Expelling the fears of Organic chemistry while taking the course

[Ottovon]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to change your attitude on this class so that it makes your life easier? So it makes you less panicky, stress, anxious, and more calm?

Lately I've been realizing Organic Chemistry seems to over-stress me out a lot. My mental impression of the class has really made me afraid of it and I think it's hindering my learning in the class.

For example, if some of you remember my older thread, I spoke about how I had no idea how to approach the class. That was before my first midterm, and this thread is after. After I got my first midterm back (not a pleasant-looking score, I didn't do really well), I noticed that the question I had panicked on the most was the one I ended losing full 16 points on. It was a simple hydration question (duh... 🙁) but for some reason I ended up doing something crazy. On every other question I got substantial amount of points, except this last one brought me down completely. I calculated it- if I had gotten partial points on the last question, I would've gotten a B+ on the exam!

Moving on....we just had a quiz yesterday and I panicked again, blanked out, and wrote half an answer. It was only afterwards I realized what I had to do.

The conclusion? I'm beginning to realize that the material itself is manageable, I'm making it seem hard because of my belief that Organic Chemistry can't be easy, that every question is a trick and is meant to screw you over.

Now, I'm thinking about changing my daily schedule to include going to the gym and running to help relieve the stress -- and to just have another thing to do. Usually, I'd study during any of my free-time, but I think it just fuels the panic and the misconception I have in my head for Organic Chem (from all the years of horror stories I've heard). I can still have plenty of time to study meanwhile keeping a hobby and stress low.

Did anyone else do anything to help them out mentally in Orgo? Share!

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[FrkyBgStok]

i approached organic with a cocky attitude. I thought "this class breaks everyone else, but not me." it was almost like i treated organic like it was afraid of me. seemed to work for me.

 

[UpQuark]

Does your professor curve the class?

First exam was absolutely horrible! average was a 42% but I managed to somehow get an an 80. Pretty much a full letter grade curve by the end of the quarter. First semester/quarter is the toughest (IMO) gets easier once you start getting the hang of mechanisms, general concepts, and thought processes. Don't stress.

 

[circulus vitios]

I don't think it's too hard. The problem is my professor sucks balls at lecturing so I more or less have to teach myself everything. I still haven't figured out how to understand reactions with the curved arrow notation. My second exam is Friday. I hope it goes well.

 

[Tappinfool66]

i approached organic with a cocky attitude. I thought "this class breaks everyone else, but not me." it was almost like i treated organic like it was afraid of me. seemed to work for me.

Definitely try this. Worked for me too. Confidence (not cockiness) is key to doing well.

 

[Wolfman89]

I'm the same way myself, except with calc II. I start to freak out thinking it is so hard so my mind goes blank on quizzes and exams.

 

[Ottovon]

Definitely try this. Worked for me too. Confidence (not cockiness) is key to doing well.

This is interesting. I'm on the opposite end where I doubt my knowledge and feel like I know nothing so I study more. It used to work last year, but not this year.

Also, the class is curved and the average was a 55 on the first midterm, but my grade was only slightly above the midterm. We get one exam dropped and I really need this second midterm to go well.

I just need to clear my head from this class!

 

[kraftsingles]

This is what worked for me, and I know this doesn't extend to everyone so take it or leave it. Lectures were only really helpful to know which parts of the book we were going to be tested on. Then I would write summaries of the chapters, with explanations of why how the reactions occur (i.e. the mechanisms, why this solvent is used, etc) then once I went through those summaries a couple times and had the reactions down, I made a summary of those summaries. This way I got my entire book (by the end of the course, obviously) to about 30 pages of reactions (no words, just reactants, arrows and products) with rather large handwritting on printing paper. This was about 20 chapters (orgo 1 and 2) and I went through the whole thing about once every 2 days, it took about 30 minutes each time by the end of it, and I had the whole book down due to repittion. I threw some examples in the book in there, and added some in that were good in class. Not to brag but I did really well and I think it had to do with this method, because it cut out all the stuff you're not really tested on, and let you know the general rules of what causes what so I could apply that to any variety of questions on the tests.

