Chemistry degree help

Im going to pre face this saying this isn't a woe its me moment its very much I need solid useful advice otherwise I am going to lose my mind. I am doing a Chemistry Degree at the Uni of Leeds, I didn't get good A Levels infact I got a D in Chemistry but I did a foundation year and ended up with 70% in Chemistry. I then got onto my degree programme and I am failing miserably (literally havent got 40% in any of my modules that have in person exams) I have no clue how to answer any of the exam questions and when I have asked for help I have had nothing back from my uni except giving me a first attempt resit after I failed. I suffer from bad ADHD and Dyslexia which my lecturers know about yet nothing changed when I said I was struggling, instead I got told to persevere and that I was going to be okay. I also have had the most awful year due to loss of a family member and falling out with some of my closest uni friends (which I also did tell my uni and they didn’t help at all). I want to get my degree so badly and have to resit 3 exams in a month but whenever I have asked for worked problems or help they’re unable to give me anything as (and I quote) “We cant give worked answers otherwise you will know how to do it”. I cant leave the uni because I have now done 2 years so Im going to have to stick it through (if I dont get kicked out first) BUT HOW DO I GET 40% IN MY EXAMS WHEN THEY’RE NEAR ENOUGH IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME!?! Please somebody give me some advice because I want to see this through Im just scared Im not capable.

Reply 1

ibbi18

I feel as though Im sounding like Im whining when it is my own fault, so I apologise, I’m just terrified about getting kicked out and don’t want to fail completely. I know 40% isn’t a lot but it feels like getting an A* in the worlds hardest A Level right now.

Reply 2

UtterlyUseless69

I guess it really depends on which modules you are struggling with.

I remember in first year (which I’ve just finished), I lost a number of marks on my assessments at the start of term on because I made some generally silly mistakes - for example, I often didn’t draw out the structure conjugate base of the acid on questions asking about the relative acidities of organic acids and so it was harder to spot things like aromaticity being gained etc.

With calculations in physical chemistry, I usually found it helpful to write out the relevant equation(s), rearrange as necessary, define the variables (e.g in pV = nRT, p is pressure, V is volume etc) and then as I was doing the calculations, list assumptions I was making (e.g for the Nernst equation, I would always state that I was assuming the solution is ideal and so the concentrations are the activities). Also - NEVER forget units. Doing so will lose you marks.

Inorganic chemistry was a weird one - again, the same advice for calculations always applied and make sure you draw out structures of molecules in 3D when explaining isomerism, point groups etc. Symmetry, MO diagrams and drawing unit cells could be a pain, but I found the books “basic inorganic chemistry” by Cotton, Wilkinson and Gaus and “chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry” by Burrows et al especially useful.

(edited 6 months ago)

Reply 3

ibbi18

Original post by UtterlyUseless69

I guess it really depends on which modules you are struggling with.
I remember in first year last year, I lost a number of marks on my assessments at the start of term on because I made some generally silly mistakes - for example, I often didn’t draw out the structure conjugate base of the acid on questions asking about the relative acidities of organic acids and so it was harder to spot things like aromaticity being gained etc.
With calculations in physical chemistry, I usually found it helpful to write out the relevant equation(s), rearrange as necessary, define the variables (e.g in pV = nRT, p is pressure, V is volume etc) and then as I was doing the calculations, list assumptions I was making (e.g for the Nernst equation, I would always state that I was assuming the solution is ideal and so the concentrations are the activities). Also - NEVER forget units. Doing so will lose you marks.
Inorganic chemistry was a weird one - again, the same advice for calculations always applied and make sure you draw out structures of molecules in 3D when explaining isomerism, point groups etc. Symmetry, MO diagrams and drawing unit cells could be a pain, but I found the books “basic inorganic chemistry” by Cotton, Wilkinson and Gaus and “chemistry^3: introducing inorganic, organic and physical chemistry” by Burrows et al especially useful.

You need to change your username haha you’re quite frankly amazingly useful. I think its more my basic understanding, Ive scraped onto this course with little to no understanding and Im trying to get up to speed in less than a month. I will definitely use those books though thank you so much!

Reply 4

UtterlyUseless69

Original post by ibbi18

I see. Chemistry^3 should be your best bet - since it’s a very standard uni textbook, getting hold of a copy if you don’t already have one should be very doable.

You can also find some good YouTube resources for chemistry, too, if that helps.

Professor Dave Explains should cover much of the chemistry and all the maths you will ever need.

Professor Heath’s Chemistry Channel is also great for various explanations.

TMP Chem is probably the best resource there is for physical chemistry.

Reply 5

ibbi18

Original post by UtterlyUseless69

I see. Chemistry^3 should be your best bet - since it’s a very standard uni textbook, getting hold of a copy if you don’t already have one should be very doable.
You can also find some good YouTube resources for chemistry, too, if that helps.
Professor Dave Explains should cover much of the chemistry and all the maths you will ever need.
Professor Heath’s Chemistry Channel is also great for various explanations.
TMP Chem is probably the best resource there is for physical chemistry.