<p>What is organic chemistry all about? Is it a lot of memorization, calculations, both? Everyone tells me it's really hard.</p>
<p>I'm debating whether to take "Intensive Organic Chem for Freshman" or not. As a biochem major, I'm going to have to take orgo anyway so I thought I'd just shoot two birds with one stone since Intense Orgo will fulfill my GenChem AND OrgoChem requirements.</p>
<p>Well, I can't tell how hard it is, really depends on the professor you have. This is a big hint, as someone who has taken Organic Chemistry before, I know the reason I did well in the class was because I had an easy professor, so make sure you do a little research before taking any class.</p>
<p>Now in a nut shell, organic chemistry is about memorizing equations, mechanisms and applying them. So there is definitely the memorization aspect, but you need to be able to understand what's going on so you can apply those concepts to new reactants. Now as you advance through the course, the mechanism get longer, and the reactions harder.</p>
<p>Take this for what it's worth: Intensive Organic Chemistry for freshmen was created in order to keep the first-year students from taking regular Orgo, playing with the big boys (sophs, juniors, etc.) and being utterly decimated by the curve. It's definitely a favor of Columbia University to its young'uns.</p>