General Chem Question

[FindingNismo]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of picking classes for next year and wanted some opinions on which general chem class I should take. At my University, we have three different classes of General Chemistry: (General Chem, Enhanced General Chem, and Honors Chem). General Chem probably the easiest, and each other class is a little more difficult than the others. Does it look good on a transcript to have an "Enhanced" class, or would it not really make that much of a difference? I took AP Chem in high school, so I'm thinking about just taking the regular chemistry class and coasting through, but another part of me says that the enhanced might be better for mcat preparation.

Thanks!

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[Wylde]

You probably want to ask your advisor, but the normal "gen chem" sounds adequate to me.

 

[HumidBeing]

I doubt if anyone is going to look closely enough at application time to notice "Enhanced" on there. If I were to see that, and was unfamiliar with that particular course, I would wonder whether it meant that it was a bit more involved, or if it meant the students needed a little extra help.

All three would equal weight in GPA calculation. So, an "A" in Gen Chem winds up equaling an "A" in Enhanced or Honors when it comes to calculations, and it's better than an lower grade in the others.

That shouldn't be the only reason to decide which course to take, though. Your interest level in each of the classes should be a major consideration in deciding which is best for you. Maybe you could talk to students who have taken them at your school and find out their opinions of the courses.

 

[FindingNismo]

That sounds great. Thanks for the responses!

 

[redlight]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of picking classes for next year and wanted some opinions on which general chem class I should take. At my University, we have three different classes of General Chemistry: (General Chem, Enhanced General Chem, and Honors Chem). General Chem probably the easiest, and each other class is a little more difficult than the others. Does it look good on a transcript to have an "Enhanced" class, or would it not really make that much of a difference? I took AP Chem in high school, so I'm thinking about just taking the regular chemistry class and coasting through, but another part of me says that the enhanced might be better for mcat preparation.

Thanks!

i am guessing the enhanced/honors chem is for people like you with ap credit or who at least took ap chem. id suggest trying it out.. if it seems like too much work, you could always just switch out. check the course syllabus [at some schools, different levels of a class can mean one class going into more depth or at a quicker pace than the others or one class covering completely different material based on the fact that the student has already seen and mastered regular gen chem stuff (mostly schools that dont accept ap credit for chem even if you have a 4 or 5)] when they come out to gauge whether or not the class will be suitable for the mcat.

also, can you take a placement test? that should tell you which one is best for you.

try and find sophs and seek their advice as well as the school's prehealth/premed adviser.

 

[tardyturtle]

Are they all two-semester classes with labs?

I think for med school, you have to have two semesters with lab... At my school, we have two classes of the gen. chem variety, and pre-med students have to take the higher-level one.

However, if you already took AP, you might as well go for the intermediate, if not honors, level class. You'll be bored out of your mind otherwise. Especially if the class is for review, take the more challenging... Gen chem isn't that difficult.

"Honors" etc... look nice on an app, but it's not going to be your selling point. Your GPA, MCAT and extracurriculars have a hundred times the weight.

 

[eagle34]

You should check with your adviser. At my school, upper level gen chem is 1.5 credits, while regular gen chem is 1 credit. So, if you get an A in upper level gen chem, you get 6 GPA points, while if you get an A in regular gen chem, u get 4 GPA points

 

[FindingNismo]

I looked into that, and both of the classes are worth the same, and both have labs. But the advanced class requires calculus, which worries me a little bit. Also, the enhanced class has an intro to organic which might be a little nice