Is Organic Chemistry Hard?

Yes, organic chemistry is hard for most students, but it is passable: in a 102-college study, 77% of pre-med students who finished a year of introductory science went on to pass the first semester. It is hard because you must read a new visual language of structures and curved arrows and picture molecules in three dimensions, instead of memorizing facts or plugging numbers into formulas.

That study followed 15,442 students at 102 colleges who started college between 2006 and 2009 intending to study pre-med, and it counted a D-minus or better as passing (Zhang, Kuncel and Sackett, PLOS ONE, 2020).

If you are contemplating medical school, you have probably asked yourself whether organic chemistry is hard, and you have probably heard that it is the class that ends pre-med plans. That reputation is old. UCLA chemist Neil Garg describes organic chemistry as a notorious “weed-out” class that has been viewed for decades as a gatekeeper course for students headed into medicine and other health professions (Garg, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2019). The data are less dramatic than the legend. In the 102-college study above, the biggest drop in pre-med coursework happened before students ever reached organic chemistry: only 39% of students who intended to study pre-med completed even one semester each of general chemistry, biology and physics. Organic chemistry costs some students their medical plans, but far fewer than the stories suggest.

To be sure, organic chemistry is difficult. However, it does not have to strike fear or quell your aspirations of becoming a doctor or other type of healthcare professional. Success in organic chemistry requires that you embrace different ways of learning and a greater time commitment to practice and study. Knowing why the course feels so different, which topics trip students up and how much it counts for admissions and the MCAT makes that commitment easier to plan.

Why Is Organic Chemistry So Hard?

Organic chemistry is hard because it piles several new skills on top of each other in a single term. Garg lists what a new student has to learn almost at once: decoding shorthand chemical structures, recognizing functional groups, seeing two-dimensional drawings as three-dimensional molecules and assigning stereocenters. Before those basics settle, the course moves on to reactions, where you learn the logic of how and why each one happens through “arrow-pushing” mechanisms. There is still some memorization of reagents, solvents and reaction names, and most courses end with synthesis problems that ask you to build a target molecule from simpler ones, which takes command of everything that came before (Garg, 2019).

The second reason is that the subject builds on itself. A weak grasp of electronegativity and resonance in week two becomes a weak grasp of acidity in week four, which becomes confusion about every reaction that depends on which atom is electron-rich. Falling behind in organic chemistry is harder to recover from than falling behind in a course made of separate units.

The third reason is expectations. A 2026 study that surveyed Organic Chemistry 1 students three times during a semester found that many feared the course and expected to study much more than they had for general chemistry, yet by the end of the course they had not studied as much as they planned. Most also expected an A on the first day, an expectation that dropped after the first exam (Moster et al., Journal of Chemical Education, 2026). The gap between planned and actual study time is one of the most fixable parts of the problem.

The Subject of Organic Chemistry

To understand why organic chemistry is hard (or at least seems that way), you must consider the element carbon: its presence, structure, properties and uses. This sixth element lies at the heart of this branch of chemistry. The products of carbon show up in soap, shampoo, alcohol, plastic cups, pharmaceuticals, pencils and many other products on store shelves. Your vehicle’s engine runs on oils and fuels built from carbon compounds. (The name itself comes from the Latin “carbo,” meaning coal or charcoal.)

Carbon accounts for about 18 percent of the human body by mass. Many of the building blocks of life, including carbohydrates and sugars, DNA, RNA, proteins, amino acids and vitamins, owe their existence to carbon. While carbon is essential to life, it can also cause death. When carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin, it deprives your body of oxygen and places your heart, brain and life in serious jeopardy. That link to the body is why medical schools care about the subject: drugs, enzymes, metabolism and DNA repair are all organic chemistry at work.

Carbon is such a creator because of its bonding capabilities. It forms four bonds and can attach to atoms of other elements and to other carbon atoms. Its small atomic size lets it form short, stable bonds with many partners. The chains and configurations of carbon-bonded molecules can run straight, in rings or in branches.

Thanks to these bonding capabilities and types of chains, known carbon-based compounds number roughly 20 million, and the count keeps growing. That fact alone makes rote memorization of compounds impractical in organic chemistry. You learn the patterns that govern how families of molecules behave, then apply those patterns to molecules you have never seen.

How You Learn Organic Chemistry vs. Other Subjects

To understand why organic chemistry is hard, contrast it with how you learn other science subjects and arrive at answers. Introductory biology is fact-intensive. If you memorize and understand the concepts, you will find the answers to most questions and problems. In physics, astronomy and general chemistry, math formulas supply much of the solution to test problems. Those classes let you succeed in good measure through memorization and practice with equations.

