Help me get a 400 on the organic section

[eyerace2]

I just took the O.A.T. and was a little disappointed. I ended up with an AA of 320 but know that with a 3.0 gpa I need to do better.

My scores broke down like this:

Bio -310
Chem - 340
O Chem - 280
Physics - 310
RC - 300
QR - 390

... i think, i don't have the score sheet in front of me.

I just purchased 1001 Questions examkrakers book. Are there other books or suggestions you could recommend? Thanks for the help!

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[achirum]

Hmm, I'm not really sure what you can study for Ochem. I was lucky to have just taken it last fall and spring so I didn't study at all for it and did quite well.

How much do you know, or how would you rate your knowledge of the subject?

 

[eyerace2]

Well to be honest I didn't feel like I knew very much when taking the test. I took both I and II in only 7 weeks this summer so I feel like I learned it with short term memory and forgot it quickly. I think I just need to sit down for an hour or so a day for the next couple of months and learn the thing it over.

 

[achirum]

Yeah, I'd say review your notes. Probably better to do it that way. Well, I guess it depends on what kind of notes you have. Our professor set up some awesome notes for us. We had to fill them in during class, but they were really great.

 

[zyg0te]

Well what test prep did you do for the first exam?

And how can WE help you? YOU took the test, so you know what to expect. YOU should know what your strengths and weaknesses are.

 

[afasano]

I just took the O.A.T. and was a little disappointed. I ended up with an AA of 320 but know that with a 3.0 gpa I need to do better.

My scores broke down like this:

Bio -310
Chem - 340
O Chem - 280
Physics - 310
RC - 300
QR - 390

... i think, i don't have the score sheet in front of me.

I just purchased 1001 Questions examkrakers book. Are there other books or suggestions you could recommend? Thanks for the help!

I know this really isn't gonna help too much to hear, but If I were you I would study all of the subjects... i know someone who did poorly on one subject and then only studied for that subject and very little for the test of the test, and when it came to the 2nd test she got so distracted when she was unable to do well in Bio. GCHEM, that she messed up the whole test, and did really bad... so word to the wise...review everything... poor girl is writing the test for the third time. you wanna rock the whole thing!!!

 

[achirum]

Well what test prep did you do for the first exam?

And how can WE help you? YOU took the test, so you know what to expect. YOU should know what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Yeah, I mean if you felt that you knew none of it, then we have a bigger problem. What do you remember that went well? Reactions? Synthesis? Etc.

 

[eyerace2]

Well what test prep did you do for the first exam?

And how can WE help you? YOU took the test, so you know what to expect. YOU should know what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Not much in terms of test prep because of school. I feel like my worst thing was reactions but I need to step it up everywhere.

I know this really isn't gonna help too much to hear, but If I were you I would study all of the subjects... i know someone who did poorly on one subject and then only studied for that subject and very little for the test of the test, and when it came to the 2nd test she got so distracted when she was unable to do well in Bio. GCHEM, that she messed up the whole test, and did really bad... so word to the wise...review everything... poor girl is writing the test for the third time. you wanna rock the whole thing!!!

Thanks for the advice afasano, I plan on covering everything (except QR) but I want my main focus will be on orgo. Overall I would like to bring my score to >340. The main schools I'm looking at are MCO and ICO.

 

[afasano]

Not much in terms of test prep because of school. I feel like my worst thing was reactions but I need to step it up everywhere.


but definately the best of luck... maybe ill see ya around... im applying to ICO...!

 

[zyg0te]

Not much in terms of test prep because of school. I feel like my worst thing was reactions but I need to step it up everywhere.



Thanks for the advice afasano, I plan on covering everything (except QR) but I want my main focus will be on orgo. Overall I would like to bring my score to >340. The main schools I'm looking at are MCO and ICO.

There lies the problem. A lot of the questions/problems are elementary; but at the point where we are taking it (3rd + year of undergrad) we forget a lot of it, or the problems take us longer than they should.

Buy a kaplan book, or something and go over all you can. But remember to concentrate on the basics, the basic concepts and trends.

Ex. for g-chem, No need to memorize all the trends of the periodic table, just remember the Z effective (effective nuclear charge) increases as you go up the table and to the right.

Z effective is positively correlated with:
electronegativity
ionization energy
electron affinity

Z effective is negatively correlated with:
atomic radius (kind of confusing, but remember the strength of the +nucleus is stronger, so its pulling the e- closer)

For o-chem, remember your IR spec of OH and C=O
Also, remember which reagents are oxidizing (generally have a lot of Oxygen) and which are reducing (generally have a lot of Hydrogens)

 

[zyg0te]

what %tile is the 320AA and the 300RC anyways?

The scores, although not great, are not terrible.

 

[achirum]

Not sure about AA but a 310 in RC is the 32% I believe.

 

[powenlovemoad]

You can pratice on the question and it all computer base

 

[dpu04]

I would get the OAT Destroyer.

 

[andzso]

Ochem was my worst subject at first too. And then I spent about 2 days memorizing the road maps in the OAT Destroyer and boosted my score on my practice exams from 310-390. I read through all the rest of the ochem questions and I ended up getting a 400 on the actual. It's a bit pricey, but i'd say the OAT destroyer is your best bet.

 

[eyerace2]

Ochem was my worst subject at first too. And then I spent about 2 days memorizing the road maps in the OAT Destroyer and boosted my score on my practice exams from 310-390. I read through all the rest of the ochem questions and I ended up getting a 400 on the actual. It's a bit pricey, but i'd say the OAT destroyer is your best bet.

Wow, what I would give for that, haha. I think I will give the destroyer a try. Thanks for the insight.

 

[victoria11]

Wow i am impressed with your QR score! For O-chem i used the kaplan flash cards and took lots of practice exams. I think there is a lot of memorization involved with OCHem. DOnt give up!

I just took the O.A.T. and was a little disappointed. I ended up with an AA of 320 but know that with a 3.0 gpa I need to do better.

My scores broke down like this:

Bio -310
Chem - 340
O Chem - 280
Physics - 310
RC - 300
QR - 390

... i think, i don't have the score sheet in front of me.

I just purchased 1001 Questions examkrakers book. Are there other books or suggestions you could recommend? Thanks for the help!

 

[Absolute Vision]

For O-Chem, I used the workbook called "Organic Chemistry for Dummies Workbook," and earned a 360 on the actual OAT O-Chem section. It was a good review for me since I haven't taken O-Chem for many years. There are plenty of problems, and the author really does a great job of explaining the answers. I didn't even need to study the NMR section since there were only 2 problems on the actual OAT, which didn't really affect my score tremendously. Good luck.

 

[zyg0te]

Wow i am impressed with your QR score! For O-chem i used the kaplan flash cards and took lots of practice exams. I think there is a lot of memorization involved with OCHem. DOnt give up!

I did the opposite. I read through everything to get the "gist" of Ochem, but I went back and made sure I had my basics covered.

Make sure you know general nomenclature and functional groups.

Ex. I don't know any names of reactions; but look at the products, if you see an acyl in the product (that wasn't in the reactant), and f.c acylation is one of your answer choices, you can guess that it will be that.

You are good at math. Look at the OAT practice test scoring. To get a 350 (Great score, reasonable goal), if I recall correctly, you only need to get about ~20/30 of the ochem questions right. Check my numbers, but that means if you know1/4 of the answers, and you can eliminate the other 3/4 to down to only 2 options, you will get your 350.