Hi everyone! My name's Daniel, and I'm a 25! I'm from California, but I also lived in Seoul, South Korea for almost half of my life. I'm hoping to major in Biological Chemistry and Anthropology. If I'm not under my sheets watching a new Netflix series, you'll probably catch me at Dirt Cowboy Café drinking iced mocha or hanging out with my friends on the Green. I hope you learn something new about Dartmouth today!
Coming to college, one of the biggest fears I had was taking STEM courses with a lab component. Despite this, I decided to take a general chemistry class (CHEM 5) my first term, which has a huge—I mean huge—time-consuming lab component. And I wanted to share my experience with taking it!
CHEM 5 has a separate lab class period that is around 4-hours. Seems scary right? Well, in reality, our lab period only lasts around 2-3 hours, with each week entails another challenging yet exciting experiment topic. Also, since Dartmouth's quarter lasts for around 10 weeks, and two weeks are dedicated to adjusting to classes (the first week) and taking final examinations (the last week), there are about 8 labs total.
Experiment involving dry ice and CO2 gas!
Every week, the lab takes place either on Monday / Tuesday, depending on your schedule. And, we are given a data analysis assignment that encompasses what we covered during the experiment, which is due the same week on Friday or Saturday. Personally, I never felt stressed whilst undergoing data analysis, as my laboratory TA (different from my chem class TA!) was always there to answer questions through both email and text. Many may think a lab component is unnecessary for actually grasping the respective concepts, I honestly thought the experiment & following assignments were very helpful in helping me understand and supplemented my knowledge.
Experiment on precipitate formation!
As a pre-medical student, I most likely have to take lab classes all throughout my Dartmouth career—from organic chemistry next year to biology foundations courses. Next term, I'm taking General Physics II (PHYS 4), which also has a lab that pertains to topics within the fundamental laws and phenomena of electricity, magnetism, and light, including quantum mechanical concepts. I'm ready to take on another challenge!
Congratulations to the newest members of the Class of 2027! Unlike our now '27s, I was still applying and interviewing for colleges this time last year. Here is how I managed my regular decision process!
Before coming to college, I was afraid of not finding an academic mentor during my undergraduate studies. However, I have found that Dartmouth's community of professors to be absolutely astonishing and I could not be more grateful.
One of the many considerations for me when looking at colleges, was the availability of research—something which Dartmouth is great for! Read on to hear more!
Experiment involving dry ice and CO2 gas!
Experiment on precipitate formation!
