Physical Chemistry

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once

once

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Anybody on here take physical chemistry? if so, what grade did you end up with? My professor last semester was absolutely horrible and didn't care at all about grading. I ended up with a B+ which I know isn't that bad.

I've been freaking out about this being a high level chemistry course that I performed worse in compared to organic, and gen chem. How does this look to adcoms?
 
Don't worry. I got a B+ in P Chem as well and I was a chemistry major. Everything worked out for me. In fact, I had a friend in the same class who got a B+ in P Chem and ended going to Harvard for a chemistry PhD program. It's not a big deal; P-Chem is a hard class. AdComms are interested in your overall grades and grade trends. One B+ in a very difficult class is nothing.
 
once said:
Anybody on here take physical chemistry? if so, I ended up with a B+ which I know isn't that bad.
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Come on, a B+ in P-Chem, that's great, besides, they are gonna be impressed that you took it seeing that very few premeds dare try
 
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I took that class. I was a Biochem major.

P Chem 1 B+
P Chem 2 A-


Hard as hell class. One of my 3 B's. Don't feel bad.
Also look out for Instrumental Analysis and Biophysical Chem.
 
I ROVE SADISTICAL MECHANICS



Hrm I ended up with a B+, B, and an A.

Our school had different pchem series for biochem/chem majors and I ended up switching to chemistry at the last minute (like after I took one semester of the watered-down pchem for bio people) for really young and dumb reasons.

But it's not going to kill your GPA if the rest of your science grades are sound.
 
once said:
Anybody on here take physical chemistry? if so, what grade did you end up with? My professor last semester was absolutely horrible and didn't care at all about grading. I ended up with a B+ which I know isn't that bad.

I've been freaking out about this being a high level chemistry course that I performed worse in compared to organic, and gen chem. How does this look to adcoms?
Click to expand...

I ended up getting an A- in PChem, but honestly it is supposed to be considered one of the most difficult chemistry classes at a lot of schools.

I wouldn't fret with a B+, there were a lot of chem/chem eng. majors that got way < B+ in my class. Since you also did well in OChem and GenChem, it won't matter that much especially when compared to your overall BCPM.
 
got a b+ for thermodynamics and a b for quantum mechanics
got 2 a- for orgo
it's not a big deal
 
tiedyeddog said:
P chem was a life ruiner for a couple people I knew, no joke. That is an awesome grade. 👍
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It still is a life-ruiner for me. I somehow managed to pull an A by the skin of my teeth (and because other people somehow did worse than me) but that was thermo, which has some relativity to real life. Quantum is slowly strangling my soul. Everyone here feels your pain, OP. If we liked Pchem, we'd probably not be trying to get into medical school; we'd be going to chemistry grad school.
 
A. But there was only one other A in the sequence, and most people (even pre-meds) wound up with Bs and Cs (a couple flunked). It's a tough class for most people, unless you're the visual math sort of person...
 
Snuke said:
It still is a life-ruiner for me. I somehow managed to pull an A by the skin of my teeth (and because other people somehow did worse than me) but that was thermo, which has some relativity to real life. Quantum is slowly strangling my soul. Everyone here feels your pain, OP. If we liked Pchem, we'd probably not be trying to get into medical school; we'd be going to chemistry grad school.
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I rather enjoy Pchem to be honest. :shrug: I guess if you're one of those people that enjoys the math-y sciences it's not so bad.
 
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Whatyousay said:
Pchem should be a pre-req for medical school.
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not sure if serious.
notsureifserious.jpg
 
Narmerguy said:
I rather enjoy Pchem to be honest. :shrug: I guess if you're one of those people that enjoys the math-y sciences it's not so bad.
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You might be the exception to the rule, then. Every other pre-med I know (and doctors with whom the subject has arisen) expressed an explicit hatred for pchem, but if you enjoyed it, more power to you.

Note to self: When you make sweeping generalizations, you're going to be wrong about someone/something.
 
Snuke said:
You might be the exception to the rule, then. Every other pre-med I know (and doctors with whom the subject has arisen) expressed an explicit hatred for pchem, but if you enjoyed it, more power to you.

Note to self: When you make sweeping generalizations, you're going to be wrong about someone/something.
Click to expand...