 

[kraftsingles]

my bad, I re read the question and this answer doesn't really apply to improving mental aspects to approaching orgo. Sorry! This method just made me really confident which helped me lose the fear of this class

 

[Ottovon]

my bad, I re read the question and this answer doesn't really apply to improving mental aspects to approaching orgo. Sorry! This method just made me really confident which helped me lose the fear of this class

It's alright. Thanks for the input. That is a really interesting method overall, never would've thought of it 🙂

 

[Snarkalark]

i really didn't think orgo was hard at all. just remember that despite the rep, it's still a 200 level class with a lot of people and (usually) a nice curve.

 

[gravitywave]

I still haven't figured out how to understand reactions with the curved arrow notation. My second exam is Friday. I hope it goes well.

make sure you get someone to explain the arrows to you soon. find a friend, or a TA. go to office hours. don't hold out on your resources until it's too late. if this stuff still confuses you by the time the course gets to transition states and thermodynamics, you'll be ****ed.

i approached organic with a cocky attitude. I thought "this class breaks everyone else, but not me." it was almost like i treated organic like it was afraid of me. seemed to work for me.

attack attack, always attack.

I will say this: I was lucky enough to take orgo with a professor who was very talented at teaching. everyone always went to lecture. and the curve was humane too, i think the class average was a 70, and the curve gave A's to everyone over 85. I can't understand why it isn't this way everywhere. what's the point of freaking people out with exam averages in the 40's if the curve will just look the same in the end anyway? what's really funny about this is that i guess med school used to be the same way. now it's far more relaxed, with P/F and all - but a lot of the pre req classes aren't, depending on where you took them.

 

[circulus vitios]

make sure you get someone to explain the arrows to you soon. find a friend, or a TA. go to office hours. don't hold out on your resources until it's too late. if this stuff still confuses you by the time the course gets to transition states and thermodynamics, you'll be ****ed.

I'm not sure if I said that right. I can do reactant --> products --> curved arrows (essentially going from point 1 to 3, then backtracking to 2.) I have trouble doing reactant --> curved arrows --> product.

 

[apumic]

As has been said, approach it with confidence.

Also... realize everything in Organic is just application of Gen Chem concepts. Also... if you think of every rxn in OChem as being an acid-base rxn, you'll probably get a passing grade (not that this is actually true so much as that most of ochem is all about electrophiles and nucleophiles, which, on a basic level, have similar activity to acids and bases)

 

[apumic]

I'm not sure if I said that right. I can do reactant --> products --> curved arrows (essentially going from point 1 to 3, then backtracking to 2.) I have trouble doing reactant --> curved arrows --> product.

That's fine, as long as you know what product you're supposed to be getting. It sounds like you're probably missing the concepts, though, if you're having to know the product and then figure the arrows out backward. That is a fine place to start (we all have to start back there at first). The key is to figure out how those arrows work because, honestly, when you get to ochem 2, there's no way you're going to remember everything from ochem 1. Sure, things you use all the time like SOCl2 and PBr3 will probably remain in your mind (largely b/c you'll be using PBr3 for Grignard rxns from alcohols, which tend to show up constantly -- at least they did in my class) but other things like Ozonolysis will likely slip from your mind until the day you suddenly have to figure out that how 5-member cyclic ketone got to be a 6-member cyclic ketone in the middle of some synthesis! (Then you'll go "oh, ****!" and hopefully it'll come to mind during the exam!)

 

[orthomyxo]

Just relax OP. Nobody ever said orgo was supposed to be easy, but it seems like you're freaking out way too much. IMO orgo is a humbling experience. You take a bunch of premeds who always get A's on everything and they bust ass to get B's and freak out because of it. Just do your best and wait for the curve to kick in.

 

[Nuckles]

You may want to start using your school's counseling services - you might have anxiety issues that they can help you with (and I don't mean pathologically anxious, like they're going to diagnose you with something scary. They will probably just give you a technique to effectively deal with it.). Worked for someone I know.

