What helped you do well in Chemistry?

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Dec 23, 2015

I failed Chem the first time I took it 30+ years ago. Different professor made all the difference. That and just plain memorizing stuff. Because the 'understanding' part never happened.

I know the chemistry I need to do my job- but redox? NEVER happening.

Zyprexa_Ho · Dec 23, 2015

My chemistry teacher used to say "Chem Is Try"

I'm more of a conceptual learner, so things like chem come easy to me, but memorizing things? I SUCK at that. I have a feeling learning medications is going to suck for me. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. If you're good at memorizing, you might just have to do a lot of that to make up for not understanding the concepts as well.

Zyprexa_Ho · Dec 23, 2015

Also, it's all about valence electrons. Chemistry is a science of surfaces. It's why valence electrons determine chemical properties.

BBboy · Dec 24, 2015

Chemistry you have to know the ins & outs of the periodic table and have strong mental visualization. It's honestly just memory and repetition until it becomes second nature

_superwoman · Dec 24, 2015

I passed Chemistry with an A. Thanks to 10-12 hour days with tutors. I almost never went to class, had a horrible instructor who didn't teach the material well.

aerorunner80, ADN, BSN, MSN, APRN · Dec 24, 2015

I spent a lot of time studying with classmates outside of class and also with someone who was a premed major who could answer our questions. Most of it is math based. If you can do college algebra and dimensional analysis (know your metric conversions!) you will be fine.

Honey Clover · Dec 24, 2015

I had a very methodical approach to studying chemistry that worked really well for my class structure. Incoming students who have followed my approach did well in the class too (so I was told). My chemistry class was chemistry for nurses and it was two semesters of work squeezed into one; it covered an integrated form of biochemistry and organic chemistry too. It was in a flip format in which the instructor uploaded lectures online and we watch them at home and then come in to do homework and hands on class activities. I really liked that particular structure of the class because we can consult with our classmates and professor with any questions on the spot and we work together to figure out how to solve the problems. Unfortunately, people still had a hard time. I was struggling first until I decided to be strict on myself and read the chemistry book. Lol. Before each class, I would read the chapters of the week, do all the homework in that particular chapter, correct it and review my mistakes, then watch the lecture videos, do the lecture video problems and correct it, then go to class and do the activities/more problems she gives us, then correct that and then review everything at the end of the week. I got the highest grade in the class and I finished reading the entire chemistry book too! That took a lot of time and motivation but actually, I think I enjoyed chemistry since I seem to don't mind studying for it. But anyways, I over heard most of my classmates saying the class was too hard and there's too much work. I asked them if they read the book and do the book practice problems and they said they barely opened it and that it didn't help. I even suggested the book readings and problems to my partner but she refused saying it's a lot and continued to passively watch the lectures without doing much practice problems. (She didn't do so well). As a pre-nursing student, I found the above comments distasteful. A student who puts in minimal effort and complains about too much work is not my idea of a potentially good nursing student (and nurse too!).

But anyways, I'd say to find a studying approach that works for you and shows good results on exams. If you get a bad grade on the first exam, don't keep studying the same way and expect different results! Switch it up and also ask your professor their suggestions on studying. Every class is different, thus, tailor your studying specific to that class. With chemistry, the more problems you do, the better. So do a lot of practice problems. Actively reading helped for me so I do suggest that for chemistry as well. In the book, there are usually problems during reading and in the back of each chapter that are extremely helpful with understanding the material so I suggest to do those. Occasionally you may have much more difficult problems in the book than the ones your professor gives you. I suggest to try and do it anyways. With most classes, if you fully understand the concepts, no matter what problem is asked in the exam, you can reason out the problem and be able to solve it! But if you just know how to do a particular problem without understanding the concepts, it's going to be a lot harder on exams. Hope this helps anyone who has trouble with chemistry!

woodsyny, MSN · Dec 25, 2015

When I was in my BSN program, many students took chemistry at clovis college online and did well. The labs were all done at home, tuition was super cheap, and they said instructor was super nice to help them succeed. They all raved about that course and just had the credits transferred in

Gentleman_nurse, MSN · Dec 25, 2015

Do problems. Problems, problems and more problems.

LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN · Dec 25, 2015

Thanks all, very helpful! I am very strong in memorization so I relied on that heavily the first time around and didn't work out for me. I found with physiology that I have to be able to "teach it" to do well so I'm just going to have to do many practice problems as suggested above and really comb through the book this time. Last time, the prof didn't utilize it so I didn't think I needed it, pretty sure that's where I went wrong now.

fyrephish, ADN, RN · Dec 28, 2015

I would read my chemistry chapter every week before lecture, and do practice problems to make sure I understood the materials. When it came time for exams I doubled down on the practice problems, and did some flashcards of major concepts. It takes time and effort, but it pays dividends when grade time comes around.