The most difficult undergrad course

[mastamark]

Which undergrad prerec is the hardest for all of you premeds/former premeds?

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[Medikit]

I voted general Biology because it's so difficult to stay awake in class

 

[BaylorGuy]

My Human Physiology class or my Cell & Developmental Biology class were pretty tough. I honestly felt that my general bio, chem, O-chem were rather easy. I had problems in my physics class because my professor A) couldn't speak english and B) only got through half of the material we were supposed to cover in the semester.

 

[indo]

dude....chinese art history: slide after slide after slide at 8AM!

 

[Primo]

Definately O Chem.

 

[physiclas87]

Why is O-chem so hard? Ain't it just memorizing material? Any advise on how to prepare for it?

 

[JamesNunez]

Why is O-chem so hard? Ain't it just memorizing material? Any advise on how to prepare for it?

Go out and buy an O chem book and read it.

 

[Dr.Pdizzle]

I thought orgo was easy; my biosci classes were the most challenging--way too much info per exam. I think a lot of it is relative to who your teacher was and what they deemed was important to test you on. A good deal also depends on what type of a learner you are.

 

[Blake]

Why is O-chem so hard? Ain't it just memorizing material? Any advise on how to prepare for it?

It's not hard, well, at least not as hard as physics.

 

[Premedalltheway]

organic chem...

Mechanisms and Synthesis requiring 10 steps ain't the easiest thing in the world( those requiring alpha beta unsaturated carbonyls...yuck) .... 2 more weeks and all these reactions I memorized will be out of my head forever...

 

[tae1703]

english was the toughest. ochem was fun. taking physics next semester. it will be funner.

 

[callendm]

organic chem...

Mechanisms and Synthesis requiring 10 steps ain't the easiest thing in the world( those requiring alpha beta unsaturated carbonyls...yuck) .... 2 more weeks and all these reactions I memorized will be out of my head forever...

Better plug up your ears and stop the leakyness....MCATS....concepts carry over....strong understanding of these concepts will come in handy in med school...Omega 3 Fatty acids/Omega 6 Fatty acids/PUFA/SFA and your diet, that inborn error in metabolism that makes your urine smell real great and those crazy alpha ketoacids (alpha what?), oxidized LDL cholesterol and CVD, GABA and there is that alpha/beta/gamma **** and what is it doing in your brain I thought that was organic chem stuff and I'd just binge and purge...etc. etc.

 

[tank you]

Better plug up your ears and stop the leakyness....MCATS....concepts carry over....strong understanding of these concepts will come in handy in med school...Omega 3 Fatty acids/Omega 6 Fatty acids/PUFA/SFA and your diet, that inborn error in metabolism that makes your urine smell real great and those crazy alpha ketoacids (alpha what?), oxidized LDL cholesterol and CVD, GABA and there is that alpha/beta/gamma **** and what is it doing in your brain I thought that was organic chem stuff and I'd just binge and purge...etc. etc.

haha, thats funny, but true i suppose

hardest class was physics 3c, optics/electromagnetism

 

[Premedalltheway]

Better plug up your ears and stop the leakyness....MCATS....concepts carry over....strong understanding of these concepts will come in handy in med school...Omega 3 Fatty acids/Omega 6 Fatty acids/PUFA/SFA and your diet, that inborn error in metabolism that makes your urine smell real great and those crazy alpha ketoacids (alpha what?), oxidized LDL cholesterol and CVD, GABA and there is that alpha/beta/gamma **** and what is it doing in your brain I thought that was organic chem stuff and I'd just binge and purge...etc. etc.

Orgo is useless in med school.

I was laughing today, while studying for my last test of second year, that it is the first time I've used orgo while studying. This was in learning about drug metabolism in the liver using the p450 system. Granted I didn't actually USE any orgo knowledge, but knowing what the words oxidation and conjugation meant was nice, I guess.

You'll never use mechanisms, synthesis, etc again. You might occasionally like knowing how to name a structure, some very basic acid-base stuff (for urinary excretion of weak acids in basic urine, etc). Not much else.

