o-chem question

[eddie269]

Hello all. I have my first o-chem class next qtr and im on the qtr system so i will have a series of 3 o-chem classes. so if u guys can dig back to your o-chem days, how many hrs a week do u guys think is needed to study for the first 1/3 of the o-chem classes? by the way, my professor is known to give out KILLER tests where the mean is 30%. good cause the curve gives u a better chance for a good grade but bad cause u literally fail everytime and u hope u get enough points to be on the top end.

so if u had this situation, how many hrs is necessary. (by the way, UC Davis offers workshops which I always attend. thats 3 hrs a week. and yes, Im an Aggie)

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Triangulation]

You're gonna get a variety of responses to your question, but my advice is, if you really wanna do well in the course and be absolutely confident going into pharmaceutics in pharm school (like i was): Make O-chem your religion for the next three quarters. Spend at least 1 1/2 hrs everyday. It'll suck for a while, but one day it'll click and that changes everything. When I was dating this girl at berkeley i went to one of her o-chem lectures and the prof described how as an undergrad she studied o-chem for three hours a day. at any rate, it's something you've gotta do everyday.

I personally think o-chem is the most important class i ever took and not just for a career in pharmacy. i think it was a critical piece in my liberal arts education. it forces you to consider options that you either didn't know existed or never thought about considering. If you truly get it and aren't just memorizing it, you'll learn to think out-of-the-box. I say that bc i knew peeps, and really bright ones too, that only memorized everything and earned an 'A', but i think in the long run you're doing yourself a disservice. It's easier to understand the concepts than memorizing anyway.

 

[LSUMED2006]

Tri gave some good advice. While there is relatively little o-chem in medicinal chemistry in pharmacy school aside from naming some compounds, understanding functional groups, and basic reactions, a firm foundation in ochem is still vital. Ochem teaches a thought process that not only directly applies to OMC but many other unrelated courses and life in general.

As far as how much studying is needed the answer is as much as it takes. I was lucky to have an amazing Ochem teacher and an even more amazing awe inspiring OMC teacher. The OMC professor was by far the most humbling professor I have ever had or likely ever will. He used to say something to the effect that if you devote at least 3 hours per lecture hour he could likely guarantee a passing grade. Some even needed much more than this.

OChem is one of those courses that some people "get" and some have to work much, much harder at. I was fortunate and found both Ochem and OMC to be my most favorite classes ever and was able to get by with not much more than a couple of hours of studying the night before an exam. Others did require hours a day. Find what works for YOU; no matter what it is (1 hour before the test or 3 hours a day), know that it certainly can be done and you can get an A if you work hard enough at it. Know also that taking the killer professor you refer to will likely benefit you in many, many courses and many other ways throughout your life.

 

[Triangulation]

Originally posted by LSUMED2006


As far as how much studying is needed the answer is as much as it takes. I was lucky to have an amazing Ochem teacher and an even more amazing awe inspiring OMC teacher. The OMC professor was by far the most humbling professor I have ever had or likely ever will. He used to say something to the effect that if you devote at least 3 hours per lecture hour he could likely guarantee a passing grade. Some even needed much more than this.

OChem is one of those courses that some people "get" and some have to work much, much harder at. I was fortunate and found both Ochem and OMC to be my most favorite classes ever and was able to get by with not much more than a couple of hours of studying the night before an exam. Others did require hours a day. Find what works for YOU; no matter what it is (1 hour before the test or 3 hours a day), know that it certainly can be done and you can get an A if you work hard enough at it. Know also that taking the killer professor you refer to will likely benefit you in many, many courses and many other ways throughout your life.

Well said.

 

[eddie269]

hey Tri, when you said studying for 1 1/2 hrs a day or so and one day, it'll click. what will click? the subject matter at hand or me being used to studying for 1 1/2 hrs a day?

 

[Triangulation]

nah the underlying theme of o-chem will become apparent. building your stamina for studying will surely develop, but that's not what i was referring to.

at first it seems really random why the rules are what they are in o-chem, but when you discover key concepts it becomes elegantly logical.

 

[LSUMED2006]

Originally posted by eddie269
hey Tri, when you said studying for 1 1/2 hrs a day or so and one day, it'll click. what will click? the subject matter at hand or me being used to studying for 1 1/2 hrs a day?

While I'm not tri, he summed it up well. Ochem and OMC have many underlying concepts (such as lewis acids/bases, ph/pkas, henderson/hasselbach equation, etc.), that once you begin to understand them, as opposed to just memorizing them, the subject matter almost begins to make sense. Long synthesis problems become much much easier as you begin to understand HOW the electrons interact with each other as opposed to just memorizing the products of a given set of reagents. Chirality problems all of the sudden will be simple, even in very complex molecules.It's almost like learning a foreign language by immersion. At first you are lost, then you may recognize a word or pharase here and there due to memorization, but eventually the day comes when you find yourself speaking the language.

In any difficult course or curriculum, you will adapt to the difficulty and time commitment required. While it likely will never be fun studying an hour a day, it will soon become a given that from 6-7 you study, or whatever.

I'd take the course. In the end, you very likely will be glad you did and come out much better for having done it.

Jason

 

[jemc2000]

How many hours do you study per week? Not during finals, particular, but just on an average week. I am trying to get an idea of what amount of time I will need to study so I can work out my weekly schedule, between school, PT job and family.

Thanks

 

[meihee]

WEll, it all depends. I was a chem major and at my school ochem was considered the absolutel most important. I had to take three semesters and each was quite difficult for me. The subject material is not that difficult but I was just horrible at it. I had to spend hours and hours each day just doing the problems over and over again. I also got a tutor and still didn't do that well in the class. My third semester was a breeze.

I was much better at P-chem......

 

[GravyRPH]

O-chem was my most difficult class and I got my worst grade ever in it. ( a B- , heh) But it was mostly because I didn't take the time to "know" it like the others above me and I just tried memorizing the answers. Needless to say, it didn't work that great and to this day I wish I would have spent the appropriate amount of time on it. My wife is/was a chemistry major and she knows her $hiznit but she would spend hours at the library studying, and 3 years out she can still whip those electrons around like nothing.

 

[LSUMED2006]

jemc...I don't know if you were asking me, but I am a crammer extrodinare. I know many people who study 3-5 hours a day. Personally, I study something like 40-50 hours the weekend before a test. When I took the mcat, I studied something like 50-70 hours a week. In pharmacy school, I'd usually do an all nighter or close to it the day before a given exam.

 

[Triangulation]

Hey Ed!! I think an important point that i was trying to make, but failed to make explicit is you're well trained for the sciences. Studying for econ will transfer well in your pharm pre-req study. As said earlier, they are fairly analagous.

 

[eddie269]

all i gotta say is before my pharm pre-req's, i have only pulled 2-3 all nighters throughout my 3 yrs. Then when chem. started, I have pulled countless amounts of them. In other words, to get a B in an science class (chem or bio) is LITERALLY ten times more work than to get a B in an econ. class.

 

[Triangulation]

sorry to hear that really

 

[baggywrinkle]

Originally posted by eddie269
all i gotta say is before my pharm pre-req's, i have only pulled 2-3 all nighters throughout my 3 yrs. Then when chem. started, I have pulled countless amounts of them. In other words, to get a B in an science class (chem or bio) is LITERALLY ten times more work than to get a B in an econ. class.

Get used to it. Sleep is a luxury and you will remember her fondly like a love long lost.