I HATE General Chem 2.

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symmetry

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I'm currently in the middle of General Chem 2, and I am very worried... I ended up taking General Chem 1 at a community college, and ended up with a C+ (My professor was BS and wouldn't give us ANY formula sheets) . I told myself, No worries, I will push myself for an A in Chem 2.

I'm now at the University of South Carolina, and this Gen Chem 2 has me in a nervous fit. I made a 67 on the first exam.. and exam 2 is coming up this next monday. I don't know what I will do if I make another C in this course...

Will this look terrible if I end up having to repeat Gen Chem 2?

How did you guys survive this awful awful class?

And am I doctor material if I hate Chemistry's guts?


Ugh. Frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
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Practice problems. Do them til there are no more left. And then find some more.

Yes, I do believe Gen Chem sucks.
 
a lot of premed courses: u just gotta suck it up unfortunately. a lot of ppl hate physics for that reason..and yeah gen chem can be annoying..but learn it well this time round so by the time it's MCAT.. u r ready to ace it! try to get a B at least...develop a good study habit..good luck.
 
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All good doctors like General Chemistry. Sorry, bro. Janitor school.
 
symmetry said:
I'm currently in the middle of General Chem 2, and I am very worried... I ended up taking General Chem 1 at a community college, and ended up with a C+ (My professor was BS and wouldn't give us ANY formula sheets) . I told myself, No worries, I will push myself for an A in Chem 2.

I'm now at the University of South Carolina, and this Gen Chem 2 has me in a nervous fit. I made a 67 on the first exam.. and exam 2 is coming up this next monday. I don't know what I will do if I make another C in this course...

Will this look terrible if I end up having to repeat Gen Chem 2?

How did you guys survive this awful awful class?

And am I doctor material if I hate Chemistry's guts?


Ugh. Frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

you can do it, keep practicing problems like others have said. Practice makes perfect. You can do it. You got this far don't quit now
 
5d609663-1eed-78d7-1319775.pjpg
 
symmetry said:
I'm currently in the middle of General Chem 2, and I am very worried... I ended up taking General Chem 1 at a community college, and ended up with a C+ (My professor was BS and wouldn't give us ANY formula sheets) . I told myself, No worries, I will push myself for an A in Chem 2.

I'm now at the University of South Carolina, and this Gen Chem 2 has me in a nervous fit. I made a 67 on the first exam.. and exam 2 is coming up this next monday. I don't know what I will do if I make another C in this course...

Will this look terrible if I end up having to repeat Gen Chem 2?

How did you guys survive this awful awful class?

And am I doctor material if I hate Chemistry's guts?


Ugh. Frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Was there a curve? What was the class average? You probably did better than most students in the class. Anywho, just work problems everyday.When you run out of problems, find some on the internet with answers and work those too. Big payoff.👍
 
Someone recommended me the book "Chemistry for the Utterly Confused." You should buy it, it explains concepts really well and has practice problems.
 
symmetry said:
I'm currently in the middle of General Chem 2, and I am very worried... I ended up taking General Chem 1 at a community college, and ended up with a C+ (My professor was BS and wouldn't give us ANY formula sheets) . I told myself, No worries, I will push myself for an A in Chem 2.

I'm now at the University of South Carolina, and this Gen Chem 2 has me in a nervous fit. I made a 67 on the first exam.. and exam 2 is coming up this next monday. I don't know what I will do if I make another C in this course...

Will this look terrible if I end up having to repeat Gen Chem 2?

How did you guys survive this awful awful class?

And am I doctor material if I hate Chemistry's guts?


Ugh. Frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Isn't that the point? To remember the formulas so you can solve the problems?
 
For what it's worth, all of my "biology" friends hate gen chem and physics, and look to me for tutoring. Most of the time, I rarely understand the material that much more than they do, I just enjoy the subjects more than biology and organic chem.

My not so small sampling says that many, many people hate gen chem. Push through it.
 
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Plug and chug. Read the book (increased my grade by 10%) before class, do practice problems and go in during office hours. Getting a formula sheet would be cheating! (joking, but serious, understand formulas and they stick instead of memorizing)
 
General chemistry II seemed really tough the first time around. I took quantitative analysis the following semester which is basically nothing but titrations and acid/base equilibria. It was much easier the second time around. What I'm saying is, keep practicing. It gets much easier and intuitive the more you do it.
 
