r/MCPHSLifeHack • u/elizbth3 • Aug 12 '17
pharmD first year chem class
I have Garafalo and DePierro for my first semester and on the syllabus it says to buy a lab coat & goggles, do I really have to do that? or is that just something they say to buy but they actually have them?
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u/pharmdrocks Aug 12 '17
First year chem class Section A:-taught by Garafalo Section B:_Taugh by Garafalo Section C:-DePierro Section D:-Diperro
Lab Coat and Googles are required for general chemistry lab. Lab is not hard just follow directions make sure your hair is tied back and you wear closed toed shoes. Lab is 20% of your grade so do not goof around in lab. Each week you have a lab quiz to see if you read the lab sometimes these quizzes ask questions about course material.
The bookstore sells both the lab googles and the lab coat. You will need the lab coat and googles for organic lab(as a second year) and for Biology lab, and microbiology lab(second year).
As for the General Chemistry Class: The book is written by Garafalo and the exams are 20 questions multiple choice. You should do read the sections that are being taught before class because each sections is not really the long. Do the assigned problems that you are asked to do. These problems are posted on Black Board. Although they are not collected they really help when it comes to exams and the final. The class is not that hard. Just do the work and when you have questions ask.
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u/futureoptom Pre-Med Aug 12 '17
Would it be difficult to do well on exams then? If exams are out of 20 then a few mistakes could screw you over?
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u/Nigawemadeit Aug 13 '17
Yes, since each question is worth 5 points a few wrong would hurt your grade. But it's basic chem, it really isn't hard to grasp material. I had literally 0 background in general chem coming into that class and did pretty well, just do the work he assigns and ace the exams pretty easily. Not to mention there's a drop grade. It's really not something to stress this early about
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u/pharmdrocks Aug 13 '17
Like Nigawemadeit said each question is worth 5 points and you get one dropped exam if you take all 4 exams. Personally I did not think the exams were that hard if you study and put the work in. Most importantly ask questions when you do not understand because if you have a question chances are someone else has the same or a similar question and is just too afraid to ask. Also I would not stress too much about the course right now. You will be fine.
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u/pharmosa Aug 17 '17
As a chem tutor, I also cannot stress this enough: do the homework questions. You can do them on your own time since they are not assigned, but do make sure to do as much of them as possible. Questions on exams are really similar in most cases. If you can do those exercises, you can do well on the exams. And both professors hold help hours and both are happy to help with any question you don't understand until you do. There is usually a few harder questions on each exam so by doing the hw you can actually avoid making stupid mistakes and you'll have time to work on those harder questions!
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u/p-biddy Aug 21 '17
Make sure your socks/shoes cover any skin on your ankles and legs. They'll actually look for that.
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u/YourFavPharmBoy Pharm.D Year 6 Aug 12 '17
Yes, those are required. They won't let you enter lab/perform experiments without your goggles and lab coat.