Rio CHM 130 midterm and final

Hi all! ❤️

I've heard a lot of feedback from people who have taken CHM 130 online that say they aced all the homework but bombed the midterm and exam. My question is: why? Why do you think you did so well and then failed those? Were the questions harder than the homework or not discussed? Or was there another reason? I'm getting closer to my midterm (I'm on the 8-week track) and I'm getting nervous due to the feedback!

Thank you!

That's a good question! For me, mainly it was because I absolutely hated chemistry, didn't understand it, and had less than zero passion for it. Weekly assignments/homework are all open book, and the exam isn't. That was the main reason for me.

I found the midterms and finals pretty difficult. Some of the questions were simple, but a lot were tough and expected a decent understanding of the subject. The essay portions of the exam are easy though - they were just taken directly from my homework essays, so it was straight memory of the homework assignment.

I wouldn't say I bombed the exams, I ended up with an 89% overall (darn that 1%...missed my A!), although the midterm and final is what clobbered the grade from an A to a B.....

I strongly advise that you ace your homework every week to give you enough cushion to get an A overall. Ifyou are currently averaging an A or B in those, then you should be fine unless you really, really bomb the mid/finals.

The key is to practice the math portions. There is mostly math calculations on the mid and final. That's one area I didn't do enough of.