#hope you have a good time with ib chem ^_____^^^!!!

[chemposting]

Hi mandizo chemposting the Anon is back. thank u for the long chempost. and for taking the time to explain yayyyy ^_^ this was rlly fun to read (even though it took a Second for me to get it... but i learned smth new!) so cool how everything just clicks and with such a simple formula. thats so satisfying.

i like the havoc duo molecule a lot... its so havoc duo. thank u for showing me this creature. may i ask how the rings are like... Floating there around zirconium??? i've never seen anything like it. (my teacher always says transition metals are just Weird. and now i see this Thing. like whatttt)

and not to dox myself too... im chinese aswell but born and raised in america lmaoo (cant read or write any chinese 🔥🔥🔥) also taking ib chem rn! yeah i took two extremely similar chem courses but erm. anyways. i have free will. def more organic chem (albeit limited to just a handful of reaction mechanisms) and self-guided lab stuff which is my fave part tee bee aych. sooo fun because. Freedom to do whatever ur heart desires... truly something calming about turning ur brain off and getting into the flow of repeating the same titration like 15 times. also dopamine rush when u actually see a trend in your data. (this is one of the simple joys of life. reject gambling. accept being a nerd)

also why did they make potassium permanganate such a pretty colour cause someitmes i just wanna drink it if ykwim.

ty for chatting w me. hope these questions arent annoying im just a silly high schooler that likes chemistry...

HI HI HELLOW YAY SO AWESOME TO HAVE YOU BACK.!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^^^^^^ ur so right i love the colors of KMnO4... the crystals are so pretty and the solution looks dope too. forbbiden Grape Juice... i was really happy about the neat formula i ended up with as well. before actually working on it i already expected to end up with a cool solution but its still awesome that the analysis ended uup with a simple (and lest we forget a powerful) formula. Such is the awesomeness of thermodynamics... if i knew nothing about thermodynamics and you asked me to determine if a proposed reaction under certain conditions is possible or not i would probably cry. realisticly how would one without thermodynamics knowledge approach this quetsion! not like we can ask the molecules can we... and the beauty of thermodynamics that it enables us to solve such difficult (and important) problems by easily obtaining values of relevant thermodynamic functions (like ΔfH or ΔcH, Sm, and ΔfG) with a calorimeter (but more often and realistically by looking it up on a table) and then doing some simple algebra to come up with solutions to the vital questions "if reactions occur", "under what conditions" and "how much do they occur" which helps us synthesize drugs, produce fertilizer on industrial scales, so on and so forth, which are feats that wouldve otherwise been unimaginable if not for thermodynamics.

THIS IS GETTING TOO LONG AGAIN AHHHHHH SORRY.......... but to answer ur question about the havoc duo molecule :smirk: if you are familiar with the Hit Series "AP Chemistry" youd know that atoms are held in place thanks to Bonds between them. what are bonds but a stick with two atoms on each side right?! get ready to have your mind blown... lets check this epic molecule out and pay close attention to that one bond with Pd (ignore tge two red dots i was having fun with macbook screenshot editing):

wtf.. why does it look like a C=C pi bond is bonding with a single Pd atom? it looks like that becuasE IT IS THAT. yuipppp... we're looking at a complex with a "polyhapto" ligand. On an intuitive level this thing is straight up nightmare fuel. but on an orbital level this actually makes sense. pi electrons live in pi orbitals which are at the end of the day still orbitals. so whats stopping pi orbitals to interact and bond with empty orbitals of other atoms! nothimg is what ^_^.

lets step it up a bit. we know that double bonds in benzene arent really typical double bonds at all. they are instead delocalized. the double bonds go wherever they please in the ring. So is the case with the cyclopentadienide anion (abbreviated as Cp-).

here comes the shocker: even delocalized bonds such as the one you'd find in benzene are NOT safe from this bonding with transition metals madness. check THIS bond out:

yuippp. thats an entire ass molecule sized ligand bonding to iron with its funky delocalized bonds. and if you thought the silliness would end here, im sorry to report that (purely by coincidence) in 1950, this happened in a lab:

we are looking at a complex consisting of two cyclopentadienyl rings sandwiching (the proper scientific term is really "sandwiching") a central iron atom. this is peak tomfoolery. it looks almost comical. and most awesomely Such sandwich compounds are very stable! havoc duo molecule finds itself in a similar position:

the rings around zirconium arent just simply floating oh nono... They are actively bonding with their entire electron cloud above their ring to zirconium!!

