Organic Chem over Summer

[HatInTheCat]

Has anyone ever taken organic chemistry over the summer? If so, what things should I review before the course starts? I plan to take Organic I with its lab.

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[mds7]

Well all of it will be pretty brand new material but one thing. I would suggest is getting "organic Chemistry as a second language. It's great for practicing what you will learn. The explanations are good as well.

 

[DentalDoge]

Depending on how good you are at science classes. Would not recommend if you cant handle large amounts of new information quickly.

 

[mds7]

You have a point but dental school will be exactly that. Lots of material within a short amount of time

 

[techyguy]

My working theory is that organic chem trips up undergrads, because it's the first thing they get to that's not primarily numerically algorithmic, and not primarily memorization. That is, the main chunk of it is algorithmic (even though you sometimes get four products), but those molecules are trickier to look at than numbers, and good luck passing if you just try to memorize a bunch of reactions.

Chad's videos are great, Organic As a Second Language is great, but you don't necessarily have to start on it before the semester. I took Organic 2 over a summer while I had a 40 hr/wk job, got an A+, and a letter of recommendation, but my professor for that class was one of the best I've ever had.

 

[DentalDoge]

You have a point but dental school will be exactly that. Lots of material within a short amount of time

And what is your point?

You're not in DS yet. Your goal is to do well in your classes so that you can GET into DS.

If you can handle it, great. If you're not sure, you're playing roulette with your GPA.

 

[Dentalogist]

ochem is pretty hard. like seriously how does someone even get an A in this weed out course?

 

[mds7]

My point is exactly what I previously said. I meant no foil. It will ultimately depend on that person's personal circumstances whether or not they will be able to handle the classes. I was just giving another point of view by saying that although they might have a "luxury" of choosing when to take certain classes that that will change once you hit professional school. You can be successful whether you do it in summer or fall, but at some point we will all need to get our acts together to handle dental school.

 

[grivacobae]

ochem is pretty hard. like seriously how does someone even get an A in this weed out course?

Pre study honestly. I sat in a summer ochem 1 lecture before I took it in the Fall for credit and it helped me get an A.

By theway OP, not only is it a lot of information for ochem, but since it is summer its extremely fast paced, so watch out for that

 

[HatInTheCat]

Pre study honestly. I sat in a summer ochem 1 lecture before I took it in the Fall for credit and it helped me get an A.

By theway OP, not only is it a lot of information for ochem, but since it is summer its extremely fast paced, so watch out for that

Good idea! Didn't think of that one! Thanks. I think I'll wait until fall to catch that course then...

 

[techyguy]

Over the summer you have less chance to forget the material day-to-day. Your tests will come up in no time, but you will have just been learning about it the other day, so you'll be studying something that's fresher in your mind. If it's a 10 week course, give or take, it's more than doable.

The pace just means you'll fall behind faster, if you were already predisposed to falling behind.

 

[dbrystow]

Good idea! Didn't think of that one! Thanks. I think I'll wait until fall to catch that course then...

I wouldn't suggest forcing yourself to sit through two classes. Sit it once, learn it once.

I wouldn't say ochem is harder than any other of the pre-reqs. you just need to stay on top of the material. The class does not lend itself to cramming.

 

[grivacobae]

I wouldn't suggest forcing yourself to sit through two classes. Sit it once, learn it once.

I wouldn't say ochem is harder than any other of the pre-reqs. you just need to stay on top of the material. The class does not lend itself to cramming.

Yeah OP I forgot to mention the World Cup was on that summer so I only sat through till SN1/E1 reactions, so sitting through half helped me enough! To each their own though

 

[Faux]

I would say its doable, but iffy with that long consuming summer lab course. You'll be in the lab for 3-4 hours a day for 3-4 days a week. If you already took orgo 1 and did well, I would say yes for orgo 2. The course can be difficult for some students. You can always drop the course if things go south.

College is a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[z_maverica]

These articles are helping people in my class. Just look at them. The rest is work.

Organic Chemistry is a Skill Intensive Course

5 Key Practices in Metacognition

Mechanism of the Curtius Rearrangement

Favorski Rearrangement Orbital Analysis

Good Nucleophile and Strong Base

No videos just good explanations for lots of ochem. You have to look through the site on your own to get a feel for it.

 

[plumerias]

Do you know anything about the professor who is teaching the course? That makes a big difference. They can make the exams as easy/hard as they want.

Orgo was a breeze for me, I think the key is to actually take the time to understand whats going on rather than just memorizing. You'll know when something clicks and you probably won't forget it after that. Also, most of it's cumulative so make sure you get the basics down and solid quickly. I solely used the klein organic chemistry as a second language book and slides from lecture, never even opened the textbook.

 

[techyguy]

These articles are helping people in my class. Just look at them. The rest is work.

Organic Chemistry is a Skill Intensive Course

5 Key Practices in Metacognition

Mechanism of the Curtius Rearrangement

Favorski Rearrangement Orbital Analysis

Good Nucleophile and Strong Base

No videos just good explanations for lots of ochem. You have to look through the site on your own to get a feel for it.

Cool! I like the first two links.

I forgot about the venerable Bloom's Taxonomy, which clearly means I haven't attained a synthesis-level understanding of Bloom's Taxonomy.

 

[z_maverica]

Cool! I like the first two links.

I forgot about the venerable Bloom's Taxonomy, which clearly means I haven't attained a synthesis-level understanding of Bloom's Taxonomy.

LOL. A B in Blooms.

 

[Flower_Child]

Anyone have advise for me? I took a survey course in orgo got an A, actually found it interesting and liked it. Plan on taking the full sequence next summer. Worried about not doing well. But I do like the material.

 

[OSUkid]

Anyone have advise for me? I took a survey course in orgo got an A, actually found it interesting and liked it. Plan on taking the full sequence next summer. Worried about not doing well. But I do like the material.

I took in summer with another hard class, wasnt really that hard. Organic chem as a second language bu Klein, def made it easy lol, barely studied and got an above average grade so not bad.

 

[Flower_Child]

I took in summer with another hard class, wasnt really that hard. Organic chem as a second language bu Klein, def made it easy lol, barely studied and got an above average grade so not bad.

Thanks! I really didn't think the survey course was so bad. I studied a lot but it was nothing I couldn't comprehend. I read on a pre med post that summer classes don't look good on applications. Do you know if this is true for pre dental?

 

[OSUkid]

Thanks! I really didn't think the survey course was so bad. I studied a lot but it was nothing I couldn't comprehend. I read on a pre med post that summer classes don't look good on applications. Do you know if this is true for pre dental?

No, they go over the same material. I think if you take a summer class and do well, then it would look better since it goes by a bit quicker. Showing you can handle it. But taking summer classes is also risky because I have seen people get terrible grades in summer, simply because there not really focusing on the subject and just chilling since its summer

 

[HatInTheCat]

Hey guys, I finished Orgo I, Orgo I lecture, and Bio II in one summer. It was tough, but I made a B+ in Orgo Lecture and Bs in Orgo Lab and Bio II.

I used Organic Chem for Dummies and of course the book by Klein. They helped a lot, and for what I earned, I could have done better had I not had Bio to worry about. Thanks for all the feedback!