ACS Organic Chemistry Advice

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Hi,

for those of you who have taken the ACS organic chemistry final are there any suggestions or techniques you used to take the test. I am going through the ACS study guide. Any test taking strategies and what material was heavy emphasized? Thanks.

I too have to take the ACS Final Eam in a little under two weeks. Truth be told I'm not excited in the slightest bit. Orgo has never been an incredible strength for me but trying my best to battle on through. Tips, tricks, and words of wisdom are more than welcome this way as well.

I have to take the ACS ochem exam as part of my final exam grade. I've just about finished Chad's ochem videos, so I'll go back again to review and will hopefully be set for the ACS and DAT.

Seems like OP already mentioned the ACS study guide, this was what I relied on to take the exam. Ended up doing better than the average, just keep studying.

linky --> http://www.amazon.com/Preparing-your.../dp/0970804210

I had to take the ACS as my final. There was a book that I bought ans was planning on using but never did. At the end of the semester of Ochem II, I couldn't remember stuff from the first or second test never mind the Ochem I. I basically didn't study...just reviewed and relied on my high test grades to pick any slack from the final. I don't know how I did on it, but I ended up with an A for the course. If you've been getting As all semester long then you shouldn't worry as the professor will probably curve the final (ACS is no joke)

My professor had weekly reviews to prepare for the ACS. He just went over the ACS study guide, but it seemed to be pretty sufficient. I didn't use anything else besides the professor's notes and I studied a lot. I ended up getting in the 95 percentile.

Okay. Thanks for the helpful replies.

Originally Posted by KyoPhan

My professor had weekly reviews to prepare for the ACS. He just went over the ACS study guide, but it seemed to be pretty sufficient. I didn't use anything else besides the professor's notes and I studied a lot. I ended up getting in the 95 percentile.

You're lucky your professor did reviews. We are getting 1 review tomorrow and then we are on our own.
To the OP: My friend and I are sharing an ACS study guide and watching Chad. I have an A going into it and my friend has a C. It helps me to tutor her and whoever else we study with, although I admit some ACS stuff is foreign to me. I would highly recommend studying the guide cover to cover as there are some reactions and even nomenclature that I wasn't previously familiar with.

Good luck!

I already did the DAT so I am familiar with that, but have not done the ACS yet; I do that next week. Can someone comment on the 2 styles of questions compared to each other? I am assuming the DAT is less difficult, but would studying for the ACS in the same way I studied for the DAT make sense?

Originally Posted by Msmouth

You're lucky your professor did reviews. We are getting 1 review tomorrow and then we are on our own.
To the OP: My friend and I are sharing an ACS study guide and watching Chad. I have an A going into it and my friend has a C. It helps me to tutor her and whoever else we study with, although I admit some ACS stuff is foreign to me. I would highly recommend studying the guide cover to cover as there are some reactions and even nomenclature that I wasn't previously familiar with.

Good luck!

Ditto Msmouth. We get a "sample quiz" tomorrow morning which is supposed to help us judge where we're at. Aside from the quiz, we're done with in class activities, other than a brief little review of the quiz and some pointers stemming from it. The real joy of the actual exam comes next week, the tail end of finals week.

Originally Posted by BrutalViking

At the end of the semester of Ochem II, I couldn't remember stuff from the first or second test never mind the Ochem I. I basically didn't study...just reviewed and relied on my high test grades to pick any slack from the final.

This is exactly what I am doing today, I just need to show up for a B and do "decent" for an A.

I have heard the ACS book was extremely helpful, but I cannot comment on its effectiveness myself.

I wonder if the ACS is similar to DAT....I'm working on some of the basics and it's pretty hard. I'm an A student and the ACS practice is killing me. I know it's curved but I wonder how the DAT compares.

I took the ACS this past Wednesday. I didn't do too well but make sure you know as many reactions as possible including the mechanisms. There weren't as many stereochemistry question like i thought there were and there were only 3 questions on spectroscopy. Otherwise the bulk is knowing electrophilic addition reactions and all the other reactions in ACS study guide. God Bless

Originally Posted by Justin7

I took the ACS this past Wednesday. I didn't do too well but make sure you know as many reactions as possible including the mechanisms. There weren't as many stereochemistry question like i thought there were and there were only 3 questions on spectroscopy. Otherwise the bulk is knowing electrophilic addition reactions and all the other reactions in ACS study guide. God Bless

thanks for the heads up!

I got worked over pretty good by the ACS today...wow it was a lot harder than the DAT o-chem, that's for sure. I wish my professor would have taught to the test more. Also, the prep book wasn't near as comprehensive as my exam was. Now I am just crossing my fingers to hope I did good enough to keep my grade.

I just took ACS today and I actually didn't think it was that bad. Yes there were a handful of questions that I had never seen before but some of those you could figure out because they gave you more information. My only issue was I took too much time. My professor said there was 45 minutes left and I still had 30 questions to go, so I ended up guessing a lot toward the middle.

I took my ACS final this morning as well. Like Msmouth, it wasn't near as terrible as I was expecting. That being said, it was still plenty challenging. Now it's only a matter of time to see if I was able to maintain my grade. I will further confirm what was said earlier. Just a few spec problems, and no more than a couple questions on stereochemistry. If you don't know mechanisms, get to know them.

I got my grade back today but I have no idea how good or bad it is, my professor said she would send us the percentiles when she gets them. I got a 59/70, I was a little surprised to get that many right. Now I just have to hope that was enough to keep my grade.

Take what I say with a grain of salt here, but if I recall correctly, 59/70 has got to be dang near the 95th percentile. This is just a guesstimate made using an estimated distribution curve that my professor had shown us. At any rate, way to go sacapuntas!

Originally Posted by sacapuntas

I got my grade back today but I have no idea how good or bad it is, my professor said she would send us the percentiles when she gets them. I got a 59/70, I was a little surprised to get that many right. Now I just have to hope that was enough to keep my grade.

That's actually a killer score! My professor who has been at this university for 30 years said the highest grade he ever saw was a 54.
Plus most likely there will be a curve, not that you need one ( :
Good job!

I hope you guys are right, my friend in the class got 60's and hes the only person I have asked about how they did...I needed equivalent to a 91% for an A. Thanks for the encouragement though!

Ah yes the ACS.

Just remembered, we were told the national average is 45.

I bought the ACS study guide and used previous lecture notes to study. I tackled the studying in an incremental approach. Every week leading up to the ACS, I would study a chapter or two of the 1st semester ochem material and a chapter out of the study guide in addition to studying the current 2nd semester material. By the time the ACS came around, I reviewed everything without having to cram. It worked for me; it might work for you.

How did you receive your score if you took the exam as part of your final exam?

I took the comprehensive exam covering orgo 1 & 2 as part of my final exam. My professor told me my percentile rank by email a couple of months later, but I'd like an official score report and can't seem to make contact with that professor anymore.

Have any of you been able to get an official score report?

**Update**
It seems the professors collect the scores themselves and send the scores to the ACS to get norm data...

It seemed to me that the DAT organic was easier than the ACS final

It is an EXTREMELY EASY EASY exam
Enjoy

Sent from my SGH-T989 using SDN Mobile

Originally Posted by AM4EVA

It is an EXTREMELY EASY EASY exam
Enjoy

Sent from my SGH-T989 using SDN Mobile

Agreed, I got 96% and I got automatic A+ in organic II