Organic chemistry does not reward rote memorization. You get only a handful of formulas. Instead, students and organic chemists express chemical reactions mostly through letters, lines, wedges and arrows. These drawings show which atoms interact, where electrons move and the direction from which a bond forms or breaks. With the many types of chains involved, the possibilities can seem endless. Garg recalls that when he took the course at NYU, he scored about 55% on his first midterm by relying on brute-force memorization, on an exam where the class average was roughly 25%. He earned an A only after he stopped memorizing and started practicing problems, alone and in groups (Garg, 2019).

In addition, you must contend with the conditions that steer organic reactions. These include the solvent, temperature, concentrations, the strength of acids and bases present, and catalysts. The same two molecules can give different products under different conditions, so a correct answer depends on reading the whole question, not just recognizing the starting material.

Is Organic Chemistry Harder Than General Chemistry, Physics or Biochemistry?

For most pre-med students, organic chemistry feels harder than general chemistry, about as demanding as physics in a different way, and is the foundation that makes biochemistry easier. No national data set ranks these courses against each other, so the comparison comes down to the kind of thinking each one asks for.

• General chemistry: Many students saw much of it in high school, and many problems are calculations. Organic chemistry has little math and much more spatial and pattern-based reasoning, and almost none of it is review.
• Inorganic chemistry: The “inorganic” course most pre-meds take is general chemistry. A true inorganic chemistry course, which covers metals, coordination compounds and bonding theory, is usually an upper-level class for chemistry majors, and most medical schools do not require it.
• Physics: Physics is harder for students who struggle with algebra, trigonometry and word problems. Organic chemistry is harder for students who struggle to visualize shapes and keep track of many rules at once. Students who are strong in one are not always strong in the other.
• Biochemistry: Biochemistry involves more memorization of pathways and enzymes, but its reactions are organic reactions. Students who understand carbonyl chemistry, acids and bases, and nucleophiles tend to find biochemistry far more logical. At the University of Miami, students who completed a redesigned general and organic chemistry sequence performed better in biochemistry afterward (Knecht and Gonzalez, Journal of Chemical Education, 2026).

Is organic chemistry the hardest class in college? It is one of the most commonly named, and it is the hardest required science course for many pre-meds, but difficulty depends on your strengths and your instructor. For a broader look at which programs carry the heaviest workloads, see our guide to the easiest and hardest college majors.

Organic Chemistry Plows New Ground

Many of your college-level prerequisites for medical school admission cover subjects you met in high school. You have likely taken biology, chemistry and physics already, and formulas from many college courses appeared in your high school textbooks. Organic chemistry is different. Most students do not learn about it until their first college organic course, typically in the second year (Garg, 2019). For many pre-meds, the theories, processes and diagrams of organic chemistry arrive with no head start at all, which is a large part of why the first few weeks feel so fast.

Organic Chemistry 1 vs. Organic Chemistry 2: Which Is Harder?

Students split on this question, and both answers have a reason behind them. Organic Chemistry 1 is harder for students who find the new language of structures and three-dimensional thinking difficult, because that is where it is all introduced. Organic Chemistry 2 is harder for students who memorized their way through the first term, because the second term assumes the first term’s mechanisms are automatic and adds many more reactions on top of them.

Course content varies by school and textbook, but a typical split looks like this. The first semester usually covers bonding, resonance, acids and bases, naming, conformations, stereochemistry, substitution and elimination reactions (SN1, SN2, E1 and E2), and the reactions of alkenes and alkynes. The second semester usually covers aromatic compounds, the large family of carbonyl reactions involving aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and their derivatives, amines, and multistep synthesis. Spectroscopy, including infrared and NMR, appears in one term or the other depending on the school. If Organic Chemistry 2 feels harder, it is usually because synthesis problems require you to pull together reactions from both semesters at once.

Some schools now teach general and organic chemistry as a combined sequence. The University of Miami moved to a three-semester general and organic chemistry sequence and, after five years of running it side by side with the traditional sequence, found no difference in student preparedness or in rates of D grades, F grades and withdrawals (DFW) between the two (Knecht and Gonzalez, 2026).

Grasp the Foundations

Critical thinking skills, rather than mere rote learning, are the key to succeeding in organic chemistry. This starts with learning the essential rules and the main types of organic reactions, then practicing until you can predict what a molecule will do before you look at the answer.

