Gen. Chem. vs. Organic Chem.

[SaltyDoo]

I was just wondering how everybody did in gen. chem. compared to O chem. Is one easier then the other.

I just finished my Gen. Chems and got C's. I know that you're all thinking that I have no chance of getting into Med School but other than the 2 Chem courses, I've gotten all A's.

If you guys could just write me a brief statement on you're experiences of both, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

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[Thundrstorm]

Gen chem: A-
Organic I: A-
Organic II: B-

 

[ASDIC]

i was placed out of general chemistry.
But i think Gen Chem II is easier than Gen Chem I
and Organic Chem I is easier than Organic Chem II
Organic Chem II is nothing more than memorization of over 300 reactions and over 50 mechanisms. Further, you will need to memorize concepts of spectrometry/scopy.
Half of Organic Chem I is general chem!
organic chem is easier than general chem becuz unlike general chem there are fewer excecptions to memorize. Make sure u get an A in orgo and try to take biochem and get an A in that too.
good luck!

 

[CUskibum]

got B's in AP Chem in high school and got A's freshman year in organic. There is no math in organic if that helps and if you "learn" organic rather than try to memorize everything it is much more efficient.

 

[Joe Joe on da Radio]

g-chem: B, B+
o-chem: A+, B+, A-
biochem: A-

 

[premedi-kid]

General Chemistry 1st semester: A-
General Chemistry 2nd semester: A-
Organic Chemistry 1st semester: A
Organic Chemistry 2nd semester: Will find out in a month or two;prediction B+/A-???
Organic Chemistry Lab: A
Biochemistry: A-

 

[premedi-kid]

I thought organic chem was much harder than general chem because of the reaction mechanisms/ reactions. Carbonyl compounds/ nitrites.. etc... My suggestion in learning organic chemistry is to understand acids and bases really really well because all reactions are simply acid/base reactions.

 

[tBw]

I'm afraid I think O. Chem. and G. Chem. are just pretty different - trying to predict your strengths/performance in one is like trying to predict your performance in Bio (more memorization) from your performance in Physics (more quantitative). Different people will find one or the other easier depending on how they think.

 

[UCLAstudent]

Most of the people I've talked to find one easier than the other. For me, o-chem was a lot easier than general chem.

 

[SaltyDoo]

Thanks for all your help guys. I get the feeling that I will do better in o-chem because there isn't much math which is what really killed me in g-chem.

Thanks again.

 

[deleted9493]

General Chem. I and II seemed a bit harder than organic I and II. I would have to say that the second semester of each course sequence was more difficult than its first semester counterpart. I thought this to be true because the first semesters started very basic...with things I was already somewhat familiar with.
Discipline yourself to keep up with the material and to master all the problems your prof. gives you from the book and you should be golden in organic.

General Chem. I A
General Chem. II A-
Organic I A
Organic II A

 

[DW]

take physical chemistry and tell me which is hardest afterwards 😉

 

[Thundrstorm]

Originally posted by DW
take physical chemistry and tell me which is hardest afterwards 😉

Warning! Dumb question ahead:

My school doesn't have a class entitled physical chemistry, but I'm wondering if we have a similar course by a funky name (they do that alot). What is the general subject matter covered in a P-Chem class?

 

[lola]

no p-chem?
perhaps something entitled "thermodynamics, kinetic theory, etc..."? BLEH. thank GOD i will never use that crap i learned in p-chem! it hurts my brain just thinking about it 🙂

 

[DW]

Originally posted by Thundrstorm
Warning! Dumb question ahead:

My school doesn't have a class entitled physical chemistry, but I'm wondering if we have a similar course by a funky name (they do that alot). What is the general subject matter covered in a P-Chem class?

P Chem for chemistry majors is usually a two semester course with lab at most schools. The first semester is principles of thermodynamics (entropy, carnot cycle, chemical kinetics and all that jazz). Second semester is quantum mechanics (wave particle duality, schroedinger equation, molecular orbitals). usually very calculus intensive stuff. makes organic look like phys ed 😛

 

[ironey]

Originally posted by CUskibum
and if you "learn" organic rather than try to memorize everything it is much more efficient.

Hah!! That's so true! I did better in organic than gen for that very reason! I'm better at learning concepts than equations so I would definitely say organic was easier (I also enjoyed the labs much more). Of course, the most difficult science for me is physics - just so you know where I'm coming from.

 

[Fastidious]

General Chem 1 -- A+
General Chem 2 -- A+
Organic 1 -- A-
Organic 2 -- A-
Biochemistry -- A
Physical Chem 1 -- A+
Physical Chem 2 -- A

For me general and physical chemistry were much easier than organic because there's more logic to it. In organic one has to spend hours to memorize reagents and reactions and that takes time. It all depends on whether you like/can memorize a lot of material that is boring... I am used to reading the material once or twice and be fine with it, but that doesn't work with organic. I prefer to understand a concept and then derive the result if I don't remember it, again that doesn't work with organic... I really struggled to get those A-'s in both organic classes while p. chem wasn't hard at all. I think for people who can memorize a lot of material fast (even if it makes no sence to them) Medical School will be so much easier... Unfortunatelly I am not one of them, so I'll have to struggle again.

Fastidious.

P.S. Biochem is also a lot of memorization but at least it's interesting... organic is just boring -- I hated it (and I'm a chem major )

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Thundrstorm]

Originally posted by DW
P Chem for chemistry majors is usually a two semester course with lab at most schools. The first semester is principles of thermodynamics (entropy, carnot cycle, chemical kinetics and all that jazz). Second semester is quantum mechanics (wave particle duality, schroedinger equation, molecular orbitals). usually very calculus intensive stuff. makes organic look like phys ed 😛

ah.

I do have to take a thermo&kinetics class, plus we do have a 300-level quantum mechanics class, though it's not required and I probably won't have time to take it before I graduate....I wanted to though. Oh well.