PCAT without taking Ochem?

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Plusle

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So I am taking the July PCAT without having taken a single class on Organic Chemistry. To be quite honest I am planning just to guess on each Organic Chem question that I come across besides nomenclature. Everything else like the reactions and mechanisms seem like a foreign language and only possible to grasp when taking the class. Should I be studying Ochem or not to those who have taken the pcat very recently? If so, what should I focus on that wouldn't take too much brainpower to just look at and get the answer right since I don't want to spend too much time on a single ochem question trying to remember something.

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I'm honestly in the same boat as you, my exam is in September and I haven't even started reviewing chem yet let alone ochem idk how I will get a decent mark in the chem section
 
I am in the same situation. I am taking the PCAT in July and I have not taken Organic I or II. I did purchase the Collins outlines. His Organic outline is only about 10 pages or so. I have studied that and did pick up enough from it that I am getting about a 1/4 or so of the Organic questions correct on the practice tests. I have my chemistry score up to a 40-60 percentile. I am just assuming that my chemistry score is not going to be high enough on this test and I will have to retake the PCAT.
 
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I am in the same situation. I am taking the PCAT in July and I have not taken Organic I or II. I did purchase the Collins outlines. His Organic outline is only about 10 pages or so. I have studied that and did pick up enough from it that I am getting about a 1/4 or so of the Organic questions correct on the practice tests. I have my chemistry score up to a 40-60 percentile. I am just assuming that my chemistry score is not going to be high enough on this test and I will have to retake the PCAT.

Well I think the people looking at your application will notice that and will give you some leeway because you have not taken any Ochem. The reason I am taking the PCAT this early is because of the Early Decision to the school I'm applying too. They expect those who go through their undergraduate program to not have taken Ochem by the time they take the PCAT if they want to go into Early Decision. To be honest, I am getting 30% roughly just by guessing on the Ochem questions which is better than the statistical 25%. May I ask is there a specific reason you are taking the PCAT this early?
 
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When I took the PCAT last summer there were not too many organic problems, and when there was one it was mostly ochem 2 rxn based problems. For chemistry in general I mostly saw biochemistry.
 
Well I think the people looking at your application will notice that and will give you some leeway because you have not taken any Ochem. The reason I am taking the PCAT this early is because of the Early Decision to the school I'm applying too. They expect those who go through their undergraduate program to not have taken Ochem by the time they take the PCAT if they want to go into Early Decision. To be honest, I am getting 30% roughly just by guessing on the Ochem questions which is better than the statistical 25%. May I ask is there a specific reason you are taking the PCAT this early?

Primarily, I want to see where I am at. I will be finishing up my pre-reqs this year and I will be applying during the 2017-2018 cycle. If I manage to pull a decent score, I hope to be accepted during early decision. If I don't, I hope taking it now will help me identify weaknesses so I can focus my study for the next time.
 
If I were you, I would get on that immediately. I'm taking the PCAT too and I know my organic chemistry well. That's why all I'm doing is reviewing. You on the other hand, need to get on that right away cuz organic chemistry is a big portion of the test I heard. But don't fret cuz you still got a little bit of time, but that time is enough to learn all the orgo you need. Organic chemistry really is that easy. It can be learned in 5-10 hours. Of course, you won't be a master, but it's better than nothing. I don't want you to bomb this section. Good luck and please get on it. It's easy and its not alot of stuff but it can mean the difference between a 20th and 80th percentile
 
If I were you, I would get on that immediately. I'm taking the PCAT too and I know my organic chemistry well. That's why all I'm doing is reviewing. You on the other hand, need to get on that right away cuz organic chemistry is a big portion of the test I heard. But don't fret cuz you still got a little bit of time, but that time is enough to learn all the orgo you need. Organic chemistry really is that easy. It can be learned in 5-10 hours. Of course, you won't be a master, but it's better than nothing. I don't want you to bomb this section. Good luck and please get on it. It's easy and its not alot of stuff but it can mean the difference between a 20th and 80th percentile

Could you be more specific? I took the Pearson Practice test and got 73% on the Chemical processes section. I think Orgo accounted for 30%-ish of the problems. So far I really only know nomenclature.
 
