Did you Feel the O-Chem Section in the Kaplan Book was Enough?

[slatenator]

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Sorry I've talked about this now in multiple posts but I am really nervous that the Kaplan book does not have enough O-Chem. I took Orgo 1 and 2 about 5 years ago so obviously need to brush up on it. The Kaplan book only has 1 small chapter at the end devoted to O-Chem and according to my recollection is only about half of the first semester. It doesn't go into naming or SN1/SN2 and E1/E2 stuff. What the heck? It this a huge oversight by Kaplan? Has anyone else had issues with this? It is kind of too late to buy a new test prep book at this point....

 

[phathead]

No it does not. Aside from the numerous incorrect answers in the back of the book, it is the biggest flaw in it.

 

[slatenator]

Thanks, that's just what I wanted to confirm. Really don't have time to order any other study materials but I have the PDF of the McGraw Hill PCAT prep I got from Ebay which is like a 700 page long electronic file. Hopefully it will be in there or I will have to borrow one of my friend's O-Chem books for the next 2 weekends.

Stupid Kaplan!

 

[roziak]

I thought the kaplan o-chem section was fine.... I've taken the test numerous times and all I have ever seen for organic chem was:

-Sn1/2, E1/2 reactions
-Organic compound nomenclature
-Functional group identification
-Determining aromaticity
-Hybridization

I might be forgetting one thing... But it's really all basic organic chem1 stuff I thought. Not any Organic II... except for my last test I saw a reaction I didn't memorize I think Freidal Craft's Acylation... but other than that, all Organic I. There wasn't even that much GenChemII now that I think about it. A lot of the stuff was GenChemI.

But anyways, correct me if any of you guys seen anything more in organic chem than what I said

 

[slatenator]

Hmmm.... Interesting that I keep hearing conflicting evidence. I suspect that people who design it at Pearson really don't follow any rules or are very consistent with what they put on it.

Compared to the Pearson samples I've seen, the Mcgraww-Hill prep info does seem much more applicable than the Kaplan stuff. Like I said though, I haven't taken the test yet so take I'll take my own insight w/ a grain of salt.

I'm making a judgement call and am going to go w/ the 600 page Mcgraww-Hill for the next two weeks. It seems much more concept oriented (like Pearsons samples) than the detail and calculation oriented Kaplan.

 

[tiff247]

The Kaplan book that you get when you take the class has 15 chapters of O.chem. But from what I have heard, just know the basic nomenclature, SN1/SN2 E1/E2 and functional groups and you should be ok! 🙂

 

[phathead]

I usually mention I just picked up the Kaplan book from Barnes and Noble, it's not from a class or anything

 

[jung1]

Nope.

 

[slatenator]

That's a good point... I just bought the Kaplan book from Amazon. It is probably different than the one they give you when you fork over a few grand for the class.

 

[slatenator]

I am done with that stupid Kaplan book I bought off of Amazon for good.

The McGraw Hill's PCAT prep book has the following sections for O-Chem:
Bonding
Shape
Nomenclature
Overview of Reaction Mechanisms

Methodology
Extraction
Chromatography
Distillation and Sublimation
Recrystallization
Overview
Combustion Analysis
UV-Vis Spectroscopy
Mass Spectrometry
Infrared Spectroscopy
Proton NMR Spectroscopy​

Carbon NMR Spectroscopy

Has anyone seen any NMR, IR, or Friedel-Crafts alkylation stuff on the O-Chem section ever? Do you think these sections are overkill? Thanks again!

 

[musicman123]

I am done with that stupid Kaplan book I bought off of Amazon for good.

The McGraw Hill's PCAT prep book has the following sections for O-Chem:
Bonding
Shape
Nomenclature
Overview of Reaction Mechanisms

Methodology
Extraction
Chromatography
Distillation and Sublimation
Recrystallization
Overview
Combustion Analysis
UV-Vis Spectroscopy
Mass Spectrometry
Infrared Spectroscopy
Proton NMR Spectroscopy​

Carbon NMR Spectroscopy

Has anyone seen any NMR, IR, or Friedel-Crafts alkylation stuff on the O-Chem section ever? Do you think these sections are overkill? Thanks again!

I didn't see any NMRs or IRs. The orgo content is mostly nomenclature and recognizing the type of reaction (ie. esterification or hydrolysis, etc.). The Organic Chem MCAT by Examkrackers provides some good review flashcards of the main reactions. Reviewing those in your Orgo textbook is always a good idea.

 

[Matt105]

Started reviewing o.chem tonight and I remember a surprising amount of stuff but barely anything about the sn1 reactions and whatnot. I'm using the Kaplan book and this thread is pretty much my exact question to ask when I got on here. Thanks for the tips.

Also! I just found my old Study Guide/Workbook for the ACS Exam for organic chem from undergrad! Alright! This will be great to just skim through and review a bit


Do we need to know the atomic numbers of carbon/nitrogen/oxygen, etc etc. I know the valence shell or whatever it's called (like -4) (see, I need to review further 😀)

 

[Matt105]

How are the acid/base questions on the PCAT? You know how in OChem, we had to memorize strong/weak acids? Do we need to know those for PCAT? Strong acids are obvious, but don't remember weak acids that well.

 

[busyizzy]

How are the acid/base questions on the PCAT? You know how in OChem, we had to memorize strong/weak acids? Do we need to know those for PCAT? Strong acids are obvious, but don't remember weak acids that well.

I thought the assumption was if it's not a strong acid, it's a weak acid, at least for test purposes.