[posallys]

taylor!! if you don’t mind me asking, how do you study for your stem classes?? bc u are eating up these tests like ur being paid. especially chemistry 😭 i am out here, any tips would be appreciated. ty <3

A lot of hoping and praying!!! Lol for chem specifically I don't have very many tips my prof is literally an angel she's perfect she's the loml....she gives us a fuck ton of study material, she grades everything so meticulously so you always know exactly what went wrong and exactly how to fix it for next time, she gives practice exams (a.k.a. the previous year's exam), and she will do anything and everything to make sure you understand....safe to say that it works, so i really don't do any of my "own" studying for chem

I don't have to take math or physics in uni because I got credit for them through IB, and med school is not on my radar, so no tips there other than YouTube is your bestie <3

Bio!!! Oh bio ily <3 big thing here is to know your vocab because if you can pick words (and prefixes/suffixes) out, that's half of the battle. Knowing definitions makes it much easier to logic your way through things, even if your understanding of the concepts is shaky. Also, I got really good at predicting test questions, which definitely helps. It usually takes me until the first exam with a prof to really get a feel for it, but after that first exam you get to see their question styles + how the material on the exam was presented in lecture (for example, my micro prof's slides were pretty bare, and he would elaborate A LOT just from memory, so paying attention to the things he said during lecture was absolutely essential.....on the other hand, one of my intro profs had very organized meticulous slides, and all of her questions came almost directly from the slides, so making questions based on that was so useful!!! My lowest exam grade that semester was a 98% because nearly every question on the exam I had made for myself while studying!)

I'll give an example here from my very first uni bio class <33:

And for micro here:

And last but not least, I do not study if I'm tired lol. You're not learning anything if you're tired. I actually don't mind getting up early so if I need to study more (like if I have an 8 exam), I just get up at like....4 and will study before hand, but I neverrr stay up at night if I start to get sleepy bc it really is pointless!! Like last week for my micro exam I got up at 6 and the exam wasn't until 2, but I went to bed at 10pm because I could feel myself getting sleepy and knew that nothing after that point was being retained. But I also know getting up early to study is not everyone's thing---I just operate better that way

(Also a lot of getting lucky and winging it <3)

[revasserium]

what lies beyond forever with oikawa

hq!!reqs temporarily: closed ; all other reqs: open

send me a number a character and i’ll write you a drabble ;

82. what lies beyond forever oikawa ; college!au ; 1,653 words

he’d never believed in forever, not really -- the thought of some eternal plane stretching into the neverending distance, somewhere across the horizon -- it never found purchase in the vast winding tributaries of his mind. he never thought about the eventual heat-death of the universe, or the possibility of impending doom lurking across the cornflower sky, beyond the atmosphere where time and space became one and the same, where the very fabrics of reality, his reality, to be clear, might tear and be resewn into a different patchwork of truths. 

he never thought he’d yearn for forever. 

until he met you. 

you blow through his life like the summer wind, sweet and warm and a little unexpected but never unwelcomed. you smiled like sunsets and laughed like thunderstorms in the middle of july, the lightening around your shoulders striking through him, setting his very bones a-chatter. iwaizumii tells him he’s in love to his face, and still, oikawa refuses to believe him. 

“i don’t sing but if i did, it’d be that one song from the stupid disney movie you like about that dude with the weird hair and chin.” 

oikawa sputters, “first of all, i’ve heard you sing -- if you actually tried, you might not be half bad, not as great as me, obviously,” he ducks to avoid a narrow swipe for his head, “and second, hercules is a classic disney masterpiece and his hair and chin are iconic.” 

iwaizumi grunts, flipping through another page of the most recent issue of jump. 

“right, but that whole -- bitch, why you lyin’ song from there. that one -- that’s you right now.” 

oikawa heaves a stage-worthy sigh as he slumps down next to iwaizumi on their dorm couch. 

“iwa, i know i’ve taught you better than this -- you know that song’s from the why you always lyin’ meme, and not hercules.” and people have the gall to call him impatient. ignorant fools. but, he supposes that iwaizumi isn’t wrong (the fact that he usually never is pisses oikawa off more than he’d ever admit out loud), and that well, he is, technically, kind of sort of really actually, pretty deeply, in love. 

with you. 

“whatever. point is. you’ve got the shits. now what do you do about it?” 

oikawa grimaces, “could you not make my love life sound like irritable bowel syndrome? thanks.” 

“too bad your love life is actually like ibs. you think i’d be here otherwise?” 

oikawa blinks, “you’re only here cause i’m suffering from emotional diarrhea?” 

“isn’t there a saying about best friends being there to laugh at you in jail before bailing you out?” iwaizumi glances up from the comic. oikawa pouts. 

“that’s not how the saying goes -- it doesn’t even make any sense!” 

iwaizumi flaps a nonchalant hand at him, “whatever. point is. you’re deep in this shit, and somethin’s gotta be done.” 

oikawa heaves another sigh. what is it with iwaizumi and making shit-analogies. he was like this in highschool too, with all the shit-based nicknames. oikawa shudders as he remembers some of iwaizumi’s more creative names and decides there are better things to mope about. like you, and the fact that he’s still yet to make any moves towards this relationship he’d like to be in with you. 

