Preparing for University: Chemistry Prep Class

Of all the Chemistry classes I’ve taken since Grade 7, my favourite was Grade 11 Chem. I had just moved back to Toronto from Dubai, and because my previous school always taught more than what was necessary, I knew almost all of the material I was going to be taught here. So, in Grade 11, I did very well in terms of adjusting to the course and not falling behind because everything confused me. This is why I was able to do well with all the stoichiometry the course involved.

It became my favourite concept and even the practice problems weren’t enough after a point. I can say with certainty that it was all the practice I did, that made me good at Grade 11 Chemistry. I felt so confident that I wanted to start a YouTube channel explaining stoichiometry problems to people who didn’t understand it as well.

Grade 12 Chemistry was a different story. I did well enough to maintain my self-confidence at a satisfactory level, but it felt like a lot more than I could handle. I would’ve enjoyed the class better if it were my Grade 11 teacher teaching instead. In the Grade 12 class, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. To make things harder, that was the semester I had most of my other required classes and a hundred commitments that I prioritized over Chem.

Anyway, when I signed up for the Chemistry prep class, I thought it would review the Grade 12 material I had struggled with – at least that’s what the Math prep classes were all about. The course started early August and turned out to be self-guided or do-at-your-own-pace, with both Math and Chemistry topics to review.

The topics were Scientific Notation, Fractions, Order of Operations, Exponents and Logarithms, Quadratic Equation, Rearranging Equations, and Graphing for Math and Units, Density, ‘Elements, Atoms, Moles and Molar Mass,’ Formulas, Chemical Equations, Limiting Reactants, Percent Yield, Molarity and Solution Stoichiometry, and Sequences of Reactions for Chemistry.

Each topic had a short video explanation and a quiz to try. Their advice was to skip to the quiz if we knew the topic well. Which is why I didn’t watch any videos in the Math section and only a few in the Chemistry section, to make sure I had the right idea.

But what disappointed me was that none of the Grade 12 stuff was reviewed. Almost all the Chemistry topics, except for the last one, were from Grade 11, and I was already confident about them. I wanted something to help me with the equilibrium unit or the thermodynamics chapter. Anything to give me a hint about what I should know from Grade 12 would have helped. I wasn’t even expecting the Math section so I won’t comment on how easy and kind of useless it was, but I think the Chemistry section could have done a little more to be considered helpful.

This was the department’s first time doing a prep course, so I won’t be too harsh with my criticism, but they should put a little more effort into the content. Hopefully, next year will be better. It’s not synchronous, so I would recommend it if you’ve completely forgotten basic chemistry, but if you know you’re good with Grade 11 Chem, it’s not necessary.

It was a short course, so this is a short review. I didn’t attend their office hours so it’s possible I missed something cool or informative, but from what I know, no one from my group of friends gained anything from this class. Anyways, I’ll be back with a review of the writing course (just as boring). Till my next post, toodles. - Aarushi