Does EK orgo cover everything we need to know for orgo? It seems to be lacking a lot of detail. Should I go through Kaplan Orgo as well to make sure I've covered everything?
Does EK Orgo Cover All Necessary Info?
- Thread starter dreamer67
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It sure does. However, in my opinion it also very relative. If you took Orgo classes in school recently and are familiar with material, then EK is great. However, Kaplan can be beneficial if you are not familiar ( also be aware that Kaplan has some extra info that you really don't need for MCAT). Hope this helps. Also doing EK and Kaplan simultaneously is not a bad idea.
EK Orgo includes all the material that is on the AAMC Biological Sciences Organic Chemistry Outline for what will be on the exam. It is much better than TPR which skips quite a few things and it is very simplistic which is what you need for MCAT Orgo.
If you can understand the basics of organic chemistry (including SN1, SN2 E1,E2 what a nucleophilic attack is, acidification, addition of a base, dehydration, isomers, group priority rules, and the basic organizational structures (amines, amides, acetals, COOH, NO2, C6H5, etc) you can almost figure out any MCAT Orgo question. During the exam having to "learn" a new reaction should not trouble you. For instance if you see a reaction on solvolysis and don't remember anything about it, just use the passage and the reactions they show you for the questions. The less you stress out during an exam about certain reactions the better you'll perform.
Now that's not saying knowing reactions isn't important. The more you know the easier it will be. But almost anything can be figured out if you know the basics, or at least given an educated guess. More reactions worth learning that are common would be Gringard Reaction, reactions with RX, organic chemistry techniques (distillation, NMR, IR, and especially extractions which are easy points if you know what comes out when).
If you can understand the basics of organic chemistry (including SN1, SN2 E1,E2 what a nucleophilic attack is, acidification, addition of a base, dehydration, isomers, group priority rules, and the basic organizational structures (amines, amides, acetals, COOH, NO2, C6H5, etc) you can almost figure out any MCAT Orgo question. During the exam having to "learn" a new reaction should not trouble you. For instance if you see a reaction on solvolysis and don't remember anything about it, just use the passage and the reactions they show you for the questions. The less you stress out during an exam about certain reactions the better you'll perform.
Now that's not saying knowing reactions isn't important. The more you know the easier it will be. But almost anything can be figured out if you know the basics, or at least given an educated guess. More reactions worth learning that are common would be Gringard Reaction, reactions with RX, organic chemistry techniques (distillation, NMR, IR, and especially extractions which are easy points if you know what comes out when).
I think EK Organic is enough, but then again my studying for organic was minimal to say the least since I had finished ochem 2 two months before taking my exam. My review was basically passage practice. That being said no matter what books you use for organic, pay attention to:
- SN1/SN2, E1/E2 and all their nuances.
- Naming, drawing from the names and naming from the drawn compounds.
- Common lab techniques such as distillation (simple and fractional), chromatagraphy (column, gas, liquid), recrystallization, etc.
- Common identifying techniques such as UV/Vis spec, IR spec, NMR, and mass spec.
- Proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. This is where biochem helps a lot, I think this is also where EK doesnt give enough details if you're weak on macromolecules.
-Common syntheses reagents and reactants, the ones that you dont need to know the mechanism for, but still have to know what the product/starting materials are and a general idea of how they work. For example, you should instantly know what reagents such as H2/Ni, LAH, Jones, or KMNO4/HCl do to different starting materials and how things can change depending on the starting material.
Organic chemistry is a lot of understanding why and how, and not a lot of pure memorization at all. If you were ever good at it, I think learning it again is like relearning how to ride a bike. Its simple, and can be as little as looking over mechanisms again firing up connections in your brain that make you remember 'oh yeah, that works because of this, this, this, and this' even though you only have a few words written down in your old notes.
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I didn't have any exposure to organic chemistry for 7 years now and EK was all I needed to brush up on orgo. That said, I loved orgo in college.
