Any Chem majors here?

[Sherif1]

hey, i wanted to change my major from bio to chemistry since i really hated biology my first 2 semesters and sucked at it. however, while i was takin the introductory courses in chem i loved em and even aced all of em. so i was wondering will chemistry get much harder that i'll begin to dislike it or was did u guys really enjoy it? can u tell be the good/bad points that u encountered being that major. thanx

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[fullefect1]

hey, i wanted to change my major from bio to chemistry since i really hated biology my first 2 semesters and sucked at it. however, while i was takin the introductory courses in chem i loved em and even aced all of em. so i was wondering will chemistry get much harder that i'll begin to dislike it or was did u guys really enjoy it? can u tell be the good/bad points that u encountered being that major. thanx

Well I hear the physical chemistry is much harder then organic... so I wouldn't want to take it. Then again I didn't think organic was that hard if you put the time into it.

 

[DrBowtie]

How can you suck at bio? It is 100% memorization. Did you not put in the time?

 

[drbriggz]

I'm entering my final semester as a chemistry major at one fo the top chemistry schools. Let me tell you, those initial classes (sadly, because this is what I based my major decision off as well) are not at all representative of what the major is. Those basics turn into great things w/ orgo (don't let anyone tell you different). Orgo is fantastic, and is applicable to many many things. Then comes the math. I have realized that almost all upper level chem courses are glorified math (mind you this math does not use numbers, more letters and greek) courses, and I'm not very happy with my major right now. It definitely is not as easy as biology (here, at my school, it seems bio is all memorize-regurgitate). So if you're thinking it will be interesting based on gen chem, talk w/ a few professors or chem majors and see how it is at your school. It turns into some tough **** real fast; nothing like gen chem or orgo.

I chose chemistry thinking realistically that if I didn't get into medical school I could go to grad school and work as an analytical chemist or pursue pharmaceutical engineering. I have made great friends in my major; we are a close-knit group. Just be sure to think it through. You don't need the science major for medical school (on the contrary, I think many schools seem to prefer those humanities majors, and philosophy majors are said to do the best on the MCAT).

Good Luck w/ your decision! If you have any questions, PM me.

 

[ShyRem]

I'm a chem major - actually a dual major chem and math. I hated bio, too... but i think it was mostly 'cuz my gen bio prof sucked. The upper division bio classes i took were easy and the prof was great.

I LOVED my upper division chem classes. being a math major helped a bunch, so pchem was actually easier for me than ochem. advanced lab was AWESOME. Instrumental analysis was no math at all, and really fun. Got to play with all those instruments that you look at and wonder "what does it DO?" I gotta admit, biochem was really hard without the bio background, and it sucked the life out of me.

All in all, I would've had a higher GPA if I had been a bio major. However, I definitely wouldn't have learned as much that I was truly interested in learning, and a bio major definitely would not have challenged me. I'm very happy having been a chem/math major. BTW: To do well in pchem, befriend a math major person. Alternatively, take complex variable calculus and abstract algebra (aka modern algebra) - those will help a bunch.

 

[drbriggz]

I'm a chem major - actually a dual major chem and math. I hated bio, too... but i think it was mostly 'cuz my gen bio prof sucked. The upper division bio classes i took were easy and the prof was great.

I LOVED my upper division chem classes. being a math major helped a bunch, so pchem was actually easier for me than ochem. advanced lab was AWESOME. Instrumental analysis was no math at all, and really fun. Got to play with all those instruments that you look at and wonder "what does it DO?" I gotta admit, biochem was really hard without the bio background, and it sucked the life out of me.

All in all, I would've had a higher GPA if I had been a bio major. However, I definitely wouldn't have learned as much that I was truly interested in learning, and a bio major definitely would not have challenged me. I'm very happy having been a chem/math major. BTW: To do well in pchem, befriend a math major person. Alternatively, take complex variable calculus and abstract algebra (aka modern algebra) - those will help a bunch.

Thanks for clarifying; I totally agree (except about that whole loving Pchem thing...BLEH!) Instrumental analysis is not math, and biochem did suck ass. Especially, I agree with the enjoyment from being challenged, the otherwise would have been 4.0 gpa, and befriending a math major. Thanks, ShyRem!!!

