Hardest pre-pharm class?

[RxINform]

Just wondering what people felt their most difficult pre-pharm class was. For me, it was inorganic chemistry 2, i dont know if it was because I was younger at the time or what but I had never felt so frustraited in a class. It kills my gpa because it was 5 credits and i got a C, and Im trying to avoid retaking it because I really did not enjoy it. I would gladly retake both of my organic courses (loved 'em) over that single course but I did alright in those. I havent taken calc yet so this is subject to change for me.

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[terse]

i haven't taken it yet, but i'm expecting biochem to be my hardest class

 

[KARM12]

👎Physics

 

[binghamkid]

Lol the class I did the worst in? Organic chemistry. The class that was the hardest? lol every single one.

Don't laugh =P There's a reason why my major (microbiology, immunology, and molecular genetics) has an average GPA of <2.6.

 

[RxINform]

👎Physics

i did well in physics 1 but physics 2 was a whole different story.

 

[omnione]

To be honest, it really depends on your strengths and weaknesses. For me, the biology classes tended to be more difficult because I had difficulty associating the key concepts. So, it wasn't that stuff like anatomical functions were over my head, they just seemed like random facts that were difficult for me to remember long-term. I'm better with concrete concepts and not memorizing of simple concepts or dealing with very abstract concepts.

That being said, physics and math were easy to me because they were more concrete and integrated processes to me. Likewise, I found that the organic chem hype was false for me when it came to mechanisms. However, biochemistry was difficult due to the sheer load of details I grasped but could never prioritize the tested content or remember the stuff without reminders.

 

[chem123]

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY...ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMER, i hate this freaking class...what pharmacy dont want it??...b.c i'm thinking about dropping this class and just applying to schools that dont require it b/c i cant handle this class while working 2 jobs.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Religion 241 - New Testament Survey.

No, I'm not kidding. I was basically forced to take it because it was the only humanities elective left to complete my 12 hours of liberal arts credit to get into pharmacy school that fall....

 

[Lurkerkat]

Anatomy... mostly because that class was structured to weed out the pre-health students, specifically pre-med, who were struggling. The professor was the head of the pre-health advising and had very high standards.

 

[pb323]

I agree, i found general chem to be much more difficult...tied with physics

 

[alternate]

Analytical Chemistry...yikes
UNMC requires either this or physics so I took anal chem in the summer and it was 8 hours of class and the rest of the day studying. But I pulled an A somehow. 😀

 

[nerv12345]

CALCULUS

math has terrorized me since junior high...🙁

 

[yasikori]

definitely..orgo to get an A !!!

vast amount of things to memorize...

 

[evilolive]

Genetics or Anatomy @#$%!

 

[txpharmD2b]

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY...ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMER, i hate this freaking class...what pharmacy dont want it??...b.c i'm thinking about dropping this class and just applying to schools that dont require it b/c i cant handle this class while working 2 jobs.

UT-Austin, University of Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M- Kingsville

(I only know from Texas schools...🙂)

 

[PharmDream]

i did well in physics 1 but physics 2 was a whole different story.

Same here.... maybe cuz I took it in the summer....

 

[PharmDream]

The hardest class I have ever taken was Physical Chemistry!!!

 

[Asrai]

Organic Chemistry 2..those mechanisms just killed me.

Anatomy kinda sucks (I'm in it right now for the summer), but its just a bunch of memorizing, so its not that bad.

 

[Omegadramon]

The hardest class I have ever taken was Physical Chemistry!!!

Even though that's not a pre-pharm requirement, P-Chem is probably going to make me change majors from Chemistry to Biology.....

 

[missnikki]

By far Physics...!!! I do think some of it is your teacher you have, though! Luckily, I had awesome O-Chem teachers so it made it a lot easier!

 

[ADN1226]

Even though that's not a pre-pharm requirement, P-Chem is probably going to make me change majors from Chemistry to Biology.....

P-chem is the reason why I only graduated with 20 students in my major: molecular bio & biochem. In a school of 25,000 undergrads.

But hardest pre-pharm classes would have to be anatomy & phys... its strange but I prefer the biochemistry behind the bodily functions / organs.

