<p>What’s the best way to get over your fear of taking a class the coming semester? I am scared of getting a B. I usually try my hardest in all my classes, but who’s to say my whole system of reasoning things out on tests won’t just collapse on the tests for the class?</p>
<p>I’m taking general chemistry this upcoming semester. In high school, my lowest grade in Pre-AP Chemistry was a 97 for either semester. But thinking back on my time in that class, I knew almost NOTHING about Chemistry and got by purely because of grade curves and I was the person with the highest grade anyways. (Nobody understood the material either)</p>
<p>But I’m not so sure about college chemistry… I aced both semesters of university physics hands down. I started out with the exact same fears before starting the physics sequence about this time last year, but I knew that I could prove all my answers mathematically if I ever got in trouble on a test. Chemistry, it’s still possible to do this, but not with any of the “You just have to know this” concepts. I feel like it’s going to be the downfall of my straight As in college.</p>
<p>I’ve been self-studying with MIT’s OCW Chemistry course for the last two months. I’m so scared that I just want to take the CLEP test and be done with this for good with NO record of a grade on my transcript. But I’m still afraid that I’ll fail the CLEP test and be without a chemistry credit towards graduation.</p>
<p>One of the points of college is to challenge yourself not get straight As (unless you’re pre-law). If you’ve been self studying chemistry, you’ll be fine so long as you keep up with the class work and go to office hours if you need help. Also, intro chemistry courses, including the ones on MIT’s OCW, assume the person has never seen chemistry before, and professors teach accordingly.</p>
<p>You might consider me one of the most contradictory, pretentious liars ever, but I feel like if I can’t get straight As, people will think less of me as a person.</p>
<p>I don’t have a lot to my name. My perfect academic record is something that I hold near and dear to me right now. If I can just complete community college with a pure 4.0, I will not care how the rest of my academic record looks (But still shoot for 4.0. hehe) I’m only 16 hours or 4 classes away from completing this goal. Two of those classes just so happen to be Chemistry.</p>
<p>Also, from the MIT OCW Chemistry course, they do assume some Chemistry background. It’s okay, I’ve had 1.5 years of formal Chemistry in the past, but places where the Chemistry is kept low, the Physics concepts are kept high, and vice-versa. hehe.</p>
<p>I’d like to also think that the reason people do so bad in Chemistry is because they haven’t had a sufficient math background. I aced Calculus II (Integral calculus) this past semester with a 99 and no extra-credit. But from what I remember in high school, the concepts of Chemistry were highly subjective and I had a very hard time getting good grades because there was no way to “check” my answer. You either knew it or you didn’t.</p>
<p>I’ve seen the MIT OCW videos. Unless you’ve been watching the intro chemistry for people who already have a high degree of proficiency in the subject, it assumes a background in physics (as would be expected for any class at MIT), but no background in chemistry. </p>
<p>If you’re so scared about taking chemistry, is there another science you can try?</p>
<p>I think you need to come to terms with the fact that college grading is very different than high school grading. In high school you may have been the top of your class but in college, almost everyone was at the top of their class.
Some people will be smarter than you and will get batter grades that you. You will probably even get an A- or god forbid a B+. College is a learning experience and freshman year is designed to peg your ego down so you don’t think you’re the best thing that’s graced the planet. </p>
<p>Just focus on working hard and doing your best…no one else knows what grades you get anyways so they can’t think less of you because you got a B+ in a class.</p>
<p>orion12 is right, I used to think I was smart but when I went to college I met people who were way smarter than me. Doing your best is what really matters and most of the time if you work hard you will get that A!</p>
<p>I always find that if you commit yourself to actually learning material and concepts, the A will undoubtably follow suit. Stop focusing on the grade and focus on actual learning. </p>
<p>If you put that much effort into self studying chemistry beforehand you are probably way ahead of the other students already. I will be surprised if you don’t get that A.</p>
<p>Don’t worry. If you’ve been watching MIT lectures for Chemistry, then study smart in school and go to your professor’s office hours you should be fine. If you were diligent enough to get As in College level physics, I’m sure you’ll do fine. Also, getting Bs is nothing to be ashamed of. Sooooo many people I know FAILED Chemistry 1 and had to repeat it, so if you get a B, consider yourself lucky.</p>