<p>How ridiculously hard is it?</p>
<p>...depends on how good you are.</p>
<p>Organic has a longstanding rep of being very rigorous. Other courses from general inorganic to most upper levels are pretty much on par with top tier schools. </p>
<p>Overall, the department has a reputation from both within and outside of Northwestern of being something truly stellar. Arguably the best department at WCAS (yes, that includes economics), certainly among the top three.</p>
<p>Chemistry department at Northwestern is as good as its econ. It's a little strange that many people know about the economics department but not the chemistry department. Over the last 5 years, quite a few chemistry students have won prestigious scholarships like Gates Cambridge. According to USN specialty ranking, "inorganic" and "theoretical" are ranked the 3rd in the nation.</p>
<p>Once you get past Orgo, you take p-chem, a lab sequence and your three-course concentration. In terms of grades, you shouldn't get lower than a B (maybe B- if your professor is tough and you slack off). If you're worried about grades, I'd say it's quite reasonable to make it through gen chem, orgo, physics and the math classes with at least a 3.7 if you're motivated. After that, you'd have to do a lot of things wrong to get below a 3.5 the rest of the way. Grades really shouldn't be an issue, so don't worry about them.</p>
<p>Basically the hardest part about the major is the sheer amount of work, especially for the lab sequence. It's three quarters with 3 hours of class plus up to 10 hours of lab in PER WEEK for ONE credit each quarter. That being said, it gives you a lot of experience with lab technique as well as theory -- your Oral lab reports basically test to make sure you understand the underlying concepts and theory behind the methods and analytical techniques. Dr. Northrup, the director of undergraduate chemistry, is perhaps the most experienced and knowledgeable person I've ever met, and he has been largely instrumental in creating the new curriculum to become the standard for chemistry departments across the country. Obviously it's hard to know for certain how we compare to other schools, but the professors and grad students all tell us we're at the top in terms of rigor and depth of study.</p>
<p>I am currently in the middle of my p-chem and lab sequences and just have two more classes left for my major, so if you have any more specific questions feel free to post or PM me. I will give as candid an answer as anyone, I promise.</p>
<p>Just wondering because not only do I want a strong major, but I also want grades for a good grad school...</p>
<p>Well I can't say how you'll do in terms of grades, but you will have one of the strongest departments at Northwestern and one of the best chemistry departments in the country.
The graduating seniors going to grad school have gotten in to a lot top notch PhD programs at really prestigious universities, so you can definitely get into great grad school.</p>