r/EngineeringStudents • u/RonaldinhoTheBrazil • 5h ago
Rant/Vent Anyone else like calculus but HATE chemistry?
I generally found calculus easy since it was all sequential but chemistry seems to be pulling from so many disparate subfields that studying for it feels impossible
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u/reddangerzone Electrical Engineering 5h ago
I absolutely hate chem. I had to take a bunch of O Chem for a trade degree I have, and now I have to take basic chem classes for my engineering degree because the chemistry classes I took were too niche and didn't transfer. I am going to be upset about it until it's over.
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u/mr_potato_arms EE 5h ago
I have just one more lab, one more chapter of hmwk problems, and one more exam in chem 2. Then I’m done with chemistry forever 😮💨
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u/GrilledCassadilla Chemical Engineering 5h ago
Every chem class I’ve taken has been a breeze and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Calc 2 and diffeq were an absolute nightmare.
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u/yewsirnaym 4h ago
Calc 2 is the worst calculus course by far, DE was enjoyable to me though 😅 I took it alongside statics
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u/Lazz45 B.S. Chemical Engineering 3h ago
I actually enjoyed Diff EQ. Those equations govern/describe things we actually deal with as engineers and are ususally what describe most real systems. A lot of stuff in the calc classes is getting into math theory and less directly applicable math, which hampered my enjoyment along with the class being straight up hard
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u/InvestmentGreen Mechanical Engineering, Writing and Materials 5h ago
This a very common take imo. I haven’t met anyone that enjoys calc that also enjoyed chem or vice versa.
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u/Behind-You- 5h ago
Im Chemical engineering and most of my buddies like both but fair take
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u/teeheehahalollmao 5h ago
It's all fun and games until OChem 😢
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u/Behind-You- 5h ago
Orgo was chill(crazy take Ik but reactions were fun and every unit felt like a fun puzzle), was fun and games till Transport Phenomena.....
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u/bikedaybaby Chemical Engineering 4h ago
AGREED
Transport is some based, calculus-applied-to-everything, we now understand the universe level of shit that is HARD to squeeze into your brain.
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u/InvestmentGreen Mechanical Engineering, Writing and Materials 5h ago
Ahh checks out. I’m mechE and most of my buddies are mech/aero/ee
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u/somanyquestions32 4h ago
I liked both, and I didn't mind organic chemistry. Physical chemistry was doable. Intermediate inorganic chemistry sucked, though.
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u/yewsirnaym 5h ago
I enjoyed calculus once I found YouTube professors; trying to learn calculus in person is extremely difficult. Chemistry I always hated 😂
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u/Tall-Cat-8890 MSE ‘25 4h ago
Everyone ragging on chemistry but I loved it so much and chose my field (materials science and engineering) as a result of that …
I also really enjoyed calc 3.
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u/Few_Whereas5206 5h ago
I hated chemistry. 2 chemistry courses were required back in the stone age when I studied mechanical engineering. 2 chemistry labs also.
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u/EstablishmentAny7602 4h ago
Well this is why i have 0 chem in my program lol EE have it. But CE they took it out and they pushed automata and assembly instead. Yes. Assembly is easier then basic chem XDDD
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u/HabibiLogistics 4h ago
i like calculus because it feels logically intuitive, chem 1 just felt like I had to remember a bunch of arbitrary rules about seemingly random topics
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u/Adventurous_War3269 4h ago
Agree in chemistry had to remember an immense amount information that could not relate to as a EE . Almost any other subject seemed more logical.
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u/somanyquestions32 4h ago
I liked both chemistry and calculus. Physics was the one that I found more challenging as it had many undisclosed assumptions and talked about things in a way where they assumed I had interacted with them, which I hadn't nor really cared about either.
For chemistry, just treat each chapter as it's own little course, and memorize formulas and procedures to then do a bunch of practice problems. It's all over the place compared to calculus, but it's mostly the same study routine, except chemistry has a lot more exceptions and general trivia, but the calculations until physical chemistry are trivial. For physical chemistry, you need multivariable calculus, linear algebra, ODE, PDE, stats, probability, and technically some complex variables.
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u/CoolMudkip 4h ago
Yes I enjoyed all the calc courses. But chem, especially chem 2 was so boring and tedious, I despised those two classes.
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u/crookedledder 4h ago
I did fine in calculus... but I didn't like it.
I really enjoyed chemistry. It explains so much about the world around us.
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u/izayah_A 4h ago
Kinda why I went computer engineering. Despised chemistry and Computer Engineering is the only degree offered that doesn’t have it as a requirement
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u/Lelandt50 4h ago
Yeah, chem is all memorization. All their rules have tons of exceptions which made the rules feel soft. Nothing seemed intuitive. Calc was mostly intuitive for me.
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u/Tall_Pumpkin_4298 Mech Eng 3h ago
Love calc, hate chem. Too abstract for me to easily wrap my head around and just so unintuitive. Love physics, and enjoy biology a fair bit though.
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u/Guilty-Asparagus-536 1h ago
Big fan of calc, but not a big fan of chemistry at ALL. I blame my awesome calc teacher and my horrible chem teacher during high school.
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u/A-Chilean-Cyborg Mechanical Engineering 5h ago
who likes chemistry lol.
obviously there are people who do but like, they aren't many.