 

[circulus vitios]

That's fine, as long as you know what product you're supposed to be getting. It sounds like you're probably missing the concepts, though, if you're having to know the product and then figure the arrows out backward. That is a fine place to start (we all have to start back there at first). The key is to figure out how those arrows work because, honestly, when you get to ochem 2, there's no way you're going to remember everything from ochem 1. Sure, things you use all the time like SOCl2 and PBr3 will probably remain in your mind (largely b/c you'll be using PBr3 for Grignard rxns from alcohols, which tend to show up constantly -- at least they did in my class) but other things like Ozonolysis will likely slip from your mind until the day you suddenly have to figure out that how 5-member cyclic ketone got to be a 6-member cyclic ketone in the middle of some synthesis! (Then you'll go "oh, ****!" and hopefully it'll come to mind during the exam!)

I don't think I understand how you "learn" organic reactions then. It's all in the arrows? Then what's the point of going over hundreds of reactions in class if everything you need to know is contained in some basic principles and the arrows? I've been learning by memorization of rules mostly (markovikov, antimarkovnikov in the presence of peroxides, ozonolysis = breaking double bonds, etc.)

 

[apumic]

The arrows are a tool. You go over hundreds of rxns as a way to learn the rules. Just like when you learned English, your mom and dad never sat you down and told you "when you want me told you, say 'hold me' not 'hold you.'" Sure, eventually, you learned the "rules" of grammar but that was more of a refining process much, much later. Chemistry (not just ochem) is a language. Right now, you're learning it like a bunch of vocab words but if you can get to the bottom of why these rxns work as they do, it'll make things far easier for you.

For example, you mentioned mark and antimark rxns, but why is mark the default? Why do antimark rxns differ? Many of the concepts here were those discussed at the beginning of your course (most likely) as well as mentioned in gen chem -- things like steric hindrance, carbocation stability, stabilization via alkyl group substitution, and so on. The rules are important because they help you understand how to apply the concepts (e.g., when I use peroxides or light on a double bond with HBr, does an SN1 mechanism or a radical/ROOR mechanism predominate? -- the answer to that question tells me it has to be antimark because the free radical mechanism predominates over the SN1 mechanism -- I would assume due to SN1 being so slow since most of the reactant does not become free-radicalized by the light/ROOR).

The arrows are a tool to help visualize the mechanism. Understanding the mechanism leads to better understanding of concepts. It also makes it significantly easier to figure correct answers when you see a rxn on an exam that you totally don't remember anything about. In those cases, I almost always got it right if I simply applied what I knew to figure out a product. When I got stuff wrong was usually when I doubted myself and did something I sort of recalled the prof showing in class but that only sort of fit my conceptual understanding!

...So my suggestion is to be confident and learn the underlying principles. Focus on those first. As you learn each rxn, take the time to break it down. I believe our ochem 1 students have been breaking down substitution and elimination rxns recently, for example, so if you've been doing that, get to know the rxn conditions. Are polar solvents better for SN1 or SN2? Why? How about nonpolar solvents? In SN1, what is the slow step and what is its product/intermediate? What stabilizes it? What destabilizes it? When is it ok/not ok to go through that intermediate (this is something that can give a good hint as to when SN1 vs. SN2 occurs, although technically the choice at this pt is really b/w SN1 and no rxn)?

 

[UVMMedHopeful]

I personally just lived and breathed the material and got a B. However, I was in a different than most of you because I took both sections with lab over the summer, basically 8 weeks of straight of nothing but organic chemistry. Class was Mon-thur 9-12, lab Mon-Wed 1-4. Mon-Thur would always have a quiz, as well as prelab quizzes in lab, and every Friday was an exam. Both sections were 4 weeks long, so on the 4th Friday you had the final. Sound like hell? Of course it was, I won't sugarcoat it. BUT I found it to be a lot more tolerable than do this class among other classes, especially since most/all of you are aiming for med school and are probably taking a heavy science load. If anyone is struggling now, they might want to think about taking it over the summer. I know you're probably think that's crazy, but it was probably one of the better decisions I made in undergrad and I started to form much better study habits because of it. But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[PreMedder]

i approached organic with a cocky attitude. I thought "this class breaks everyone else, but not me." it was almost like i treated organic like it was afraid of me. seemed to work for me.

this x100. i walk into tests KNOWING that i'm going to do well. it's all about your mentality. if you put orgo on a pedestal, you will not do well. simple as that.

 

[Ottovon]

You may want to start using your school's counseling services - you might have anxiety issues that they can help you with (and I don't mean pathologically anxious, like they're going to diagnose you with something scary. They will probably just give you a technique to effectively deal with it.). Worked for someone I know.

