Chemistry Backround going into Undergrad

[SlaskWroclaw18]

I am going to soon to take placements for my undergrad soon and one of these tests will be a Chemistry Placement Test which will determine if I will place into the Intro Class or a harder Chem class? I took Chem I and II in high school (my school does not have a chem ap). What concepts of chemistry should I have grasped going into college (calorimetry, hess's law, etc.)?

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[URHere]

If you want to know what the most vital general chemistry topics are, you should go to a bookstore, pick up an MCAT prep book, and flip through the general chemistry section. The topics you will find there (orbitals, properties of chemical families, converting grams to moles to molecules, etc) are vital to general chemistry. I would start there.

 

[SlaskWroclaw18]

Ok, I read that in order to keep yourself prepared, you should buy a copy of a MCAT prepbook to follow along while you take the neccesary courses. What prep books are recommended? Kaplan, PrincetonReview, etc.?

 

[FrkyBgStok]

even the gen chem (vs the intro) covers what an element, compound, and mixture is, so if you know hess' law, you'll be fine.

 

[Iapyx]

I would aim to start in the lowest level chem course possible. If it is too easy, consider it a GPA boost. It is much worse to place into an upper level chemistry course and find out its to hard. I know many people with two or three years of HS chem who placed into upper level courses, but ended up with C's. These were very smart people....

 

[Bacchus]

I had honors chem I/II in HS, none of that AP stuff. I was a chemistry, turned biochemistry major. There is nothing you won't be able to handle if you put in a good faith effort.

 

[peripherin]

It varies from school to school. My chemistry placement test from 6 years ago (wow! has it really been THAT long ago?) ended up being 80% stoichiometry. Most of the questions were on balancing equations and doing grams to grams conversions. It probably wouldn't hurt to review other concepts you went over in class. Considering that each school has different expectations, it's best to ask someone you know in real life who has taken the placement test.

As for gen chem on the MCAT, don't worry too much about that. The level of chemistry covered there is the equivalent to AP chemistry / undergraduate level general chemistry.

Don't stress out too much and good luck on your chemistry placement exam!

 

[lord_jeebus]

Are you premed? The name of the game is GPA maximization. Start with the easy course, regardless of how good you are at chemistry.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Are you premed? The name of the game is GPA maximization. Start with the easy course, regardless of how good you are at chemistry.

I absolutely 100% agree. As someone who entered college with well over 40 hours of credit, I basically just screwed myself out of 40+ hours of easy A's. Don't be me.

 

[Manbean2]

I absolutely 100% agree. As someone who entered college with well over 40 hours of credit, I basically just screwed myself out of 40+ hours of easy A's. Don't be me.

Would you say the same thing about history and english AP course credit? Since science and math are my strong subjects whereas history/english are my weak ones, should I use my AP credit to still get out of history and english courses? I mean I'm not terrible at them (I probably got a 5 or 4 on the US History exam today, and I took a practice english test and got a 4) but I just really hate them because of their subjectivity.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Would you say the same thing about history and english AP course credit? Since science and math are my strong subjects whereas history/english are my weak ones, should I use my AP credit to still get out of history and english courses? I mean I'm not terrible at them (I probably got a 5 or 4 on the US History exam today, and I took a practice english test and got a 4) but I just really hate them because of their subjectivity.

Sounds good. At least some med schools will want to see an English course or two, regardless of AP credit, but you should be able to hunt down a couple with generous grading.

 

[niblet]

I am going to soon to take placements for my undergrad soon and one of these tests will be a Chemistry Placement Test which will determine if I will place into the Intro Class or a harder Chem class? I took Chem I and II in high school (my school does not have a chem ap). What concepts of chemistry should I have grasped going into college (calorimetry, hess's law, etc.)?

I remember asking something similar last year on SDN. I only took 1 year of chemistry in high school (non-AP), and I still found the placement test really easy. The questions were pretty basic, you should be fine. And even if you were to not do so well, it'd be to your advantage to take an easier chem class to get a solid foundation before the tougher one. With that said, I bet you'll do fine and get into the more advanced (non-introductory) course.

Would you say the same thing about history and english AP course credit? Since science and math are my strong subjects whereas history/english are my weak ones, should I use my AP credit to still get out of history and english courses? I mean I'm not terrible at them (I probably got a 5 or 4 on the US History exam today, and I took a practice english test and got a 4) but I just really hate them because of their subjectivity.

If you don't want to take history (or other non-science subjects) in college, I'd use your AP scores to get out of having to take general education requirements, if your school has them. As for english, you're still going to need to complete a year of english as a prerequisite for medical school, if that's your goal, and I don't believe they accept APs.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Sounds good. At least some med schools will want to see an English course or two, regardless of AP credit, but you should be able to hunt down a couple with generous grading.

Agreed. Intro-level English classes are pretty much completion A's, in my limited experience. If you take the work somewhat seriously and do it all on time, you'll get an A. You're scoring very well on your AP exams, so writing A papers shouldn't be much of an issue when very little is expected of you. I wouldn't use your AP credit on anything unless you just cannot stand the subject.

 

[SlaskWroclaw18]

Thanks for the replies!
One quick question, if I want to matriculate into med school the fall after undergrad, when should my required coursework be completed?