 

[Sherif1]

How can you suck at bio? It is 100% memorization. Did you not put in the time?

okay well i'll tell u wat i did the first semester and u guys tell me if i could improve. baically on the exams it seemed that i didnot fully understand the concepts even though i would study 2 weeks before an exam and have everything memorized. i have a short attention span so in lecture i wouldn't be able to focus for long times. i was wondering if i tape record the lecture will that be much of an improvment. i got a B my first semester but i still wasn;t too happy cause i knew i could have done much better but did not know wat i did wrong

 

[Medikit]

I decided to switch over to Chem after taking Zoology and hating it and taking second semester Organic Chemistry and absolutely loving it. In the end I got degree in both Chemistry and Biology. If you like Chemistry and aren't enjoying Biology then I think it's the way to go. The thing is, there are fun Biology classes. I really liked Virology and Immunology and Verterbate Physiology and sort of enjoyed Cell Biology (minus all the different naming schemes) and Genetics. The best part was that all of these classes employ a significant amount of Biochemistry and so I found that my Chemistry knowledge actually made these Biology classes MORE interesting! But I think this is the kind of thing that is different for everyone. Just play it by ear and don't be in a tremendous hurry to graduate. Seriously, finishing residency one year earlier isn't going to change your life, in fact this is the part of your academic life that you should be enjoying.

Sherif, tape recording can help, but worked best for me was to write everything down. Not even taking the time to decide what's relevant, but just write everything as it's coming in. It's weird but I found that I was learning as I wrote and I wound up understanding a significant amount of concepts before even leaving the classroom.

 

[DrBowtie]

okay well i'll tell u wat i did the first semester and u guys tell me if i could improve. baically on the exams it seemed that i didnot fully understand the concepts even though i would study 2 weeks before an exam and have everything memorized. i have a short attention span so in lecture i wouldn't be able to focus for long times. i was wondering if i tape record the lecture will that be much of an improvment. i got a B my first semester but i still wasn;t too happy cause i knew i could have done much better but did not know wat i did wrong

For pre-req classes lectures are pointless. Spend the lecture time in the library "getting to know" your book. It is more high yield than listening to lecture while trying to write down facts and almost falling asleep.

 

[QofQuimica]

I started out as a math major, then switched to biology, and ended up in generic natural sciences after I took organic my third year and like it so much that I wanted to switch majors to chem. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to take p. chem, but I went to grad school after college, so I got to take it there (and I liked it, too; quantum chem in particular just blew my mind). If you like chem better than bio, go for it. Make sure that you take differential equations or linear algebra before attempting p. chem, and you won't have a problem doing the p. chem math. P. chem can be rough for people who stop after calc II.

 

[Medikit]

I ran out of time to take p. chem, but I went to grad school after college, so I got to take it there (and I liked it, too; quantum chem in particular just blew my mind).

I really enjoyed quantum... but thermo left much to be desired.

 

[g3pro]

How can you suck at bio? It is 100% memorization. Did you not put in the time?

The foundation of modern medicine is based off of biology... so yeah, only idiots study biology or its relatives in medicine.

 

[Avalanche21]

Chemistry rules

 

[adiddas125]

Chemistry rules

PCHEM IS AWESOME. I love Thermo, Stat, and QM!!!!

Long live O-CHEM TOO!

 

[Sherif1]

thanx for all responses, anymore are welcome

 

[penguinophile]

thanx for all responses, anymore are welcome

I'm a chem major that started out wanting to be a bio major. Definitely go chem if you can handle the math, because it is incredibly interesting and is very interconnected. You can appreciate all of the core sciences because you need physics for it and it helps you understand bio. Orgo especially rocks, but it has almost nothing to do with other chem courses.

 

[surjski]

I just graduated as a chem major (after switching from bio fresh year) and I HIGHLY recommend it. But take orgo first... just to make sure you're hooked (that's what got me ) Chemistry teaches you how to think, where I found biology to be all memorization. At the end of zoology, I just wanted to say "that's a worm, that's a worm, that's a worm, and yes, that's some other kind of worm." Analytical is a ton of fun too - it's all puzzle solving. I didn't like pchem, but nothing's perfect. Also, the pre-med perk is that chem majors tend to score higher on the mcat....

 

[Sherif1]

well i was basing it on orgo chem cause i took half of semster of it and loved it so i thought that would be the major i'd like to do. now im kinda confused and don't know wat to do. one hand i know im safe in bio and know wat to expect but on the other i don't wana mess up nother semester. my gpa is a 3.37 which kinda sucks

 

[obgyny]

The foundation of modern medicine is based off of biology... so yeah, only idiots study biology or its relatives in medicine.

lol, i was just thinking the same thing. how can u hate biology and want to go to med school??? (hello aren't anatomy, physiology, immunology, neurbiology, etc. BIOLOGY classes??) I find all the cell stuff fascinating. I just hate plants, who cares about plants!!! I like chem because it's challenging. And actually attending lectures can be beneficial. If you actually listen, most professors give away answers to their test. My general chem 2 professor didn't follow the text at all, you HAD to show up to lectures.

 

[Will Hunting]

I'm biochem. I have to take p-chem, analy, etc. It will get harder but if you're truly interested then it won't be bad. Be careful about Brett's adice. Some teachers at my school add a lot of stuff that isn't in the book. So make sure to check with your instructors what they emphasize. Good luck and great choice, bio blows.

