ACS organic final

[Firebird]

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Would a person's score on the ACS organic final exam be worth mentioning on academic achievements for the AMCAS application?

Just wondering!

 

[mws99]

Are you serious?

Of course you WOULD NOT put that on your application!

 

[isidella]

I don't know. . . it's an interesting question. Say you did the best in your state or one of the best in the nation, why not mention it? But if you are like me and scored in the 75th percentile of good ol' college of charleston in south cackalacky, I would pass and save those words for something more significant in your career.

🙂

 

[Firebird]

There's one in every crowd.

And thanks isidella for the reply--since the percentile scores haven't been released, I don't know where I stand. I would guess I ended up around 75 or 80th percentile. I won't even look at the AMCAS app until June, so I didn't know if it was a "list-every-single-thing-you've-ever-accomplished" type application or not.

Any other thoughts from anyone else?

 

[arktec]

You get to write about fifteen 'things' on your AMCAS. It can be jobs, honors, awards, study abroad, research, volunteering, whatever you want. So, you could write about your ACS score, but I HIGHLY recommend using the space for something else. I think you could probably find more interesting things to include in your application. Remember, in an interview you will probably have to elaborate verbally on what is in your app.

best of luck...

 

[CD]

I think it would depend on how you did on the ACS exam. Let's say for example you scored in the 100% tile of the nation....Iwould think THAT would be worth mentioning.

BTW I chose to mention my ACS score in my application to grad school...I know that's not the same thing.....

 

[Shades McCool]

That is what is going to be my Organic II final. I just hope it is not impossible.

 

[EarlyEditionDude]

How did you guys prepare for the ACS Organic Chemistry Final? Are there any sample exams or study guides that we can buy to prepare for this exam?

 

[Mistress S]

You can buy an official guide put out by ACS to prepare for the exam. It briefly reviews all the topics to be covered and includes practice questions, I found it to be helpful when preparing to take the exam last year. Our o-chem professor actually ordered the guides for our bookstore when he found out about them, so I didn't have to track it down myself, but I found this link for an order form you can print out and send to get one:
www.uwm.edu/Dept/chemexams/PDF/studyguide.pdf
I didn't see any links to buy it on the ACS website, but there may be an easier way to obtain it; this was just the only thing that came up in a quick google search. If it helps, I found the ACS exam to be much easier than the regular o-chem exams; for one thing, it's multiple choice, and it doesn't go into the same depth as many of our class exams did. And to answer the OP's question, I agree with others here that your ACS score is a huge waste of space on your app. unless you absolutely rocked it and got some kind of recognition for that, or you are so boring that you can't think of any other honors, awards, or volunteer, paid, or community activities that might say more about your accomplishments and who you are (which I doubt is the case).

 

[Firebird]

I studied for the final by going through both semester's notes and tests. For me the mechanism stuff was incredibly easy because it was multiple choice. Synthesis was not as horrible as possible, but a lot of them looked the same.

Study reactions big time. Know basic spectroscopy. It wasn't as hard as I thought...I got a 50 out of 70 which is a pretty good score. Our school (Marshall) curves that to a 94.

Basically, if your school was pretty tough with organic, as ours was, then you won't have as much trouble with the test as others might. Marshall scores around the 50th percentile every year...and as I said, I didn't think it was too bad.

 

[nero]

this is not the same, but my gen chem prof mentioned my acs for gen chem in his rec for me to med school............no school has mentioend it, because as i figured it doens't mean a whole lot to the adcoms..........the one "test" you need on your amcas is the mcat............its your call on whether to use it for the "personal experiences" part.

nero

 

[CD]

The way I studied for the ACS exam was to go through pages and pages of MCAT organic prep materials! Then when I finished with all the mcat stuff I had, I asked my prof for any old ACS exams she might have. Not wanting to bias my ACS final exam she refused to give me anything recent. She did, however, let me use an old 1973 version. It scared me spitless! THe thing was impossible! I studied material that we had never covered in class...stuff like dis vs. con rotatory closures. What my prof. DIDN'T tell me was that the newer tests are much simpler. (schools were refusing to give the ACS exam because the students did so poorly on them, so the ACS board choose to "dumbify" the test). Everything on the newer tests are VERY straitforward and familiar. Just review everything you've done during the year.....even the early stuff. One thing I failed to review was the most acidic hydrogen in an alkyne.....dumb I know, but I was thinking conjugation at the time............. Anyway, time really wasn't a factor when I came time to take it, I finished with 20 minutes left over and had time to check about half of my answers. Don't worry about it....just review what you've covered, and you might ask for an old test.....you never know, your prof might give you one.

 

[OnyxGaia]

Originally posted by Firebird
Would a person's score on the ACS organic final exam be worth mentioning on academic achievements for the AMCAS application?