No, I can't be more specific. The reason why is because you need to learn everything, not just nomenclature. But trust me, this sounds more daunting than it really is. What you should NOT do is read a college textbook. Although this is the conventional way to learn it (the way I learned it), you ain't got time for this. What you should do is go on youtube and watch some tutorials. There are some youtubers who explain this in a brief and concise way. Better yet, you should grab a Kaplan review book, not for the review book, but what's inside is a quick reference sheet that summarize all of the organic reactions. If you are pressed for time, at least memorize those. Orgo really is that easy. It is the study of how one functional group becomes another. But hey, don't neglect the biochem too. I honestly believe that you can make big leaps in your organic chemistry knowledge in the next few days. One day is not enough, but two days is enough time, in my opinion. Good luck my friend.
 
I took the PCAT last October (I believe) and at that time, I haven't taken Organic Chemistry at all. Let me be honest with you, there was a lot, a lot of Orgo questions and 2 biochemistry questions. I ended up with a 90 or so percentile with just reviewing Dr. Collins and watching some YouTube tutorials. There were some nomenclatures, but the focus was more on Sn1, sn2, e1, and e2 reactions. You must know them!
 
Don't take shortcuts or rely on luck. More often than not, by not having orgo under your belt, you are going to get destroyed.
 
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I agree.
Also my pcat was heavy in organic chem and most of it was organic 2.

I took it Tuesday and somehow got an 87 percentile on the Chem without Ochem. I mean maybe I am lucky but that's how it went. So I didn't get "destroyed" but all I really studied was nomenclature and SN1, SN2, E1, E2 reactions which I don't think showed up at all.
 
I took it Tuesday and somehow got an 87 percentile on the Chem without Ochem. I mean maybe I am lucky but that's how it went. So I didn't get "destroyed" but all I really studied was nomenclature and SN1, SN2, E1, E2 reactions which I don't think showed up at all.
Can you be more specific about what types of ochem questions showed up? If you can't answer publicly please message me
 
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I took it Tuesday and somehow got an 87 percentile on the Chem without Ochem. I mean maybe I am lucky but that's how it went. So I didn't get "destroyed" but all I really studied was nomenclature and SN1, SN2, E1, E2 reactions which I don't think showed up at all.

I took it Wednesday and it was loaded with Organic. I haven't had Organic either and I got a 32. It destroyed my grade. I had my Chem score above 50 on the practice tests before I went, so I was extremely disappointed. Congrats to you though!
 
I took it Wednesday and it was loaded with Organic. I haven't had Organic either and I got a 32. It destroyed my grade. I had my Chem score above 50 on the practice tests before I went, so I was extremely disappointed. Congrats to you though!
I have never take ochem and have no idea what to study for it. What do you recommend I focus on?
 
I have never take ochem and have no idea what to study for it. What do you recommend I focus on?

I don't know which materials you are studying from. I only studied Collins for Organic. But I am not going to lie to you. Because I had not taken the classes and had zero background, I just couldn't pull most of it together. Collins is only like 45 pages and covers Organic I and II. It is probably enough for someone who has actually taken the classes, but I think people who have not taken them need more detail. There were Organic questions on my test covering topics that I didn't recall at all from the Collins outline. I'm starting today studying for September and I'm going to use the Kaplan outline. It is 200+ pages so I assume it goes into a lot more detail and I need that.
 
I don't know which materials you are studying from. I only studied Collins for Organic. But I am not going to lie to you. Because I had not taken the classes and had zero background, I just couldn't pull most of it together. Collins is only like 45 pages and covers Organic I and II. It is probably enough for someone who has actually taken the classes, but I think people who have not taken them need more detail. There were Organic questions on my test covering topics that I didn't recall at all from the Collins outline. I'm starting today studying for September and I'm going to use the Kaplan outline. It is 200+ pages so I assume it goes into a lot more detail and I need that.
I'm using Collins as well. I looked at the outline for Kaplan and it covers the same things as Collins but I found it to be more wordy. You said that the Collins ochem packet would be enough for someone who already took the classes but why was it not enough for you? Sorry I'm just a little confused like did it not cover the same topics on the real pcat?
 
I'm using Collins as well. I looked at the outline for Kaplan and it covers the same things as Collins but I found it to be more wordy. You said that the Collins ochem packet would be enough for someone who already took the classes but why was it not enough for you? Sorry I'm just a little confused like did it not cover the same topics on the real pcat?

