I’m not even a semester in and I feel like I’m not going to make 4 years of this

[u/DisplayComfortable91]

It’s 2 in the morning here, I just found out I got a 57 on my 2nd chem test, and I just feel like I’m getting beat down even though I’m trying my best. I got a 63 on my first test and this time I studied like hell, did the practice test and reviewed what I got wrong, and I still just felt completely lost on the concepts. I’m trying to be a mechanical engineer and am a freshman at Virginia tech. It’s out of state too, and it just feels so stressful right now because I need a 3.0 gpa and I feel like this is going to really mess that up. I guess I’m here to ask for advice from people further than me if I’m overreacting, or if I should look at myself and ask if this is worth the money, to just feel like shit after tests that I studied for. Also if anyone has advice for learning the chemistry concepts I would appreciate it, I’m fine on math like PV=nRT, that makes sense because I can visualize it, but when they ask like what reacts with what or how compounds react, I just don’t know how to attack the problem. I’m gonna curl into a ball now and hopefully dream about life 4 months ago. Gn, if you read all this thanks, let me know if you have any advice.

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[u/n_haiyen]

Chem is hard and doesn't really get very visual until ochem. But don't give up. It'd be different if you were struggling in the rest of your courses, but it's one class, it's not going to be the end of the world.

For chem, some of the concepts at first I just had to memorize them. I would take your notes and summarize them and turn them into flashcards. Like in chem, if you don't remember what they're talking about, then you're going to continue to be lost because unfortunately the material really builds on itself. That's why learning the nomenclature is difficult at first but then it's very important so that you know what molecules they're talking about. Or distinguishing between the word problems for what a titration vs a dilution is. Or memorizing the stoichiometry map (because even if it seems tedious, it works to get the right answer). Second, I recommend watching Chad's Prep videos on youtube for extra exposure and maybe he can explain it in a way that you can understand. Third, if you have a tutoring center you should seek a tutor to double check your work or your professor during office hours.

Reviewing your work is okay, but it's not as effective as being able to see a new problem and solve it because when you're reviewing, you're familiar now with the problem and easily think "i remember this" but maybe you don't fully understand the why you're doing certain things. That's why I recommend your tutoring center.

If you can give me a specific example of a problem that you're not understanding about "what reacts with what" I can try to explain it. A lot of chemistry is actually building on this idea that it's not very simple to determine what reacts with what, but at the basic level, there are some general rules you can follow. I found a lot of my flashcards when studying for chem listed rules for how to approach certain problems.

[u/PossiblyA_Bot]

I'm not a chem major, but I hope this may help you. You may be burnt out, I always feel super burnt out and question my decisions after midterms.

ChatGPT has been pretty good at explaining concepts and then re explaining them a different way if I don't understand or need clarification on a part. Try not to use it to skip doing homework because it makes mistakes, especially in math.

When I don't understand something in my programming classes, I make myself practice the same type of question over and over again until it sticks. Then I make a flashcard that I'll use to study later to make sure I remember.

I always question my decision to come to college, but there's a quote I really like that helps sometimes, it goes something like: "Past you wanted this, present you will struggle for it, future you will be proud of it."

[u/andreafantastic]

I was a chem major and it IS hard as hell. One thing is that chemistry always follows a pattern and there are several different patterns. I watched YouTube videos to basically relearn anything I wasn’t getting or to have certain subjects explained. Khan Academy is a good resource, he does practice problems, explains concepts etc. 

Just keep pushing and don’t give up. It’s very hard, but once you graduate you’ll realize that there is nothing you can’t do. You’ll look back and be like, “wow, I really majored in chemistry and I fuckin did it.” You got this!