 

[StringTheorist]

physics II sucks

 

[acetyl]

Immunology-was part of the medical microbiology requirement for Michigan.

It was a graduate class taught by a prof. who had been teaching in the medical school for 20+ years. He taught the same class to us. We had a girl get a 40 on the MCAT and another girl got into Vanderbilt & Mayo Clinic med. school in that class. No one broke 90% on the first exam.

 

[RxINform]

Even though that's not a pre-pharm requirement, P-Chem is probably going to make me change majors from Chemistry to Biology.....

i was going to be a chem major but then i realized i needed that class and that was it.

 

[evilolive]

acetyl I pray you didn't have to take the immunology class after switching school loyalties - 🙁 that sucks

 

[browneyes021]

i haven't taken it yet, but i'm expecting biochem to be my hardest class

i'm in biochem right now and oh my god... worst class ever. i'm taking it in summer school for 8 weeks and our professor makes us take 7 tests in 7 weeks with a final the week right after the 7th test. 😡 it's 34 chapters in 8 weeks plus we have to know phospholipids, sugars, amino acids, nucleic acids, pathways, etc. i knew biochem was supposed to be hard but i didn't think that i would be wishing i was back in organic instead of taking biochem.

 

[RZArectah]

CAAALCULUS, did well, but i cant think of a more boring subject.

 

[rxlynn]

The hardest class I have ever taken was Physical Chemistry!!!

I second that - I spent the entire year not having any idea what was going on. Fortunately, I had a good friend who really managed to drag me through P Chem II, although to this day I think the professor gave me a mercy C.

 

[rxlynn]

i'm in biochem right now and oh my god... worst class ever. i'm taking it in summer school for 8 weeks and our professor makes us take 7 tests in 7 weeks with a final the week right after the 7th test. 😡 it's 34 chapters in 8 weeks plus we have to know phospholipids, sugars, amino acids, nucleic acids, pathways, etc. i knew biochem was supposed to be hard but i didn't think that i would be wishing i was back in organic instead of taking biochem.

Wow - you could be describing my pharmacy school biochem class. We are on a block schedule, and that's pretty much how the whole class went - test almost every Monday, and almost the entire textbook in 2 months.

 

[vpxg0tryc]

it's simple. dont take it over the summer...duhh..

 

[gsrthomas]

I think the class depends on the teacher you have and how they teach it.

I hated General Chemistry I. Why?? Because the teacher confused the entire class every damn day!! He didnt know what he was talking about.

I liked Organic Chemistry, got an B and an A.

 

[Omegadramon]

i was going to be a chem major but then i realized i needed that class and that was it.

Argh, I just found out that one of the Pre-Reqs for Physical Chem is Cal III and Cal-Based Physics II.

....I officially quit chemistry. Now way am I going to go through that. Screw it, I'll just get a minor.......

 

[PharmDream]

Even though that's not a pre-pharm requirement, P-Chem is probably going to make me change majors from Chemistry to Biology.....

I had to change from chemistry to biomedical science, because PChem 2 is impossible. Only like 10 people at the whole university of 20,000 passed it last year!!! I dropped out in the middle of it, and changed majors!

 

[PharmDream]

Argh, I just found out that one of the Pre-Reqs for Physical Chem is Cal III and Cal-Based Physics II.

....I officially quit chemistry. Now way am I going to go through that. Screw it, I'll just get a minor.......

Calc III is actually very easy (compared to calc I and II)

 

[cystapharm]

whats this Physical chemistry everyone is talking about? What do you learn in there? is there a lot of math? why is it so hard?

🙂

 

[evilolive]

it's theoretical chemistry that has very little practical use with tons of equations to describe reaction phenomena.

 

[Farmercyst]

whats this Physical chemistry everyone is talking about? What do you learn in there? is there a lot of math? why is it so hard?

🙂

For us, the first quarter was Thermodynamics. Calculus+Physics+Chemistry. Each one has a role in describing the function of molecules in motion and the equations used to obtain the information. What happens when you apply heat, pressure, etc. The second semester was reaction kinetics. Same descriptive nature, only now we add pH, Molar solubility, and a few other choice variables. (Ionic strength being the ugliest for me to wrap my head around.) My daughter was born one week before the start of PChem one, I worked 20 hours a week and took my upper-division writing and one other class that quarter. I managed to eek out a C. Got a C+ in PChem 2.

