Is one semester of high school chemistry enough to take chemistry in college?

Karen Colleges · 02-02-2009, 06:00 PM

Or, more specifically, would a biology major have to take a remedial college chemistry class before taking the chem required for the major? Most kids end up with only one semester of HS chemistry, and plenty of biology classes. I'm wondering if D should add a year of chemistry, but she'll have to drop fine arts.

MidwestMom2Kids_ · 02-02-2009, 06:10 PM

I think that first year general chemistry would not have a "year of high school chemistry" pre-requisite, but that having taken a year of chemistry in h.s. would make first year general chemistry much easier.

Check the catalog at the schools she is most interested in. The course prerequisites should be listed.

nysmile · 02-02-2009, 06:11 PM

If your daughter plans on being a science major in college, she should take standard 4 year sequence of high school science--1 year Earth Science, 1 year Biology, 1 year Chemistry, and 1 year Physics. She should also take 4 years of math including calculus.

mathmom · 02-02-2009, 06:49 PM

Well a lot would depend on how good that one semester high school chem class was. I took a lab course in physics without any high school physics (not a physics for poets course). It was difficult, but not impossible, at least not until the last week or two of the course when they gave us a bunch of material that assumed I'd had a college chemistry class. I'd had high school chem three years earlier and didn't remember anything from it.

NYsmile, no one in the honors track in our high school takes Earth Science. They jump right into biology in 8th grade. I know that's a bit unusual, but Earth Science isn't required by the Regents or any college.

calmom · 02-02-2009, 07:04 PM

I'd think a prospective bio major would want a good grounding in chemistry.... but most colleges offer different options and there should be an intro course your daughter can take that will not have any specific prerequisite. Usually there will also be a more advanced option for students who have a strong high school background, like AP Chem -- for example, they might go straight into organic chem in college whereas your daughter would start with general chem as freshman, then onto organic chem her sophomore year.

Actually, I'd prioritize math over chem. I changed majors from science to humanities after one semester of organic chem, but it was the math part of the course that was the killer.

bethievt · 02-02-2009, 07:08 PM

I took a college course with no hs chem. I had to work really hard, but I got Bs on my finals. Whew--really difficult!,

ignatius · 02-02-2009, 07:10 PM

Earth science? Nope - not an option.

cptofthehouse · 02-02-2009, 07:24 PM

Karen, it really depends on how thorough that one term of chemistry was. Talk to the school and find out if the course is a standard college prep chem course that will prepare the student for a science major's chemistry course. The student can also take a sample exam from an SAT2 Chem book and see how he fares with the material. If most if the stuff is unknown to him, he is going to be in for a tough ride with the standard chemistry course at college.

College have different types of chem courses as well. I took an chem course that was only a semester at my college but it was considered the equivalent of the standard two semester chem course that most premeds took. There was a program that integrated physics and chemistry, and the first year had both courses, a semester a piece. Most courses at this college were 3 credits in value. The Physics and chem were each 5 credits, so you can sort of tell the difficulty level from that.

If you are planning to go premed or seriously into the sciences and your grades are going to count heavily, it is advisable to start slowly with the difficulty level and understand the material thoroughly and get those good grades. It is possible to go directly into college level chemistry without having had high school chem, but it requires a dedicated student with a lot of motivation willing to put in the time and work on that course.

NewHope33 · 02-02-2009, 07:32 PM

I agree with the above posters --- it depends. If your D is headed to a college/university where freshman Chemistry is a weed out course, then taking just one non-Honors non-AP semester of HS Chemistry will leave her at a severe disadvantage. (You do know that some students take a college level Chemistry course PRIOR to taking freshman Chem, right?) On the other hand, if your D will be taking the non-Science majors Chemistry then I don't see a problem with just one semester of HS Chem.

Karen Colleges · 02-02-2009, 07:37 PM

Thank you.
It's a very small school, mostly IB classes, so they don't offer the standard sequence of one year of Chem, Phys, and Bio.

So far, I've only seen one college that had one year of chem listed in its prerequisites for applying to the school. Most just say 'lab science'. Does anyone know of a resource where you can find exact requirements for colleges easily? Some say social studies, and others want two years of that to be history.

Some of the U.C's are pretty clear:
I found this on Berkeley's website:
"Two years of laboratory science providing fundamental knowledge in at least two of these three foundational subjects: biology, chemistry and physics"

wis75 · 02-02-2009, 08:06 PM

No earth science in our district. Better off taking 1 year each biology, chemistry, physics plus a second course of one or more of those to get at least 4 years of science. Never heard of less than a year's course in HS chemistry or other sciences for regular classes. And of course 4 years of math, calculus if it works out. There are usually several intro chemistry courses to choose from, a biology major these days needs a good grounding in chemistry. The particular college course would depend on the college.

nysmile · 02-02-2009, 08:15 PM

I realize that Earth Science is not mandatory. For some, it's a way to fill in a 4 yr. sequence. Others skip it and take an extra AP science class. The point is that any future college science major should take the most rigorous math and science curriculum that their school offers.

Calreader · 02-02-2009, 09:33 PM

Some colleges do placement tests. My daughter's college has three intro chem courses and they just sort out the kids when they get there, no matter what high school classes they took.

momtn · 02-03-2009, 12:12 AM

Our international school is like yours - the kids take a science rotation of 1/3 Bio/Chem/Physics in 9th and 10th grades then pick IB, AP or standard level for 11th and 12th. My d had a friend who got into trouble with this when applying for Science programs - at one big 10 school she wasn't accepted as a Science major because she didn't have a full year of physics. She had opted to take AP Bio in grade 11 and Chemistry and Environmental Science in Grade 12. So 5 years of science classes in HS but no Physics = no acceptance in their Science program. Something to look into....

Karen Colleges · 02-03-2009, 03:10 AM

momtn- thanks. I'm afraid of exactly that happening. I saw that a year was required on one of the schools sites when I looked in September, but can't find it there now. I remember noting it because it was the only school that S (also lacking Chem) was denied. (could be a coincidence, as his gpa wasn't great.)