Organic Chem

[ThinWhiteDuke]

Organic chem is kicking my butt right now. I'm trying extremely hard but am just teetering on failing. I was wondering if anyone has any advice? Also, has anyone taken it online? I might consider doing that if I do end up failing.

Thanks for any help!

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[david594]

If you do fail it taking it online is probabily your worst option. Check with your school but they may allow the grade of a retaken course to replace an earlier grade. So you get an F this time and take it again and get a C and the F no longer affects your gpa. Just keep that in mind, D's and F's will destroy your GPA and its not easy to recover.

 

[spo01]

i'm not a pre dent but i was scrolling towards the bottom and 'organic chem' popped out.
but i've just finished my 2nd test and so far have an A- in the class. i credit that to UNDERSTANDING why things happen. and i credit that understanding (or atleast that mentality) to joel kartys book 'nuts and bolts of organic chemistry'.... honestly i think it might be too late in the semester for that book though (i read it during the summer), so i would suggest 'organic chemistry I as a second language' by klein. it will teach you the same thing as kartys book but you dont have to really 'start from scratch'. i have that book as well and basically the same principle but even goes in depth a little more more subjects, it is expensive for a small book but its worth it (like $25).

remember, 'electron rich to electron poor' and 'charge is bad, more charge is worse!'

dont let ochem be a breaker here man. but do keep in mind if it is too late i would consider dropping it b/c the next test is going to worse i'm sure and you dont want to reach the point of no return.

btw: i HATED gen chem and did not do too well in it.

 

[JerseyisCutest]

Hey I thought I'd share what got me through it. I hated general chemistry but was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually kind of like Ochem

Anyway, here's what I did.

-all homework problems and made sure I understood the basis behind them
-put reactions on notecards with general rules or exceptions
-googled anything I didn't understand and wasn't clearly explained in the book (you'd be amazed at the amount of OChem teaching stuff online, it really does help)
-I also put other things like functional groups on notecards

hope this helps some.....

 

[thereservoirdog]

I'm in the exact same boat. What really stinks is the class average is 54% and the teacher isn't curving or making the tests easier. What I'm finding most helpful is to go to her office hours and ask for help because 1) that's your best source of information for things you don't understand and 2) your teacher sees that you are trying hard so they usually go a little easy on you

 

[Beagingese]

I went to the library 2 or 3 times a week to a group study room, spread my books and stuff all over the table so it looked like there was more than 1 person there, bought my own dry erase markers because the librarians were stingy and did equations. And more equations. And more equations. I drew alllllll over those marker boards for hours on end and it was the simple repetition that got into my head. I also went over the rules. Just the basic rules to the reactions. I worked like mad my first semester but by second semester I could look at an equation and just about every time figure out the mechanism because I knew the basic rules to which interactions were stronger than others and were thus more likely to initiate the reaction. Hope things get better for you, I really do.

 

[Angelo84]

Depending on how many semesters you have left it might be worth it to withdraw from the class officially but continue to go and try to learn the material. Then retake the course next semster.
Doing all the homework problems and really understanding them got me though--it can be done. Don't just memorize organic it won't work you have to actually understand it.

Good luck!

 

[spo01]

*i meant to say 'i'm not pre vet' above, not pre dent.

also someone mentioned googling, that is helpful. i would google old exams from other universitys and do parts of them and check my answers. ochem.com has some cool visuals too and is helpful.

also, be careful about notecards. they are helpful, but if you solely memorize products, reactions, etc you are screwed. it may seem like there are 100s of different reactions, but if you know the fundamentals and understanding there is really only like 20 or so (guestimate)

 

[freyamaxine]

I did Organic Chem in second year at Melbourne Uni, so it might be different to American OChem.

I actually really loved the subject It wasn't easy of course but I found that reading the textbook and doing as many end of chapter questions as I could fit in really helped.

I used McMurry.

The exam was abit scary as it was worth 90% of our grade in the subject

 

[m&ossyducks]

Try your hardest to get through it, because you will seem some of the same mechanisms when you get to Biochem. The better you know organic the easier biochem mechanisms will be.

 

[Olddodger]

Hiya,

Yea, Orgo is make or break at my U. Some call it "pre-business".

Anyway, as TA, the biggest mistake I see people try to make is to memorize their way through Orgo. Unless you have PERFECT photographic memory, this will not work.

I was VERY fortunate to have a prof that chucked the book, and taught us the basic tools for Orgo, right from the start (electron pushing, etc). You have to know WHY things do what they do, rather than to memorize. It makes everything MUCH easier.

Organic Chemistry I (and II) as a Second Language' by Klein are both excellent, and I recommend them to all of my students. But if you are more than halfway in at this point, they will be of limited usefullness.

That said, a W looks better than an F, so I'd consider that as an option.

Oldie

PS. When all else fails "steric hinderance" works as an answer more than half the time

 

[fargeese]

Pray, pray like you never have before

The only way I got through it was doing the extra equations etc., and spending a fair amount of time in my professor's office. He was very nice, but so boring I almost fell asleep in his office hours sometimes (which was why I was usually the only one there), but it did help. Getting tutoring from a chem major might help as well, they will be less academic than the professor and might have some good tricks to help you study.

