@GeorgiaGuy123 : That was ranodm: “organic chemistry is difficult”. In general or at UGA?
And I suppose you would be slated for a higher GPA at UGA than the other two, but I’m not really sure. I feel like if you played a balancing act at Emory, it would go just fine. You’d want to take classes (okay namely instructors) hard enough to train or overtrain you for the MCAT, but then find maybe upperlevel or intermediate sciences that are taught well but ultimately pad the GPA. If you’re a biology major at Emory, this scheme shouldn’'t be too difficult to achieve. Instruction in chemistry and biology (that is those relevant to pre-healths) courses is more likely better at Emory as well. I know biology at Tech, especially general is pretty well taught as well, meaning that they have instructors that do more than just lecture. Both general biology sequences employ teachers that often use case studies and things of that nature to teach students concepts (especially during first semester) which is relevant as MCAT passages are exactly that…cases on scenarios and maybe even topics you’ve never really covered. Emory has a slight advantage here, because its biology sequence differs from UGA and Tech’s and BOTH semesters were directly designed around the contents on the MCAT and biochem GRE. In fact, with the changes to the MCAT, the fact that biology 2 is more like an experimental genetics/microbiology course that focuses more on problem solving is extremely helpful (many I know who took the knew MCAT expressed how much of that and molecular cell techniques were on there). I know Georgia Tech also has the multiple choice problem (as in most intro biology instructors opting for multiple choice only exams which limits partial credit and learning outcomes).
General chemistry exams at Emory are “technically” harder than the other two…meaning that if you looked at all 3’s exams, you would think Emory is tough for the sequence. However, they changed the teaching method this year, especially for top teachers, and apparently averages have increased quite a bit despite exam difficulty staying the same or getting tougher in the same sections. UGA’s, I’ve heard it can be frustrating (maybe partially because how it is taught and the fact that it may be still tested electronically), but I’ve seen the exams and from an objective view they weren’t as hard. They did however gave Tech a run for the money (just slightly different content) because almost all Tech instructors do fairly straight forward multiple choice exams (which is kind of a problem due to lack of partial credit)
Organic-If you want high quality instruction, Emory is definitely the most difficult sequence here. However, if you are willing to settle for low quality instruction or mediocrity (as many pre-healths are. No offense, because I understand it is a strategic move), they are likely easier than Tech or UGA which may have more uniform standards across sections, especially at Tech where they are given an ACS final. I’ve heard UGA’s “baseline” organic has gotten a lot harder. However, with Emory’s high quality and fairly challenging instructors (which ultimately have a great curve), you may not have to really study for the organic on the MCAT because they ultimately overtrain you and expose to higher level problems and thinking in organic. Any ochem on the MCAT becomes a cake walk. In addition, they try to incorporate a decent amount of actual biologically relevant things and cases into their class and exams. And that is how the new MCAT spins organic.
Physics-Tech is the worst hands down lol! Emory, if you take algebra based, may be marginally more challenging than UGA’s equivalent. None offer a particular advantage on the MCAT here…you will likely have to reteach this section to yourself for it as physics sequences, even when done rigorously, are kind of forgettable.
As for chances…may receive scholarship at UGA.