drop orgo?? serious advice needed

[chocchipcookie]

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i started this summer planning on doing orgo I and II and physics I and II. physics I is more than half over and i'm averaging about a 95. orgo... not so much. we have our first exam on wednesday and i've been getting literally like 20% of the questions right on old ones while practicing and i've come to the conclusion that my problem is that my gen chem foundation is really weak, which shouldn't really surprise me, since i got a B in chem I and a C ( 🙁 ) in chem II. i'm 99% sure that i will not do well in this class. the only thing i could ever see happening is this: we can get an A in the class by getting an A on the final, but the prof said that this never happens.

if i drop, i will finish out the physics sequence and try to add an english class to finish up my english requirement. as far as prereqs go, i'll still need bio and orgo of the basics, and then upper-levels, at the end of the summer. i'm enrolled in bio for next year, but have no room for orgo right now. not taking orgo means i can't take biochem when i planned on taking it. i also don't know when i'd take it. i'm a rising junior, so it'd have to be either next summer (which i REALLY don't want to do; that will mean i had NO summers as a undergrad) or as a senior. if i do it as a senior, that will mean no time for biochem unless i take classes after graduating. i was planning on doing anat&phys in the spring and my concentration is neuroscience, so i figured i'd get a bunch of upper-levels from there. i think biochem is a must though. i'm also starting to doubt my dedication to health care, so i would use the time this summer to shadow a lot more and try to make up my mind, which i think is important.

basically i want people to tell me that dropping is a good idea. unless you're seriously opposed, in which case i also want to hear that lol.

🙁 sorry for the long post. can you tell i'm overwhelmed? 🙁

 

[Vadoff]

Just drop it.

I thought you didn't really need much general chem for ochem, just a basic understanding or valence electrons, periodic trends, orbitals, etc.
I haven't taken ochem yet, so wouldn't know.

 

[MiniMoo]

If you're 99% sure you'll do badly, I would drop. Yes it throws the rest of your schedule off, but that's less of a hassle to deal with than watching your GPA plummet into the toilet.

 

[chocchipcookie]

Just drop it.

I thought you didn't really need much general chem for ochem, just a basic understanding or valence electrons, periodic trends, orbitals, etc.
I haven't taken ochem yet, so wouldn't know.

those are exactly my problems. i'm thinking of sitting in on the gen chem lectures during summer session instead of taking them. good idea?

thanks for the replies

 

[cfx]

those are exactly my problems. i'm thinking of sitting in on the gen chem lectures during summer session instead of taking them. good idea?

thanks for the replies

I feel like that's overkill. I don't really recall ANY genchem in ochem, other than valence electrons (which you can learn very quickly)...what am I forgetting?

Once you get the basics down in the first brief part of the class (which is where I'm assuming all the genchem is), you go headlong into reaction chemistry, which shouldn't depend at all on a genchem background.

I'm not trying to convince you to stick with it if you're not confident that you can do well. Just trying to understand...

 

[TooMuchResearch]

i started this summer planning on doing orgo I and II and physics I and II. physics I is more than half over and i'm averaging about a 95. orgo... not so much. we have our first exam on wednesday and i've been getting literally like 20% of the questions right on old ones while practicing and i've come to the conclusion that my problem is that my gen chem foundation is really weak, which shouldn't really surprise me, since i got a B in chem I and a C ( 🙁 ) in chem II. i'm 99% sure that i will not do well in this class. the only thing i could ever see happening is this: we can get an A in the class by getting an A on the final, but the prof said that this never happens.

if i drop, i will finish out the physics sequence and try to add an english class to finish up my english requirement. as far as prereqs go, i'll still need bio and orgo of the basics, and then upper-levels, at the end of the summer. i'm enrolled in bio for next year, but have no room for orgo right now. not taking orgo means i can't take biochem when i planned on taking it. i also don't know when i'd take it. i'm a rising junior, so it'd have to be either next summer (which i REALLY don't want to do; that will mean i had NO summers as a undergrad) or as a senior. if i do it as a senior, that will mean no time for biochem unless i take classes after graduating. i was planning on doing anat&phys in the spring and my concentration is neuroscience, so i figured i'd get a bunch of upper-levels from there. i think biochem is a must though. i'm also starting to doubt my dedication to health care, so i would use the time this summer to shadow a lot more and try to make up my mind, which i think is important.

basically i want people to tell me that dropping is a good idea. unless you're seriously opposed, in which case i also want to hear that lol.

🙁 sorry for the long post. can you tell i'm overwhelmed? 🙁

As an undergrad, I took the physics sequence over a summer. That was definitely enough. If I was in your position, I would drop organic chemistry.

Just to clarify, if you drop, is it a clean drop or a W?

Definitely shadow. Think about why you were drawn to medicine in the first place. If your interest is in health care, but not medicine specifically, explore your options. In addition, maybe you could pick up a part-time job or volunteer gig in a health care setting (scribing, volunteering in an ED, or anything else that will let you experience the environment in which medical care is delivered).

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I just finished ochem 1 and there was very, VERY little genchem. Basically about an hour and a half of review on the first day, so not having a solid gen chem foundation should have no relevance.

 

[ruiner]

I just finished ochem 1 and there was very, VERY little genchem. Basically about an hour and a half of review on the first day, so not having a solid gen chem foundation should have no relevance.

