Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of College Chemistry

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I am the reader from Montezuma, NM, and after taking a few more chemistry courses and re-reading the outline, I feel that I should add a few observations to my enthusiastic review from above, which I wrote over 3 years ago.

I own many, many Schaum's Outlines, and am satisfied with all of them. However, before you buy this outline of college chemistry or any of the other Schaum's Outlines, you need to ask yourself what your needs are. If you are looking for a brief review of a subject, you should look elsewhere. If you are taking a course in general chemistry and need a little help with some areas of it, you should look elsewhere--preferably, ask someone with a thorough grasp of the subject to explain those areas to you.

The Schaum's Outlines are best used as a self-study tool. Let's face it, reviewing an entire subject and solving all the problems to gain a solid grasp on the material is difficult and time-consuming, and I suspect few students already enrolled in a course will have the extra time to rehash what they've already been told by reading through a Schaum's Outline, and even fewer will want to go through so many problems--at least in my courses, the problems we are provided are too much to begin with.

For review purposes, Schaum's may help some students, especially if you are reviewing years of material such as I did for my IB exam. However, since you need to know what your course will test you on specifically, you would need to go through the outline along with your notes. Therefore, spending more time reviewing your course notes might be a better use of your time.

Schaum's Outlines are essentially cheaply made textbooks, and, as with other texts, the writing varies widely from one book in the series to another. If a cheap self-study course is what you seek, or you'd like to preview a course you plan to take, by all means go with Schaum's. If you are a student looking for help with a subject, seek it elsewhere.

For help with grades, I suggest you try the Scham's "How to Study" guide and follow their suggestions.

This book is concise and complete. The reviews are great, and the problems aren't just busywork--they actually will help you understand the material. For the higher level International Baccalaureate chemistry exam, I have had to review 2 years worth of general chemistry, and this book has helped me immensely.

I am a chemistry major and found a lot of informative material included. The book explained the ideas thoroughly and the problems at the end of each section were a good source of review and practice. Everything was straight forward and easy to comprehend.

A few years out of high school, I was working construction and decided that it was time to go to college. After doing an agonizing reappraisal of my finances, I realized that I could not afford to either take the time off work or pay a great deal for tuition. I had recently read a brief article in an issue of Reader's Digest that described the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests. Realizing that this would be an option for college credit and then discovering that there was a CLEP test for chemistry, I purchased this book and began studying.
It was very hard at first, balancing the chemical equations was a form of algebra problem far beyond those I was familiar with. Nevertheless, I persevered in two ways. I managed to work my way through the book doing nearly all of the problems and I also passed the CLEP chemistry test with flying colors. I then went on to get a chemistry major and only once did I slip below an A.
While I don't belittle the amount of time and effort I put forth, it was the quality of this book that got me through. While the problems were hard, they were still doable and once done, you have learned the material. No higher praise can be given.

This has got to be just about one of the best Schaum's outlines available, and that is saying a lot, since there are many good ones. I picked up a copy for self study due to a domino effect - I was attempting to learn molecular biology, which caused me to review my college biology, which in turn meant remembering my college chemistry.

I bought this book and read and worked through the exercises from chapter one on quantities and units through chapter 17, acids and bases. At no time did I need to seek out another textbook to solve the problems. Everything you need as far as "lecture" is in the outline. All included tables, figures, definitions, explanations, and example problems are complete and excellent. None of the mathematics involved in chemistry calculations is difficult, but the rules can get involved and you need a good book like this one to explain all of the variations involved in solving problems.

Chapters 1 through 14 cover what you would normally learn in a two semester sequence of college chemistry. From that point on in the outline there are a series of miscellaneous topics. Of course, the one I appreciated the most was chapter 15 on organic chemistry and biochemistry, because it directly relates to what I needed to know so I could read the references to chemistry in the biology books without scratching my head. There are also additional chapters on thermodynamics and chemistry, acids and bases, metal ions, electricity and chemistry, and the chemistry of nuclear processes.

Whether you are a college chemistry student, or someone like me who needs to review the topic, I strongly advise you to pick up a copy of this inexpensive yet extremely clear and complete Schaum's outline. It also serves as a great reference after you finish your studies.

I got this and some other books to get my son ready for HS Honors Chemistry over the Summer. It is just the right level. The many detailed worked examples are clear and there are lots of extra problems to practice on. I looked at quite a few others including Schaum's more general "General Chemistry" and this was the best.

This is a superb self help textbook which provides concise, clear and easy to understand material. The solutions are really simple to follow. I truly recommend to anyone who needs a guide to his or her chemistry studies.

My Item arrived with three days of my having placed the order.
The seller contacted me to tell me to expect the book because it had
been shipped within 24 hours after I had placed the order. Price was
excellent. Thank you for the prompt and efficient attention you gave my order.
J Suchman
Chappaqua Learning Center, NY