Ok so my advice to you, REALLY do not voluntarily go to a crappy college even if you are willing to work your butt off. I KNOW how frustratingly hard chemistry can be first hand, but a snobby department as bad as it sounds is often a good one. Just like the chemistry department at my school. If you do do AS chemistry and struggle at any point, feel free to PM me, I just finished the course. I sucked at first but now I love it and i'm not too bad.