As a start, master the vocabulary. Disciplines such as engineering, health, medicine and chemistry rely on highly technical words and meanings. Coming into organic chemistry, you already know terms such as molecule, atom and element (including carbon). Draw on those definitions, because you will use them constantly in the organic version of chemistry. Make sure you have a strong command of general chemistry basics too, especially electron configuration, Lewis structures, electronegativity and the idea of equilibrium.

Your professors often classify reactions by whether the process adds atoms, removes them, substitutes one group for another or rearranges atoms within a molecule. Acidic substances (lemons, oranges and stomach acid) behave differently from bases (soaps, detergents, drain cleaner and, mildly, seawater), and acid-base reasoning explains a surprising number of organic reactions. You will also learn functional groups, the specific arrangements of atoms that give a family of compounds its typical reactions. Examples include alcohols and alkenes. Ethylene, the simplest alkene, is the building block of the polyethylene in plastic bags, and ethylene glycol, an alcohol made from ethylene, is the main ingredient in antifreeze. Our functional groups cheat sheet lists the groups you need to recognize on sight.

What Are the Hardest Parts of Organic Chemistry?

The hardest parts of organic chemistry for most students are stereochemistry, reaction mechanisms, substitution versus elimination, and multistep synthesis, because each one requires combining several earlier skills at once. The table below lists the topics that most often trip students up, why they are hard and a study approach for each.

How to Study for Organic Chemistry

The best way to study organic chemistry is to work practice problems on paper every day, spaced out over the week, and to use molecular models for anything three-dimensional. Those methods line up with what learning research shows works. A major review of 10 common study techniques rated practice testing and spaced (distributed) practice as the two most useful, and rated rereading and highlighting as low utility (Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013). In organic chemistry, practice testing means solving problems without looking at the answer first.

• Do problems, not rereading. Work the end-of-chapter problems and any problem sets your instructor posts. Cover the solution, commit to an answer, then check it. Rereading your notes feels productive but does not build the skill the exam tests.
• Draw every mechanism by hand. Write out each step with curved arrows, lone pairs and charges. If you cannot reproduce a mechanism on a blank page, you do not know it yet.
• Use a model kit. In three studies, organic chemistry students who used concrete molecular models translated between different diagrams of molecules more accurately than students without them, and model use predicted performance better than spatial ability did (Stull et al., Cognition and Instruction, 2012). A follow-up study found that physical and virtual models helped equally and that the learning held a week later (Stull and Hegarty, Journal of Educational Psychology, 2015). If you do not own a kit, free 3D molecule viewers work too.
• Space it out. An hour or more of problems on most days beats one long session the night before an exam, because each topic builds on the last.
• Mix problem types. Once you know several reactions, practice sets where you do not know which reaction is coming. Exams are mixed, so your practice should be too.
• Explain your answers out loud. Study groups and office hours work best when you explain why an electron moves, not just where it goes.
• Use flashcards only for what must be memorized. Reagents, named reactions and reference pKa values suit flashcards. Mechanisms and synthesis do not.
• Preview before the course starts. A few weeks reviewing general chemistry bonding and the basics of skeletal structures pays off. At Boston University, a summer organic chemistry preparatory program called OrgoPrep improved outcomes and narrowed DFW gaps for several groups of students (Torres, Pulukuri and Abrams, Journal of Chemical Education, 2023).

How your course is taught matters too. At Georgia Tech, a decade of data on 9,254 introductory organic chemistry students showed that active learning “studio” sessions raised course grades by about 0.46 GPA points and cut the DFW rate by 59% for students who were not from underrepresented groups and by 49% for students who were. Math SAT scores also tracked with course performance, and transfer students earned grades about 0.32 points lower than other students (Heeren et al., Journal of Chemical Education, 2025). If your school offers recitations, studios, supplemental instruction or peer-led workshops for organic chemistry, use them.

How Many Hours a Week Should You Study Organic Chemistry?

Plan on at least two hours of study outside class for every credit hour, which for a typical four-credit organic chemistry course is at least eight hours a week. That figure is the minimum baseline in the federal definition of a semester credit hour: one hour of classroom instruction and at least two hours of out-of-class work each week for about 15 weeks (34 CFR 600.2). Many students need more in the weeks before an exam or when the course reaches mechanisms and synthesis.

Put those hours on your calendar before the semester starts, and spread them across the week. Students in the 2026 survey ended up studying less than they had planned (Moster et al., 2026). A written schedule is the simplest protection against that gap, and it helps when you are balancing organic chemistry with labs, other science courses and clinical work.

