Difficulties with O Chem lab

[Violagirl]

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My school has it where you take O Chem I and II for just lecture and then the lab is a seperate class that combines O Chem I and II material. There's a head prof and then the class is about 150 students and are seperated into groups of 10-12 with a TA that leads the group. Next week will be my 7th week of the semester and I haven't had the best relationship with my TA since the beginning. For the first experiment when we had to set up a simple distillation apparatus for the first time, I had set it up slightly differently as I had watched a video along with the reading the manuel in setting it up and he questioned me on why I hadn't set it up like it was in the manuel and then also accused me of looking off of another student's apparatus when I had well-prepared my notebook that day. He also has been harsh towards me when I've made mistakes and it's made going to lab uncomfortable for me. 🙁 I plan to meet with the professor about it tomorrow and am hoping she will be helpful and understanding about it. Has anyone else been in this situation and how did it go for you?

 

[13132]

My school has it where you take O Chem I and II for just lecture and then the lab is a seperate class that combines O Chem I and II material. There's a head prof and then the class is about 150 students and are seperated into groups of 10-12 with a TA that leads the group. Next week will be my 7th week of the semester and I haven't had the best relationship with my TA since the beginning. For the first experiment when we had to set up a simple distillation apparatus for the first time, I had set it up slightly differently as I had watched a video along with the reading the manuel in setting it up and he questioned me on why I hadn't set it up like it was in the manuel and then also accused me of looking off of another student's apparatus when I had well-prepared my notebook that day. He also has been harsh towards me when I've made mistakes and it's made going to lab uncomfortable for me. 🙁 I plan to meet with the professor about it tomorrow and am hoping she will be helpful and understanding about it. Has anyone else been in this situation and how did it go for you?

That sounds EXACTLY like the format and sequence of my organic lab hmm. Anyways... I found that TAs (usually grad students" absolutely despise premed students.

Do everything as best you can and he won't have anything to mark you off for or criticize you for.

 

[Noah Capurso]

Speak with the professor and be as cordial and professional as possible. Make it sound like a misunderstanding and not that he is out to get you. Finally, under no circumstances should you say "I think he doesn't like me because he is a grad student and I'm a premed." That never flies.

 

[JoshuaGuit]

Oh man, ochem lab is awful lol. I do very well on the prelabs, post labs, and quizzes, however I always make one mistake during the experiment... usually at the end. Somehow I always end up spilling my flask after recrystallization, having my tarred vial spill out my product right after final massing, or having my taring paper with product on it blown away while trying to get the melting point.

Hopefully these labs don't reflect what we will go through in medical school... it is extremely frustrating 😡

BTW, why don't you just follow what your lab manual tells you to do? Most of the time it is written by some faculty at your university who knows how the ochem lab is actually set up and what tools you have at your disposal. The MIT digital lab techniques might not be what your lab manual tells you to do. You can never go wrong just following what they tell you to do.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

That sounds EXACTLY like the format and sequence of my organic lab hmm. Anyways... I found that TAs (usually grad students" absolutely despise premed students.

Do everything as best you can and he won't have anything to mark you off for or criticize you for.

How do your TA's even know if you're premed or not...?

 

[Violagirl]

Haha no, I won't say that. I'm thinking I'll just tell her that I have a concern with my TA with how he responds to situations when mistakes take place and tell her what happened with the first experiment.

I do follow the manuel and the readings from our textbook that covers techniques and use both in writing up my prelab for each experiment. However, it's not always enough for me to follow to fully understand what to do and I usually learn the best from using a visual aid as well.

I don't believe my TA knows that I'm a premed student as I've never told him lol. Unless he's assuming it.

 

[13132]

How do your TA's even know if you're premed or not...?

I have noticed the are pretty adept at guessing. Also, I have had classes where I have filled out an "about you" sheet. I stopped putting my actual career goals.

I also had a discussion TA ask the class how many were premed. when 4/5 raised their hands he made some sarcastic remark about how that number will be very different by the time we get ready to apply.

 

[coyotelime]

Sorry to hear that man, I had a a total bro for Orgo lab both semesters and he was good friends with everyone in my lab. He wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination but a very fair grader and extremely helpful.

It sounds like you just got stuck with a bad TA; maybe try being nice to him all the time and maybe you'll be rewarded?

 

[13132]

Sorry to hear that man, I had a a total bro for Orgo lab both semesters and he was good friends with everyone in my lab. He wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination but a very fair grader and extremely helpful.

It sounds like you just got stuck with a bad TA; maybe try being nice to him all the time and maybe you'll be rewarded?

It was 2 years ago and I was really nice to him. He actually asked me to join his group, which I did and it was a rash decision and I switched haha.

Now he doesnt like me...but for good reason!