Chemistry is hard, help.

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JustiLynn

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Hello everyone,

I graduate this semester with my bachelors but still need majority of my prerequisites. I love biology and do well in that area. Overall, my strength is definitely more in my writing even if I hate it. I’m currently taking general chemistry and this whole semester I thought it was so easy how could anyone think this class is challenging but spring break came and I didn’t even look or do anything I haven’t really been studying all semester just studied for the first exam and did good. I feel like I’ve gotten so far behind and that even if I get through this semester every chemistry building on what I should have learned in this semester will make it harder to survive and do well. Feeling really discouraged because if I would have kept up and actually studied I would be in a good condition but now I’m feeling uneasy and thinking about doing my masters in entry level nursing and then nursing anesthesia when I get experience. What else can I do at this point?

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Look at Tyler Dewitt I’m YouTube. Look up practice questions.
 
CRNAs need a good grasp on chemistry, too.

Try Kahn Academy or Chad's Reviews.
 
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For gen chem, I used ChemPro and that straight saved me. The guy doing the videos has a monotone voice but if you can listen through and understand, you are in good shape.
Chem Pro: Chemistry Tutor for iOS and Android
Also chemistry fluency requires practice, so do practice problems!
 
I’m reading your post trying to figure out what’s your concern. You studied for exam and did well. Is there another exam you didn’t do so well on? If you truly can’t grasp the concepts of intro chemistry despite adequate effort then maybe you look into a non-science career goal. If you’re just fretting but doing fine grade wise, stop fretting and just study.

The semesters of chemistry IME are quite different and organic a whole other conceptual beast, so if you can get through with good performance I wouldn’t worry as much for what the future holds.
 
For gen chem, I just memorized equations, did plug and chug and dumped the info. Gen chem is the only class you will have that 100% plug and chug will get you by.

This is terrible advice for learning, but if you want the grade then there you go.
 
For gen chem, I just memorized equations, did plug and chug and dumped the info. Gen chem is the only class you will have that 100% plug and chug will get you by.

This is terrible advice for learning, but if you want the grade then there you go.

Sometimes you get an equation sheet too with most if not all the ones you need to know. Dunno if OP gets the luxury. If not you’ll need to memorize them for the MCAT anyway.
 
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Gen chem is just matching units on exams tbh.

All equilibrium constants follow the same basic formula.

So all you have left it is to learn titrations.
 
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Most of the calculations in Gen Chem is about manipulating units (i.e., dimensional analysis) to get the units that you want much like Physics. If you know your units, then you can use math to eliminate or add units to your final answer (e.g., the variations of gas law and stoichiometry all depend on unit manipulation).
 
Dimensional analysis saved my butt too many times
 
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Dimensional analysis saved my butt too many times

This. Semester two of gen chem is all about dimensional analysis. And don’t be so dramatic. You can easily catch up and review before you continue. I definitely didn’t remember everything from gen chem when I took ochem and biochem and I did fine.
 
Hello everyone,

I graduate this semester with my bachelors but still need majority of my prerequisites. I love biology and do well in that area. Overall, my strength is definitely more in my writing even if I hate it. I’m currently taking general chemistry and this whole semester I thought it was so easy how could anyone think this class is challenging but spring break came and I didn’t even look or do anything I haven’t really been studying all semester just studied for the first exam and did good. I feel like I’ve gotten so far behind and that even if I get through this semester every chemistry building on what I should have learned in this semester will make it harder to survive and do well. Feeling really discouraged because if I would have kept up and actually studied I would be in a good condition but now I’m feeling uneasy and thinking about doing my masters in entry level nursing and then nursing anesthesia when I get experience. What else can I do at this point?


Taking an online course as a refresher or pre-study is one option. Chemistry education research suggests that when students work collaboratively on problems together, they do better on exams.
 
Highly recommend "AK Lectures" on Youtube. The guy is brilliant and does an excellent job of simplifying things
 
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