Chem 2 OMG What am I doing

I was very excited two weeks ago. I have thought about doing this for the last 2 years and I made the decision to start. I registered for Chem 2 for this semester. I took chem 1 a long time ago. I spoke to the prof who didn’t think that would be a problem because he said there is little building from chem 1.


I then went to my first class. I felt like I was sitting in a foriegn language class. I almost went to the registars office to drop it after class. I decided to stick with it. Class two didn’t go much better.


I knew this wasn’t going to be easy but I don’t think I was thinking this was going to be this hard. I have never had a problem with learning information. Listen to it… know it.


The third class I started to actually understand what he was talking about but when I attempted to do the problems at home was definately unsuccessful. I have now read the chapter several times to no avail. Ihave absoultly no idea.


So I go to the tutoring lab. Go figure when I get there Friday at 1:02pm it closes early on Fridays at 1pm open until 5pm on Mon-Thursday.


I am a nurse practitioner and see patients M-Th from 9-5pm.


I am just grumbling here because I feel like I have nobody to listen here. Many people just don’t understand why I am putting myself through this. My doc I work with just laughs I am not sure if it that he finds it comical or if it brings back many memories what his adventure was like. He was a non trad med student not quite as old as me but still I thinks he relates more.


My doc did try to bribe my office staff into paging me during my first chem class with a 911 page from labor and delviery. Luckily they didn’t do it.


I will go to class tomorrow and try again to figure out what the heck I am suppose to be learning. I have a week before our first exam. I will let ya all know how I do.


Thanks for “listening”


tbcnm


a midwife who wants more

Oh I feel your pain!


I had many of those same feelings in chem 1, but it was because I lacked the math comprehension since somehow I ended up taking both chem 1 and the math prereq at the same time. Honestly, my saving grace was hiring a private tutor. If that’s at all swingable, I’d totally recomend it. She helped me pull my grade from a C to an A.


Good luck!

  • tbcnm Said:
I took chem 1 a long time ago…there is little building from chem 1.



IMO, you were misled and need to drop the class, retake Chem 1. Getting poorly prepared in Chem 2, not having the requisite knowledge from Chem 1 will only set you back further as you progress into OChem. On top of that, an indecent grade will hurt you worse.

And whoever told you that the chem classes don't build upon each other was deep into the laughy-taffy or had been sniffing too much of the gas used in burners! There's a reason they are sequence classes.

Why the rush?

I think the best solution was already stated. Drop this class and start from the beginning. Do not be too proud to start from scratch. Granted the professor may not have felt that chem 2 relied much on chem 1 but it certainly helps build a foundation.

I took CHEM I 10 years ago and took CHEM I again last semester. I don’t think you can skip CHEM I and take CHEM II without repeating CHEM I if it has been more than a few years, at least that’s how I felt.


I underestimated CHEM I and slacked off in the beginning but realized that I don’t have any advantage at all since it’s been too long and I don’t remember anything.

Chem 2 builds upon Chem 1 and, while you could probably do well at Chem 2 lecture without remembering much of Chem 1, lab would be a different matter (because you are still going to have to do a lot of calculations to prep experiments).


Safest would be to drop and re-take Chem 1. If you don’t feel you can do that, you’ll want to brush up on Chem 1 simultaneously.


I found that Chem 2 required about three times as much study and practice as Chem 1. Chem 1 is primarily math and pretty easy math at that. Chem 2 has a lot of atomic and spacial concepts that require practice and it introduces theory upon theory for exception upon exception.


The good news is that anyone should be able to do well in Chem 2 with the proper degree of discipline. If you have the time and determination to do every single problem you can get your hands on, your mind will eventually gain some traction.

I took Chem 1 twelve years ago, but I signed up to retake it and began about two weeks ago. It is the perfect level for me. I know I would not remember it well enough for Chem 2. It’s painful to do anything that takes longer on this journey for we non-trads, but anything that increases the chances of getting in is worth it. You need an A, and you need to know all the Chem 1 stuff as completely as possible to improve your odds on the MCAT. Best luck to you.

I would drop the course and take Chem 1 rather than risk failing or getting a low grade. We all need A’s and you don’t want to risk not getting the A!

  • Bill W. Said:
Chem 2 builds upon Chem 1 and, while you could probably do well at Chem 2 lecture without remembering much of Chem 1, lab would be a different matter (because you are still going to have to do a lot of calculations to prep experiments).

