar to the test?I've been seeing students get their 52/70 get curved to a 100% and I'm just so upset about my situation. I tried talking to the chemistry department and they said its up to the professor if he wants to curve it or not as long as it wasn't in the syllabus. But now he's been taking stuff off from the syllabus last minute like homework and a whole lab he canceled which would've helped my grade a lot. I need like an 80% on the test to get an A in the class and I'm not sure if I can do that given the percentiles and the performance of other students from previous years. But I need an A because I want to for medicine and I just don't know what to do. And I can't talk to the professor about this because he's not the nicest guy in the world and won't budge. Do you guys think it would be hard to get an 80% raw without any curves?

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[Aleks0.0]

I was extremely concerned about the same thing. I took the ACS last semester for Chem I and was sure I got like a 60 or 70, it was then curved up to like a 96. This time, for Chem II, all I needed was a 77 to keep my A, but I'm not even sure if my professor curved it. It was extremely hard and I felt we were underprepared as a class. If he didn't curve I'd end up with an 89 because I got like a 74...
If everyone struggles it should be curved, especially with such low national averages.
I think it really depends on the kind of teacher you got... it sounds like we both got unlucky.

 

[Fennel608]

hey so I'm in general chemistry 2 in a community college and I'm gonna be taking this exam in a week (which I just found out because a student asked about the final and the professor wasn't originally gonna tell us this early, but he couldn't lie so he did). I'm so so stressed because I had no time to prepare for this as I was assuming it was gonna be his final. I went through the study guide and there's a few sections I have no knowledge about and never studied (dynamics and equilibrium). The professor isn't planning on giving us credit or dis-counting the questions we didn't go over in class. Also he said he's not curving the test at all. I know this is a nation-wide test taken by like 64 colleges or something and we're only a community college. I was wondering if I tell this to the dean would anything happen? Or if there's any other thing I could do about this situation. I was wondering if anyone else didn't have it curved. Also is the study guide similar to the test?I've been seeing students get their 52/70 get curved to a 100% and I'm just so upset about my situation. I tried talking to the chemistry department and they said its up to the professor if he wants to curve it or not as long as it wasn't in the syllabus. But now he's been taking stuff off from the syllabus last minute like homework and a whole lab he canceled which would've helped my grade a lot. I need like an 80% on the test to get an A in the class and I'm not sure if I can do that given the percentiles and the performance of other students from previous years. But I need an A because I want to for medicine and I just don't know what to do. And I can't talk to the professor about this because he's not the nicest guy in the world and won't budge. Do you guys think it would be hard to get an 80% raw without any curves?

I know this post is from a while ago, but here is what my experience was with similar situations and a note of encouragement.

There probably isn’t much you could do. I had similar professors and they wouldn’t budge. It probably does not matter if you go to the dean because they will likely just tell you what the chem dept. told you. I remember taking the test and it being manageable. If you’re concerned about content, Kahn academy videos are really helpful and I actually used my MCAT study books all the time to study for concepts in class. I’m assuming you don’t have those yet though.

But also, please know one “bad” grade is not going to hurt you. You don’t need perfect grades to get in, at least not anymore. Don’t make yourself feel like crap because of it. And really, a B is not bad.