“i mean,” oikawa mutters, huffing as he curls his arms around his knees on the sofa, “i know what i have to do. i just gotta grow another pair of balls and ask her out.” 

iwaizumi chuckles, “that’s assuming you already have a pair. and from where i’m sitting, that ain’t true. so let’s focus on just growing one pair, mkay?” 

this time, it’s iwaizumi who ducks barely in time to miss the couch cushion swung wide in his direction. 

“you’re the fucking worst.” 

iwaizumi grunts, grinning, “ain’t that what best friends are for?” 

when he sees you the next day, he wonders if iwaizumi was right -- if this is what love feels like. and it’s so much more than butterflies -- it had seemed so much easier in his head, and it’s not like he hasn’t dated before. but all those times, he was the one being confessed to. now that he’s on the other side of the equation, he starts to feel a little sorry for all the girls he's rejected across the span of his dating career -- if you say no, right now, he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to recover. 

“tooru-san, are you okay?” 

oikawa clears his throat, casts his eyes about, wincing as he accidentally looks right into the light of the afternoon sun. it’s too damn hot. summer’s never really been his season, but sweet heavens, does it look good on you. or maybe it’s just the sundress. yeah, that oughtta be it. 

“i... i want you to go out with me.” 

you blink, before the corners of your lips lift and you breaking into a torrent of laughter. oikawa stares at you, dumbfounded. of all the way’s he expected this to go -- this was not one of them. 

“ah, right -- hajime-sempai did say you were going to confess today.” 

oikawa’s eyes go wide, he gapes at you for a few moments, his mouth working silently over all the words he doesn’t know how to say. 

“iwa told you? and since when were you guys on first-name terms?” 

“we’re in the same chem lab together.” 

oikawa scoffs, “right, i forgot that you’re both trying to be rocket scientists in the future.” 

you smile, “says the pre-med student.” 

oikawa flushes, “that’s besides the point.” 

you quirk an eyebrow, “ah, right. you were confessing, sorry -- please do continue.” 

oikawa scowls, knitting his arms across his chest, resisting the urge to stomp his feet like a petulant child. 

“well that’s not fair. you pre-empted me. you --!” he fights for a word, any word that might encompass some of what he’s feeling right now, but he comes up blank. finally, he simply settles for another huff, shoulders scrunched up in frustration. 

you grin, “would a date make it better?” 

“no -- it wouldn’t -- wait, what?” he does a double-take, all anger and embarrassment and irritability leaving him at your words and all they could entail. a date? with him? and you? does that mean -- 

you nod, “yeah, to make up for ruining your confession.” 

he narrows his eyes, “did iwa put you up to this too, because if he did, i swear to god i’ll kick his ass so hard it goes concave --” 

you’re laughing again, and the sound punches him in the stomach, hard, leaving him winded and unsteady. he’s always loved the way you laugh, but somehow, it lands differently on this side of the almost-confession. 

“he didn’t! i promise, and even if he did, that doesn’t change the fact that i’d still want to go with you.” 

“you... want to go... with me.” oikawa repeats the words as if trying to remember what each of them means. and then, his eyes brighten up like a cascade of bursting stars. 

“like on date?” he asks, hopeful, childish, wonderous. 

you roll your eyes, “didn’t i just say that?” but there’s no malice in your voice, and the smile on your lips is sweeter than anything oikawa’s ever seen in his entire life. 

“yeah -- ha -- guess you did,” he scratches at the back of his head, unsure of how to proceed from here. in his head, he’d only ever planned out the speech, the grandiose way in which he’d declare his love for you, how you’d hopefully accept, and then you’d somehow end up walking hand in hand into the blistering summer sunset, but this -- this fast-forward of events catches him off guard. 

it’s not in his nature of think about things like forevers. and he’s still not quite used to it. but with you, he thinks that he might have to reconsider. 

“so...? where should we go?” you ask, rocking on the balls of your feet. 

oikawa lets out a helpless laugh and shakes his head. 