Safest would be to drop and re-take Chem 1. If you don't feel you can do that, you'll want to brush up on Chem 1 simultaneously.

I found that Chem 2 required about three times as much study and practice as Chem 1. Chem 1 is primarily math and pretty easy math at that. Chem 2 has a lot of atomic and spacial concepts that require practice and it introduces theory upon theory for exception upon exception.

The good news is that anyone should be able to do well in Chem 2 with the proper degree of discipline. If you have the time and determination to do every single problem you can get your hands on, your mind will eventually gain some traction.



Bill hit the nail exactly on the head. Neither gen chem 1 nor 2 has too much difficult information, however, gen chem 2 specifically has an enormous amount of information that you must learn. I don't agree with gchem 2 not having that much to build off of from gchem 1...you need to remember, understand and know how to work dimensional analysis, know periodicity, basic properties of elements, etc. before you can go in-depth into each of those components with mathematical calculations. As far as coursework goes, gchem 2 is a beast and honestly was more work than calc 1 or 2.

I would recommend you drop gchem 2 and get into gchem 1 if it's not too late, otherwise, consider it a wash and take gchem 1 next time. I don't think your doc was trying to be mean...he was probably just laughing at how ridiculous the entire process for applying to medical school is (which it is, its pathetic). Unfortunately, the more I learn in paramedic school, I'm starting to see that all the classes they require you to take really are necessary. I don't see how one could fully understand or appreciate the kinetics of trauma, for instance, without having basic physics under their belt.

A lot of people on here have said in the past that it's a marathon and not a sprint...just take your time, and if you feel you need to take the first class in a sequence because you forgot a lot of it, then don't feel ashamed to do so. Unless you still have your old textbook, and you're willing to just review the material on your own, I would think it'd be easier to just re-learn material you already learned than try to re-learn it while learning new material as well.

Just my 2 cents, I wish you luck!

Thanks for all the information. I did prepare and do an independent review of chem 1 and most of it is all coming back unbelievable. I have no intentions of dropping it unless by the last day to drop without grade pentalty i am not getting a strong b or higher.


I think my hardest is just returning back to school. Going back to a corse that is memory recall instead of processing the info you learn and applying it like in relating pathology to health assessments.


Our first test is next tuesday. I managed to work most of the homework problems last night independently. This week i will continue to do more practice problems.


I also found out that the other doc i work with sometimes taught chem in graduate school. I am not on call tonight so to his house i come tonight with a bottle of wine. ( i don’t like wine but he does)


tbcnm


a midwife who wants more

Good luck on your first test! Hopefully after that one you’ll know if you should drop or not. Perhaps you could switch to audit if you are feeling unsure.



WE just started chem 2. We can share the pain. it is stressing me out, but I will just try and get my A. I hope we both figure it out.


Lou

After many hours of studing. I have decided to stay in Chem 2.


I am starting to have a clue.


I didn’t do as well on my first test as I had wanted to but I am happy with my score.


The highest grade was an 84. Average grade was a 65. I got a 75.


When I told one of the doc’s my score he said good job. I said it was a 75 and he said that was good on a chem test especially the first one.


The prof said this is normally the lowest score. My hardest is figuring out how to work the the calculator.


I will keep you updated.


tbcnm

Grats, TB on your score! And for your “stick-to-it-iveness”…

Love the calculator. Learn the calculator. It eventually becomes like your lover. You learn all the right places to push to make it do what you want it to do.


(Oh dear, did I just type that bit out loud?)

Wow what a semester. Thank god it is over. I finished the semester with a B. I know there was a curve. One bad thing is this state college doesn’t do plus of minus so it is a 3.0. Still very happy this was a hard class. Especially after assuming office manager after ours died. Having mono. And working lots and lots of hours. Now summer planning on biology because many years ago with my first degree my high school biology was accepted so although I have several upper bio classes I don’t have regular bio.

I’m at the very last month hearing your pain. Test on monday and I can’t figure out voltages or kintetics to save my life. I think I’m going to cave and drive the hour to campus after work for the study session for a change. I normally study on my own b/c of the distance.


But yay for a B. I know B’s are like D’s for us, but on the flip side you know you gave it your best and you know you learned a ton. It’s all about the learning sometimes, and enjoying the journey.


Good luck this summer! I’m taking off to work more and pay off my credit card lol.