Honestly, you could finish the MCAT, and totally forget ALL orgo and be at NO disadvantage walking into Med School.

From fourthyearmed. "You don't need it at all. It's an evil joke on pre-meds!"

etc...

 

[Premedalltheway]

uselessness of Orgo for med school...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=199505

 

[Nutmeg]

It depends on which version of the course you take. For the most part, it seems like most schools have a single version of bio and g-chem, but the classes in o-chem and physics differ depending on your major. Usually, theres a course series for majors, and one for non-majors (or "for poets," as my ex-gf used to say). You can neither compare Physics for poets to o-chem for chem majors, nor O-chem for poets to physics for physics majors.

For ChemE, i had to tke the 'for majors' variants of both courses, and they were pretty much equally difficult from my perspective--in both, i got a b in the first semester, worked harder in the second semester, and then got an A. Calc-based physics is rough mathematically, but he concepts in O-chem (HOMO/LUMO) can be really beyond the scope of common sense, and the memorization can be a bitch.

 

[it.]

general bio...so damn boring, so much damn memorization

 

[it.]

english is stupid too...(see my thread for elaboration )

 

[bebella24]

Sorry all you richard F. lovers, but i thought physics sucked major @ss.

 

[deuist]

Go out and buy an O chem book and read it.

I think you mean, go out and buy an O chem book and memorize it.

 

[deuist]

It's not hard, well, at least not as hard as physics.

Unholy! Physics is the greatest field of science to ever grace mankind. Everything---and I mean everything---can be explained with physics concepts.

 

[it.]

Unholy! Physics is the greatest field of science to ever grace mankind. Everything---and I mean everything---can be explained with physics concepts.

 

[Nutmeg]

Unholy! Physics is the greatest field of science to ever grace mankind. Everything---and I mean everything---can be explained with physics concepts.

That's a crock of shyte.

 

[it.]

That's a crock of shyte.

i suppose the reductionist attitude can only be practical to a certain point...

 

[Karina]

Out of those...O-Chem gave me the most trouble. But it was still a piece of cake compared to Biochem...God I hated that class...AND the professor!

Karina

 

[eralza]

Out of those...O-Chem gave me the most trouble. But it was still a piece of cake compared to Biochem...God I hated that class...AND the professor!

Karina

I loved biochem!
...the first year I took it...and the second year, when I retook it.

 

[PineappleGirl]

What about calculus?

That was my worst class. Totally evil!

 

[PTPoeny]

My advice on how to do well in O-chem is talk to everyone you know who has taken it and take it with a prof that fits your learning style. I got a C- first semester and an A second semester solely because of the difference in teaching and testing styles. (it helps so much when you realise that each time the professor writes "Z" on the board it means the same thing as the "n" in the book)

As for my hardest class I personally have to vote for quantum mechanics 1.

I honestly had to go in and ask for help three times on each homework assignment. First to go in and ask how to start half the problems, then to ask what the second step is on half the problems, then to ask why I got the answer I did....even if it was right.

 

[Judson]

The hardest classes for me have always been the ones I mistakenly think I am an expert in before stepping into the first class. The easiest classes are always the ones I find interesting and can't stop thinking/reading/talking about. That's my theory of why I got a C+ in sociology and an A in o-chem.

 

[dnrs]

Physics 2 by far for me. I did well but I had to study like never before.

 

[Time Table]

I got placed into a fast paced gen chem sequence made for people who took AP Chem, and I got a B. Took a lot of effort, but my next semester I took OChem and got an A-, so I guess it's fair to say that gen chem was tough for me.

 

[Judson]

I got placed into a fast paced gen chem sequence made for people who took AP Chem, and I got a B. Took a lot of effort, but my next semester I took OChem and got an A-, so I guess it's fair to say that gen chem was tough for me.

I will agree that out of the four science courses listed in the poll that gen chem was the toughest for me as well.