This is just my opinion, but I think with all of Dr. Collins' outlines, he assumes that we have a certain level of knowledge in all the areas being covered, a general background in the basics. Organic Chemistry is divided into two 5 hour classes because of the amount of material involved and the level of difficulty. The Collins Organic outline covers both Organic I and II in only 45 pages and a big chunk of that is practice questions. His outline generally covered the topics tested. At least for me, the outline did not explain the topics in enough detail for me to go from zero knowledge of Organic Chemistry to enough knowledge to get a score that I am satisfied with. You may have a different experience than I did, and I hope you do. I am retaking the PCAT and I am going to study Kaplan for Organic this time. I also think I am buying Crack the PCAT just to get the additional practice tests.
 
This is just my opinion, but I think with all of Dr. Collins' outlines, he assumes that we have a certain level of knowledge in all the areas being covered, a general background in the basics. Organic Chemistry is divided into two 5 hour classes because of the amount of material involved and the level of difficulty. The Collins Organic outline covers both Organic I and II in only 45 pages and a big chunk of that is practice questions. His outline generally covered the topics tested. At least for me, the outline did not explain the topics in enough detail for me to go from zero knowledge of Organic Chemistry to enough knowledge to get a score that I am satisfied with. You may have a different experience than I did, and I hope you do. I am retaking the PCAT and I am going to study Kaplan for Organic this time. I also think I am buying Crack the PCAT just to get the additional practice tests.
OK good luck to you too! I'm taking the test on sept 8. But it says on the website that ochem only makes up 30% of the pcat and gen chem is 50% so I don't understand why some people are saying that they have more or less of ochem?
 
OK good luck to you too! I'm taking the test on sept 8. But it says on the website that ochem only makes up 30% of the pcat and gen chem is 50% so I don't understand why some people are saying that they have more or less of ochem?

I've heard that too. I think I had roughly a 35/65 split. I'm with sooverthepcat in the sense that with no ochem background, learning ochem for the pcat is way too confusing to the point you shouldn't even bother to study it too much. I used Kaplan's study sheets and just basically looked at it trying to soak it in. I also use The Organic Chemistry Tutor on youtube who IMO explains Ochem quite nicely. I think the concepts that are graspable to someone who had no ochem background are Nomenclature, Aromaticity, Chirality, Isomers, and bonding. But the various indepth reaction mechanisms are just completely lost on me. The organic chemistry tutor simplifies E1, E2, Sn1, Sn2 reactions nicely and you should be able to grasp it from his video(s) on it.
 
I've heard that too. I think I had roughly a 35/65 split. I'm with sooverthepcat in the sense that with no ochem background, learning ochem for the pcat is way too confusing to the point you shouldn't even bother to study it too much. I used Kaplan's study sheets and just basically looked at it trying to soak it in. I also use The Organic Chemistry Tutor on youtube who IMO explains Ochem quite nicely. I think the concepts that are graspable to someone who had no ochem background are Nomenclature, Aromaticity, Chirality, Isomers, and bonding. But the various indepth reaction mechanisms are just completely lost on me. The organic chemistry tutor simplifies E1, E2, Sn1, Sn2 reactions nicely and you should be able to grasp it from his video(s) on it.
What was your score for the chem section? are you going to retake? and by 35/65 do you mean ochem/gen chem?
 
What was your score for the chem section? are you going to retake? and by 35/65 do you mean ochem/gen chem?

87 for chem. I am not going to retake since my score is pretty good for someone who just has 1 year of college under his belt. Yes that is correct on the split.
 
87 for chem. I am not going to retake since my score is pretty good for someone who just has 1 year of college under his belt. Yes that is correct on the split.
What should I focus on for ochem? I am really lost
 
What should I focus on for ochem? I am really lost

Look at my previous post. Of all reactions I think E1, E2, Sn1, and Sn2 are able to be comprehended without taking an ochem class. I really hoped the PCAT I took had more nomenclature problems and the one that I did get was a super complicated molecule so all my studying on nomenclature felt wasted (though you should really still study it since it is the foundation for Organic Chemistry i.e. knowing what alkynes, alkenes, carboxylic acids, etc are.
 
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