“dunno. but uhm... let’s go find somewhere to go. together, maybe.” 

it’s not in his nature of falter either. but then again, he supposes that this is what love does to a person. scramble up their entire lives, upend it over a cliff till all the bits that used to make sense are sunk somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. 

you nod once, grinning wide and reach out to take his hand. he lets you lace your fingers. he lets you swing your arms. 

he lets you lead him towards the little bakery around the corner of the street, still a little dumbstruck by the turn of events but as the summer sun blows out over the vast horizon, he can’t help but wonder at all the impossible things that may lie beyond it. 

he smiles. three seconds into this relationship thing, and he’s already turning into a sap. 

but maybe iwaizumi really was right, and maybe this is just what love does to a person -- reshape the foundations of their world, make them wonder about the future, the one that no one can ever see, the one where the universe might die in a boom or a fizzle, where forever isn’t just a thought but a concept, tangible and achievable. dark -- terrifying. lonely.

he holds your hand a little bit tighter, smiles to himself, tells himself that he’s being stupid. but then he thinks that that’s part of love too -- being stupid enough to think about all those things, about all that might lay on the other side of forever, and then decide that well, he’s perfectly happy with everything on his side of forever, just the way it is. 

[captainofscholarships]

An Update

Hi all, long time no see! As you might well imagine, I've been incredibly busy with school the past few months. Senior year is hell and IB doesn't make it easier. On the bright side, I've accomplished a bit and figured I'd update you all on where I'm at right now.

-Became concertmistress at my school's symphony (first chair first violin, basically just means I'm really good at my instrument lol)

-Turned in my final EE, which I'm simultaneously proud of while also thinking it's absolutely awful. It probably isn't as bad as I think (my supervisor predicted a B, actually!) but I won't know how I did until the summer so no use worrying about it.

-Organized a blood drive by myself because my supposed partner is an irresponsible bum who did jack diddly squat to help me.

-Applied to 8 colleges, with 3 still left to go (UPenn, URoch and WPI)

-Got accepted into Penn State University Park! One of my safety schools, but I'm still very happy about it and probably will end up going there because of financial reasons. I also applied to their Honors College and Millennium Scholars program, and if I get into the latter I might get a full ride (which is insane but I'm hopeful!)

-Took SAT Subject Tests in Math Level 2, Chemistry, and Physics (future ChemE major woooo), I doubt my Chem and Physics scores will get me anywhere but maybe the colleges will be forgiving? I dunno.

-Turned 18, official adult here

And that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Now for the new year I do have some plans:

1. I wouldn't mind doing the 100 days of productivity challenge again, to keep myself in line and document my progress.

2. My only new year's resolution currently is to survive until the end of May, once IB exams are over.

3. Once I submit my applications, I'd love to make videos reacting to my admissions decisions, tips for the process, why I applied and where I decided to go, and my stats and ECs. If you guys are interested, let me know!

That's all I've got. Thanks for sticking around guys, and I hope I'll be more active soon.

[highschool-ib]

what HL subjects do you have and what's your opinion about them? (like are they just as easy or as hard as you imagined them?)

I take biology, chemistry, and geography HL! Honestly, they’re exactly how I expected: chemistry has a reputation for being one of the hardest HL subjects, and geo one of the easiest. Biology HL is also very difficult, but not on the same level as chemistry in my opinion (and I know everyone else who takes chem and bio HL agree that chemistry is much harder). If you enjoy the subject, it should make it easier to get better grades! Also, I remember that when I first started the IB, my classmates and I were shocked at how much the difficulty in sciences increased from the year before. But that’s kind of unavoidable no matter which subjects you take, and now when I look back on what we did at the beginning of the year, its seems much easier than it felt at the time. 

Geography I think is easy, because it’s mainly common knowledge about real life. You just need to be good at remembering a few statistics and case studies, and know how to link everything you learn together.

I’d like to add that at the beginning, I took english HL instead of biology. I honestly found english HL far too difficult, which I wasn’t expecting because in previous years my grades in english were alright. HL language subjects are graded very harshly in general, and I actually do better in HL sciences than SL languages, but that’s really just a personal thing. My main problem is that english isn’t a subject that you can study for right before the test, you just have to posses certain skills, which I don’t have.

I hope this helps you! <3

[lattetudes]

coucou! for those of you who’d like to better understand the french language , settle right in. i hope this post helps. let me know if you want more of these - i’m thinking of doing a music playlist (french exclusive).  disclaimer: this is from an american point of view. just my personal opinion.

the academic system - how are french exams marked? all exams are in essay format where the elegance of literary expression, proofs, and argumentative reasoning are subjectively marked. multiple choice tests are rarely used.

france employs a twenty-point grading scale which means:

all marks earned over the course of lycée éducation and the baccalaureate exams are calculated out of twenty.

a score of 20 / 20 is considered to be perfection, and as perfection is humanly unattainable: 

such grades are extraordinary and nearly impossible to earn.

it’s possible to earn perfection in subjects like the hard sciences: bio, chem, and math : but you’ve got to be nothing short of amazing. 

as my french professor said: 

“a 20 / 20 is reserved for god, and you’re not god.”