 

[Lawpy]

The hardest classes for me have always been the ones I mistakenly think I am an expert in before stepping into the first class. The easiest classes are always the ones I find interesting and can't stop thinking/reading/talking about. That's my theory of why I got a C+ in sociology and an A in o-chem.

Nice 9 year necrobump to add that insightful thought.

Biochem will become the new most difficult prereq.

 

[knv2u]

The answer will inevitably vary among institutions and even among professors at any given school. To be fair, none of them were extremely difficult in terms of material (although grading is another story). If I had to pick, based on class grade distributions, Organic Chemistry I probably produced the lowest grades for most pre-meeds at my school.

 

[Zelda840]

I'm in Physics II now (last undergrad course - woohoo!). I don't know if it's because it is an every day for five weeks summer course or because I took Physics I three years ago at community college, but this lab is killing me. I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[RTC19]

I have not yet taken it, but I have heard horrid things about the rigor of P-Chem.

 

[Lamel]

It really depends on the school.

I think for me the hardest was Gen Bio simply because some of the material became pretty boring (i.e. plant biology). For the rest of the 3 as long as I put the work in I succeeded. Orgo wasn't particularly hard for me, but I can see how it can be for many people.

 

[RJGOP]

I just hated physics so much I had a hard time studying it and paying attention in class. The material itself wasn't terribly difficult, but I found it somewhat challenging.

 

[siffster]

Intro to Humanities. I remember having to read "The Bacchae" in addition to a book written by Dostoyevsky. Man did I struggle....

 

[gibson777]

I would say Real Analysis, but that isn't a "pre-med" course, it is a math course.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Gen Chem was my nightmare. O.Chem was no problem at all.

 

[singergirl18]

Physical Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry lab, or Religion 101 (I had an overzealous woman who admitted to failing o chem in undergrad...go figure.)

 

[Ace-Co-A]

The answer will inevitably vary among institutions and even among professors at any given school. To be fair, none of them were extremely difficult in terms of material (although grading is another story). If I had to pick, based on class grade distributions, Organic Chemistry I probably produced the lowest grades for most pre-meeds at my school.

I think Orgo 2 is the more difficult class because it is cumulative (including everything you learned in Orgo 1). I'm not sure why Orgo 1 is more difficult for people -- I suspect it is because it differs from the chemistry we came to know and love in high school (i.e., AP Chemistry).

Orgo was a killer for most people at my school too, although a huge chunk of people failed Bio-101. I think it's because people expect biology to be really interesting, but, in fact, biology is mostly just a ton of work.

 

[NervousNerd]

Gen Chem was my nightmare. O.Chem was no problem at all.

This

 

[Contr0lz]

PChem I was the most difficult course I took so far. I just finished it in the last summer session. The grade cut offs: 65< A, 45< B, 31< C, 28< D

But it was pretty interesting though and I learned a lot.

 

[kthxbai]

Why is O-chem so hard? Ain't it just memorizing material? Any advise on how to prepare for it?

I see you hadn't taken it yet...

It's like an LSD trip. You either have a great one or get stuck in a reeeeeeeaaaaaly long nightmare.

I loved it so much that I taught it!

 

[edgerock24]

General Bio 2 because of how boring some the material was. Memorizing facts about fungi and plant anatomy is a great way to help you fall asleep.

 

[DermViser]

The hardest classes for me have always been the ones I mistakenly think I am an expert in before stepping into the first class. The easiest classes are always the ones I find interesting and can't stop thinking/reading/talking about. That's my theory of why I got a C+ in sociology and an A in o-chem.

Sees last post responded to was in 2005...

 

[swolebrah]

Honestly it's the classes that universities make you take because they want to lengthen your degree plan to make as much $ as possible .

Ex: govt, electives , etc ...if your going into a science profession you most likely enjoy the science classes , however classes like rhetoric, english, humanities was just a drag and waste of time .

 

[AspiringERMD]

I would say Real Analysis, but that isn't a "pre-med" course, it is a math course.

+1. Omg. I thought Reals I was harder than Modern Algebra II. And I'm good at calculus. Maybe it was an instructor difference.