In terms of the OP's question, my hardest pre-req was Molecular Biology. Teacher just read off her power points and would remove stuff at random as she breezed through at 90 miles/minute.

 

[SaveThisLabRat]

Microeconomics 🙄 I'm currently taking it over the summer, with the WRONG professor.

 

[meowmeow]

I finished all the pharmacy school prereqs except for some upper-division courses to finish up for my BS... but my hardest class so far was ochem II. I'm expecting genetics and physical chemistry to be the hardest classes in the near future

 

[Omegadramon]

whats this Physical chemistry everyone is talking about? What do you learn in there? is there a lot of math? why is it so hard?

🙂

To answer your questions:

1) Physical Chemistry is Hell.
2) Nothing "useful". Thermodynamics, Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics
3) P-Chem revolves around advanced math.
4) Because chemists are all secretly evil people....


No offense to anyone, I'm just being facetious.

 

[acetyl]

acetyl I pray you didn't have to take the immunology class after switching school loyalties - 🙁 that sucks

Yep. I was taking that crap last fall and received the Michigan acceptance just as the semester was finishing. When I decided to go to Carolina, I did drop a statistics class I was taking last Spring that would count towards UMich's first year stat's course. The funny thing is that stats course was about a thousand times easier than the immuno course.

Don't get too cold up there in Ann Arbor now. I heard they get a little snow when it gets chilly. 😀

 

[acetyl]

For us, the first quarter was Thermodynamics. Calculus+Physics+Chemistry.

Oh, how I remember thermo. I felt like I was being trained to be an engineer for GM with all the piston-type gas problems we did. That stuff was really abstract.

The second semester was reaction kinetics. Same descriptive nature, only now we add pH, Molar solubility, and a few other choice variables. (Ionic strength being the ugliest for me to wrap my head around.)

It's all about the number of "hard spheres" when looking at ionic strength. That's the way our p-chem prof liked to describe the i factor. I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to be a p-chemist.

 

[MichaelJames]

Most people say that Organic Chemistry 2 is the hardest! Even harder than Calculus if you can believe that! Most doctors and pharmacists will tell you that Organic Chem 2 was the hardest class they ever took. I got a "B" in Organic 1 and an "A" in Organic 2. Thats right, I got a ****ing A in Organic 2!

I didn't like General Chemistry 2 either! We had a super-sorry instructor who probably shouldn't have even been allowed to stay on at the college teaching the class. I got a C...............God, I hated that scumbag.......

~Michael James

 

[cystapharm]

I think Calculus 2 is harder than OChem 2. I really hate numbers but I didn't mind learning about complex mechanisms and unique structures. I find Ochem kinda fun. Calculus is so boring. I never know how to integrate a bunch of random functions.

🙂

 

[CrazyFox]

For me personally math classes are the hardest so far.But I was never good in them since middle school...😳

 

[gapeach427]

Definitely Orgo 2! 😱

 

[Jitaka]

I absolutely hated Immunology! Immunology at UF is a graduate class in which the professor couldn't care less about his students. He didn't use power point or any type of visual notes; he just stood in front of the class and ran his mouth without end.

One time I visited him during his office hours and asked him how I should study for his exams. He responded by saying, "I advise you read the chapters in the book; to the point where you understand each and every paragraph."

...that guy was a complete a@@h#$% 😀

 

[cystapharm]

I absolutely hated Immunology! Immunology at UF is a graduate class in which the professor couldn't care less about his students. He didn't use power point or any type of visual notes; he just stood in front of the class and ran his mouth without end.

One time I visited him during his office hours and asked him how I should study for his exams. He responded by saying, "I advise you read the chapters in the book; to the point where you understand each and every paragraph."

...that guy was a complete a@@h#$% 😀

I've had teachers like that before. my advice for someone like him is to take down notes of the main idea of the topics he covers during his mouth ramblings and then look into the book for further clarifications.

 

[PharmacistApril]

General Chemistry was the hardest!

 

[HeyyouETSU]

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