I'm at a loss here guys... I never failed an exam back in Orgo.I but this test was just hard, it was the lowest class avg too with this teacher. It was all about NMR spectroscopy and expoxides/ethers and alcohols. I need a new study plan... I read every chapter from the Klein textbook for this exam. Anyone here kind enough to share some ideas on how to bounce back and at least pass the next exam, which is in less than a month away now. Any tips, study strategies? Thanks in advance.
Failed my first Orgo.II exam :(
- Thread starter AHossain
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I wouldn't trust a physician if he didn't fail orgo at least once. Don't worry about it imo
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Haha.
I carried over my study habits from organic I (got an A) into organic II and scored 60% on the first exam. Ended up acing the rest of the exams and pulled out an A after changing my study habits a bit.
Do a bunch of problems. Redraw mechanisms until you know them cold. Double the amount of time that you normally study.
Good luck!
I carried over my study habits from organic I (got an A) into organic II and scored 60% on the first exam. Ended up acing the rest of the exams and pulled out an A after changing my study habits a bit.
Do a bunch of problems. Redraw mechanisms until you know them cold. Double the amount of time that you normally study.
Good luck!
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From my experience in organic chemistry, focus on what the professor likes to do. If you have past exams use those to your advantage, so that you know how the format of the exam is structured. I also use the Klein textbook and the best method for me was to do a bunch of practice problems from the book (get a hold of solution manual if you can, so that you know what is right and wrong) along with outlining each page. I would get a blank computer paper and write out all the reagents and what they do along with some examples, nomenclature, and important concepts from the book. NMR can be tricky, but google practice nmr problems and find chem ucla where there are a bunch if you are struggling with that.
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Memorize all the NMR values. Even if they give you them. Once you have the key memorized the puzzle isn't hard.
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Orgo's all about repetition; you have to draw mechanisms like it's nobody's business. Get your basic foundations down, and go to work with problems and a solutions manual. You can find those online, and they should correspond to your book.
In addition, NMR values are good to know. People say that orgo is all about 'logic'. However, it isn't logical in itself to assume that you immediately figure out mechanisms/lab results without memorizing functional groups, pKa values, NMR shifts, trends, etc. You need a foundation, and problems for application.
In addition, NMR values are good to know. People say that orgo is all about 'logic'. However, it isn't logical in itself to assume that you immediately figure out mechanisms/lab results without memorizing functional groups, pKa values, NMR shifts, trends, etc. You need a foundation, and problems for application.
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I loved NMR! Definitely memorize the values, but also understand what's happening with NMR i.e. what shifting downfield/upfield means and why it's happening. It'll make solving the puzzle easier because you'll still be able to figure it out, even if the values you're given aren't exactly what you memorized.
For mechanisms, again, it's best to understand why things are happening instead of just memorizing steps. Learning why something happens means you have to memorize less in the long run and it gives you the flexibility/ability to figure out problems that might not be straight copies of ones from the textbook.
I also like what @tuf13119 - who I'm thinking went to Temple; I'm a tub myself, and I'm showing my age by admitting that
- about focusing on what your professor likes to do. Every orgo class is different. My professor was huge on nomenclature. My friend wasn't required to know anything beyond the most basic nomenclature for his class. Try and hone in on what the professor thinks is important. Go to office hours if you don't understand something. Let him/her know what you're having trouble with and he/she should be more than willing to help.
Best of luck! And remember, orgo doesn't have to be stressful. Some might even say it can be fun
For mechanisms, again, it's best to understand why things are happening instead of just memorizing steps. Learning why something happens means you have to memorize less in the long run and it gives you the flexibility/ability to figure out problems that might not be straight copies of ones from the textbook.
I also like what @tuf13119 - who I'm thinking went to Temple; I'm a tub myself, and I'm showing my age by admitting that
- about focusing on what your professor likes to do. Every orgo class is different. My professor was huge on nomenclature. My friend wasn't required to know anything beyond the most basic nomenclature for his class. Try and hone in on what the professor thinks is important. Go to office hours if you don't understand something. Let him/her know what you're having trouble with and he/she should be more than willing to help.Best of luck! And remember, orgo doesn't have to be stressful. Some might even say it can be fun
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Reading is not enough! trust me I went through the same situation (even the exam I semi-failed had NMR crap in it). Reading is only the first step. When you understand something, make sure you do tons of practice problems! this is serious advice.
