Hi everyone,

I'm in first year Life Sci and I'm considering Honours Chemistry, I had a few questions if anyone can help

1) Would it be suicidal to pursue a minor in physics?

2) How difficult are the lab courses?

3) Are there courses that no matter how hard you work, it's nearly impossible to get 10+?

4) Did your grades drop? If so, how much?

I know most of these questions will change depending on the person, the prof, the circumstances etc, but just tell me your experience if you can.

Thanks!

1. Depends, if you like physics, just go in to Honours Physics

2. Depends

3. Depends, do you suck at thermo?

4. Depends

Elaborate?

Originally Posted by ABCDEEE1234

Elaborate?

Why don't you elaborate your questions?

1) "Would it be suicidal to pursue a minor in physics?" ---> Would the workload be too heavy judging from your own experience?

2) How difficult are the lab courses? -----> What difficulties did you encounter in the lab courses?

3) Are there courses that no matter how hard you work, it's nearly impossible to get 10+? ----> This is pretty straightforward

4) Did your grades drop? If so, how much? -----> This can't get any more direct than I've already worded it.


The last 2 questions literally can't be any more direct.

Originally Posted by ABCDEEE1234

1) "Would it be suicidal to pursue a minor in physics?" ---> Would the workload be too heavy judging from your own experience?

2) How difficult are the lab courses? -----> What difficulties did you encounter in the lab courses?

3) Are there courses that no matter how hard you work, it's nearly impossible to get 10+? ----> This is pretty straightforward

4) Did your grades drop? If so, how much? -----> This can't get any more direct than I've already worded it.


The last 2 questions literally can't be any more direct.

1. Chemistry and Physics are never about the workload, if you can understand the concept you don't have to put in a lot of time to memorize stuff unlike in Biology or Chem Bio. But if you are gravitating towards Physics and dislike labs, then do a Physics (or Phys/Math) major.

2. Well, to start with.... shit TAs, high pressure situation, a lot of write-ups.

3. That really depend on the student. Some people think it is impossible to get 10+ in thermodynamics but...

4. Comparing upper year grades with first year grades are like comparing apples to oranges. Forget about grades and do what you find interesting.

Topkek while I do agree with you that we should do what we like / find interesting etc and not worry TOO much about grades, I think it's also very important to not be delusional about this.

It's obvious that some majors (especially science majors) will not land you a good job with that degree alone, and you'll need to pursue further studies. You can't pursue further studies if your gpa is completely screwed, can you?

Of course I wanna do what I love, if I only cared about GPA, I wouldn't really consider "difficult" programs. I wanna do what I love, but I don't wanna get screwed because of it all my life.

Especially when the job market has no real respect for the pure sciences (eg. chemistry). Have you looked at some of the jobs that people with a BSc in chemistry have to end up settling for? Seeing that is really quite demeaning and discouraging. It seems like companies wanna hire people with chemistry degrees to have them do jobs (and underpay them) that a high school / shorter college degree can do with some on the job training.


Or am I misinformed?


-----> By the way, are the lab reports done at home or do you have to write them all IN the lab?

-----> And what do you mean by comparing upper year grades with first year grades are like comparing apples to oranges? Explain please.

Thanks

By the way, I actually love thermodynamics (as far as I know) I'm most interested in chemical physics / physical chemistry. Leaning towards chemical physics. Sadly, I don't think I'm interested in doing postdoc research (the work conditions don't sound good to me), so I most likely won't have a good opportunity to pursue these fields anyway.

Originally Posted by ABCDEEE1234

It's obvious that some majors (especially science majors) will not land you a good job with that degree alone, and you'll need to pursue further studies. You can't pursue further studies if your gpa is completely screwed, can you?

For professional schools, yes. For graduate school, GPA > 8 is just an indicator that the student have either the intellectual ability or the work ethics for graduate school, research experience and reference letters are what matters at the end.

Originally Posted by ABCDEEE1234

Of course I wanna do what I love, if I only cared about GPA, I wouldn't really consider "difficult" programs. I wanna do what I love, but I don't wanna get screwed because of it all my life.

Especially when the job market has no real respect for the pure sciences (eg. chemistry). Have you looked at some of the jobs that people with a BSc in chemistry have to end up settling for? Seeing that is really quite demeaning and discouraging. It seems like companies wanna hire people with chemistry degrees to have them do jobs (and underpay them) that a high school / shorter college degree can do with some on the job training.


Or am I misinformed?

Go do engineering instead if it's not too late.


-----> By the way, are the lab reports done at home or do you have to write them all IN the lab?

At home.

-----> And what do you mean by comparing upper year grades with first year grades are like comparing apples to oranges? Explain please.

First year grades are composed of only assignments (that are marked by a computer), and tests/exams (which is 80% multiple choices). That is not the case for upper year courses.

Thanks

Originally Posted by ABCDEEE1234

By the way, I actually love thermodynamics (as far as I know) I'm most interested in chemical physics / physical chemistry. Leaning towards chemical physics. Sadly, I don't think I'm interested in doing postdoc research (the work conditions don't sound good to me), so I most likely won't have a good opportunity to pursue these fields anyway.

Oh, trust me, you will stand out from your classmates.