If you are utterly and completely lost though, take the W. You do NOT want to take Orgo II if you scraped by Orgo I. You can take the sequence next year and start the semester with a base, and hopefully a tutor lined up from the beginning. And if you can find one, taking it at a CC might be a good bet. That's where I made up my Physics "W". I have found my CC classes to be much easier than anything I took at my university.

 

[piglet07]

hey- sorry to hear that ochem is kicking your butt now...

in my opinion, it's better to get a W, than a D.... according to my pre-med advisor [[since we didn't have a pre-"vet" advisor]] some medical schools are okay with 1 or even 2 W's...

and a lot of my friends [[who are pre-meds]] took ochem at another college during the summer, and said that it was waaay easier----, by easier i mean the teaching style of the professor matched the student's learning style.. ochem is still a difficult subject..

so some options, but i advice talking to your pre-professional advisor also..

good luck

 

[rexosaurus]

in addition to the advice given above, it might be of help to get a molecular modeling kit. it's definately on the verge of super-dork, but it helps immensely with visualizations. i'm one of those people that can't visualize in my head very well, so chair flips and steric hindrance were the bane of my existence in ochem. a molecular modeling kit really helped me through it. also, if you do flashcards, a way not to memorize them and actually learn the mechanisms, is to look at one and be able to draw out the mechanism every single time without referring back to the flashcard. it takes a lot of time, and the whiteboard is a good way to do this. study groups help a lot because other people will give you little tricks to remembering several steps (many become like pneumonics). and do ALL the homework problems, the extra problems, the problems that you think will take you days to figure out, it's the only way to master the subject. and try to teach it to someon else if you can teach it, you've really learned it! Good luck

 

[Beagingese]

in addition to the advice given above, it might be of help to get a molecular modeling kit. it's definately on the verge of super-dork, but it helps immensely with visualizations.

Ooo! Or even better- a bag of marshmallows/gum drops and toothpicks.....mmmmm....at least if you bomb the exam you had a yummy sugary snack with you at the same time.

 

[ShelterGirl]

I thought about mentioning the molecular modeling kit but didn't want anyone to laugh It REALLY helps if you need to see things to understand them like I do! Love the idea of using edible props too!

 

[freyamaxine]

I thought about mentioning the molecular modeling kit but didn't want anyone to laugh It REALLY helps if you need to see things to understand them like I do! Love the idea of using edible props too!

I forgot about the model kit. I had one and it really helped. We were able to take it into the exam and I actually used it. I don't think its embarassing having a model kit at all. Our lecturer for the stereochem section (Melbourne uni is weird and we always have several different lecturers for each subject, they each teach a different segment of the course) told us that she has to use a model kit to be able to determine what is going on. I say use what is at your disposal.

I also have a pin up board infront of my desk. When I find something difficult or hard to remember I write it on a post it note and stick it up, that way when I am studying another subject or just messing around on the net I will see it, and it will hopefully stick in my mind!

 

[lailanni]

You could drop the class and take it next quarter/semester. I did that for physics, because it had just gone way over my head. A 'w' is better than a 1.7. The next quarter I took it I got a B, since I knew what to expect.

Or, you could get a tutor. It really helps to have 1 on 1 attention a few times a week, to make sure you're really getting the concepts.

And I have used the gummy bears on toothpicks for models, but that was more for gen chem.

I agree that memorizing everything won't help, but you do have to memorize mechanisms, etc.

We all feel your pain! Keep truckin!!

 

[vetwardbound]

I found that forming a regular study group really, really helped in o-chem. We would hole up in an empty classroom on Wednesday nights and literally spend four hours taking turns teaching the concepts to each other at the board. Aside from the regular Wednesday night plan, I'd spend about an hour a day reading/doing regular homework and practice to prep for Wednesdays. Then, when exams came up it wasn't even necessary to spend the entire weekend before living in the library . Repetition, regular studying -- never take a day off from at least reviewing your o-chem material! It really is like a second language, and once you know why things happen, it's easier to inuitively navigate your way through an off-the-wall synthesis or mechanism problem that you (and your classmates) have never seen.


GOOD LUCK! And I second a vote for a "W" instead of a D or F...or even C. You really need this foundation to be solid before moving on anyways, and I doubt anyone's going to have an issue with the fact that it may have taken an extra try to succeed at the hardest class at the university (at least the case at my U). You'll do great .

 

[Electrophile]

I'll nth the taking the W by this time in the semester. I thought organic I was hard...the second was much worse for me for some reason! I got a C in the first, C- in the second (our professor in the second actually lowered everyone's grade in just our lab because he said our TA was grading too easy, which brought me down from a C+ish or so, to a C-...God, he was evil...). Looking back, I'd say teaching it to someone else is the best way.

 

[chipster]

the only way i learned all the different reactions was by writing them down on a piece of scrap paper over and over and over until i knew exactly where every single electron went. thats my best advice. good luck!`

 

[Kymmy16w]

I used both this book, and the 2nd semester version to help me get through the year. It was extremely helpful.

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Chemistry-Second-Language-Translating/dp/0471272353

 

[Habibti]

I'll echo what everyone else said, but know WHY things work the way that they do. What you're seeing is, in fact, the same reaction principles over and over again, applied slightly differently. Ask yourself 'what makes this different than the last one? Why is it behaving differently?' Second semester O chem? The same reaction (more or less)... all semester.