I posted a few times about deciding between intro to Chem or General Chem. First, thanks for all of the opinions and advice.
My next problem is that it looks like my job will take me out of town for 2 weeks during my semester in my Intro to Chem class. I rarely travel with work, but it looks like timing is not on my side this time. The teacher and I emailed back and forth - no makeups are available for labs and I can drop one test if it falls during that period. I decided that this isn’t going to be good enough; I need to do my best. After emailing a bit more, it looks like i have a few other options:
Take the class pass / fail. This way if I get a B due to my time out of town, it won’t affect my GPA, but I can still learn and move on to General Chem. I’m sure ADCOMS don’t like P/F, but it isn’t one of the required courses - it’s an intro. Is this a viable option?
Audit the course and retake the placement exam. I missed the placement into Gen Chem by 1 point after doing some quick review on Khan’s Academy. I would think that after auditing an entire semester, I would have no trouble placing into gen chem and doing well. The Intro to Chem teacher told me if I do this, I’m better off to audit Gen Chem since it’s where I want to place.
I really don’t want to wait ANOTHER semester to start. I’ve waited long enough. Which of these options sounds best? I’m also open to any other suggestions! I just want to get started and do well!
Work-related travel messing up your schedule - I feel your pain. Regarding which course to audit - although your instructor had a good point, you should do what it takes to make sure that you will be able to enroll in Gen Chem next semester. You can audit Gen Chem, but that means you’d have to take the placement test again, right? Also, isn’t auditing considered enrolling? If so, wouldn’t you need to have cleared Intro Chem or the placement exam?
Or were you talking about informal auditing, as in attending class, without officially enrolling/auditing? Talk with your instructor and get more details. My Gen Chem II class was held in a lab, which means we spent 5 hours in the same room. One of the students dropped because he was on his way to an F. He requested the instructor to allow him to informally audit (attend just the class, not the lab part) but due to safety rules and presence of lab reagents etc, no person was allowed in the class unless they were officially enrolled.
Good question. I should have been more clear. I asked her about auditing, and she suggested that I contact the Gen Chem professor about “sitting in,” which I will assume means informally auditing.
If they will let me, it sounds like a good option. I could see the material and re-take the exam. If auditing an entire semester couldn’t prepare me to place in the class, I should stick to my day job
Update: I took the class Pass / Fail due to the trip. While it unfortunately won’t affect my GPA, I am encouraged to say I got 100% on my first test!!!
When I took Gen Chem it had been 20 years since I had any chem courses. I bought the gen chem I and II dvd video course from chemistryprofessor and was the best $ I could have spent in both courses. I watched the videos daily, at night I would watch one or two lessons on the topics that were close to what we were covering in the class, and before each test I would go to the dvd “lessons” on the topics that I was not as comfortable with and watch these multiple times. I got an A in gem chem I, B+ in gen chem II. I really dont think I could have without the help of these videos.
Update: I took the class Pass / Fail due to the trip. While it unfortunately won't affect my GPA, I am encouraged to say I got 100% on my first test!!!
Congratulations. I presume you're taking Intro to Chem?
Yes - intro to chem. I appreciate all of the suggestions. The pace is good for a non-science major and I’m sure it will be good prep to get started next semester!