“a 19 / 20 is reserved for the professor and you’re not the professor.”

a 10 / 20 is considered mediocore or average: however, it does not equate to a 50%.

the french baccalauréat or the f i n a l e x a m is based solely on the final grade average – 

which is weighted by the coefficients. 

with a final grade average of 10/20 or more, the diploma is awarded; with a grade average of more than 10/20, an additional mention (level of distinction) is given: assez bien (12/20), bien (14/20), très bien (16/20). 

should a student obtain a score between only 8 and 10:

the student may attend oral examinations in certain subjects in an effort to improve the grade average to over 10/20. 

a baccalauréat jury will then review the student’s school record of the past two years along with the results of the oral examinations.

 if the general grade average is then recalculated to be 10/20 or greater, the student will be awarded the baccalauréat diploma 

in comparison with the alphanumeric system: academic grades on the baccalaureate exams, not to be confused with the rubric used at french facs (or universities). 

18.00 - 20.00 : très honorable avec felicitations du jury 

also known as très bien.

A+ highly honorable with praise 

it’d be easier to fly to neverland and swim with peter pan.

true p e r f e c t i o n of the highest accord.

felicitations du jury is technically not a thing

16.00 - 17.99: très bien - dreaming of this

very good - A+ highest honors

7.3% of those who took the baccalaureate exam in 2016 earned a très bien 

14.00 - 15.99: bien - i want this 

good - A, high honors

14% of those who took the baccalaureate exam in 2016 earned a bien 

12.00 - 13.99: assez bien - i’ll probably get this

quite good - B, honors

about 25% of those who took the baccalaureate exam in 2016 earned an assez bien 

10.00 - 11.99: passable 

C, satisfactory, 

8.00 - 9.99: passable 

D, sufficient, passable as long as the overall average of grades remains above 10

about 40% of those who take the exam don’t get a mention

so… with regard to transcript grades, grade value, international track, and the french track - it goes like this: for reference: i currently have an average of 14.5 / 20 (11th grade), with an average of 20 / 20 in three of my classes with special thanks to english math, english literature, and english language studies. 

french track: 16 - 20 / 20

grade equivalent (GPA): 4.25 and above 

transcript grade equivalent: A +

international (IB?) track equivalent: 7

french track: 14 - 15.99 / 20

grade equivalent (GPA): 4.0

transcript grade equivalent: A

international (IB?) track equivalent: 6 

french track: 12 - 13.99 / 20

grade equivalent (GPA): 3.5

transcript grade equivalent: B + or B depending on the mark

international (IB?) track equivalent: 5

french track; 10 - 11.99 / 20 

grade equivalent (GPA): 3.0, maybe lower

transcript equivalent: C

international (IB?) equivalent: 4

french track: 9 / 20 or below 

grade equivalent (GPA): 1.0 - 2.7 +

transcript equivalent: may range to a C - to F

international IB equivalent: 1 - 3 

these values are all just approximate: (:  until next time!

[stuhde]

hello! i'm a freshman in college and for the degree i'm seeking i have to take intro to chemistry. chemistry is by far my worst subject, and i fear that i will not do well in it. do you have advice for succeeding in a class where you struggle a lot?

hey there!

first, i want to apologize over a thousand times over because i am replying to you so late! i hope everything is fine.

alright, so i am also a freshman, and so far with subjects that i am having difficulty in i think the first thing you should do is talk to your professor! let them know what’s up. they have these things called ‘office hours’ and they are literally just sitting there waiting for you to be confused and they will definitely be available to provide extra help. they want you to do well :D

another suggestion i have is visit your academic center! sometimes there will be graduate students, TAs or other professors/teachers willing to tutor you! in my uni they have a math lab and writing center, maybe there’s something at yours that could provide some help in science!

i also have this great post by @rewritign on chem, and this too by @quantumheels

the internet is your friend! don’t be afraid to also look up some helpful videos on youtube or use a high school chemistry study guide, because i am assuming chem 101 will be similar. i took chem in high school and Richard Thornley is great! its ib chem so i am assuming there will be some parallels.

i hope this helped, don’t stress, and good luck!

[wannaonestars]

Ahhhh you're back!!!! Don't be sorry! We all get that summer work can be the worst and things get in the way like a job but that's okay!! We all still love you and your writing and even tho you'll post less they'll be even more exciting to read bc we haven't read stuff in a bit!! So it's not all bad!! And the teacher sounds like a dick,, we have a IB HOTA teacher like that at my school and everyone that has her switches out like she legit hates children 😂😂 (1/2)