I think the problem most people have with pchem isn't the material itself, but the fact that the material involves math.





People hate math.
 
I got an A- in pchem, but my professor only gave one person in the class an A. I think for one of my quantum mechanics exams, the average was <30%. The professor was pretty upset, but thank god for the curve.
 
Snuke said:
You might be the exception to the rule, then. Every other pre-med I know (and doctors with whom the subject has arisen) expressed an explicit hatred for pchem, but if you enjoyed it, more power to you.

Note to self: When you make sweeping generalizations, you're going to be wrong about someone/something.
Click to expand...

Haha, I'm sure it's not that far from the truth.

I remember talking to my OChem professor in lab about taking PChem, he said it was by far his least favorite class; then he gave me a pat on the shoulder and said "Good luck." I'm sure he meant it as a joke... but yeah.

I was :laugh: on the outside and :barf: in my head.
 
I really enjoyed Pchem, but I had a phenomenal professor. Anyone who is on the admissions committee who had Pchem, would probably be more than understanding of your B+ and possibly jealous of it. I know quite a few people who did not enjoy the course.
 
i got Bs in p chem AND orgo 2. invited to interview at 1/3 of the schools i applied to so far, and have 1 acceptance. you're fine.
 
Snuke said:
You might be the exception to the rule, then. Every other pre-med I know (and doctors with whom the subject has arisen) expressed an explicit hatred for pchem, but if you enjoyed it, more power to you.

Note to self: When you make sweeping generalizations, you're going to be wrong about someone/something.
Click to expand...

Well, to be honest I think it's really just that I'm a physics major. Pchem is very similar to a lot of what we do in physics.
 
Whatyousay said:
I think the problem most people have with pchem isn't the material itself, but the fact that the material involves math.

People hate math.
Click to expand...

I like math. I dislike calculus, and I despise learning something so useless to my future career. No matter what I do, I will not need to know about quantum spins and Schrodinger's Equation and the vibrational/rotational energy of a diatomic atom and then how to normalize it.

Plus, on one of our exams last year, people never made it out of the single digits. The highest grade was a 51, then a 45, and then 30 or two, and then it plummeted. That's how soul-sucking my pchem class is. YMMV

Narmerguy said:
Well, to be honest I think it's really just that I'm a physics major. Pchem is very similar to a lot of what we do in physics.
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That's true - you do even harder quantum in physics than in pchem. *shudder* I break out in hives just thinking about it.
 
Addendum to my previous post: I now work in research using some of the techniques from quantum field theory, so the 100 on that section probably isn't a good premed measurement. Our median score for that test was in the 40s, and the score closest to mine was a 70, which was technically failing before a massive curve...
 
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Well, I'm currently in 2 P-Chem classes and 2 other chemistry classes.

To be specific, I am in Thermodynamics, Biochemistry 1, Inorganic Chemistry 1, and Quantum Mechanics. Yes, my life sucks.

Out of the 4 classes, I find thermodynamics to be the most interesting. If you get it, it's simple!!! I made a really good grade on my first exam but I can totally understand why many find it to be challenging. On the other hand, Quantum Chemistry is hard no matter how many hours of study you put in.

Biochemistry is boring. Anyone who prides themselves on an A in biochem is a joke. It just means you had no social life and aren't truly a chem-god.

Inorganic is even more boring.
 
I liked pchem, to me, it was one of those classes that just made sense, especially thermo. I got an A for both semesters, all my interviewers commented on it and it took attention away from the fact that I never made higher than a B+ in any of my biochem classes.
 
Uncle Phil! You are like, an idol to me!!!

I am having a very very serious problem here. I absolutely loathe and have virtually no respect for Biochemistry. It is just pointless, endless memorization to no end. This class is almost questioning my desire to go to med school. I am not a fan of memorizing things, I like to learn knowledge and APPLY it, Not be a walking human dictionary!

On the other hand, P-Chem is so beautiful. Thermodynamics is an art, that explains so much about the world.

People tend to do best in the classes they love. Biochemistry I do not love, P-Chem I do. THat is good news that A's in P-Chem will be respected!!!
 
People only think orgo is bad because they stopped chem after taking orgo haha. Excluding biochem.

Edit: Yeaaah first post.
 
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