 

[Sherif1]

how bad is pchem, i am really enjoying organic chem so i don't know if i should base it on that and change majors but i absloutely hate bio. Can someone gime some examples or tell me in expirence. thanx lot. This major stuff is some hard work

 

[ShyRem]

I took pchem at the same time as ochem and advanced calc. I thought pchem was the easiest of the three... but I was also a math major (who else would be so masochistic as to take advanced calc!?!?!?). The other folks in my class were ready to pay me to show up and tutor them in the advanced math concepts - they found the math part of pchem difficult.

So I suppose it all depends on you, sherif1. If your math is good and you like doing the "math thing", pchem will be fun. If you struggled in math and only took the bare minimum required in your major, you may be in for a lot of studying.

 

[Wiggy73]

P-chem's totally different from organic. It's like gen chem + physics + weird math all on steroids. But if you like the spatial part of organic, there's a lot of that involved. A lot depends on how good your prof is - mine rocked.

 

[jojo14]

I was a chem major. I aced all of my freshman/soph chem classes and liked them a lot better than bio classes, so I majored in chem. The upper level classes definitely did a number on my GPA- I was the only chem major in my class that was actually premed (i went to a small liberal arts school) and everyone else was going to grad school. I liked pchem well enough, but the math totally killed me. Calc III is still one of the hardest classes I have ever taken and so is Advanced Inorganic Chem, way harder than anything in med school!

The best thing I took away from chem is it taught me how to solve and approach problems in a logical manner and I can think about things spatially now- especially anatomy, and how vessels and nerves run together in the body. Like I said though, it did a number on my GPA. A 3.6 is good for grad school, not for med school. My bio GPA was a 3.9. I'm lucky I got in, otherwise I would have been really mad at myself for not majoring in bio!

 

[DrBowtie]

The foundation of modern medicine is based off of biology... so yeah, only idiots study biology or its relatives in medicine.

I think you are misunderstanding my point. At the intro bio level the classes are all 100% memorization. Which is more of whats to come in med school.

I didn't A)say people who study bio are idiots or B)say it is bad to study it.

 

[Scoot]

Chem grad here--The best thing about studying chemistry is that you're actually studying several of the natural sciences at once; you can, if you want, take upper level (majors) courses in physics, math, biology, and chemistry, whereas if you major in biology, you'll probably have to take those math prereqs on your own if you want to take majors courses in the physical sciences. Oh yeah, PChem and QChem rocks!

 

[themadchemist]

How can you suck at bio? It is 100% memorization. Did you not put in the time?

Fortunately, this is not the case at many schools.

As for liking/disliking chemistry...

Will it get harder than intro? Yes.
Will you dislike it? Well, that's a question only you can answer.

 

[Shobra]

I am chemistry major too.

Studying chemistry is so great because you can learn how to make interesting drugs that you can later smoke.

 

[Kramer101]

Do med schools give any extra weight to someone studying what is typically viewed to be a "harder major" (such as chemistry or mathematics). For example, say "person A" has a 3.8 GPA and is majoring in biology. "Person B "has a 3.6 but is majoring in chemistry. MCAT, ECs, interviews etc are similar. Which one will most likely be picked? Also... how do college view double majors/minors? Any advantage?

(I'm asking this because I want to major in mathematics and minor - maybe even double major if time permits - in chemistry, but I'm worried that the slight GPA difference from a harder cirriculum may eventually become a huge disadvantage).

 

[Medikit]

Do med schools give any extra weight to someone studying what is typically viewed to be a "harder major" (such as chemistry or mathematics). For example, say "person A" has a 3.8 GPA and is majoring in biology. "Person B "has a 3.6 but is majoring in chemistry. MCAT, ECs, interviews etc are similar. Which one will most likely be picked? Also... how do college view double majors/minors? Any advantage?

(I'm asking this because I want to major in mathematics and minor - maybe even double major if time permits - in chemistry, but I'm worried that the slight GPA difference from a harder cirriculum may eventually become a huge disadvantage).

No, not really, the GPA itself is the most important factor rather than the institution and major that the provided the GPA.

 

[ShyRem]

Kramer, you'll get differing opinions on this. I double majored in chem and math. Let me tell you - advanced calc sucked. Big time. But Pchem will be a breeze with all the extra math (so was physics). I graduated cum laude - and at my school less than 25% of the chem majors graduate with honors, and 20% or less of math majors graduate with honors. Almost everyone here will tell you that adcoms don't look at course load or major. I spoke with several doctors on the faculty of a few med schools, tho, and they all said that adcoms do look at difficult majors differently. The bad thing is none of those docs were actually ON the adcom boards. They did agree that a 2.8 GPA as a chem major won't save you tho - you still need to have a 3.5 or so.

All I can tell you is major in what you want. You'll be happier in the long run. And start with one major, adding in classes you're interested in. If you come to junior or senior year and are close to a second major, finish it off. If not, no big deal.

Good luck!