Last year I decided to take my vow of poverty and go back to school to work on my doctorate in chemistry. I applied to a school that I visited often in the course of my old job and they said "welcome aboard!" Yay!
Part of coming in as a new graduate student is taking qualification exams. They more or less let the department know how much you've managed to forget of the tedious BS this subject is famous for. The last chemistry class I had was five years ago now, and I didn't use a lot of it in my job.
At this particular school there are four qualification exams. Organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and physical chemistry. They're all the American Chemical Society standardized tests. These things are pretty brutal when used as a final exam at the end of a semester, and I get to take all four in the course of 3 days. I remember finishing up the organic one at the end of my o-chem 2 class and there were people quite literally sobbing while taking the thing. The curve was ridiculous on it, I think the class average was something like 40% or less. New students need to pass two of them or else they take remedial classes.
The other three subject exams aren't any nicer. I've spent the last month studying all of my old notes and textbooks (yes I'm a pack rat), and studying everything else I could get my grubby little hands on. I gave myself migraines going over reactions, instruments, mechanisms, formulae, and tables.
Today was the organic exam. I didn't cry but damn if I didn't forget things that I KNOW that I studied just yesterday. I managed a godawful score but apparently it was above the secret threshold and counted as a "pass."
Tomorrow is analytical, which I'm pretty strong in. Friday is back to back inorganic and p-chem, my two weakest subjects by far. If I don't post this weekend that means I probably burst into flames (or committed ritual self-immolation) in a university chemistry office meeting room.
