Which Did You Think Was Hardest?

[freshbeatschris]

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If you had to choose between 1. Organic Chemistry 2. Physics or 3. Calculus, which would you say was the most difficult/challenging for you?

Please, no natural math whiz's need apply. I am awful, horrible, terrible, stupid at math. My retention in math is miserable. My Quantitative Ability section of the PCAT single-handedly dropped my cumulative a bunch.

Chris

 

[Vuitton27]

I would have to choose physics, with calculus being a VERY close second. I am definitely not a math person at all. I just absolutely hated physics and am so glad that it's over! 😀

 

[Glycerin]

I would have to choose physics, with calculus being a VERY close second. I am definitely not a math person at all. I just absolutely hated physics and am so glad that it's over! 😀

Mine was just the opposite - calculus, then physics, and I AM a math person. It had just been years since I had taken any prior math courses. 🙂

I really liked organic, and while parts of it were challenging, I didn't find it overwhelmingly difficult at all.

 

[glagic]

im taking physics right now and im hating it. calc and o. chem were easy for me. if you just learn the trends and learn to recognize certain situations, ochem can be really easy

 

[Betty'sBeast]

Physics, by far. I HATED physics, especially physics II. I took calc and physics I in 1998 and then took physics II in 2004. I managed a B, but it REALLY sucked. Calc and O-chem weren't as difficult as I was expecting them to be.

 

[endlesslove]

Physics, by far. I HATED physics, especially physics II. I took calc and physics I in 1998 and then took physics II in 2004. I managed a B, but it REALLY sucked. Calc and O-chem weren't as difficult as I was expecting them to be.

physics =( please don't make me take it again this summer =(. calculus was good. ochem was the easiest.

 

[CMeaker]

I would also have to go with Physics as the hardest. I have yet to take physics 2 and am NOT looking forward to it. It is weird though because I thought I understood Orgo way better than physics but I ended up with a better grade in physics. Go figure.

 

[ilovepharmacy]

I too could have done without physics! I kind of just went through physics without learning much at all. Like some others mentioned - the second part was just

O.chem was terrible for me - but now that I think back - its a subject that is doable if you avoid falling behind! I actually hired a tutor for the second portion of O.chem since I fell behind so much in the first half and learned zilch - but I ended up doing fine the second half.

Calculus wasn't too bad compared to the other two in my opinion..

But this sort of thing just varies from person to person.. Good lucks!

 

[crazyrice610]

O.Chem and Math is not a prob for me. So i would choose Physics. Out of the three physics class that I took at UCSD...I only fully understand the first one. And I had totally no clue what Quantum Mech was about ... therefore ...Pchem=nasty 👎

 

[vafcarrot]

Physics wasn't too bad, but it was one of those classes that I should have gotten an A in if I had study along the way for, instead of the day or two before the test.

 

[dgroulx]

I hated Physics I, with force and rotational angles. Ick. Physics II was enjoyable with sound, electricity, radioactive decay, etc. I made A's in both, but overall it was my least favorite class.

Calculus was easy for me. I liked integration a whole lot. It was like solving puzzles.

Organic II was difficult for me. I was taking too many other classes to give it the attention that it needed. I can normally just study for an exam the day before, but I couldn't do that with organic. Most of my free time for studying was spent in the micro lab, the biochem lab, or making some money tutoring other students in the learning lab.

 

[microbe hunter]

If you had to choose between 1. Organic Chemistry 2. Physics or 3. Calculus, which would you say was the most difficult/challenging for you?

Please, no natural math whiz's need apply. I am awful, horrible, terrible, stupid at math. My retention in math is miserable. My Quantitative Ability section of the PCAT single-handedly dropped my cumulative a bunch.

Chris

Everyone is different and it already seems that you are getting a lot of different responses to your question. Why not go to the library or a bookstore just to browse the textbooks of each course and see for yourself what you would rather to be doing?

If math is not your subject, then I would say that physics may be more difficult for you than even calculus, because physics applies a lot of math. If you're not a mathematical thinker, then it can be a harder subject. At least in calculus, the focus would be on learning the math. I think it's better to face it head-on at this point, gain some confidence, and then you can begin to apply math physics more efficiently.