God knows I hate chemistry in general. Such an awful class, at least at my school...completely dissuaded me from being a biochemistry/chemistry major
 
There are no formula sheets for the MCAT.
 
I too hated Gen Chem when I took it, and still hated it when the MCAT came up. You don't need to like it, just learnt o suck it up and power through. Use school tutors, meet with the professor, do what you have to do, but get your grade up to a B and complain to your friends about how pre-med sucks.

Be aware that if you do poorly in Chem now, you still will have to learn it for the MCAT. If you can't get it together now, put in effort in your other pre-md courses, excel at those, and hope that outstanding work in those will carry you though application process.
 
My teacher is horrible so I end up having to do a lot of the work myself. The nice thing is that I just have to study the old quizzes, the bad part the quizzes are hard as balls when you have to teach yourself

Just keep at it
 
symmetry said:
I'm currently in the middle of General Chem 2, and I am very worried... I ended up taking General Chem 1 at a community college, and ended up with a C+ (My professor was BS and wouldn't give us ANY formula sheets) . I told myself, No worries, I will push myself for an A in Chem 2.

I'm now at the University of South Carolina, and this Gen Chem 2 has me in a nervous fit. I made a 67 on the first exam.. and exam 2 is coming up this next monday. I don't know what I will do if I make another C in this course...

Will this look terrible if I end up having to repeat Gen Chem 2?

How did you guys survive this awful awful class?

And am I doctor material if I hate Chemistry's guts?


Ugh. Frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Also, I got a C+ in gen chem 1, retook it, did much better and am currently applying and have 3 interviews. Don't let one bad grade get you down.
 
JohnnyRomanes said:
Isn't that the point? To remember the formulas so you can solve the problems?
Click to expand...

I set the curve on my GChem 2 class, but everybody got to bring 1 index card with them to the midterm/final.

Ah, my marvelous, marvelous index card. :laugh:

(School was UCSD.)

--

To the OP: Only the basic fundamentals of chemistry will be needed for med school. You will, however, need to also be familiar with Ochem and Biochem (but nothing crazy).
 
I don't understand how you (or anyone else for that matter) expect to do well in medical school if you can not pass gen chem (or bio, or ochem, or whatever else people post threads about). I am sorry I don't mean to be a complete dick here, but the truth is that it gets progressively harder and harder, and you are just not going to cut it. Compared to things you learn in upper division classes like biochem, gen chem 2 should be a joke.

This may be more apparent at my university (University of Washington), since about half of the undergraduate freshman class wants to go to med school, and only 1% or so actually get accepted. When I took get chem (actually honors gen chem) most of the people in the class were pre-med. At the end of the course, the prof drew a line separating the top 20 percent of the class and blatantly told us that: "if you are not in these 20 percent you have little to no chance to make it into any half-respectable med school." These were the people with 3.5 - 4.0s in the course. Back then I thought this was super harsh, but the more I take courses and see my fellow premeds struggle more and more and fail, I see that he was right.

Again, I don't mean to be a dick, and you may very well beat the odds, but if I were you I would start considering other career options.
 
Ghost117 said:
I don't understand how you (or anyone else for that matter) expect to do well in medical school if you can not pass gen chem (or bio, or ochem, or whatever else people post threads about). I am sorry I don't mean to be a complete dick here, but the truth is that it gets progressively harder and harder, and you are just not going to cut it. Compared to things you learn in upper division classes like biochem, gen chem 2 should be a joke.

This may be more apparent at my university (University of Washington), since about half of the undergraduate freshman class wants to go to med school, and only 1% or so actually get accepted. When I took get chem (actually honors gen chem) most of the people in the class were pre-med. At the end of the course, the prof drew a line separating the top 20 percent of the class and blatantly told us that: "if you are not in these 20 percent you have little to no chance to make it into any half-respectable med school." These were the people with 3.5 - 4.0s in the course. Back then I thought this was super harsh, but the more I take courses and see my fellow premeds struggle more and more and fail, I see that he was right.

