<p>I searched the forum, but keyword "Organic Chemistry" brings up every post that mentions either one of those words, as does Orgo which didn't seem relevant. So here's a question for those in the know (also asked in Premed forum)... </p>
<p>I was just curious if someone could perhaps tell me what is so important about the grade one gets in organic chemistry? It's been said that this one grade becomes very telling and I was just curious what it actually says about either one's potential in medicine and med school admissions or if only the overall GPA truly matters. It's just that I imagine there are a lot harder classes to be taken in college, so is it that this is just a weeder class of sorts and that's why the grade becomes relevant? Just curious why people feel it's so important.</p>
<p>I’m not any sort of expert on this, but here’s my theory:</p>
<p>General Chemistry is going to weed out people who realllly shouldn’t be going towards medicine. The class will be hard enough to weed out those people who just don’t have or learn the basic skills necessary to succeed in the next tier of classes. The steep learning curve will happen from gen. chem to organic chem. Here, they are going to hit you with material that for many people is difficult to conceptualize and understand, and this is where you separate the men from the boys. Who is going to work hard? Who is going to put in the extra hours necessary to achieve the best grades possible? By doing well in this course, you prove that you mean serious business. This class will probably not be the most difficult course you ever take in college, but it will signify your first time that your will was truly tested. Kind of like how it will be when you jump to med school, they probably have “that class” where again you are tested and they want to see who responds to the pressure the best.</p>
<p>Again, this is only an opinion. I think many majors especially in the sciences and engineering have this kind of class where they see who shines and who’s not cut out to be there. It isn’t necessarily true that you have to stand out, you just have to show that you can hold your own compared to the competition. Consider it like making a good first impression.</p>