bga1

In general, O-chem and a couple other classes that I'm guessing he is currently enrolled like ChEn2001 are designed to show students the type of effort that will be required in upper level classes. If he can master time management required to handle these classes, he should be fine in the last 2-3 years of the program. I can assure your son that the extra effort he puts in compared to his CLA friends will definitely be worth it. Even in this economy most of my classmates and I were able to get full time jobs out of school. I can't say the same for my liberal arts buddies.

Hope this helps. Good luck to your son.

ChemEGopher

Hi bga, Sorry I just saw this message now. I just graduated in May. I can definitely sympathize with how your son is feeling. O-Chem is a tough one. I actually had to take O-Chem 1 twice. The class is difficult because it's all memorization and requires a lot of self teaching outside of the lecture. This is something most chem eng. majors are not used to (at least I wasn't). If your son is like me he is probably used to understanding things the first time they are shown to him. This is likely the first class where the material doesn't immediately "click." Tons of repetition is required to master the material. The key to that class is to not get behind and treat the suggested problems as homework and not optional (much easier said than done).

if you show up at Stub & Herbs and promise to drink using your left arm to hoist the brew, I'll buy you a beer after the game!