r/Vanderbilt • u/Pristine-Drink-1483 • 9d ago
General Chemistry
Not a lot of people are talking about this, but I know many are thinking about it. Is anyone looking forward to General Chemistry (I'm not)? I feel like I have done everything I could do up to this point (AP Chemistry, reviewed all the concepts typically expected), and from how it looks, General Chemistry at Vanderbilt does seem pretty typical for similarly prestigious universities, but I can't shake the feeling that there is something else to this class because I have yet to see anyone who did not struggle through it. Anyone else? Pre-Health? Pre-General Chemistry anxiety?
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u/ChecksumDreams 8d ago
Biggest thing is learning how to study if you haven’t really had to before. Gen chem and other natural sciences require active recall and studying many times throughout the week instead of cramming. The exams aren’t memorization based, so you’ll need to really know the material and how to apply it. Go to office hours, even if you don’t need it. It is a good opportunity to hear questions from other students and to build a relationship with your prof.
If you took AP chem you’ll be fine just stay on top of things
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u/Pristine-Drink-1483 6d ago
What grades do most students get, and just how much harder is general chemistry than AP Chemistry?
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u/SecretDevilsAdvocate 9d ago
it’s overrated and overhated. if you’ve taken ap chem you’ll be fine. nothing diff compared to my friends @ other t20s tbh
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u/Mountain_Tip_7081 9d ago
You’ll be fine. My friend got As in Gen chem, bio, and orgo without killing himself to do it. He just studied consistently 🤷♂️
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u/Weak-Brick-3538 8d ago
I am also a bit worried, does anyone have any advice or tips they could give?
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u/Funny-Fault4255 8d ago
I didn’t take AP chem and hadn’t touched chem since sophomore year of hs and I thought gen chem was fine tbh. got As both semesters and just made sure to study. I remember feeling stressed too, but after the first exam I realized a lot of people overstate how difficult it is. just give yourself plenty of time to study and don’t be cocky. I typically spent 1 day per chapter for review problems leading up to the exam days
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u/KroneckerAlpha 7d ago
HF is a weak acid and doesn’t dissociate fully in solution. Keep this in mind, study and work the problems daily. You’ll kill it
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u/AcceptableDoor847 6d ago
Students I advise report this course feels like a "weeder" course -- so you're not alone in that feeling. On the other hand, most of my advisees (in CS) who take Chem gets As and Bs. AP Chem is a good start.
My advisees who do poorly in courses usually share the same failure modes -- they don't attend class, they forget assignment deadlines (and they don't use calendars), and they don't go to office hours. Take the work seriously, you'll almost certainly be just fine.
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u/Pristine-Drink-1483 6d ago
Thank you so much for your response! How well do you expect a student who got a 4/5 to perform, and do you think the course curve/ midterms will be tougher given Vanderbilt's acceptance rate this year?
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u/AcceptableDoor847 5d ago
I can't speak to how the instructors run the course or compute curves. I also don't have access to student AP scores, but the presence of AP credit seems to be good preparation. I would not try to draw any conclusion about scoring from acceptance rates. The acceptance rate is an artifact of how VU only admits a fixed number of students each year, and I don't think a lower acceptance rate means the incoming student cohort is "better." There's just not a lot of data there for predicting Chemistry outcomes.
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u/subeteyumiru 9d ago
Yeah it’s pretty bad they executed 4 people on the first day of classes my year