I won't give in so easy! I just need to change my perception of Orgo. That's all!


Seriously though, my professor is Maitland Jones. A lot of schools use his textbook but since he is the real guy, he really tries to push Orgo into conceptual zone. It's tough to get by knowing you won't necessarily see patterns in his questions. At the same time, I know to conquer Orgo, I need to first change my perception of it. I just want to see how SDNers do it.

 

[circulus vitios]

The arrows are a tool. You go over hundreds of rxns as a way to learn the rules....

This is the first time I've heard of steric hindrance. We haven't covered SN1 or SN2, whatever they are. The professor never explained to us what a nucleophile/electrophile is or does. Kind of an important thing to skip during a lecture. My book has yet to explain how to learn reactions or the guiding principles behind them. It's just kind like "here's an oxymercuration-reduction reaction. look at the curved arrows, wee! lol don't ask me why they do what they do and oh and this is what the end product looks like." I need to find a book on the 'principles' of organic chemistry or something.

 

[orthomyxo]

Seriously though, my professor is Maitland Jones. A lot of schools use his textbook but since he is the real guy, he really tries to push Orgo into conceptual zone. It's tough to get by knowing you won't necessarily see patterns in his questions. At the same time, I know to conquer Orgo, I need to first change my perception of it. I just want to see how SDNers do it.

Ask him if he'll give you an A if you can find a mistake in his book. Then point out the incorrect pKa values in Table 6.6 on page 236. BRIX WILL BE SHAT.

 

[surftheiop]

I think visual pattern recognition is the key to organic, if you just get good at seeing the patterns of arrows/symbols you don't need to have any idea whats actually going on chemically speaking.

 

[Ottovon]

Ask him if he'll give you an A if you can find a mistake in his book. Then point out the incorrect pKa values in Table 6.6 on page 236. BRIX WILL BE SHAT.

LOL. On our Blackboard site he has a special section where he lists mistakes in the book. If someone finds a mistake, he acknowledges it. Not an A though. And I won't take your credit 😀.

 

[gravitywave]

I think visual pattern recognition is the key to organic, if you just get good at seeing the patterns of arrows/symbols you don't need to have any idea whats actually going on chemically speaking.

uh oh. the secret is out.

 

[Ottovon]

I think visual pattern recognition is the key to organic, if you just get good at seeing the patterns of arrows/symbols you don't need to have any idea whats actually going on chemically speaking.

Doesn't this apply more for Orgo II, when you get introduced to mechanimes like SN1/SN2 and the like?

 

[apumic]

This is the first time I've heard of steric hindrance. We haven't covered SN1 or SN2, whatever they are. The professor never explained to us what a nucleophile/electrophile is or does. Kind of an important thing to skip during a lecture. My book has yet to explain how to learn reactions or the guiding principles behind them. It's just kind like "here's an oxymercuration-reduction reaction. look at the curved arrows, wee! lol don't ask me why they do what they do and oh and this is what the end product looks like." I need to find a book on the 'principles' of organic chemistry or something.

Wow... that's pretty counterproductive of them. Yeah, go get something like Organic Chemistry as a Second Language and get to know the reasons behind the reactions. What have you been doing in ochem 1 if you haven't even done SN1 rxns yet? IIRC, our first rxn was (CH3)3COH + HCl (via acid catalysis)-->(CH3)3CCl. That's a very basic (sort of quintessential) SN1 rxn. It stands for Nucleophilic Substitution Uni(1)-molecular and goes via a carbocation [(CH3)3C+] which is a very unstable intermediate that quickly accepts electrons from the water [giving (CH3)3CO+H2]. The water then loses a hydrogen, giving us (CH3)3COH.

Doesn't this apply more for Orgo II, when you get introduced to mechanimes like SN1/SN2 and the like?

If you're not learning the basics of SN1 and SN2 mechanisms and ochem 1 what the heck ARE you learning? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to start learning functional groups yet if you can't understand their properties in the context of their reactions.

 

[Mithril]

I didn't know that orgo was supposed to be a hard course until I joined this forum. Yeah, sure, some of my friends complained but micb courses have broken the spotless transcripts of far more people that I know. I ended up getting 92 and 94 on my organic chem courses and an 81 in the lab.