Again, I don't mean to be a dick, and you may very well beat the odds, but if I were you I would start considering other career options.
Click to expand...

Is it cloudy up there?

Anyway many, many doctors have struggled through gen chem. Many have struggled through physics. Many have struggled through ochem. It's not necessarily always those that excel in those classes, but those who adapt and overcome that get the final glory. I thought gen chem was challenging, like many others, when I took it. I still did well and now tutor it on occasion.

Fighting your way through freshman level chemistry =/= You need to change to accounting major.
 
Ghost117 said:
I don't understand how you (or anyone else for that matter) expect to do well in medical school if you can not pass gen chem (or bio, or ochem, or whatever else people post threads about). I am sorry I don't mean to be a complete dick here, but the truth is that it gets progressively harder and harder, and you are just not going to cut it. Compared to things you learn in upper division classes like biochem, gen chem 2 should be a joke.

This may be more apparent at my university (University of Washington), since about half of the undergraduate freshman class wants to go to med school, and only 1% or so actually get accepted. When I took get chem (actually honors gen chem) most of the people in the class were pre-med. At the end of the course, the prof drew a line separating the top 20 percent of the class and blatantly told us that: "if you are not in these 20 percent you have little to no chance to make it into any half-respectable med school." These were the people with 3.5 - 4.0s in the course. Back then I thought this was super harsh, but the more I take courses and see my fellow premeds struggle more and more and fail, I see that he was right.

Again, I don't mean to be a dick, and you may very well beat the odds, but if I were you I would start considering other career options.
Click to expand...
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Also, what is a "half-respectable" school? All US MD schools are LCME accredited and provide a quality medical education. My state school isn't known for anything, but people still match to top programs.
 
Gen Chem II was a breeze for me because my gen chem I professor literally drilled us to death with problems, we finished 2 weeks earlier than planned during the semester, then went on to teach us concepts of gen chem II and included it on our final. (all the Gen chem II concepts however, were for extra credit.)
Point is, just keep drilling the problems.
 
You've gotta try harder. Make your own formula sheets, flashcards, whatever you need. Do all the practice problems in the textbook, if you have to. It takes patience,a lot of effort, and some critical thinking. If you did bad in Gen Chem 1, make sure you reread your old notes because to do well in Gen Chem 2, or in Chem for that matter, you need a solid foundation. That means you need to understand all the basic concepts like the back of your hand before going on to more advanced classes.
 
There are a multitude of resources out there for struggling undergrads. These include teaching assistants in recitation, professors office hours, study groups, supplemental instruction, and tutoring, not to mention the resources online such as khan academy and others like MIT open courseware. If you do your homework and still need more practice problems go on Amazon marketplace and buy a used older edition of a textbook not in use at your school with a solutions manual.

There's tons of stuff out there for you to help yourself. If you make a real effort, including skipping out on rush, football games and going out, and still find yourself in trouble in that class maybe then can you tell yourself you're not doctor quality, but until then you haven't really tried, have you?
 
Ghost117 said:
I don't understand how you (or anyone else for that matter) expect to do well in medical school if you can not pass gen chem (or bio, or ochem, or whatever else people post threads about). I am sorry I don't mean to be a complete dick here, but the truth is that it gets progressively harder and harder, and you are just not going to cut it. Compared to things you learn in upper division classes like biochem, gen chem 2 should be a joke.
Click to expand...


In many ways it can be that first set of fundamentals that is hardest to learn. When you take Orgo and Biochem you already have experience in chemistry and other science courses, and while the material is more intense/difficult in the abstract, it is less overwhelming than when you sit in that first college science class with no idea what is coming.

I agree that you can't get into med school if you can't get passed the basic science courses, but it is unreasonable to expect that all succesful pre-meds will excel in all their classes right away.Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, the true test as a pre-med is to bounce back from early troubles and actually learn the material.

Remember, even if you suck in chem class, you get another shot on the MCAT. It goes a long way if you can point to a 12 or 13 on the physical science portion of the MCAT when asked about a C+ as a freshmen.
 