I agree, they are different beasts.

 

[Quester]

I'm currently taking full year ochem and our first midterm average was 48%. By the look of things I don't think it's gonna get any better/easier.

But I still shouldn't drop it though?

My prof actually expects us to know the quite a bit of equilibrium, acid/base, etc from gen. chem...he said he might even ask us questions about it. db!😡

 

[Scorpiomd]

I'm currently taking full year ochem and our first midterm average was 48%. By the look of things I don't think it's gonna get any better/easier.

But I still shouldn't drop it though?

My prof actually expects us to know the quite a bit of equilibrium, acid/base, etc from gen. chem...he said he might even ask us questions about it. db!😡

With a 48%, I say drop it. I don't think Gen chem is your problem however. I think you are overcomplicating it and missing some basic orgo concepts. When you drop it, go back and reread the book or get a supplimental book. Orgo can be as hard as the professor makes it, so you may just need help building your own foundation.

 

[anbuitachi]

I'm currently taking full year ochem and our first midterm average was 48%. By the look of things I don't think it's gonna get any better/easier.

But I still shouldn't drop it though?

My prof actually expects us to know the quite a bit of equilibrium, acid/base, etc from gen. chem...he said he might even ask us questions about it. db!😡

The class avg was 48? If the class isn't curved, drop it. If it is, well that depends on what you got. In my orgo class we had a 38 and a 41% test score, but our class is curved to a B- so it was ok.

 

[Web MD]

Valence electrons, molecular orbitals, resonance and properties of acids/bases are really the only things you need to remember from gen chem, and even then only the basics. Gen chem knowledge wasn't that vital to orgo, at least in my opinion. Sitting in on lectures isn't going to help, you need a tutor and a guide book for orgo that breaks things down into simpler concepts and gives you a quick and easy run down on the essentials. Once you understand acids/bases electrophiles/nucleophiles it's just the same stuff with different functional groups.

 

[chocchipcookie]

i think this may be a mix of a lot of things. i'll get a W but it's the only one i'll have. i don't think there's time to fix this, which is another problem.

so since sitting in on gen chem lectures won't help, what if i get an orgo tutor to cover everything we've done (4 chapters) with me to just teach me for the sake of learning it and being more ready next time? i have 2 friends who are chem majors who would sit with me for cheapish and explain things. i think it just came at me much faster and harder than i expected it to, and i think with physics also it may have been a bad idea because study time is really limited.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

i think this may be a mix of a lot of things. i'll get a W but it's the only one i'll have. i don't think there's time to fix this, which is another problem.

so since sitting in on gen chem lectures won't help, what if i get an orgo tutor to cover everything we've done (4 chapters) with me to just teach me for the sake of learning it and being more ready next time? i have 2 friends who are chem majors who would sit with me for cheapish and explain things. i think it just came at me much faster and harder than i expected it to, and i think with physics also it may have been a bad idea because study time is really limited.

The more traditional thing to do is take your friend out for lunch while they work with you or you buy liquid refreshments after the study session. I am not familiar with one "friend" actually paying the other "friend."

 

[Web MD]

I think we need to clarify - it's almost impossible to have actual "friends" who are pre-med, and it's 100% impossible to have "friends" who are pre-med chem majors. The most the OP can hope for is a mutually beneficial acquaintanceship

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I think we need to clarify - it's almost impossible to have actual "friends" who are pre-med, and it's 100% impossible to have "friends" who are pre-med chem majors. The most the OP can hope for is a mutually beneficial acquaintanceship

I disagree, and I think you need better friends.

 

[Web MD]

My friends are great actually, they're doing business/law/philosophy/psychology and keeping me sane

 

[mspeedwagon]

OP... get the book "O-chem as a second language." Read through it and thank me later.

Also watch the o-chem videos here: http://www.freelance-teacher.com/videos.htm. These are better than any friend or o-chem teacher for explaining the concepts (just promise to make a donation to the guy if you find these helpful).

Taking anything along with o-chem is suicide. If you are going to take o-chem over the summer make sure you are doing NOTHING else. You need to eat, sleep and breath o-chem.

 

[Quester]

With a 48%, I say drop it. I don't think Gen chem is your problem however. I think you are overcomplicating it and missing some basic orgo concepts. When you drop it, go back and reread the book or get a supplimental book. Orgo can be as hard as the professor makes it, so you may just need help building your own foundation.

The prof specifically told us that he doesn't bell curve. I did get higher than the class avg, but it's not a number to be proud of.

I had the lecture today again and literally more than half people had puzzled looks on their faces, including myself.

Like the OP, I need to get this ochem out the way so that I could take biochem courses in September. And if I do drop it, then yeah, my summer would pretty much be a waste. Let's not forget to mention what my folks are gonna say to this idea.

Is there a quick-fix to this scenario without actually dropping the course? I hate being stuck in the limbo.

 

[Quester]

Oops, looks like I missed reading the previous post before replying 😛

 

[chocchipcookie]

thanks so much. i decided to drop, as physics is 10 days from being over and i'd rather secure my A in that than drop that down and also do poorly in ochem. i will buy that book and am getting a tutor to keep working on the stuff i couldn't manage so i can hopefully have a strong grasp on all that stuff for the real thing.

sdn <3 lol you guys really help