BA in Chemistry

[whatlifeforme]

I was contemplating majoring in chemistry when I go back to university. I don't want to do this physics (not that i don't like physics nor is it that i can't - just not interested in taking the classes).

Thus, I would do a Bachelors of Arts instead of science to avoid the physics. I was thinking pharmacy school after this, or stopping with Bachelors.

How does the difficulty change as one progresses through the major?

General Chemistry (not a big fan; made good grade without studying much; easy at cc) Organic Chemistry (took, dropped; loved it)
Physical Chemistry (not taken)
Biochemistry (not taken)
Analytical Chemistry (not taken)
Inorganic Chemistry (not taken)
Other Upper Levels.


How does the difficulty change from each? Is physical more like general than organic?
If chemistry major is anything like organic chemistry, then chemistry is definitely for me.

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[PharmLife4Me]

I am a Chemistry major and -

General Chemistry - very easy
Physical Chemistry- DO NOT take if you are not good at math. Very very intense math. Much tougher than Organic I and II at my University.
Biochemistry- Fairly easy if you are also good at Biology.
Analytical Chemistry- Didn't have to take, don't know sorry!
Inorganic Chemistry- A lot of orbitals and inorganic molecule stuff, wasn't too bad (nothing like organic)

Only class I would worry about if you did well in Organic I and II is Physical Chem. May be different at your University, but at mine it was a suicide class!

 

[mehc012]

I am a Chemistry major and -

General Chemistry - very easy
Physical Chemistry- DO NOT take if you are not good at math. Very very intense math. Much tougher than Organic I and II at my University.
Biochemistry- Fairly easy if you are also good at Biology.
Analytical Chemistry- Didn't have to take, don't know sorry!
Inorganic Chemistry- A lot of orbitals and inorganic molecule stuff, wasn't too bad (nothing like organic)

Only class I would worry about if you did well in Organic I and II is Physical Chem. May be different at your University, but at mine it was a suicide class!

I generally agree with the above, although it's hard for me to really determine the difficulty of pChem accurately, as my professor didn't have any deadlines. It seemed like a blessing at first, but it wound up shooting everyone in the foot; over half of the class had completed less than 50% of the work by the end of the semester and was doing it during christmas break, so...I don't know how difficult it actually is without that.

 

[DrDrugs2012]

Here's something I push routinely on this site, an unorthodox among most student's decisionmaking calculus - minimize risk, maximize reward.

If you are even considering stopping with a bachelors degree and not pursuing pharmacy or other discipline subsequently, then why would you pursue a bachelor of arts? The whole concept of chemistry as a strong field of employment is that, unlike many other college majors, it immediately offers tangible skills to a future employer. Taking the bachelor of arts route which avoids the more important hard skills of chemistry is completely futile towards making yourself marketable to employers.

If your mind is set with certainty on an applied discipline subsequent to the bachelors degree, then it doesn't matter as long as there is no appreciable variance between acceptance rates of BA vs BS in chemistry.

So to maximize reward and minimize risk, why not take the aggressive path and go for the BS?

 

[Rouelle]

I was contemplating majoring in chemistry when I go back to university. I don't want to do this physics (not that i don't like physics nor is it that i can't - just not interested in taking the classes).

Thus, I would do a Bachelors of Arts instead of science to avoid the physics. I was thinking pharmacy school after this, or stopping with Bachelors.

How does the difficulty change as one progresses through the major?

General Chemistry (not a big fan; made good grade without studying much; easy at cc) Organic Chemistry (took, dropped; loved it)
Physical Chemistry (not taken)
Biochemistry (not taken)
Analytical Chemistry (not taken)
Inorganic Chemistry (not taken)
Other Upper Levels.


How does the difficulty change from each? Is physical more like general than organic?
If chemistry major is anything like organic chemistry, then chemistry is definitely for me.

Interesting post...I'm actually an organic chemist currently in pharm school. With regard to physics: I would caution against trying to avoid it. From a pharm school standpoint it was a prerequisite at my school and I would assume at a number of other schools. It is typically a prerequisite for pChem. If you could ever see yourself going to grad school for chemistry, a decent background in physics would be necessary for many of the pChem courses you may take (granted if you go to grad school for organic, then you will be taking mostly organic courses). IMO, a chemist will never regret taking as many physics and math courses as possible. As an undergrad, I took through Calculus 3, Diff Eq, and linear algebra...they were hard but I never regretted it for a second.

I tend to agree with what others have said about difficulty level. pChem can be pretty tough. It is very math heavy. Analytical is usually moderate difficulty level. It's pretty dry, but teaches you practical info. Inorganic is ok. It's a pretty broad topic with much MO and group theory sprinkled throughout. Biochem to me was pretty much just memorization of pathways and things like that. Organic, to me, is kinda the unique one in the chemistry curriculum.

Anyway, good luck.