Chemistry Study Skills

[commymommy]

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It's been years since I've had a chemistry course, and I'm planning on taking advanced inorganic in the Fall. I need to review my inorganic first and also come up with some good study skills technique for the Fall. I know most of you are still waiting for your admissions status or are celebrating your acceptance....but can any of you share some of your organizational secrets of chemistry success?

thanks in advance,

Kris

 

[Jessica]

I used to re-write my notes (back in my super-anal-retentive days) after class, made flashcards, and wrote summaries in the margins of my textbooks for sections that were particularly difficult for me... then, when I reviewed for an exam, I would just look over the margin notes instead of re-reading the whole book. Since you are already preparing your battle plan, I am confident that you will be well prepared to tackle inorganic. Hope my wierdo study methods are of help to you, and good luck with Chem!

 

[malpractice lawyer]

I found the most helpful things for me were:
Having an alternate textbook. This often cleared up any concepts that I did'nt understand from the class text. Somebody actually threw away a recent chemistry text, and I picked it out of the junk pile while moving my sister into her dorm. #2: I think it is good to stay a little paranoid and anal about a class. I was so wired to ace chemistry that I think I forced myself to get an A. There's always the weekend to unwind. #3: Sit in the front of class, get on real good terms with the instructor, and form a study group. #4: Don't be a gunner. When someone asks if you are pre-med, say "No, I'm pre-malpractice." You'll do fine!

 

[UrSexyLatinDr]

This are great Advice, any more?

How about for ochem, bio and physics?

Eduardo

 

[commymommy]

Thanks...and also thanks for the private messages....these are great suggestions. Can anyone give me some hints on how I can review my first two chem courses this summer most effectively. I still have my favorite inorganic chem book, workbook and answer guide, so I'll definately go back and work some problems.....

Kris

 

[Firebird]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by UrSexyLatinDr:
•This are great Advice, any more?

How about for ochem, bio and physics?

Eduardo•••••Physics--do the problems, understand the concepts and you should be fine. I would guess most professor's tests look similar to the homework problems. Just mae sure you don't wait until the last minute to do the homework. Spend enough time on it and then go see the prof if you need help. Don't let any problems go without understanding them intimately.

Ochem--learn to think in 3D. Study every day and never cram for an exam. Do the homework well in advance of the test, then do it again the day before the exam. Review your notes thoroughly. There are people out there that will tell you organic is not about memorization. These people are on crack. Sure you can't memorize everything that could possibly be on the test, because there's an infinite number of possibilities. But you must memorize the mechanisms, the reactants, the reagents, and the products. This is vital in sythesis problems.

Bio--just study the night before, if you are good enough to do that. It's not hard. It's about regurgitating facts. There's nothing too bad about intro biology. If you have a lab with it, don't skip class...they may be easy and boring, but if your school is like mine, the lab is worth the same as a regular exam.

Good Luck!

 

[UrSexyLatinDr]

Thanks a lot Firebird!

Eduardo 😀

 

[Bikini Princess]

Shameless advice in two words:

Old Exams

Nothing beats them. Not even studying the lecture notes the professor hands out in class - trust me, I've always gotten A's in classes in which I only studied old tests. (Of course you have to have at least 2+ years back.) The only classes you have to work at studying are when the professor is new. Or when you can't find enough of them.

It takes most students a year or two to figure this out, so if you start as a freshmen, you'll be doing well. 😛

This is one big reason why new professors have such low test averages for the first two years.

 

[Green912]

I took biochem II last semester as a grad student and managed to get an A, but the last time I took a chemistry class was in '94. Needless to say I was scared to death and maybe overstudied if there is such a thing. Anyway here's what I did.

1. Went to every lecture
2. re-wrote all my notes each week
3. read every chapter and wrote notes in the
margins which I read later
4. Used a biochem web-site for back up info or to
get a 2nd explanation.
5. Began to study for exams a week ahead
6. Taped the lectures. This was the only class
that I taped and the whole thing was a little
cumbersom. I'm glad I did it, but you definetly
couldn't tape more than one class per session.

 

[candybits]

Chemistry was one of my fave subjects back in university, and I always made sure that I solved a ton of problems prior to the exam. Like, even all the examples solved during the lectures, as well as the tutorials. I find that you can't just delve into the problems in diff't textbooks at random, since you have to take into consideration "the style" and the approach each profs takes in designing their questions.

The best are of course any old exams that were handed down from the seniors, as well as any problem sheets handed out by the instructors. For both inorg and org chem, I made sure to solve these problems at least a couple of times (yes, I'm dumb! 😛 ) so that they sort of "stick" to your memory. This saves a whole lot of time during the exam since you automatically solve the ones you know with ease, and the ones you have to think about, you'd give yourself plenty of time to analyze the question.

 

[KDocGirl]

candybits--
I cannot believe you stole my avatar. Talk about lacking in originality.

 

[otter]

I responded to a similar question a few months ago. Anyways, this is what I said...

Get a hold of one of those MCAT science prep guides. The best one is the Hyperlearning Science Review (you can only get them by signing up for the Princeton Review class or if you know someone who took PR). The next best may be the Kaplan MCAT science review book. Take 2 or 3 weeks to just go through the chemistry section, making sure to solve all the problems they give you. Those books present materials, as if you've never taken chemistry before. The Hyperlearning book is so well-organized and presents materials so concisely and enjoyably that anyone who was clueless during college chemistry will understand general chemistry the way it's meant to be understood. Believe me, I was one of those people.

 

[commymommy]

Wow, these are such great responses. I was never a believer in studying profs old exams though... 😀 I know it works, but I would have felt like I was cheating......in any case, I won't have that luxury because I'm at a new University..so I am definately going to go with the reviewing old tests that I took previously, making chapter outlines and the website suggestion...I have several sites saved...the THCME biochem website is one of my favorites.

I had never considered the MCAT study book as a review, but now that you mention it, I think it would be a great idea....there are also those outline series as well as books with review questions for bio, chem, physics, etc....I'm definately going to go and look for those.

Does anyone know of any good review sites for chem classes with quizzes online?

Kris

 

[efex101]

Kris if you do a search on yahoo or any other search engine you will get tons of hits for organic/gen chem/physics web pages. I am going to refer you to OldPremeds website and maybe if you post there someone will know of specific web pages (we have some professors on that board). Here is a link for OldPremeds <a href="http://www.oldpremeds.net/" target="_blank">OldPremeds</a>

 

[candybits]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by KDocGirl:
•candybits--
I cannot believe you stole my avatar. Talk about lacking in originality.•••••I never saw your avatar... and who are you?? Talk about an identity crisis... 🙄