What Percentage of Students Pass Organic Chemistry?

There is no national pass rate for organic chemistry, because each college reports its own grades, and DFW rates vary widely by school, instructor and teaching method. The best large data set comes from the 102-college study of students who started college between 2006 and 2009. Among students who completed a full year of general chemistry, biology and physics, 77% went on to pass a first semester of organic chemistry, and 85% of those then passed a second semester of organic chemistry or a semester of biochemistry. In that study, a passing grade meant D-minus or better (Zhang, Kuncel and Sackett, 2020).

Course-level studies show how much teaching changes the picture. At Marquette University, DFW rates in general chemistry fell over about 25 years of course redesign to roughly 5% in the best sections, while DFW rates in the follow-on Organic Chemistry 1 course moved the other way, which the authors say calls for larger reform (Vyas and Reid, Journal of Chemical Education, 2023). The Georgia Tech studio results above show the reverse is possible. The claim that half of all organic chemistry students fail or drop the course is not supported by these data.

Organic Chemistry and Admissions

Despite its reputation, organic chemistry does not have to be the barrier to medical school admission.

Most medical schools still expect organic chemistry, but the amount varies. Some accept a semester of biochemistry in place of a second semester of organic chemistry (Zhang, Kuncel and Sackett, 2020), and some judge chemistry by competencies instead of course counts. Yale School of Medicine requires one semester of organic chemistry and one semester of biochemistry, along with two semesters of general chemistry (Yale School of Medicine bulletin). Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons requires two years of chemistry with labs, one of which must be organic chemistry, plus one semester of biochemistry (Columbia Vagelos, application requirements). The University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine does not require specific courses and instead expects competency in chemistry, including the molecular architecture of organic compounds and reaction mechanisms (Penn Medicine, admissions competencies). Check each school on your list, and see our medical school prerequisites checklist for the full set of courses. Our medical school admissions consulting services include guiding you through the admissions requirements of medical schools in which you are interested.

Further, the reputation of organic chemistry can overstate its weight on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Organic chemistry makes up about 15% of the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems section and about 5% of the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems section. The AAMC rounds these shares to the nearest 5% and notes that they vary from one test form to another (AAMC, Chemical and Physical Foundations overview). That means you will see organic chemistry questions on test day, but far fewer than biology, biochemistry or general chemistry questions.

How Much Organic Chemistry Is on the MCAT?

Organic chemistry appears in two of the four MCAT sections: about 15% of Chemical and Physical Foundations and about 5% of Biological and Biochemical Foundations. Each of those sections has 59 questions in 95 minutes, so by simple arithmetic that is roughly 9 and 3 questions on a typical form. The other two sections do not list organic chemistry at all.

The direct share understates how much organic chemistry helps. Biochemistry makes up about a quarter of both science sections, and amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids and enzyme mechanisms all rest on organic chemistry. The organic chemistry you need for the MCAT centers on biologically important molecules and functional groups, along with separation and purification methods and spectroscopy, rather than long multistep synthesis problems. For section-by-section detail, read our MCAT sections guide, see how hard the MCAT is according to AAMC data, and plan your timing with our classes to take before the MCAT and MCAT study schedule.

Does Your Organic Chemistry Grade Matter for Medical School?

Yes. Your organic chemistry grade counts in both your overall GPA and your science GPA, so it matters more than most single courses. For applications through AMCAS, the science (BCPM) GPA includes all biology, chemistry, physics and math courses, and both grades from a repeated course count (NYU Tandon prehealth advising). Retaking organic chemistry can show improvement, but it does not erase the first grade. Our guides to science GPA vs. overall GPA and AMCAS course classification explain how each course is counted.

One grade is still one grade. Admissions committees look at your whole transcript, and an upward trend after a rough start in organic chemistry tells a story of its own. If organic chemistry pulled your numbers down, see whether your GPA is good enough for medical school and our strategies for turning a lower GPA into an acceptance.

Beyond Organic Chemistry

High marks in organic chemistry help show medical schools your ability in critical thinking and problem solving. These skills prove essential in a medical career. Yet grades in organic chemistry alone do not guarantee you a spot in medical school, nor do they necessarily end your plans. Your academic record should include courses in biology, biochemistry, psychology, other social sciences and math. These subjects also appear on the MCAT and touch on things you will encounter in the medical field. Our overview of pre-med requirements lays out the full set.

