Did an NYU professor get fired because students hate organic chem?
&gt; As for the inevitability, organic chemistry, at least as it&#x27;s currently taught, is hard, involving a mix of memorization and problem solving (see today&#x27;s Nobel Prize coverage if you want a greater sense of why). The memorization can be compared to committing dozens of flow charts to your brain, as each type of reaction will need different conditions and catalysts depending on the precise nature of the starting materials. Armed with that memorization, people are then ready for problem-solving: figuring out which combinations of reactions will build simple raw materials into a complex chemical like an antibiotic or polymer.<p>This &quot;organic chemistry is hard&quot; idea gets trotted out pretty frequently. The paradox is that premeds also need to take classes in physiology, which in involves a lot of... you guessed it - memorization. Maybe more memorization.<p>That said, there are as many ways to teach this course as there are teachers. I suspect some emphasize memorization because that&#x27;s the easiest kind of knowledge to test for. But when approached conceptually, organic chemistry requires little more memorization than any serious scientific topic.