A in Organic chemistry

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Yorick

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Anyone who got an A (or A- i suppose) who wants to share their secrets would be most appreciated.

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Anyone who got an A (or A- i suppose) who wants to share their secrets would be most appreciated.

It's all about putting in the time. Really try and work to understand the concepts and not just memorize. Nice Avatar picture by the way. :)
 
No secrets. Really, you'll get out of the class exactly what you put in. I think the problem is that a lot of people go in thinking it'll be super difficult and they just never get over that fact...almost like a mind game. Or, people go in thinking it'll be like general chemistry and you just go to lecture, study and you'll be fine. Maybe that works for really talented individuals, but for the majority, you just gotta work through problems to get good. I made the mistake of just attending lecture and doing some reading for the first couple of tests...not a good idea. You have to get into the mode of doing the suggested problems and thinking about what's going on, rather than just memorize what is presented to you.

I swear, that's all you have to do. Don't overthink it. Don't freak out. Don't try to memorize (except for very specific reactions). Just listen, read, and do as many practice problems with reactions/mechanisms/etc as possible.
 
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Visualize electrons, know electronegativity of atoms/functional groups, and don't think of it as "memorization" because you'll see something new on the test and be lost.

That's pretty much just for reactions. For everything else, you're going to have to put in the time to learn it.
 
Start strong from the beginning and get an extremely strong grasp on acid/base reactions. The rest just falls into place with a ton of practice problems.
 
I took O-Chem I and II over the summer. It was much easier to focus exclusively on those courses despite the more accelerated pace.

My advice to you is exactly as everyone else said: don't try to straight-up memorize individual reactions. O-Chem is more like a language than anything else, so start out strong, know your functional groups like the back of your hand, and learn their properties as acids/bases or nucleophiles/electrophiles.

It also helps to do all of the practice problems in your textbook(s). Look for additional ones online if necessary.
 
Read the book. Take good notes. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. I seriously filled up 4 notebooks with practice problems and lecture notes. Its intense but just stay on top of things and you will get an A!
 
Organic Chemistry as a 2nd Language, FTW!
 
I took O-Chem I and II over the summer. It was much easier to focus exclusively on those courses despite the more accelerated pace.

My advice to you is exactly as everyone else said: don't try to straight-up memorize individual reactions. O-Chem is more like a language than anything else, so start out strong, know your functional groups like the back of your hand, and learn their properties as acids/bases or nucleophiles/electrophiles.

It also helps to do all of the practice problems in your textbook(s). Look for additional ones online if necessary.

I definitely agree with O-chem being kind of like a language. You shouldn't simply memorize all the reactions (though many will be important to know by name). Instead, you should focus on knowing on certain trends and common steps in mechanisms (especially involving acids/bases and nucleophiles/electrophiles). When you get this comfortable, you'll be able to predict mechanisms for reactions you haven't seen before (common on exams) and more importantly, recognize mechanisms that just don't make sense (also common, especially if there is any multiple choice).
 
By the end of organic chemistry, it had become crystal clear to me that it's all about obtaining the lowest possible energy state.

Also, get ready to put in the time. It's just a time-intensive course, not an incredibly difficult one.
 
I definitely agree that a lot of this is mind-based. You think it ought to be really hard and so it is. I think the trick is similar to the MCAT - lots of practice.

Again, just like the MCAT, it isn't enough to practice, you have to really learn from your mistakes. For Orgo, that means that you need to get into the mindset that if you don't get a problem 100% right, you need to do it (or another similar one) over until you do. It's not good enough to look at the solutions and say, oh yeah, I see what I did wrong. Or say, okay, I get it, I'll do that next time. Before every test do lots and lots of problems. If you do 4/5 problems of a single type correctly then you don't fully understand the concept - if you did you would get them all right - and should go back to the reading or to your notes.

The trouble with Orgo is that a lot of the time you can get something right by chance - I think more often than in other subjects. Worse, you get two things wrong along the way and end up with the right answer. This is why it's dangerous to expect anything less than 100% correct in homework problems by the time you consider a topic 'learned'.
 
Anyone who got an A (or A- i suppose) who wants to share their secrets would be most appreciated.

Study without facebook or youtube. Don't go out every weekend.
 
Anyone who got an A (or A- i suppose) who wants to share their secrets would be most appreciated.
Forget about the A. Focus on perceiving ochem/orgo and practice. Set a rock-solid foundation in the first half, and you're good to go for the second half. Guaranteed.
 
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Anyone who got an A (or A- i suppose) who wants to share their secrets would be most appreciated.

The teacher really makes a difference. I find that being truly interested in the subject really helped me earn an A.
 
Going along with visualization, do your best to understand the mechanisms for a lot of the reactions. Much of o-chem is about arrow pushing and getting a sense of what is likely to happen given the behaviors of certain functional groups and whatnot. This does come after a lot of practice.
 
Buy organic chemistry for a second language. Read the whole book and pay very close attention to the chapter that deals with factors that determine if a reaction will take place. Those concepts will set the foundation you will build your knowledge on. If you understand what causes two atoms or molecules to react, you'll have an intuition for future reactions.