Medical schools look beyond your grades, classes and MCAT score. Pre-med internships and experience in healthcare let you see firsthand how patients are examined and treated. These opportunities help you show a medical school that you understand the culture, demands and obligations of practicing medicine.

Our medical internships abroad place you alongside physicians providing healthcare in remote and underserved parts of the world. Under supervision and within your level of training, interns take vitals, help with patient intake and interviews and take part in direct patient care. In the places we serve in Africa, South America and the Caribbean, patients often lack access to the scanners, monitors, treatments and other aspects of medical care common in high-income countries. Medical schools see your exposure to some of the most challenging aspects of delivering care and your commitment to serving underserved communities.

Allow us to broaden and reinforce your passion for science, medicine, health and helping others. Apply with us for one of our internships. We also provide medical school admissions consulting, including reviewing applications and essays and guidance on the admissions requirements of medical schools. Contact us to start your journey of making a difference.

Frequently Asked Questions About Organic Chemistry

Is organic chemistry hard?

Yes, organic chemistry is hard for most students because it requires reading structures and curved-arrow mechanisms, visualizing molecules in three dimensions and predicting reactions instead of memorizing facts or using formulas. It is still passable: in a study of 15,442 pre-med students at 102 colleges, 77% of those who completed a full year of general chemistry, biology and physics went on to pass a first semester of organic chemistry (Zhang, Kuncel and Sackett, 2020).

Is organic chemistry the hardest class in college?

Organic chemistry is one of the classes most often called the hardest in college, and it is the hardest required science course for many pre-med students. No national data set ranks college courses by difficulty, so how hard it is for you depends on your strengths, your preparation and how the course is taught.

Is organic chemistry 1 or 2 harder?

It depends on the student. Organic Chemistry 1 is harder for students who struggle with the new language of structures, stereochemistry and mechanisms, because that is where they are introduced. Organic Chemistry 2 is harder for students who memorized their way through the first term, because it adds carbonyl chemistry, aromatic compounds and multistep synthesis on top of first-term mechanisms.

Is organic chemistry harder than general chemistry?

For most students, yes. General chemistry overlaps with high school chemistry and relies heavily on calculations, while organic chemistry is mostly new material that relies on spatial reasoning and pattern recognition. Organic chemistry uses very little math.

Is organic chemistry harder than physics or biochemistry?

Physics is usually harder for students who struggle with math and word problems, while organic chemistry is usually harder for students who struggle with visualizing molecules and tracking many rules. Biochemistry involves more memorization, but its reactions are organic reactions, so a strong organic chemistry foundation makes biochemistry easier.

How many hours a week should I study for organic chemistry?

Plan on at least eight hours a week outside class for a four-credit organic chemistry course. The federal definition of a semester credit hour assumes at least two hours of out-of-class work each week for every hour of instruction (34 CFR 600.2), and many students need more before exams.

What percentage of students pass organic chemistry?

There is no national pass rate, because DFW rates vary widely by college and teaching method. In a study of 102 colleges, 77% of pre-med students who completed a full year of introductory science passed a first semester of organic chemistry with a D-minus or better, and 85% of those passed a second semester of organic chemistry or biochemistry (Zhang, Kuncel and Sackett, 2020).

How much organic chemistry is on the MCAT?

According to the AAMC, organic chemistry makes up about 15% of the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems section and about 5% of the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems section. Each section has 59 questions, so that is roughly 9 and 3 questions on a typical test form. The other two sections do not test organic chemistry.

Do medical schools require organic chemistry?

Most medical schools expect organic chemistry, but requirements vary. Yale School of Medicine requires one semester of organic chemistry and one of biochemistry, Columbia requires two years of chemistry including organic chemistry plus a semester of biochemistry, and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine assesses chemistry competencies instead of requiring specific courses. Check each school’s admissions page.

Does a bad organic chemistry grade ruin your chances of getting into medical school?

No, one low grade does not end your chances, but it does count in both your overall and science GPA. AMCAS includes both grades when you repeat a course, so a retake shows improvement without erasing the first grade. A strong upward trend, a solid MCAT score and meaningful clinical experience can offset a weak organic chemistry grade.

Should I use a molecular model kit for organic chemistry?

Yes. In three studies, organic chemistry students who used concrete molecular models translated between diagrams of molecules more accurately than students without models (Stull et al., 2012). A later study found that physical and virtual models helped equally and that the gains lasted at least a week (Stull and Hegarty, 2015).