Preparing for College Gen Chem: Should I Take a Prep Course?

[tylerp]

How difficult is a College Level General Chemistry I class? I took Honors Chem in 10th grade under a very good teacher (30+ years in Chemistry field) but don't have that fond of a memory of the field. My little brother is currently taking a Chemistry class so I have his notes/book to go over, but how difficult will this class be? There is a "Prep for General Chem" class but will that be a total waste of time? I know this is a physics forum but I need this class for my General ed requirements so just asking for some advice on whether or not I should take the prep course over summer or not, thanks in advance

 

[Apost8]

If you've got the time and money, I say go ahead and take the intro class. At the very least, it will be an easy review and make the first few weeks of chem I a breeze. Chem I isn't hard per se, but there is a lot of material. If you go to class, and stay on top of your studying, you'll be fine.

 

[tylerp]

If you've got the time and money, I say go ahead and take the intro class. At the very least, it will be an easy review and make the first few weeks of chem I a breeze. Chem I isn't hard per se, but there is a lot of material. If you go to class, and stay on top of your studying, you'll be fine.

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it

 

[tha3rdman]

I registered for you, just to answer your question, well not really but I felt compelled to pass along some information.

I also took Honors chem 11th grade, 1996-97, Spring 06 I took Chem I at the community college, There was some new stuff or rather more elaborated information but Honors chem did well to prep me for what was covered, it's just me and maybe how the course was graded, but I seldom opened the book outside of class and missed an A by 6 points, not % but points out of 750, There was a lab report i didn't turn in and a bonus i decided no to do.

Here's the kicker, I'm transferring, or plan to, University of MD - College Park and the Physics curriculum doesn't require Chem I or II. So if your not in the college you want to stay with until post Bachelor, then look up the curriculum of your future school.

 

[arunma]

How difficult is a College Level General Chemistry I class? I took Honors Chem in 10th grade under a very good teacher (30+ years in Chemistry field) but don't have that fond of a memory of the field. My little brother is currently taking a Chemistry class so I have his notes/book to go over, but how difficult will this class be? There is a "Prep for General Chem" class but will that be a total waste of time? I know this is a physics forum but I need this class for my General ed requirements so just asking for some advice on whether or not I should take the prep course over summer or not, thanks in advance

I took all of my chemistry at a community college when I was in high school, but my younger brother is currently taking high school chemistry. So I think I can offer a comparison.

Where I'm from, the high school and college chemistry classes use the same textbook! So there is a good deal of overlap between what they teach. The high school class seems to spend a good deal more time on the introductory material, whereas the college class assumes that you already know about things like moles, periodic trends, etc. I would recommend prep chem to anyone who has never taken chemistry before. But since you had high school chemistry, the prep course might be a waste of time for you. If you feel confident about the material you learned back in high school, then it might be OK for you to jump straight into regular chemistry.

 

[Beeza]

I'm very very far from a genius and took a General Chemistry I & II class in the same semester with no prior classes in chemistry (not even in high school). You just have to do the reading assignments and work hard. You'll be fine. If I can do it, trust me, anyone can.

 

[tha3rdman]

I'm very very far from a genius and took a General Chemistry I & II class in the same semester with no prior classes in chemistry (not even in high school). You just have to do the reading assignments and work hard. You'll be fine. If I can do it, trust me, anyone can.

I agree that if you put forth effort you can pass the class, but I seen my chem I class dwindle (as I'm sure every class does) from 50 to 20 by the end of the semester, I'd say skip the prep chem, unless you can use the credits toward something else, . . . in the end you chose and you sleep in the bed you make, unless you don't make a bed because it doesn't harbor mites as readily as a made bed . . .

 

[mgiddy911]

I took AP Chem my senior year in High School. I think it ws the only AP clas I took that was really a preparation for college. I don't take chem in college, I am a freshmen now, and my AP score got me out fo Gen Chem I an II and their respective labs. However I am able to help people wth their chem homeowrk al the time. I feel as though my AP class covered just about everything they have been going over, and I can still do the majority of it. Idk about their labs though, I think our labs were pretty thourough in AP