How to ace Ochem

[OrphanageCaretaker]

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I'm currently in Ochem 1 right now, we have yet to have our first exam but I'm already worried about the material. How should I effectively study for this class? Physics and Bio are self-explanatory and I'm doing great so far, I follow lectures, take notes and do the online hw assignments. The second it comes to Ochem, I take notes in lecture, read the book, try the practice problems and yet I'm uneasy and uncertain about myself which I rarely become. Is there a way to really study for this class? Such as an hour a day of reading + practice problems or just listening to an audio lectures? I legitimately need at least a B for this course so I want to start off learning it correctly from as early on as possible. I also end up making simple mistakes on the quizzes in O chem. Please any resources, study guides, tips are more than appreciated. Cheers

 

[THS]

I'm a visual learner and am easily able to visualize the reactions and mechanism take place in 3 dimensions in my head. I would say that many people aren't visual learners, and can't do this easily (especially during exam). My fiancee was one of these people. I got her some models, and by building the molecules and working out the mechanisms by hand , she said it made everything so much easier.

If ya'll aren't doing mechanisms yet, then it's mostly flashcard memory, like any other class.

 

[BrazilianRider]

Treat this like calculus... Success = Practice x 1,000

 

[joiedevivre86]

I'd say it depends how good you are at rote memorization. If you can memorize well, just memorize. If you hate rote memorization, like me, learn the concepts, and come at it from a point of logic. If you can understand which species is electron rich and which is electron poor and how electrons flow that's pretty much o-chem. Practice problems are key. Good luck! I actually loved that class.

 

[Faux]

coursesaver.com actually helped be a bit. Its useful outside of the DAT.

also

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=ochem+2nd+language

 

[sgv]

Make a list of every type of reaction. Memorize the steps of each reaction. Memorize the transfer of electrons. Get a bunch of paper and write out the reaction sequence without looking at your notes. Keep doing it until you get it perfect. There're fundamental principles that you can use to figure out most reactions in OChem 2. If you have the basics down, every reaction should make perfect sense.

 

[discensdentibus]

Rehearse problems, write things down, and read the "to the student" section of your textbook. The section is helpful in framing and orienting your approach to the course. I wouldn't suggest lecture recordings as ochem is highly visual.. especially when you get to reactions. Ochem is a lot of learning how you learn. Learning is a modification of behavior based on experiences. How you modify your behavior, lets say when you get something wrong, is very very important to do well in the class. Sit in the front. Treat everything that comes out of your prof's mouth as gold.

 

[BYU4you]

Do not memorize reactions, instead ynderstand why reactions happen how they do. Then you can apply that in most scenarios thrown at you memorized or not.

And as everyone else said, practice practice practice. Listening in this class is not enough you have to write it out.

As someone else said if you understand the basics well, like molecular orbitals and how they are attacked etc you can build off that.

 

[KMERR4]

I just took ochem 1 last semester and it was my professor's last year teaching it. He is 70 years old and taught for over 25 years. He was beyond tough and his tests were unbelievably hard. His curve was set at a 50% being a C!
Anyways, the point...
The first three weeks of the class, I had no idea what was going on. I scored a 59% on the first exam and had a meltdown. I'm normally a straight A student and could not figure out how on earth to study for this class. I broke down and got a tutor at my university and found myself doing practice problems over the weekend for over four hours a day. I ended up getting a 91% on his last lecture exam after spending Thanksgiving break sitting at a table doing problems over and over and over. I ended up with a B+ in the class. It was the roughest four months I've ever had academically, but I got through it! I'm now in ochem 2 with a different professor and things are going so much smoother. It truly is all about practice. Don't stop doing problems. The more you do, the more you see the flow of things. You'll start to understand why things are happening as opposed to just rote memorizing. Get online and search for more problems when you run out. In this class, reading won't get you very far. It's all about practice problems.
Don't give up!

 

[grivacobae]

Yeah definitely make understanding the reaction and molecular orbital and why it attacks your primary goal. Memorization might cut it, but understanding flow of electrons and such will get you further easier IMO.
Use all the resources you can! YouTube, the textbook, back of textbook, and online problems for practice, practice, practice!

 

[Hannah Banana]

What helped for me was to imagine the molecules to have human personalities. It's silly but it helps by making funny stories up.

 

[Rams 19]

Also remember that OChem is always made uneccesarily difficult so it serves as a weed out course. Try to meet with your professor at office hours once per week so that you show you are proactive and don't ever be afraid to ask him/her exactly what topics are going to be tested so you can maximize your study and review time.

 

[mgc]

I think OCHEM is seriously over hyped. Memorize all the RXNS (but understand, conceptually, why somethings happening). Organize each set of rxns by category. Make a list for Alkenes, Alkynes, SN1/Sn2, E1/E2, etc. For each list put all the rxns and write out the stereochem/regiochem and examples of all the cases. Know the nucleophile is and electrophile and why an attack is happening. Remember about rearrangements (which rxns rearrangement is possible and which it is not) EX: acid cata. hydration/halogenation allows for rearrangement, while oxymercuration/demercuration does not... why?? -- because oxy/dec creates a Mercurinium Ion bridge and this resonance stabilization stabilizes the carbon with carbocationic quality and prevents proton/alkyl shifts.