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Try to train your intuition in Orgo. There's way too much to memorize. I couldn't memorize that much in Orgo. I practiced until I could recognize what needed to happen. Nucleophiles attack electrophiles. If it forms a stable anion it's probably a great leaving group or has one. Acidity scales with the stability of the anion. E is more stable than Z. Bases take protons away, Acids add protons to a molecule. If you have an OH group on the carbon forming a new c-c bond you need a grignard with a ketone or aldehyde. If it's two bonds away (the Oh) from the new c-c you need a grignard and an epoxide. If you can recognize how reactions happen and why (hint: it literally only has to do with electron density) then you will get an A in Orgo like it was ur job. Practice is the best way to do this. Discussing the concepts with friends is a good way to do this.
I could not think of a bigger waste of my time than memorizing Chemical Shifts for NMR but understanding how alkenes, electro negativity, electron density, etc. affect the CS is worthwhile.
With the exception of a few reactions, most mechanisms occur In a highly predictable and intuitive manner provide you atleast know the reagents involved at each step.
PKas of important groups are useful to know but they are provided anyways. For Biochem it will be important to have most important group pKas down cold however.
My two cents. A in both classes, had really great professors, class average at about a C. However, I am crap at memorizing and would die if I did just that in a class.
I could not think of a bigger waste of my time than memorizing Chemical Shifts for NMR but understanding how alkenes, electro negativity, electron density, etc. affect the CS is worthwhile.
With the exception of a few reactions, most mechanisms occur In a highly predictable and intuitive manner provide you atleast know the reagents involved at each step.
PKas of important groups are useful to know but they are provided anyways. For Biochem it will be important to have most important group pKas down cold however.
My two cents. A in both classes, had really great professors, class average at about a C. However, I am crap at memorizing and would die if I did just that in a class.
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If your Orgo II is set up like my Orgo II (and from the sound of the first test it seems likely), then the rest of the semester will have minimal NMR and focus more on synthesis. Check your syllabus and see.
For synthesis, I found it much more useful to memorize reagents. Knowing those and what they do was crucial to passing synthesis tests for me. Also do all the chapter problems for practice.
For NMR (if you get more if it in the future), it was all about peak ratios and shifts. I memorized general regions of shifts for common functional groups and the rest was just logic based on peak ratios.
For synthesis, I found it much more useful to memorize reagents. Knowing those and what they do was crucial to passing synthesis tests for me. Also do all the chapter problems for practice.
For NMR (if you get more if it in the future), it was all about peak ratios and shifts. I memorized general regions of shifts for common functional groups and the rest was just logic based on peak ratios.
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Well for me, I also had failed an Orgo exam last semester and still ended up doing well! I had consulted my professor for help with certain questions and he had made practice sheets in which I was to work with. It was basically tutoring but now I'm doing well in Orgo II
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Take comfort in the fact that you will never use orgo again once you get into med school
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deleted642188
Practice makes perfect; I'm not sure about your professor but my professor just mined questions from a database that the textbook company gave them but even if they made their own questions, doing practice questions is the way to go...
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Do you have the answer book to Klein's text? If not rent it. The problems are really good in the textbook.
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I always write my starting materials and the reagents on the front of on an index card to mentally fill in the product and on the back, I write the starting materials and the end product and leave the arrow blank to mentally fill in the reagents. After that it's just rewriting mechanisms and doing book problems.
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deleted577188
lolololol I hate when people remind us pre-meds of this because I'm in love with orgo lol it's the only thing I've ever been good at in my life so far lol
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I hated all the organics I took as a Chemistry major. I loved the physical and analytical and inorganic chemistries though... however, for orgo, I had to kill my aversion for it. I took the easiest professor with the easiest exams (I think he felt bad about his foreign accent, so he made the exams very easy). Not sure what advice to offer to the OP, but no matter how many practice problems I did for orgo, I couldn't understand anything that was going on. If you're like me, I would seriously look at options available to you - do you have past exams? did you talk to upperclassmen about taking the class? Since teaching and grading of organic is dependent on your university, I would try to utilize all my resources. Get hold of old exams and try to figure out the pattern of questions, and then study to the exam. You'll never use orgo again, except in a more superficial way in biochemistry.
Yes, I just purchased it actually. I've been watching khan academy and free lance teach. What do you guys think of them?
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deleted577188
For orgo, I have found that every class is different. What I mean is that your professor will probably emphasize something that every other orgo class in the world won't (certain mechanisms, reagents, predict products, combined spec in either lab or lecture, etc.). I would learn my professors study material inside and out, backwards and forwards. I used Klein first semester and it helped, but extra videos were simply a waste of my time.
(Take my advice with a grain of salt, I am just another pre-med. I just happen to love organic chemistry.)
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Did a lot of people fail? I found that my chem scores were always super low until the end of the semester. After every test I wanted to give up on premed but I didn't, and nor should you. Just remember every one sucks at chem, even when they do well