(2/2) I just started school wednesday and all my classes are meh except IB Bio uuuuugggggghhhhh I have the worst teacher!! I had him for chem in 10th grade and he legit doesn’t know aNYTHING!!! IM GONNA FAIL HIS CLASS rip me,,,,, 😂😭😂😭 BFF BAEJIN WAS SO CUTE I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT WOOOOO 😂😂😂 and legit I hope school doesn’t stress you too much!! Your health is far more important than school or this blog 💕💕💕💕 ~🌱

aww thanks sprout :’))) honestly she’s satan but she brings in ridicuolously good ap scores like no one in her class would score lower than a 4 on the ap exam,,,,bruh senior year is just kids switching out of the class with the douchebag teacher into an easy class like art 2 or theater

HAVING TEACHER WHO CAN’T TEACH RLY SUCKS BALLS i had a chem teacher like that and i suffered so much :((( last year in 11th grade i suffered and cried a lot because of the amount of stress i had with my classes but this years is much more relaxed thankfully!! i really want to write lots but tbh my home life might be dominated by art,,,,,i have to produce 24 works by May and just :’)) like no kidding my summer art assignments (not counting break time and sleep) took me 20 hours to finish,,,,,,,,,,so frick frack looks like i’ll still be dying even without any real academic work?????

rant aside omg thanks for the reassurance bb <3 IM GLAD U LIKED BFF BAEJIN and i hope you do well too~~

[northeastern-allison]

Thank you so much for answering my previous question it helped a lot! I was wondering if you can expand upon the workload in the pharmacy program too. Everyone says it's VERY rigorous; I think that's another reason why I'm a little hesitant on majoring in pharmacy. My chemistry teacher wasn't the best so I'm not sure how good I actually am in chem. What other subjects do you think a person in pharmacy should be strong in? And how do you manage your time between studying and socializing??

Hi anon!

I’m glad that I was of some help :) 

You are correct in thinking that the workload for pharmacy program is rigorous. Especially given the fact that Northeastern consolidates the curriculum into an accelerated 6 years. And there are a lot of things going into that period of time. 

I want to try to alleviate your hesitations somewhat though. 

The core classes in the first two years are broad and introductory level - biology, chemistry, (organic and general), physics, calculus, writing, psych, etc. All of these can be waived out of with AP or IB credits if applicable. Also a lot of people have initial hesitations about their background in science courses, usually chemistry. But that shouldn’t be a deterrent because Northeastern is really great about finding support for you in classes if you need it. Not everyone is going to start off as a science whiz or having had really strong background from back in high school. Some people that I know who have started out in that kind of situation managed to make it right through that wall in the first two years and are doing absolutely fine in their pharmacy-relevant courses now. 

Third year is where it starts getting a little more interesting and pharmacy-relevant as you start diving into the drugs themselves with classes like pharmacology and pharmaceutics. And the fourth and fifth year is focused for the most part on therapeutics - learning about disease states and how we can best treat/manage them. Along the way, there will be other healthcare-related courses as well such as learning about the health system in the US, biostatistics and pharmacokinetics. 

There are always a lot of things going on in terms of course load every semester. I’m going to be honest - being successful in pharmacy does require a certain level of dedication and effort. There is a lot of information to take in and learning to apply all of it is absolutely key to being a pharmacist. But again there is always a baseline level of support. You will be moving along the curriculum with the same cohort of students throughout the year. The same 120 or so students will be together for all the core classes in the latter half of the program. The faculty and staff are always willing and open to answer questions and help out as well and offer a lot of resources if you need them. 

Again, if at some point, you find that pharmacy just isn’t the right fit for you, then Northeastern makes it easy to transition into other programs. That’s also something I’ve seen some of my friends do. 

Biology and chemistry are definitely the focal points of pharmacy. Math skills should be a strong point too but the maximum you’re going to need is … probably some early calculus for pharmacokinetics but most of the time you really just need to know how to deal with your basic mathematical operations and ratios/proportion/percentages. Also not a subject but having strong writing and speaking skills are definitely a bonus - but those are things that you’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice during your time here. Honestly I am a huge proponent of strong writing and speaking skills as a pharmacist. A person could be able to learn all the information in the world about every drug and all the disease states but being a pharmacist means you’re going to have to convey that information somehow, someway to other people, whether they’re patients or other medical professionals. 

Lastly - the school-life balance. Ah yes - the ever-ubiquitous question. And the two words I always answer with? Time management. (Let me just bold it for effect.)

It is so, so, so important to be able to manage your time effectively while in college. I don’t think that’s even enough ‘so’s to highlight the degree of importance. It’s not just about making deadlines for classes and assignments, although there’ll be plenty of that. It’s making use of your time so that you have the chance to relax and do things unrelated to coursework to give your brain a break. College is going to have so much more free time compared to high school. You might have days where you’ll only have one class to go to or days where you might have no classes at all. So it’s important to plan things accordingly and to use the time strategically so that you can get things done throughout the day rather than leaving everything for the evening and … that’s when the all-nighters start to kick in. 