I love the janitor on scrubs, the only reason to watch that show haha
 
Well if you hate gen chem then wait till you get to orgo and biochem. Really you know, gen chem isn't bad at all if you think about it. You just need to practice problems and read the damn book. Work your ass off and get a B.
 
Sorry to say it, but gen chem doesn't correspond well to the medical curriculum.

Like I said, I completely hated gen chem even though I set the curve for the Gen Chem 2.

Ochem and Biochem might be more of your learning style: more diagrams, less math.

Anyway, the difficulty of the material itself is easy enough that you should be making more than a B. As with any class involving MANY NUMBERS, do PRACTICE PROBLEMS.
 
gettheleadout said:
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

Also, what is a "half-respectable" school? All US MD schools are LCME accredited and provide a quality medical education. My state school isn't known for anything, but people still match to top programs.
Click to expand...

Ok, I am not saying that those programs are worthless, but there is a very good correlation between going to a top 10, top 20, or whatever med school and matching to a top residency stop. More so if you are into research and all that.


As for the other comments, I am not saying that the OP is going to fail miserably. I am saying that he is competing against people for whom all this comes fairly easily. And therefore, OP needs to get off his ass and work hard/ study the hell out of that gen chem until he gets an A, instead of posting threads about "hating" gen chem...
 
Morsetlis said:
Sorry to say it, but gen chem doesn't correspond well to the medical curriculum.

Like I said, I completely hated gen chem even though I set the curve for the Gen Chem 2.

Ochem and Biochem might be more of your learning style: more diagrams, less math.

Anyway, the difficulty of the material itself is easy enough that you should be making more than a B. As with any class involving MANY NUMBERS, do PRACTICE PROBLEMS.
Click to expand...

Practice problems without math is such a joy!
 
I've been getting a lot of tutoring requests for Gen Chem and Intro to Chem. Not sure what is going on this semester.

However, physics was the devil. :|
 
Ghost117 said:
Ok, I am not saying that those programs are worthless, but there is a very good correlation between going to a top 10, top 20, or whatever med school and matching to a top residency stop. More so if you are into research and all that.
Click to expand...

I hate it when people talk about top ten this and top twenty that. My goal is to become a doctor and that's about it.

My take on it is med school is like a car and residency is the destination. Yeah, it's great to drive a Lexus or a BMW, but a Hyundai will get you there all the same if you drive well. Imagine going to a party and then announcing to everyone, " hey i used to drive a Mercedes." Some people will say cool, but most will think you're a d*ckwad. My 2 cents.

You're welcome.
 
dmf2682 said:
I hate it when people talk about top ten this and top twenty that. My goal is to become a doctor and that's about it.

My take on it is med school is like a car and residency is the destination. Yeah, it's great to drive a Lexus or a BMW, but a Hyundai will get you there all the same if you drive well. Imagine going to a party and then announcing to everyone, " hey i used to drive a Mercedes." Some people will say cool, but most will think you're a d*ckwad. My 2 cents.

You're welcome.
Click to expand...

People can shoot for what they want in life. You may think they're a "d*ckwad" but they earned that car and they enjoy every minute of driving it.
 
Barcu said:
People can shoot for what they want in life. You may think they're a "d*ckwad" but they earned that car and they enjoy every minute of driving it.
Click to expand...

That's fine, but to be clear, you're only one in my mind if you gun for it and then flaunt it. To brag about your Lexus to all the Hyundai owners as some sort of show of superiority is the epitome of d*ckwaddery. To draw a line across a chemistry exam grade distribution demarcating where students will go to medical school is not far from that.
 
Roll up to your school's chemistry tutoring center and live there.
 
I lol'd @ Janitor School.. Haha.. Maybe if I can't make that I can try my odds at being a Janitor's Assistance.


I believe when I constructed this topic a few days ago, I was caught up in a midst of Acid-Base Rage. In all Honesty, Chemistry 2 isn't too incredibly tough. In fact, all it requires is your time, and that's something I'm willing to give up 🙂. My complaint is how dull the subject-matter is. I'm a Biology Major/ Psychology minor, and my learning style is much more conceptual and visual then Mathematical. I'm even in Physics right now, and I find that much easier then Chem. Organic looks like it will be fairly easy due to less math.