Again. I'm not telling you to look at a rxn for the first time and draw out the mechanism. Memorize the mechanisms/reagents/groups of rxns, BUT understand them in and out.

The harder parts of Orgo will be later in your semester when you start doing synthesis with an arsenal of about 100+ reagents/reactions. IMO the hardest of all was learning/being great at spectroscopy.

Its really not that bad - just requires a lot of time. Good luck.

 

[manifesto]

Do not listen to the bull**** of "understanding" the way it works. Just pay attention in class and understand what you can, but at the end of the day, make reaction trees and memorize the reactions. I taped a laminated copy when I showered and made worksheets with blank reactants, products and filled one out each day. This will get you a solid B+/A- no matter how hard your ochem class is. If you want an A, then you will also need to understand the reactions well to answer mechanism questions.

 

[LaughingGas]

Ochem as 2nd language

 

[2THDDS]

practice problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!
keep writing structures and mechanisms out. Can't learn by just looking at them.

 

[2THDDS]

Also remember that OChem is always made uneccesarily difficult so it serves as a weed out course. Try to meet with your professor at office hours once per week so that you show you are proactive and don't ever be afraid to ask him/her exactly what topics are going to be tested so you can maximize your study and review time.

that's more like a myth than a truth. lol

 

[superluminal]

The key to Organic Chemistry is to recognize that practice does make perfect. What landed me A's in Orgo 1 & 2 was setting aside 1-2 hours EVERY day to just do problems. Now that I've taken the DAT I can recommend Chad's videos for orgo as well as his practice problems. Another good source for practice and learning is "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language" by David Klein. He takes the ugliest parts of Orgo and simplifies it with ease. All you need to do is put in the time and effort to learn and practice.

 

[joiedevivre86]

I know this sounds cheesy, but decide to be interested in and enjoy organic chemistry. I heard terrible stories about it, but I forced myself to believe that organic chemistry was enjoyable and interesting...and that's what ended up happening in the end. I really enjoyed it. Never thought I'd say that.

Basically, have a good attitude about it.

So true. I decided I wanted to master it and find it interesting and I did. I also got satisfaction out of thinking I was probably one of the few who thought this way.

 

[discensdentibus]

Do not listen to the bull**** of "understanding" the way it works. Just pay attention in class and understand what you can, but at the end of the day, make reaction trees and memorize the reactions. I taped a laminated copy when I showered and made worksheets with blank reactants, products and filled one out each day. This will get you a solid B+/A- no matter how hard your ochem class is. If you want an A, then you will also need to understand the reactions well to answer mechanism questions.

lol I find it interesting you say to not listen to the bs of understanding, and then you suggest twice to understand the material... I got over a 95 both semesters in ochem, a 99 on the first ACS, and a 100 on the second ACS.

OP wanted to know how to ace ochem. I done told him how I did it, and it was not by memorization but rather knowledge organization (my better word for 'understanding')

 

[oceanangel4]

I'd say it depends how good you are at rote memorization. If you can memorize well, just memorize. If you hate rote memorization, like me, learn the concepts, and come at it from a point of logic. If you can understand which species is electron rich and which is electron poor and how electrons flow that's pretty much o-chem. Practice problems are key. Good luck! I actually loved that class.

Actually, I was going to say that purely memorizing reactions is a terrible way to go. I think most students think OChem is crazy hard because the end up just memorizing without understanding. I would recommend spending time to actually understand the mechanisms, know why something happens. OChem is kind of like a puzzle. If you understand it, you can figure things out. You won't be as likely to get stuck on a difficult problem if they throw a curveball at you. That is just my two cents. I was really scared of taking OChem in college because of how difficult everyone made it seem. Some people were spending hours and hours just studying for OChem every day, treating it like the only thing that existed in their lives, LOL. But when I took it, I found out it was not that hard at all as long as you understood the concepts.

 

[swindoll]

Didn't read what others posted, but having a great professor definitely helps!

 

[mgc]

Orgo was my fav course, by far, in all of undergrad.

 

[elhammy]

Orgo 1 is not as much memorization as orgo 2. I loved orgo it was my favorite undergrad science class and orgo 1 I learned by practicing and visually remembering arrow pushing in the mechanisms in pretty good detail.

 

[SCDP]

honestly, just learn the patterns and you should be able to apply it to many reactions and that just takes practice.

Literally doing problems IS WHAT HELPED ME.

I would take notes for 2 weeks in lecture, not look at them at all, but have a huge list of homework problems due in a couple weeks on those lectures and would just solve the problems by using my notes and slowly it all made sense.

Don't try to memorize your notes, work on problems based on your notes... and in turn you will remember the important stuff from your notes and will easily be able to memorize certain reactions if you want.

 

[SCDP]

Also, I agree with many people here, I loved organic chemistry.

Chemistry in general, it's more of concepts/math that you actually apply whereas I HATE BIO.... just damn memorization of information and while I feel like I could be memorization machine if I wanted to, I'm just lazy and that's why I hate bio.

I spent soooo much less time on my chem classes versus my bio classes mainly because what should be 1 hour of studying for biology turned to like 5 hours of wasted time with inbetween studying.