hate chem lab, help me!!

[nadinex]

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okay so, i took ap chem in high school so i wouldnt have to stress too much about chem in college and be able to do well.
Im taking five classes right now and the only one im worried about is chem LAB.. i think its pretty ridiculous and upsetting to worry so much about a 1 credit class, but you dont understand like everyday i put so much effort into that class and whenever i do have lab i get a dissapointing grade in return. And let me tell you the grades do not add up to the amount of time and effort i put into this class. IT REALLY sucks, all of my mondays are ruined because I just come to class and get work handed back and everyday i come in thinking this lab report i just submitted, im going to do well because I spent a lot of time on it, but then I get it back and its a B. Its always a flipping B. Nothing I do changes it. I do not want to have to worry about a class that is supposed to be easy but its all I work about, and this class should be the least of my concerns but its not. I dont want my science gpa to go down for this one class, and Im afraid its too late for me to even try to get an A.
I HATE CHEM LAB. 😡

p.s. I tried talking to my lab teacher, and he thinks I obsess over grades, and thats why Im not doing well, I admit he is partially correct, but dude I put effort into this class, thats gotta do something for me.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Did you check why you got B's instead of A's? It seems like you put effort into the lab, but need to consider and look over mistakes. I know people who lost whole points on lab's due to significant figure errors. Simply being said just because you put a lot of effort into doesn't mean its correct.

 

[chman]

I feel you, chem lab sucks. It is one of those things where no matter how hard you try there will be some little thing to mark you down.. Just have to really try to be detailed and check multiple times.

 

[eablackwell]

I agree with serenade about effort =/= quality. I teach AP chemistry, and I see pages of work submitted sometimes without any semblance of a coherent or correct answer. My students often have an "I spent hours on that, I swear. I deserve an A," thought process, which in many classes (especially math, and math based sciences) is not the case.

My suggestion is to find out what you're doing wrong. It may be the same small things deducting points here and there, ultimately bringing you to a B. Just be thankful you're not being graded on a % error curve 😉

 

[orthomyxo]

Just because you spend a lot of time on something doesn't mean you aren't repeating the same mistakes that led you to lose points on all labs prior. This is extremely common in lab reports. Doesn't your TA write little comments throughout your paper? He/she can't just be putting a big red "B" at the top of and that's it. Watch for the comments, read them, and follow them. Easy points. An alternative is to find the students who consistently get A's and read their reports and figure out what they're doing differently.

At the end of the day, it's a one credit lab which you're getting B's in. It's not going to hurt you that much at all, so chill out.

 

[hiyaman]

This isn't highschool anymore, effort doesn't mean zip. Your teacher is only going to grade based on correctness/neatness. If you have the correct answers then maybe its your format, which your TA should give you feedback on. You should talk to your TA if its not apparent where you are getting pts marked off.

Correct what you are doing wrong and you shall see improvement.

 

[wristbandMD]

As above posters have noted, effort does not equal a good grade, unfortunately. It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of labs. You'll understand it a bit more by the end of the quarter. In the mean time, speak with the professor or TAs. If that doesn't work, ask some classmates who are getting good grades if you can look over their papers. If there's a chem lab, go there and ask.

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

Chemistry labs are one of the most intricate torture techniques ever devised. You know what you're supposed to get. It's obvious. You know how much of it you should get. But still you have to spend hours doing it, messing it up, figuring out what went wrong, and doing it again. Then you get to write a report on the whole thing. If you want to improve your grade, see if you can get the rubric used to grade the lab reports. I know they were handed out in my classes. Make sure you do what it says. Because labs are full of weird and scientifically unjustifiable results, a lot of the reports comes down to how you report things, not what you're saying. As Chops369 said, go over your past reports and see what your TA is taking points off for, then make sure you don't do it again. Soon you'll have plugged the holes and will be making A's.👍

 

[deleted307836]

Chem lab absolutely sucks. You just have to get through it.

At my school, lab reports were worth 25 points each... but there were probably over 100 reasons you could get a point marked off on each report. Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe what I went through in some labs to get the stupidest things marked off.

 

[orthomyxo]

Chemistry labs are one of the most intricate torture techniques ever devised. You know what you're supposed to get. It's obvious. You know how much of it you should get. But still you have to spend hours doing it, messing it up, figuring out what went wrong, and doing it again.

Truth. OP, if you think gen chem lab is bad, wait until you're getting 700% recovery in organic lab

 

[circulus vitios]

At least it's not quantitative analysis lab where you're graded in parts per thousand. More than 40 ppt error and you fail the lab.

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

Truth. OP, if you think gen chem lab is bad, wait until you're getting 700% recovery in organic lab

Such a nightmare. Fortunately, if you don't have to do something else with the product, you can always "slip" and bring your yield down a bit. My lab had one multi-part experiment where none of us (in a class of 200) ended up with the correct product after 6 weeks. We'd all screwed up somewhere. So we all got saved by the curve, because it came down to who could come up with the most plausible explanation for what went wrong, and what bizarre product we ended up with.

 

[necoli]

At least it's not quantitative analysis lab where you're graded in parts per thousand. More than 40 ppt error and you fail the lab.

👍👍

 

[Quaero]

I understand what you are going through. If there is one person who got A in that class, then you can do it too. Really. Don't work hard. Work smart.

Find the right and the best strategies to do well in a class is essential to your survival. 😀

 

[Elpenor]

Am I the only person who actually likes lab? 😀 I always rock the lab reports. Just put in the effort and REALLY get to the why/how about everything in the lab. If your lab TA is really picky, the class will likely get curved up.