Thanks for some of the input though. This class blows on nine levels, but I'm going to keep on keepin' on.
 
see how you do with Ochem. If no good don't try for Medical it will be wetage of time . Which subject you like? Lot of chemistry for medical. Gen chem ii is problem for all most all people,but if you have trouble with OCHEM you are done with Medical.
 
Bl4ckout said:
Also, I got a C+ in gen chem 1, retook it, did much better and am currently applying and have 3 interviews. Don't let one bad grade get you down.
Click to expand...
I have same problem. What is your ochemi and ii? what is your MCAT? Good luck
 
Priti Dave said:
Lot of chemistry for medical. Gen chem ii is problem for all most all people,but if you have trouble with OCHEM you are done with Medical.
Click to expand...

I'd say the opposite. O. chem is a problem for most people, but if you are struggling with general chemistry, you should be worried about what's going to happen when you get to harder classes. Like, yeah, O. chem.
 
scarshapedstar said:
I'd say the opposite. O. chem is a problem for most people, but if you are struggling with general chemistry, you should be worried about what's going to happen when you get to harder classes. Like, yeah, O. chem.
Click to expand...

I was that weirdo who found organic to be significantly easier than general chemistry. I think it seemed more "seeable" to me, or something. The lab was a different story, however. I still have nightmares, and it was over 3 years ago...
 
Ghost117 said:
I don't understand how you (or anyone else for that matter) expect to do well in medical school if you can not pass gen chem (or bio, or ochem, or whatever else people post threads about). I am sorry I don't mean to be a complete dick here, but the truth is that it gets progressively harder and harder, and you are just not going to cut it. Compared to things you learn in upper division classes like biochem, gen chem 2 should be a joke.

This may be more apparent at my university (University of Washington), since about half of the undergraduate freshman class wants to go to med school, and only 1% or so actually get accepted. When I took get chem (actually honors gen chem) most of the people in the class were pre-med. At the end of the course, the prof drew a line separating the top 20 percent of the class and blatantly told us that: "if you are not in these 20 percent you have little to no chance to make it into any half-respectable med school." These were the people with 3.5 - 4.0s in the course. Back then I thought this was super harsh, but the more I take courses and see my fellow premeds struggle more and more and fail, I see that he was right.

Again, I don't mean to be a dick, and you may very well beat the odds, but if I were you I would start considering other career options.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I would love for you or someone like that pretentious ****** of a professor you had to tell me I was destined to fail, so I could just prove you or him wrong. That professor is not right in the least, and you and him need to get rid of your elitist attitude. There are kids out there who can succeed but give up because of *******s like you.
 
symmetry said:
I'm currently in the middle of General Chem 2, and I am very worried... I ended up taking General Chem 1 at a community college, and ended up with a C+ (My professor was BS and wouldn't give us ANY formula sheets) . I told myself, No worries, I will push myself for an A in Chem 2.

I'm now at the University of South Carolina, and this Gen Chem 2 has me in a nervous fit. I made a 67 on the first exam.. and exam 2 is coming up this next monday. I don't know what I will do if I make another C in this course...

Will this look terrible if I end up having to repeat Gen Chem 2?

How did you guys survive this awful awful class?

And am I doctor material if I hate Chemistry's guts?


Ugh. Frustrated, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
I'm not trying to be rude at all, but what kind of formulas are necessary in Gen Chem besides a few?
 
What formula sheet are you talking about? If you know that beforehand, shouldnt you have prepared for it? I am sick of people balmming the professors for their poor performance. Granted that bad professors do make it harder, but what can you do about that? All you have to do is suck it up, find the people who can help, and keep trying.

For peace sake, don't blame other people.😡
 
Cinclus said:
I was that weirdo who found organic to be significantly easier than general chemistry. I think it seemed more "seeable" to me, or something. The lab was a different story, however. I still have nightmares, and it was over 3 years ago...
Click to expand...

No joke, Orgo was significantly more enjoyable than gen chem 2. The material is just plan out more interesting and is more like playing sudoko or crosswords than with gen chem 2 where it's all calculations on thermodynamics and acid-base equalibrums.
 
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