I guess not knowing about the supposed difficulty of organic chem is not really an option for you since it's already been so hyped up. I just treated my organic chem courses like any other science courses. I personally found it fun; it was like playing with lego.

 

[wiscRD]

I think people blow O-chem way out of proportion. I am not a genius by any means and ended up getting an A in orgo 1 and 2. Then I tutored it for 1 1/2 years. I guess I weird but I actually liked the systematic process of it all with reactions. I studied a ton, but once I had the solid base from the beginning of orgo 1 the rest wasn't bad at all. Just focus on having a solid understanding vs. memorzing for a test. I think that is the biggest problem - people just memorize for exams and then don't continue to review old material so they truly understanding it. Rewrite your notes and draw out the mechanisms many times. Every reaction has a reason and follows rules, so if you know the rules you'll be fine. I think the lack of complete randomness makes it a lot easier. If you are struggling see if your school has a free tutoring system or try studying in groups. If you are still in orgo 1 and there are no free tutors and no one in your class likes to study together, consider forking over the $ for a few sessions with a private tutor. The earlier you understand it, the better off you'll be.

 

[gettheleadout]

If you're not learning the basics of SN1 and SN2 mechanisms and ochem 1 what the heck ARE you learning? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to start learning functional groups yet if you can't understand their properties in the context of their reactions.

From a friend of mine that's in Orgo 1 right now, one of the first things they do where I am is memorize the functional groups

 

[surftheiop]

Doesn't this apply more for Orgo II, when you get introduced to mechanimes like SN1/SN2 and the like?

I guess this depends on school

at my school the classes broke down something like

Organic 1- Sterics/Boat/Chair, Chirality, SN1/SN2, and other mechanisms I don't remember.

Organic 2- Aromatics, Carbonyl Chemistry, Sugar/Lipid Chemistry

 

[apumic]

From a friend of mine that's in Orgo 1 right now, one of the first things they do where I am is memorize the functional groups

To me, that makes no sense. I mean...why memorize functional groups when you don't yet have the background to understand the relationships between them? The functional groups aren't really "functional" until you know some rxns.

I guess this depends on school

at my school the classes broke down something like

Organic 1- Sterics/Boat/Chair, Chirality, SN1/SN2, and other mechanisms I don't remember.

Organic 2- Aromatics, Carbonyl Chemistry, Sugar/Lipid Chemistry

That's about how mine was -- sterics, chiarality, SN1/SN2/E1/E2, alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics first semester, followed by everything else 2nd.

 

[Ottovon]

My Orgo I is:

Molecular Orbitals --> Alkanes/Isomers --> Alkenes/Alkynes --> Stereochemistry/Chirality --> Chairs/Boats (which we just finished)


Anyway I need to relax. Oh, and we had that "SN1" reaction on our first exam with CH3OH/CH3OH2+. It's what killed me -_-

 

[surftheiop]

To me, that makes no sense. I mean...why memorize functional groups when you don't yet have the background to understand the relationships between them? The functional groups aren't really "functional" until you know some rxns.



That's about how mine was -- sterics, chiarality, SN1/SN2/E1/E2, alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatics first semester, followed by everything else 2nd.

Ah yeah, those must be the mythical "other reactions I don't remember" 😱

 

[apumic]

Ah yeah, those must be the mythical "other reactions I don't remember" 😱

lol...perhaps. Those're the ones that form double (and triple) C-C bonds. They are also competing rxns w/ SN1/SN2.

 

[orgohacks]

This is interesting. I'm on the opposite end where I doubt my knowledge and feel like I know nothing so I study more. It used to work last year, but not this year.

Also, the class is curved and the average was a 55 on the first midterm, but my grade was only slightly above the midterm. We get one exam dropped and I really need this second midterm to go well.

I just need to clear my head from this class!

I was actually the same way. It takes a certain intelligence to "know what you don't know", but paradoxically it's actually kind of a hindrance in a course like this, since there are a ton of tangents you can go off and worry about. The "surface area" of the course is so tremendously vast that it isn't possible to get it all covered in-depth in the short time available for the course.
Some personality types can be cocky and convince themselves that the course isn't that tough and they tend to do well. I wish I was one of them back in the day. The people who could just "keep it simple" seemed to do well.
My advice would be to try to keep it really fricking simple, and when you find your mind racing, take the effort to force your attention back to the page in front of you and focus on extreme detail.
There are a FINITE NUMBER of important concepts to know, and everything you see will be a manifestation of them. The material is self-consistent. Like Einstein said, nature is deep but she is not malicious.