The second piece of advice I can give you is PRACTICE. Practice as much as you can and if there is something you dont understand DO NOT move on until you do.

If you ever need help, feel free to PM me, I do research in medicinal organic chemistry and I don't mind clarifying concepts.

Good luck!
 
I've noticed that one of the biggest reasons people suck at organic chemistry because they suck at mechanisms. I've tutored it for a year and my students all had one thing in common: they would make the simplest mistakes in mechanisms. Drawing arrows the wrong way, wrong things attacking, bad resonance structures, etc. You need to practice arrow drawing until it becomes trivial and you can recognize overarching patterns, e.g. an acyl substitution always follows these same arrows over and over again, a Sn2 is these two arrows always and forever. Since mechanisms are the very fundamental of every reaction you 'memorize,' it can lead to failure if you lack that knowledge. Midterms usually have an even mix of mechanisms and broader synthesis problems; mastering mechanisms puts you a step ahead when studying for long synthetic schemes because along the way, you'll have mastered the nitty-gritty details.

Eventually it all comes down to just two things, really: Sterics and Electronics. These two concepts cover everything in organic chem.
 
I've noticed that one of the biggest reasons people suck at organic chemistry because they suck at mechanisms. I've tutored it for a year and my students all had one thing in common: they would make the simplest mistakes in mechanisms. Drawing arrows the wrong way, wrong things attacking, bad resonance structures, etc. You need to practice arrow drawing until it becomes trivial and you can recognize overarching patterns, e.g. an acyl substitution always follows these same arrows over and over again, a Sn2 is these two arrows always and forever. Since mechanisms are the very fundamental of every reaction you 'memorize,' it can lead to failure if you lack that knowledge. Midterms usually have an even mix of mechanisms and broader synthesis problems; mastering mechanisms puts you a step ahead when studying for long synthetic schemes because along the way, you'll have mastered the nitty-gritty details.

Eventually it all comes down to just two things, really: Sterics and Electronics. These two concepts cover everything in organic chem.

Or as my professor put it "guys, I dont understand why organic chemistry is so hard for you to understand.
Its very simple, a negative charge and a positive charge come together. Thats it."
 
Or as my professor put it "guys, I dont understand why organic chemistry is so hard for you to understand.
Its very simple, a negative charge and a positive charge come together. Thats it."

Yeah, haha. My first quarter professor really made it clear that he hated it when protons were shown attacking things. He even wrote a poem about it that appeared on the front page of the final. If anyone from UW knows Boydston from Chem 237, that's him.

Virtually all of those 'annoying' trends are just manipulating electrons until you get what you want, anyways. And the other trends are explained by sterics.
 
Lots of practice problems and reviewing why your wrong answers are wrong and why the right answers are right.. Same deal for the MCAT.
 
Don't go to class. Study the night before test.
 
I definitely agree that a lot of this is mind-based. You think it ought to be really hard and so it is. I think the trick is similar to the MCAT - lots of practice.

Again, just like the MCAT, it isn't enough to practice, you have to really learn from your mistakes. For Orgo, that means that you need to get into the mindset that if you don't get a problem 100% right, you need to do it (or another similar one) over until you do. It's not good enough to look at the solutions and say, oh yeah, I see what I did wrong. Or say, okay, I get it, I'll do that next time. Before every test do lots and lots of problems. If you do 4/5 problems of a single type correctly then you don't fully understand the concept - if you did you would get them all right - and should go back to the reading or to your notes.

The trouble with Orgo is that a lot of the time you can get something right by chance - I think more often than in other subjects. Worse, you get two things wrong along the way and end up with the right answer. This is why it's dangerous to expect anything less than 100% correct in homework problems by the time you consider a topic 'learned'.

I like that idea. It makes a lot of sense yet it's so easy to think, "Eh, it was one thing, I know I can fix it next time." Very good point. :thumbup:
 
Organic Chemistry as a 2nd Language, FTW!

YES YES YES

try to read the material in every way possible. Use multiple textbooks in the library. Use Orgo as a 2nd Lang for BOTH semesters. Go to every lecture and discussion. Do lab concurrently - seeing the stuff in action will HELP you get it even though the lab is a lot of work. Overall- understand orgo as a robust truth from many angles. Visualize reactions. Form a strong base in orgo 1 becuase that's really the best way to enjoy (yea I said "enjoy") orgo 2.
 
I also really like this series of youtube videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxIOrK6wF70

I found these really helpful while casually reviewing - I didn't use them to learn concepts per se, but I would put them on to have another method to study from. Then, if ever I was lost in the video, I knew that I needed more time with the material. It's actually a really good test: if you can fully understand someone talking about a topic you learned about from another place (text, lecture) then you really get the material.
 
I just read the book and did some practice problems in it and got As for both I and II. The book is your best friend. I never paid attention in lecture cause it was useless for me as she just went over the book.
 

Absolutely, I hardly even looked at my class notes because this book helped me be able to think about it intuitively. I'd recommend reading and working through the chapter in this book the day before your class goes over it. My teacher would be explaining stuff, and I'd look around at everyone else confused and think yep, that would have been me too.
 
