Destroyer is really... destroying me...

[wired202808]

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Hey Guys,

So I feel that the Destroyer is doing a good job destroying me LOL, but how were you guys able to retain all the necessary formulas for Gen Chem, Orgo I was struggling a bit with (because I'm not done with Orgo 2 yet) so I understand where I can go there. But GC is just overwhelming how much focus the Destroyer is emphasizing on Kb, Ka, pH, pOH, and all the later Chad video materials. I feel I have to go back and nearly review all of Chad's videos or notes in order to remember that stuff.

Just want to ask opinions on best ways, I am currently using Anki (but have not fully reviewed in a week or so due to my orgo 2 exam.)

Let me know. Thanks.

 

[Philippines03j]

For me it was 4-5 years since I had gen chem... Needless to say this is where I put a lot of my time when studying for the DAT. At night I would watch chad's videos just to keep fresh. But this is what I did:

1) Find the type of problems that you are struggling with most
2) Use the ACS gen chem book to do problems relating to the area you are having difficulty
3) If you still feel uncomfortable with that material take out your textbook and do more problems related to that material.
4) Find the next type of problems you are struggling with
5) Repeat steps 2 and 3
6) repeat until you've gone through the entire ACS book
(I would suggest writing out solutions on paper to each of the questions...ESPECIALLY if you had difficulty figuring them out... This will allow you to try the problems over again and save time on trying to figure exactly what you are doing wrong)

7) Once you are finished Go back through destroyer. Whenever you miss a problem. Figure out why... Use problems from ACS and textbook problems that you did to see how to do the problem correctly.

Repeat any of this as much as you need until you feel comfortable with all of the material. I did not score great on this section but I went from knowing nothing about gen chem to scoring an 18.

There is one way to do it😀 Hope it helps

Don't worry too much about O-chem just yet... By the time you are done with the second half a lot of the first half will be second nature

--check out my blog for a full breakdown of my scores + more

 

[wired202808]

Thanks for the advice Phillipines, the only thing is I dont own the ACS book, I have the Kaplan book and the subject tests, and the Destroyer.

 

[Philippines03j]

Thanks for the advice Phillipines, the only thing is I dont own the ACS book, I have the Kaplan book and the subject tests, and the Destroyer.

You can order it for $17 from the website http://www.examsinstitute.com/Study-Guides_c_1.html. You may be able to find someone at your school that is selling it or from an off site like ebay. It covers everything in sections which was really helpful for me. IT has about 5-10 example problems at the beginning of each section and then about 30 example problems for that section. They are very similar to the DAT questions. If you have time to order it and use it I would say that it is well worth it. Otherwise, you can modify what I have said for the books that you have. I felt Kaplan gave a decent general overview but I did not use it. I needed the problems to really solidify the concepts.

 

[dentalWorks]

Hey Guys,

So I feel that the Destroyer is doing a good job destroying me LOL, but how were you guys able to retain all the necessary formulas for Gen Chem, Orgo I was struggling a bit with (because I'm not done with Orgo 2 yet) so I understand where I can go there. But GC is just overwhelming how much focus the Destroyer is emphasizing on Kb, Ka, pH, pOH, and all the later Chad video materials. I feel I have to go back and nearly review all of Chad's videos or notes in order to remember that stuff.

Just want to ask opinions on best ways, I am currently using Anki (but have not fully reviewed in a week or so due to my orgo 2 exam.)

Let me know. Thanks.

The first time I went through destroyer book... I scored myself:
GC: 45%
Orgo: I think 53%
Bio: 70%+

This is the reason why destroyer chemistries shine... they are tough and puts things in prospective for you. The first time through destroyer, you WILL get destroyed, but the 2nd time around... u'll do way better (you'll see).

 

[wired202808]

thanks dentalworks, so did you periodically review Gchem and Ochem while studying to keep the info fresh in your head? All the formulas and concepts seem tricky to remember past a few weeks.

 

[dentalWorks]

thanks dentalworks, so did you periodically review Gchem and Ochem while studying to keep the info fresh in your head? All the formulas and concepts seem tricky to remember past a few weeks.

yes when a problem kicked my butt, I would crack open my review material, wiki, old college notes, etc etc to try to figure out the solution

What worked out for me... after my initial pass of GC and Orgo, After that, I did a 2nd pass on destroyer where every day, I was doing like 30 GC and 30 Orgo problems... and I kept doing this every day... when I finished all the problems, I did the 30/30 thing again.

I figured this was a good idea because the problems in destroyer are not sequential in the topics, you'll have 1 problem dealing with concentrations, another in rates, another with empirical formulas, so they were randomly scattered, and it gave a random 30 question review every day.

 

[wired202808]

that's true dentalworks. im gonna have to refresh my mind with all the necessary facts because I reviewed Chad's material and took notes in January to February, i then took a study break and have been back in full swing mode this month but feel i'm hazy on certain materials. but as per your breakdown and advice, 2 months should be enough time for me to get everything in order and take the test?

 

[rodneymoss]

the first time i went through destroyer book... I scored myself:
Gc: 45%
orgo: I think 53%
bio: 70%+

this is the reason why destroyer chemistries shine... They are tough and puts things in prospective for you. The first time through destroyer, you will get destroyed, but the 2nd time around... U'll do way better (you'll see).

agree!

 

[wired202808]

rodney any advice you can offer me?