But of course you need to squeeze in socializing form time to time as well! A lot of people join clubs and organizations for that. Or even the sports clubs for the athletically inclined. It’ll make your life a whole lot easier (and less stressful) if you plan ahead and lay out your schedule for the day or even the week. I used to juggle classes, working part time at a previous co-op site, tutoring, giving campus tours, working as a mentor, volunteering and a whole lot of other things. Was I pretty much always on the move? Yes I was. But all of it was only possible because I set out a schedule for myself to get things done before it got overwhelming. 

[Co-ops are a great way to sort of decompress from the semesters of classes actually … at least that’s how it felt to me. No lectures or exams or quizzes or projects to worry about for 4 months …] 

Time management processes differ for each person so once you find something that works for you, stick with it and it’ll make college so much better. 

Okay this turned into one heck of an essay again. But I hoped that this helped you somewhat. Let me know if there are any other questions! :) 

[you-had-me-at-e-flat-major]

How are you feeling for music and chem tomorrow?

music: only worried about the time constraint, i know i’d be able to make the perfect answer you everything if i just had more time. i’m just hoping for good questions and good pieceschem: i fucking wish i were more consistent with past papers bc i have got 7s but i’ve also got 5s and 4s. just @ ib gods don’t ask me anything dumb please

[theibgirls]

Syllabus

The syllabus is key when it comes to the IB so make sure that you have it somewhere close by at all times. If in doubt about something check the syllabus. 

Here is also the data booklet. 

Websites

SL and HL Chemistry: This website has breakdowns of every topic as well as useful links.  

IB Chem Ninja: This website has everything you can think of. Review on every chapter, breakdown of every chapter as well as past papers. 

IB Chem: A website that has notes on the entire syllabus although it is referring to the old syllabus with the information. 

Videos

Crash Course: Not specific to the IB but still has some good material for when you have to study but really don’t feel like it. 

Khan Academy: Has relevant videos explaining all important concepts that you need to be aware of. 

Teachers teaching on Youtube 

Richard Thornley: This teacher has some odd videos but some of them are really good.

Andrew Weng: Some really good videos.

Tyler DeWitt: Not specific to the IB but has some awesome content.

Past Papers

Past Papers and quizzes on all topics.  

Tips

Do a lot of practice questions! Ask your teacher for them and do all of the questions available in your book. It is important to understand all concepts in chemistry and the best way to learn then is to practice using them 

Have a little note book where you can write down the essential ideas and/or equations to be able to look back at it and get an overview of the chapter. Great for revision!

Explain it to someone. If you’re not sure if you understand something like redox reaction for example try and explain it to a friend and see if you did it right. 

Online Labs

Simulations of different reactions. Great for visual learners!

Some Virtual labs that could be useful if you need to try an idea or for a lab. 

Review Material 

HL glossary and fast facts 

SL glossary and fast facts 

Fun Stuff

Cool Science Reactions and Experiments 

I hope this is helpful! Good luck on your exams!

[happystressedmuffin]

I’ve become very disillusioned with my teachers these past two years.

I’ve had the most upsetting experiences in school. My history teacher last year literally sat at his desk and gave us free periods for the majority of the year -- and that was an AP class!! And unfortunately, I’m experiencing the exact same situation this year. My current history of Americas teacher spends more time discussing his syllabus than teaching content. I honestly can’t recall anything I was supposed to learn in this class, and we have our IB exams coming up in about 30 days. Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned by myself. I’ve found pdfs of textbooks online. I purchased biographies. I’ve read historical fiction. And in all honesty, I’m very worried that I won’t pass the exam for the subject I hope to major in.

Like, I completely understand the value of hard work. I get it. Students absolutely should take initiative for their education, if money and time permits it.  But what exactly are these teachers getting paid for? Why don’t we just replace some of these teachers with plants? There would be absolutely no difference.

I feel a serious lack of motivation right now, compounded with serious burnout. I actually cried this morning when I woke up and I had to be forced to go to school because I hardly see the point anymore. It sucks. I used to be one of the most motivated people. 

And I don’t entirely blame myself. For one, I know the old motivation will come back after a break. But I’ve also become severely disillusioned. I went from having reasonably good teachers in my freshman year to having teachers who don’t give a shit about teaching. It’s very hard to keep motivated about a subject when your teachers don’t seem to care, either. What’s the point?

I know there’s a point. Education is very important. But Jesus, why give us four projects at the same time for a single class? (I’m looking at you, TOK). I feel like every other day, a student has a breakdown in class. Today was my turn, but I’m hardly unique. So many kids have breakdowns in class, to the point that our teachers completely ignore our pain and continue class as if everything is normal. (I’m not suggesting stopping the class or putting teaching on pause, but maybe don’t call on a nearly-sobbing student to answer a French question and then get mad when they take a little while to respond? This kid is literally in tears, why not give them a tissue and five minutes to calm down?) 