Just wondering!

What is ACS?

 

[Chemguync]

I just studied over old notes and tests and scored in the 96% percentile or somesuch.. It's a pretty easy final.

 

[lola]

i would NOT put results from an acs exam on amcas. if that's all you have to write about on amcas, i'd suggest finding some other activities quickly.

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by lola
i would NOT put results from an acs exam on amcas. if that's all you have to write about on amcas, i'd suggest finding some other activities quickly.

🙁 but orgo is my hobby!

 

[lola]

Originally posted by the boy wonder
🙁 but orgo is my hobby!

😀


you don't need to fill up all 15 slots. i didn't even though i had way more than 15 activities. i chose about 11 or 12 of my most siginificant activities and achievements.

 

[nero]

i'm with lola, i only filled up about 9 or 10, even though i could've filled up all 15.....i figured it just looks stupoid to put ones that you wont' be able to discuss in a way that shows you have a passion for that acitivty and that you did it because you enjoyed it.........very few people have 15 QUALITY experiences.........and if you are only gtting a 75 to 80%, i'd definitley keep it off the amcas.........

nero

 

[tBw]

Yeah, I'm trying to remember the exact wording of the 15 EC sections of AMCAS but no, I wouldn't be putting test marks in there....I mean *maybe* if it was at the end of a REALLY long list of other achievements (Dean's list etc) you could add it to the end of the list, but no way should it be a section unto itself. And even then, especially if you're the 75th percentile, I doubt I would mention it...but then being a non-trad I've had a slightly longer # years to accumulate experiences and so had problems fitting all relevant things in there anyway...but think about how you want the adcom to perceive you, as the AMCAS may be all they have - if quoting unrelated and so-so test scores is what you're about...well, I just think you might want to convince them you're about more than studying for an organic test 😉

 

[Firebird]

Ok, here's the thing. I've never even looked at an AMCAS application so I didn't know if there was a spot that was ONLY for academically natured achievements such as prestigous scholarships, national exams, etc. I thought that there probably would be, but obviously there isn't.

I have tons of things to put on there. I've been President, Vice President, Vice Master Alchemist (don't ask, haha) of this and that and have acquired a huge amount of experiences including lunch with Senator Rockefellar and a whole plethora of other things. I'm also a Senator from the College of Science. So I'm not at all worried about EC's. I'm actually not worried about academics, either. But the school I want to go to only accepts two out of state students so I'm a little worried about that.

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by Firebird
Ok, here's the thing. I've never even looked at an AMCAS application so I didn't know if there was a spot that was ONLY for academically natured achievements ...I've been President, Vice President, Vice Master Alchemist (don't ask, haha)

Vice Master Alchemist?? How can you expect us NOT to ask? You mean o-chem really is your hobby? sorry, just kidding...

 

[Firebird]

I knew someone would ask and I'm rather glad you did so I can at least partially redeem myself so that you all don't think I'm a nerd with horn rimmed glasses.

Alpha Chi Sigma (AXE), the professional chemistry fraternity, has its basis in alchemy. Instead of a president, you have a Master Alchemist; instead of a Vice President, you have a Vice Master Alchemist, and so on. Actually, the rest of the officers have pretty normal titles...except for Goggle Czar, but that's only our chapter.

This is a long shot (and a shameless plug) but if there's any Marshall University students out there reading this, and you're a science major (or anything that has to do with chemistry) then please rush AXE! It's a great group to be involved in and it's really fun. Rush starts soon and then Initiation will be sometime in March or April.

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by Firebird
I knew someone would ask and I'm rather glad you did so I can at least partially redeem myself so that you all don't think I'm a nerd with horn rimmed glasses.

Alpha Chi Sigma (AXE), the professional chemistry fraternity, has its basis in alchemy. Instead of a president, you have a Master Alchemist; instead of a Vice President, you have a Vice Master Alchemist, and so on. Actually, the rest of the officers have pretty normal titles...except for Goggle Czar, but that's only our chapter.

umm..ok... well I'm glad you cleared that up and shattered the nerd image for us! ...sorry...I'm done giving you a hard time now...what can I say, I was a physics major 😉

 

[lola]

Originally posted by Firebird
I knew someone would ask and I'm rather glad you did so I can at least partially redeem myself so that you all don't think I'm a nerd with horn rimmed glasses.

Alpha Chi Sigma (AXE), the professional chemistry fraternity, has its basis in alchemy. Instead of a president, you have a Master Alchemist; instead of a Vice President, you have a Vice Master Alchemist, and so on. Actually, the rest of the officers have pretty normal titles...except for Goggle Czar, but that's only our chapter.

NERD alert 😱 any other goggle czars out there?

just messin with ya, firebird 😉

 

[CD]

ACS---American Chemical Society