How hard is Organic Chemistry really?

Compared to what I would consider an average class (combining all subjects) to be, it is definitely hard. It requires a lot of dedication to learning the material as it requires putting a lot of time into the studying. You also have to have a natural predisposition for that sort of learning, I think.... you have to be able to picture some things in your head that you will never see happen in real life (unless you have molecular vision).

I got 95 on my first orgo test, and had the same thoughts as you. It definitely gets much much harder, but its not impossible if you work at it.

bio major wrote:

I just took an O-Chem I test. Though there were definitely some hard problems on it, the class so far has not been anything that ridiculous, despite all the hype it gets from other students.

It's a lot of memorization. I think it gets its reputation from all the pre meds that have to take it.

Just wait. It gets way worse. I ended up taking each section of it twice and had a B up until the final exam of my first semester of O-chem 1. At this point your prolly just doin some basic nomenclature, going over the different types of carbon bonds, etc. Be patient.

I always thought, and told others that the concepts in O-chem aren't all that hard. For me it was the onslaught of reactions and re-agents that only go together in one specific circumstance that gets brutal. And to go along with that. O-chem 2 is ALL reactions and re-agents. That's the one that really got me.

Conceptually Biochem was much harder than O-chem. IMO

if you're a bio major and you think organic chemistry is easy, switch your major to chemistry and take any biology electives if you wish. you'll be a lot more employable, and it will be easier to get into graduate school (yes easier to get into bio grad school with a chem major than a bio major) because biology is easier than your mom, and just about anyone can get straight A's in biology.

organic chemistry is hard, but it's more fun that way.

what's harder, college calculus, physics, or o-chem ?

Honestly, it depends a lot on your professor. Obviously, you will have to work hard regardless, but some professors, particularly at state universities, try to make the course as difficult as possible (to weed out students), whereas other instructors are much more reasonable. Oh, and don't get too overconfident...the material DOES get harder (it builds on the first exam material)...my first OChem test was my best grade, actually. OChem is hard, but I have taken much harder classes....

dumbo animal wrote:

what's harder, college calculus, physics, or o-chem ?

I have taken all three of these classes.

Personally my calculus class (Applied Calculus) was the easiest. As for physics (depending if you take algebra based or calculus based physics) is next. algebra based physics is cake, it is all equations and plug and chug. Calculus based physics gets a bit harder but if you know calculus you are fine. Then O-Chem, I struggled hard with this. I got a B in the class and that was only because the final was easy. Wait until you need to know 100 names of different compounds with benzene rings, chirality, antiomers, and awesome mechanisms :)

Organic is easy. The only hard part is sitting yourself down for hours at a time to put the work into it. It's a lot of volume, and pretty cumulative, but the concepts reinforce themselves, so if you stay on top of your work, there's no reason you can't get through it with a decent grade.

I'm an outright baller at O-Chem, and was going to major in biochem at one point.

Organic I is hard but nothing extraordinary. I had several economic classes that were much more difficult in every single way. Organic II is a cake walk and basically like Spanish II in more ways than one.

First semester was relatively easy. basic concepts, go to class, do the problems they say to do and you will get an A. second semester gets a little dicey as more work from other classes piles up and less time goes to O chem. at the moment for second semester ive studied significantly less than last year but have crammed really hard for the tests and i barely have an A (56 out of 400 have A's) compared to last year where for some reason it just came to me and the lowest i got on a test was a 93. our last test for second semester was a 54 average and around 30 people dropped because they were failing. good luck young buck, may your journey treat you well.

Uh, for those of you saying all I'm probably doing is nomenclature and that the first test is easy, it's November. Finals are in like 4 or 5 weeks. The average grade on our first test was a 55%.

I do kind of like chemistry, but being a chem major means almost exclusively chem classes, and I don't really want to do that. I don't know as if I'm smart enough or dedicated enough to do chemistry anyways. When I said Organic chem is not that bad, I meant I'll probably end up with a B in the class, not an A.

For the record, the test was on Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2, and reactions of alcohols and ethers.

I have taken both physics and organic chemistry and I found physics to be much more difficult. I do not have the brain of an engineer and struggled to make a 'B' during both semesters of physics. Organic Chemistry really is an input equals output class. It is possible for someone with an average IQ but with a good work ethic to make an 'A' in organic. I do not consider myself a genius by any means and made an 'A' during both semesters. Just be prepared to work your ass off, especially during second semester. While there is a lot of memorization involved, you really should make it a point to really understand the mechanisms. If you become a pro at arrow pushing and electron movement, second semester will be much easier. I was actually so scared about taking this course in the beginning that I purchased the book "Organic I for Dummies" to prepare myself during the summer prior. Bottom line, work hard and don't listen to those whiny premeds who have visions of Grey's Anatomy/ER dancing in their heads.

Did you get your test back yet? If not I wouldn't count on doing well until the test is in your hands. My experience is people tend to get about 10-20 points lower than they expect on O Chem test.

And yes. O Chem is hard, and even harder if you cant picture molecules in your head (I cannot). and it gets worse starting right around where you are now (E1 and E2).

marijuologist wrote:

I'm an outright baller at O-Chem, and was going to major in biochem at one point.

You took it at a CC though. Nothing wrong with that. Not trying to be elitist.

It's sort of different if you go to a school up the road like the UW and have to compete with 350 people in ochem for a grade (and 550 people in genchem and 400 people in bio). Makes me think I should've gone to a CC or a small private school. I really think it takes more effort when you're in huge classes with other bright people.

Yo OP and others (especially those who are kicking ochem ass), what type of school do you go to and how many students are in the class? More than 300?

at a top 20 school in the nation... class size started as 420, probably around 375 after people dropped out after the first two tests. avg grades first test 62 second 54 (second semester, first was a lot higher)test next week over claisen schmidt, carboxylic acid, alpha beta unsaturatedes etc. wish me luck

we were given general grades in O-Chem 1 but only received credit for the major if we scored in a specific percentile or higher on the national exam after O-Chem II..

Our teacher would come in with exams and say "this took me 8 minutes, you should be here for 2-3 hours" and he was right. Grades ranged from an 8 - 100 and everything in between, if you put in the work and effort, you would get at least a B/C as your grade..

by the time we took the national exam, it was cake...also O-Chem II was quite a bit more lab intensive...

agreed that its all about putting in the time, I took it over a summer, didn't have a job or do anything else, a bunch of us just spent all day, every day, studying..