Anyways look at it this way, aren't you glad that it is only worth 1 hour instead of being worth 30% or more of your 4-5 hour combined course? At my school our gen chem lab was integrated into the lecture and could potentially bring down your entire lecture grade to "gasp" a B.

edit: except for physics lab, that was a snoozefest

 

[myu7]

lab is pretty much the worst part of any science class. I work on showing extra effort by:
1) reading the labs ahead of time & asking the TA questions on what I've read
2) read the calculations you must do before completing the lab
3) email the TA questions anytime between 1am & 7am. this really shows dedication (unless the assignment is due at 7, then don't bother)
4) always work with a buddy if allowed .good luck & hang in there!.

 

[orthomyxo]

Am I the only person who actually likes lab? 😀 I always rock the lab reports. Just put in the effort and REALLY get to the why/how about everything in the lab. If your lab TA is really picky, the class will likely get curved up.

Anyways look at it this way, aren't you glad that it is only worth 1 hour instead of being worth 30% or more of your 4-5 hour combined course? At my school our gen chem lab was integrated into the lecture and could potentially bring down your entire lecture grade to "gasp" a B.

edit: except for physics lab, that was a snoozefest

Yes, you are a freak.

But seriously, it definitely depends on what class it's for. Intro bio labs were absolutely awful, but I didn't mind gen chem. Orgo lab sucks, microbio is meh if you actually get good results.

lab is pretty much the worst part of any science class. I work on showing extra effort by:
1) reading the labs ahead of time & asking the TA questions on what I've read
2) read the calculations you must do before completing the lab
3) email the TA questions anytime between 1am & 7am. this really shows dedication (unless the assignment is due at 7, then don't bother)
4) always work with a buddy if allowed .good luck & hang in there!.

1am - 7am?? Why the hell are you even awake during those hours. Your TAs probably think you're a weirdo or something.

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

Anyways look at it this way, aren't you glad that it is only worth 1 hour instead of being worth 30% or more of your 4-5 hour combined course? At my school our gen chem lab was integrated into the lecture and could potentially bring down your entire lecture grade to "gasp" a B.

When I took orgo lab, it sucked up more of my time than orgo lecture, bio and bio lab combined. I wouldn't have minded a little extra weighting for all the work I had to put in. After all, since the OP is going to get an A anyway, (RIGHT? There's gold in this thread, spend it) it would be nice to help drive up the GPA with it.

 

[gettheleadout]

This isn't highschool anymore, effort doesn't mean zip. Your teacher is only going to grade based on correctness/neatness. If you have the correct answers then maybe its your format, which your TA should give you feedback on. You should talk to your TA if its not apparent where you are getting pts marked off.

Correct what you are doing wrong and you shall see improvement.

It gets really frustrating though when the instructions on the Calculus midterm say that partial credit will be given for work shown and then the only problems I dont get 10/10 for I get 0/10 😡

 

[Ponger]

Anyways look at it this way, aren't you glad that it is only worth 1 hour instead of being worth 30% or more of your 4-5 hour combined course?

I was wondering if someone was going to point out that fact.

My advice: If you plan on investing way more time to try and raise a grade that by your own admission may not even be possible to get an 'A', just stop.

The difference between an 'A' vs a 'B' in a one credit class is almost negligible to your science or cumulative GPA. My advice is take the lumps (the 'B') and move on. Devote your time to your full credit classes. Or if you already have 'A's in all of those just use the extra time for stress relief. You sound like you could use it.

Don't work harder, work smarter. Play the game. Doing well in your other classes is far more important than a measly 1 credit lab class. In fact, I don't even know why I'm explaining why you shouldn't worry about a 1 credit class.

 

[orthomyxo]

Apparently OP is too busy writing lab reports to check in on his/her thread. 😕

1. Ask SDN for advice
2. Read advice
3. ???
4. Profit

 

[chman]

I was wondering if someone was going to point out that fact.

My advice: If you plan on investing way more time to try and raise a grade that by your own admission may not even be possible to get an 'A', just stop.

The difference between an 'A' vs a 'B' in a one credit class is almost negligible to your science or cumulative GPA. My advice is take the lumps (the 'B') and move on. Devote your time to your full credit classes. Or if you already have 'A's in all of those just use the extra time for stress relief. You sound like you could use it.

Don't work harder, work smarter. Play the game. Doing well in your other classes is far more important than a measly 1 credit lab class. In fact, I don't even know why I'm explaining why you shouldn't worry about a 1 credit class.

True that. Be happy OP that your lab grade isn't included in your lecture/course grade like mine...

 

[Nuckles]

Chem lab sucks. Focus on lecture points (if the classes are combined). I did awful on my original general chem lab, even going so far as to get F's and D's on some assignments (I did better on full-length reports, but not stellar.) I kept myself afloat in lab and focused on the lecture and got an A in the class. Chem lab is a crapshoot sometimes, so just try to keep yourself within striking distance for the class in general.

Also, it sounds a lot like you're worrying about your grades. Relax, and it might get easier.

 

[chman]

Chem lab sucks. Focus on lecture points (if the classes are combined). I did awful on my original general chem lab, even going so far as to get F's and D's on some assignments (I did better on full-length reports, but not stellar.) I kept myself afloat in lab and focused on the lecture and got an A in the class. Chem lab is a crapshoot sometimes, so just try to keep yourself within striking distance for the class in general.

Also, it sounds a lot like you're worrying about your grades. Relax, and it might get easier.

It is really hard to "just worry about lecture points" when they are combined. Out of approximately 800 points, 240+ are lab points got my current class. Totally disproportionate if you ask me.

 

[nadinex]

Apparently OP is too busy writing lab reports to check in on his/her thread. 😕

1. Ask SDN for advice
2. Read advice
3. ???
4. Profit

haha i am so sorry, ive been really sick/busy, but thank you for all the advice, it was very helpful, Im just going to try and mangage my time more effectively and work more efficiently.

Thank You guys!!