I’m just shocked at the overall lack of empathy for students, and the apathy of teachers (obviously, I don’t mean all teachers -- I absolutely adore some amazing people at our school). I’m pissed at the teachers who sit at their desks and do absolutely nothing. I’m pissed at the coordinator for not knowing what’s going on most of the time. I’m pissed at teachers who assign hours of homework and then ask us why we all look so tired. I’m pissed at the deans for automatically treating all students as if we’re all criminals. I’m pissed at the teachers who only care about how we do on the test; who have little passion for the subject they teach. 

Not to mention the fact that so many teachers plagiarize others’ work and often don’t even know what they’re handing out! I remember my calculus teacher giving us a worksheet with integrals on it, and at that point, we had only begun learning about derivatives! 

Really? You can’t even be bothered to check what you give us? 

Teachers who make their own Powerpoints these days seem so rare to me. (Or, teachers who bother to update their Powerpoints). Most of the time, a lot of my teachers just take powerpoints they found off the internet. My history teacher uses his own powerpoints, but he hasn’t updated them in years. There’s so much material that could be added to them, but he doesn’t bother. 

I used to have a chem teacher (my class went through THREE DIFFERENT CHEMISTRY TEACHERS IN THE SPAN OF A YEAR) who would play recordings of herself teaching the content, and she would just relax and eat chips. We told our new chemistry teacher about this (and our new chemistry teacher is such a blessing, I love her so much) and she looked disturbed. That’s when the ridiculousness of the situation truly dawned on me. If you’re a science teacher, and your class heavily relies on videos (either of yourself, or crash course, or weird 90s documentaries), then please go fuck yourself so you get a taste of what you’re doing to students. You’re fucking them over. Completely screwing them. 

Science is a subject that REQUIRES you to teach in person. Sorry, not sorry. You need to step in front of that board/projector, and you need to work out those problems with the students, and you need to listen to their questions, in real time.

 If you spend more than 30% of your daily class time in complete silence, go. fuck. yourself. It doesn’t matter what you teach. The only acceptable class for complete silence is sign language classes or classes for the deaf. 

You. should. be. teaching. 

I want to be a good student for my last quarter of high school. But damn, why do we always expect kids to be good students and never expect teachers to be good teachers?

It goes both ways.

And quite frankly, if being a bad student has such a drastic impact on our future (which in another rant for another day), being a bad teacher should have equally dire consequences.

Yes, raise teacher’s pay.

But hire good teachers. 

[northeastern-allison]

Hi! I've been accepted into the Pharmacy 6 year program, which I'm really excited about! I visited the campus today and fell in love, and I'm pretty sure I'll be coming to Boston in the fall! I'm a little nervous about being a Pharm major because I don't really have any experience and while I think I'll love it, there's no way to be sure. Do you know anything about switching majors/how it effects scholarships? How did you decide to Pharmacy? Thanks!

Hi anon!

Congrats on getting accepted and it’s good to hear that you enjoyed your visit! :) Honestly ... pretty much everyone that starts out in our pharmacy program doesn’t have any experience in pharmacy. Including me. That was me 5 years ago. So you wouldn’t be the only one in that boat. But that’s fine! The first two years are all the pre-professional coursework so bio, chem, physics and the like (unless you AP/IB credit out of them). Additionally, you’ll be taking some intro courses that will orient you more to what pharmacy is as a field and the different opportunities out there so you can use that to figure out if this is something that you want to do. And of course you can’t leave out the co-ops. Those are the number one way for you to get the first hand experience that you will be hard pressed to find in other places. 

If it comes down to switching majors, it shouldn’t be a problem at all, especially if you do so in the earlier phases. Northeastern in general is very flexible with the majors and programs so a lot of students make a switch before they settle on what it is that they like the most. So it’s okay if you’re unsure. Also, it shouldn’t affect scholarships because those aren’t usually tied to being in a specific program or anything. 

As for my decision to pursue pharmacy ... I honestly did not come upon the program until I was in the midst of narrowing down my application list way back when. But it interested me because I knew I wanted to do something science/health related. Turned out that the opportunities available to pharmacists were really appealing to me. It’s very science based since you learn about all the drugs and how they work. There’s the patient interaction aspect whether that’s in a hospital, community pharmacy or another setting altogether. And at times there’s problem solving because your job is to basically make sure the patients’ drug therapies are correct, safe and effective. So it’s a very diverse occupation and that’s one of the things that I really like. 

I hope this helps a little bit. There will be Welcome Days in March and April and that event will have a lot more specific events geared towards each major. If you’re able to attend, I would highly encourage it. In the meantime, if there’s any more questions that you have don’t hesitate to send them my way! :)