My last pre-req is this spring semester -- Chemistry. It is my Achilles' heel. I am a straight A student and chemistry is the only class I have ever dropped. I put ALL my effort in to it, spent hours studying, that's what scares me. That I put the effort in and was barely passing.
I do feel better prepared now after taking A+P 1 & 2 -- strangely learning things in the body have cleared up a lot of the confusion I had in chemistry. Also, taking pharm helped me master conversions so that was something I really struggled with the first time around. I spent a few sessions with a tutor to get a better foundation and have a few help books (Chemistry for Idiots).
But would love to hear from others any books, websites, or even study tips you felt really helped.
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Chemistry was also my Achilles heel. I did get my goal grade of an A, but with great difficulty.
I do not think you can study for chem the way you study for A&P.
I found Khan academy extremely helpful. You can't memorize your way through. You need to apply it, and the way to do that is by learning and practicing dimensional analysis, over and over.
Just got an A in chemistry last semester and this is what I did...
1. Shopped for a good teacher - I had an amazing teacher that cared about her students and provided lots of study material and was open to all questions. I would start there
2. You tube!!! Khan academy is good but I personally liked Tyler DeWitt his videos helped me the most.
3. Practice - do all the practice problems in the chapter and the ones at the end. Copy examples in your own writing to help it sink in and to be sure you have the right method/answer.
My last pre-req is this spring semester -- Chemistry. It is my Achilles' heel. I am a straight A student and chemistry is the only class I have ever dropped. I put ALL my effort in to it, spent hours studying, that's what scares me. That I put the effort in and was barely passing.
I do feel better prepared now after taking A+P 1 & 2 -- strangely learning things in the body have cleared up a lot of the confusion I had in chemistry. Also, taking pharm helped me master conversions so that was something I really struggled with the first time around. I spent a few sessions with a tutor to get a better foundation and have a few help books (Chemistry for Idiots).
But would love to hear from others any books, websites, or even study tips you felt really helped.
KHAN ACADEMY!!!!!
Hands down THE best site for any science course you're taking. It got me through Gen Chem and Organic Chem. Can't say enough good things about them. And it's free
I had to withdrawal from Chemistry this past Fall and will be taking it again in Spring. It, too, is the only class i've not be able to handle and I was pretty down about it for a few weeks. Like others have said I did more shopping around for a professor (I asked chem. majors for their advice!) and plan to use Khan Academy in the Spring. I wish you good luck in the second try!
I got an A in Chemistry. I emailed the teacher almost every week and sometimes the lab teacher also and I spoke to them in their office hours. I used the facebook group "Homework Helper/solver" while there's a lot of high school questions, there are some Chemistry geniuses on there who loved helping explain to me how to work through a concept or problem I was stuck on. Someone answered in minutes or at least within an hour for the most part.
Also I did spend about 5 hours a week on Chemistry alone.
The first time I took Chem (for my other degree), I withdrew and took it again the following year. If it is an option for you, I found the hybrid class format to be better suited for me (I could relax at home, take breaks, and replay lectures) Also, a better professor made a big difference. I went from a low C upon withdrawal the first time to passing with an A. The internet is great too, I used different resources for Bio when something didn't click, and always found one that explained it in a way I better understood.
Being a visual learner I needed to "see" the bonds happening. So for all tests and studying I had my little bin of multi-color lego to help me visually see what was going on.
I ended up getting A's in both the Chemistry and Organic Chemistry courses
I think it's been said quite frequently, but do the practice problems. If I didn't do the practice problems I wouldn't have succeeded in my class. Schools often provide tutors -- a lot of times at no cost to you so take advantage. Re-read and re-organize your notes as well and utilize YouTube. A good channel for me was Tyler Dewitt.
I spent hours on hours in the academic success center at my school! If you aren't good at chemistry make sure that you ask for help the second you don't understand something and don't be embarrassed about it! I probably annoyed the crap out of the people in the ASC at my school, but it paid off and I passed chemistry with a B!
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thecareerchanger, BSN
205 Posts
Khan Academy! By the way I got an A in chemistry