 

[DownonthePharm]

Calculus...was rough. Although my grades in Physics were worse, it was SOOOO boring, so I hardly tried. Physics II I did well in because the electricity stuff was a lot more interesting than pendulums. I really worked hard all through Calc, couldnt do well and finally got a friend to boot-camp tutor me for the final. I ended up rocking the final and getting a B. So it can be done, but for us that are not mathmatically inclined, and..gulp...never really learned algebra, it can be hard.

Are you actually about to take one of these classes? Or just asking? Because there are lots of great study guides available now for all three classes, if only I knew about Amazon.com in college. 🙄

 

[endlesslove]

Calculus...was rough. Although my grades in Physics were worse, it was SOOOO boring, so I hardly tried. Physics II I did well in because the electricity stuff was a lot more interesting than pendulums. I really worked hard all through Calc, couldnt do well and finally got a friend to boot-camp tutor me for the final. I ended up rocking the final and getting a B. So it can be done, but for us that are not mathmatically inclined, and..gulp...never really learned algebra, it can be hard.

Are you actually about to take one of these classes? Or just asking? Because there are lots of great study guides available now for all three classes, if only I knew about Amazon.com in college. 🙄

which one do you recommend for physics II (electricity and magnetism)? =/

 

[Gizmo]

physics! of course, physics! 🙁

 

[RxGirl]

I have to agree with most of the posts in the thread: Physics was very difficult for me. Calc and Ochem were not that bad.

 

[babieblueazn]

whoa i never knew so many people hated physics. I tooo hate physics with a passion. The only thing rewarding about physics is when you finally figure out ONE stinkin problem after 20 minutes. Calculus wasn't so bad and neither was O chem. at least those two subjects you can understand it. Physics has so many different ways to word and solve a problem. reminds me, i gotta goo study for physics right now.

 

[lgooden]

Wow, the answers on this post really surprised me. I really disliked o-chem the most. I do like math though and tested out of calc from AP in high school. I guess I like o-chem the least because for me, out of all the classes, I had to study it the most to do well and with everything else going on, I really didn't have the necessary time to devote to it. In getting my engineering degree, I did have to take a lot of classes a lot harder than any of these though. I guess I'm the odd man ( 😉 ) out on this thread.

 

[aquaregia]

Physics!!!
At my school physics has a prereq of Calc II, with Multivar calc being recommended. Mastery of the math alone is not enough to do well in physics. One has to understand and apply the math to various situations.

 

[tetra327]

I'd have to say calc cause I was a freshman when I took it and didn't get the "discovery learning" format they used to teach. Physics was right up there too. Compared to those 2 ochem was a breeze for me

 

[ZpackSux]

I'm so glad I paid attetion in Calculus, Physics, and O-Chem lectures. Cuz I use it daily. I use it as my daily BS line... "oh yeah..I took those classes... pretty easy stuff!!"

 

[2tran]

organic chemistry is the hardest!!!! Calculus was fun when it finally clicked - especially the derivatives part. I'm in Organic II right now and the professor said that its supposed to be clicking this semester but nothing's clicking and I'm still as lost as before, maybe even more. Oh well, the semester's almost over 👍

 

[freshbeatschris]

Are you actually about to take one of these classes? Or just asking? Because there are lots of great study guides available now for all three classes, if only I knew about Amazon.com in college. 🙄

Yes. I'm taking all of the above. I'm finishing up Organic this semester and I'm doubling up on physics and calculus in the fall.

I'm really appreciating all of these comments, though they are pretty much making me a bit pessimistic about next academic year. 😕

 

[ZpackSux]

organic chemistry is the hardest!!!! Calculus was fun when it finally clicked - especially the derivatives part. I'm in Organic II right now and the professor said that its supposed to be clicking this semester but nothing's clicking and I'm still as lost as before, maybe even more. Oh well, the semester's almost over 👍

If you think derivatives are fun...then get a load of triple integration which calculates the volume of a funtions by rotating it around the Y-axis... and figure out a volume of an irregulary shaped Vase. Or Just add some water to the Vase to obtain the volume.