 

[orthomyxo]

My Orgo I is:

Molecular Orbitals --> Alkanes/Isomers --> Alkenes/Alkynes --> Stereochemistry/Chirality --> Chairs/Boats (which we just finished)


Anyway I need to relax. Oh, and we had that "SN1" reaction on our first exam with CH3OH/CH3OH2+. It's what killed me -_-

Looks like you just finished chapter 5. FYI, chapter 7 is SN1, SN2, E1, E2. We just started it....longest chapter ever but it's actually not that bad.

 

[etherealx]

.

 

[orgohacks]

organic chemistry difficulty is the most exaggerated LIE ever perpetuated in all of college course work! even with the most difficult professors out there, there are things you can do to assure yourself decent (at least B) standing in the class. the only thing different about this class than others is the extra amount of time you need to study (everyone studies like hell whether they admit it or not).

OK, what do you recommend?

 

[PreMedder]

organic chemistry difficulty is the most exaggerated LIE ever perpetuated in all of college course work! even with the most difficult professors out there, there are things you can do to assure yourself decent (at least B) standing in the class. the only thing different about this class than others is the extra amount of time you need to study (everyone studies like hell whether they admit it or not).

lol agreed. I forgot to mention this in my last post, but in the last few weeks of summer I forced myself to read through the entirety of Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language. Read through it all, understood it as I went through it since all the problems along with the readings help tremendously. Let me tell you that it was probably one of the best decisions I've made this semester. I feel extremely far ahead as my friends are just learning all the material for the first time. Plus it gave me the huge confidence booster that's pretty important in developing the orgo-isn't-hard-mentality.

 

[Ottovon]

OK, what do you recommend?

Yeah what do you recommend?

 

[Overmjnd]

tldr, but for me, organic chem was pie. Didn't go to lecture for 3 months. Still got an A. median grade was 48 on tests, just stay 20 pts above curve.

 

[orthomyxo]

tldr, but for me, organic chem was pie. Didn't go to lecture for 3 months. Still got an A. median grade was 48 on tests, just stay 20 pts above curve.

cool story bro

 

[NickNaylor]

Ochem is difficult. Sorry OP.

 

[Ottovon]

tldr, but for me, organic chem was pie. Didn't go to lecture for 3 months. Still got an A. median grade was 48 on tests, just stay 20 pts above curve.

And in the time you missed lecture, you involved yourself in intense amounts of debauchery with a new girl every night....

 

[Polymer Based]

tldr, but for me, organic chem was pie. Didn't go to lecture for 3 months. Still got an A. median grade was 48 on tests, just stay 20 pts above curve.

I'm not sure whether this is ego boosting or not. However, there is definitely truth in this statement b/c I did the same thing. The reason I attended the class 4 times (first day, MT 1, MT2, and final) was b/c I learned from the book.

Lecture = confusing & confidence killer

 

[Mr Hippopotamus]

Definitely stay on top of the material, and try to understand why things are happening instead of just memorizing reactions. That way whatever you encounter, you can figure it out, and it will really help on the MCAT. The textbook "Organic Chemisty" by Brucie (and some other people, search it on Amazon) is really good at explaining the types of reactions and why things react like they do. I highly recommend picking up a copy and working through it alongside your classwork. It'll seem like a lot of extra work, but it'll teach you the material.

 

[Turbowned]

What worked for me may not work for everyone else:

I attended every lecture whether or not I thought it would help me succeed in the class because I am a firm believer in going to class.

Outside of class, I would read (in detail) the sections that the professor covered in class. I would do every practice problem within the chapter and at the end of the chapter. Buying the solutions manual helps A TON!

There is no secret to Organic Chemistry, it involves tons of hard work, but if you put the time in, you will be rewarded. I scored 60/70 on the ACS organic chemistry exam which translates to a score in the high 90s percentile wise, but then again, I was one of the few who actually enjoyed organic chemistry.