I think, like most classes, your experience in organic chemistry is going to vary depending on the institution and instructor. My organic chemistry I course focused on quantum mechanics, acids/bases, nomenclature, substitutions (radical, nucleophilic, etc), and spectroscopy. While organic chemistry II focused on optics, organic synthesis, systems (aromatic, allylic, etc), organometallic compounds, and reactions (oxidation, nucleophilic, electrophilic, etc). The laboratory and tutorial components were almost entirely separate courses. They required their own reports, quizzes, and worksheets on a weekly basis, as well as their own final exams.

I wouldn't say there's a special formula to do well. They're both similar to other science courses in the sense that you have to try and stay on top of the material, attend almost every class, and review material on a weekly basis. However, I felt that both courses were quite time intensive and heavy. For example, I reviewed material two to three times a week instead of just once, and I went to office hours and review sessions more than usual. The only thing I would recommend to other students is that they skim all the chapters covered by the outline/objectives at the beginning of the semester. There's a lot of content variation throughout both organic chemistry courses, so it pays to know ahead of time what you'll need to spend a little more time on.

I'll also recommend this website: Master Organic Chemistry

Good luck! :)
 
to be honest, people make orgo into something its not. It just requires more time and effort. Dont let the name and the "horror" stories stray you from your path. its just one class, put your hours in and you will be just fine
 
Its all about practicing active recall. Practice writing out all the steps to the mechanisms. Do this until you get it right.
 
I also took Ochem 1 and 2 over the summer, and while you have been given great advice, I will add my own. I did not read the book, but I paid strict attention in class, watched nearly every khan academy video on Ochem, and did lots and lots of practice problems. I put each mechanism into words, and when I did practice problems, I would write the mechanism out beside the reagent. This was probably the biggest help for me, since I have a hard time memorizing anything, let alone several different mechanisms.

Moral of the story-the more time you put into it, the better you will do.
 
For Ochem I, use the model kit during the exam and check everything with it. Reaction flash cards with reagants blank on one side and products blank on the other side.

For Ochem II:

Before lecture I would write down the section numbers and titles scheduled to be covered that day, and check them off as the professor did or did not talk about them, highlighting sections that were enthusiastically emphasized since those were more likely to show up on the test. I did that while taking notes in multiple colors (arrow pushing in purple pen always).

After lecture I would neatly copy general forms of the mechanisms covered that day into a little blue book/notepad, color coordinated and in detail. This was my main study guide on nights before the test.

For both:
Keep up with homework (or even better, work ahead) and come up with questions to ask in office hours (--> letter of rec). Study groups give you the chance to explain concepts or ask questions with your peers, crystallizing newly synthesized information, but be picky in choosing your peers.
 
Having taken the entire 2-semester Orgo sequence twice and having earned an A both semesters the second go-around, my advice is as follows:

Take Orgo with the easiest professor at the easiest community college you can. Preferably a course that only uses multiple choice exams. It makes a helluva difference.

(If you are going to ignore that advice, my second piece of advice is to not memorize reactants and products; instead try to memorize reactions)
 
By the end of organic chemistry, it had become crystal clear to me that it's all about obtaining the lowest possible energy state.

Also, get ready to put in the time. It's just a time-intensive course, not an incredibly difficult one.

+1. It's one of those courses where you just have to do the time.
 
to be honest, people make orgo into something its not. It just requires more time and effort. Dont let the name and the "horror" stories stray you from your path. its just one class, put your hours in and you will be just fine

Agree with this. There is so much hype surrounding orgo. It's not difficult, just time intensive.
 
My top grade on cumulative ochem 1 final out of 400 people: studiously did lots of the practice problems.

As in, all the practice problems before each test, then all of them over again before the final.

I didn't attend lecture at all for ochem 2, still made a solid A.

I repeat what others have already said: it's all about grinding through practice problems. If you can learn to enjoy that early in the semester, you will make an A.
 
dont buy a model kit. they take too much time and aren't very accurate anyway

I would caution that this depends on the person. I never got one and could do all the stereochem in my head no sweat, but some people aren't visually inclined and I imagine owe their success in that sort of material to being able to physically represent configurations in front of them.
 
Got an A+ all 3 quarters. It's really just putting in the time and NOT cramming. If you put in 45min-1hr of Ochem studying every day, you'll do way better than cramming for tests or even just studying on the weekends. My procedure was:

1) Read before class (probably the most important)
2) Learn actively in class
3) Do every single question in your book after class
 
I was an SI for organic for two semesters and now I tutor for a private company. The secret to earning an A in organic is doing LOTS of practice problems and reviewing your mistakes. Do all the practices problems in the book and if you have time read the book. However, I believe that it is MUCH more important to summarize the chapters.

Know this for each chapter:
Nomenclature for function groups
Physical properties of each func group
Fundamental definitions
Reactions
How alteration of conditions change rxn
Mechanisms
Rates of reactivity
Trends in acidity and basicity

Good luck!!!
 
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Make flash cards and use a dry erase board to draw out mechanisms, structures, etc. And do all the practice questions.
 
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