How to go about studying for OCHEM I Final?

[swolebrah]

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I stuck to 2 hours/day practice for my other exams and did good. However I am very unsure on how to study for Ochem I Final?

Should I go back to the begging chapters and do an hours of reading and understanding a material and then 2 hours of practice for each chapter?

Can anyone gave insight on how you studied for your ochem I final?

Thanks!

 

[Zelda840]

I bought the ACS study guide and went through every topic that we had that semester. I re-used the study guide for the Organic II final and studied it front to back.

 

[nemo123]

I just went through and redid all the practice problems assigned to us (and relooked at my notes). I knew which topics I were a little weaker at so I put more emphasis on getting those areas down.

 

[swolebrah]

Do any of you guys remember how many hours you put into studying?

 

[ready2go2]

Redo all the problems ever given 3 times.

 

[swolebrah]

Thanks for the replies

 

[Doxorubicin]

I've found the best way to study for organic, at least in my experience this semester, has been to do multi-step retrosynthetic problems making sure to write out the logic behind every step you take and drawing any mechanisms you may be responsible for knowing. This way, you apply so much of your knowledge in a variety of topics ranging from the beginning (things like resonance, chirality) to the end (the newest reactions and mechanisms you've learned) as well as everything in between all while being able to see each piece as part of a bigger picture.

Also, for things that you might not be able to get so easily from doing retro problems, maybe revisit determining the stereochemical relationships between two molecules. Do a google search for different molecules and draw Newman/Fischer projections. Practice spinning the Newmans around and drawing each different one in skeletal form. etc. etc. for things that you may not be so comfortable with -- you know what these things are, naturally. It would be a waste of time to spend an equal number of hours studying hybridization which you're likely comfortable with and the finer aspects of epoxide reactions, which you might not be comfortable with, for example.

 

[nemo123]

Do any of you guys remember how many hours you put into studying?

Not really. But I don't think that much. I think I had like one day to study for orgo (because I had another final the day before orgo), and that was fine with me because I was doing well in orgo anyway.

 

[BlackBox]

Write out the mechanisms again and again. Eventually, you will see that all organic rxns have patterns- you'll be better able to recognize nucleophile vs electrophile, etc...

 

[dechristine]

I'm studying for my final now! I would focus more on doing practice problems than just reading (it's true that you can't just memorize Organic, you need practice). Write out the reaction mechanisms for every problem... It's easy to get lazy but doing so makes sure that you really understand every reaction and makes it less likely to make mistakes

 

[Laufcra]

Study for 2 days straight and cry yourself to sleep every night

 

[Laufcra]

forever

 

[swolebrah]

Study for 2 days straight and cry yourself to sleep every night

hehe

 

[rolliespring]

Not sure how your prof teaches it but know all the conditions for every reaction, study your past exams and be able to explain why this answer is right vs. that one is wrong. Know acids and bases. Do practice problems. If possible, find someone who has an A in the class and ask them how to study. Sometimes bugging the prof during office hours might give you a hint on things.

 

[swolebrah]

Not sure how your prof teaches it but know all the conditions for every reaction, study your past exams and be able to explain why this answer is right vs. that one is wrong. Know acids and bases. Do practice problems. If possible, find someone who has an A in the class and ask them how to study. Sometimes bugging the prof during office hours might give you a hint on things.

Yeah I noticed on my exams I missed most of my points on ranking problems and diastereomers/stereochemistry. Actually did great on synthesis/addition/sn1,2/e1,2 reactions.

 

[inycepoo]

1. Open your book.
2. Study dat ****.

 

[swolebrah]

Ours is all written, no mc.

I love synthesis and reaction problems, because I like the challange of getting from product a to product b. What I hate is the stupid ranking and newman projects crap.

 

[Mavs88]

I think the biggest thing is practicing the reactions as many times as possible...it's almost like arithmetic where you see it more and get a feel for it. First two exams in my class were mostly content based such as nomenclature, stereochem, enact/diast, sn1/2, etc and no reactions so I totally studied wrong for the 3rd exam which was all rxns of ROH, alkenes, E2. So now the final is adding in alkyne rxns as well and I'm really just focusing on practicing these reactions and it's helping a lot.

Invest in a white board! Also, look up online practice exams with keys...hell, here's a great one: http://www.uta.edu/faculty/jimrogers/CHEM2321.htm & click "final review".

Best of luck to everyone 🙂

 

[swolebrah]

I think the biggest thing is practicing the reactions as many times as possible...it's almost like arithmetic where you see it more and get a feel for it. First two exams in my class were mostly content based such as nomenclature, stereochem, enact/diast, sn1/2, etc and no reactions so I totally studied wrong for the 3rd exam which was all rxns of ROH, alkenes, E2. So now the final is adding in alkyne rxns as well and I'm really just focusing on practicing these reactions and it's helping a lot.

Invest in a white board! Also, look up online practice exams with keys...hell, here's a great one: http://www.uta.edu/faculty/jimrogers/CHEM2321.htm & click "final review".

Best of luck to everyone 🙂

Thanks so much for the link to a practice tests!

 

[rolliespring]

Yeah I noticed on my exams I missed most of my points on ranking problems and diastereomers/stereochemistry. Actually did great on synthesis/addition/sn1,2/e1,2 reactions.

I have a good visualization of things (digital arts minor) so I didn't have a huge issue with that.
If stereochemistry is your problem, I'd say try working problems with a model (build a tetrahedral with q-tips or something) and assign each priority group a different color. It might help with your visualization. If you don't want to do that, what I do on the exam is I draw a steering wheel and redraw the according groups in a way better for me to visualize. It's also easier for me to keep track of the order.
Hope this helps a little.

 

[swolebrah]

I have a good visualization of things (digital arts minor) so I didn't have a huge issue with that.
If stereochemistry is your problem, I'd say try working problems with a model (build a tetrahedral with q-tips or something) and assign each priority group a different color. It might help with your visualization. If you don't want to do that, what I do on the exam is I draw a steering wheel and redraw the according groups in a way better for me to visualize. It's also easier for me to keep track of the order.
Hope this helps a little.

Yup I got a whiteboard near my desk that I am using to work on all the types of stereochemistry related problems.

 

[487806]

I have a good visualization of things (digital arts minor) so I didn't have a huge issue with that.
If stereochemistry is your problem, I'd say try working problems with a model (build a tetrahedral with q-tips or something) and assign each priority group a different color. It might help with your visualization. If you don't want to do that, what I do on the exam is I draw a steering wheel and redraw the according groups in a way better for me to visualize. It's also easier for me to keep track of the order.
Hope this helps a little.

n=1 but drawing structures really wasn't useful for stereochemistry. I think you're referring to the R/S configuration, which is manageable by assigning priorities and determining the direction by drawing an arrow. It didn't seem that bad.

OP since you're in ochem 1, you should be proficient in nomenclature, stereochemistry and basic reaction patterns. Make sure you know the mechanisms well, along with the rate laws (this is easy, it's in the name). Ochem isn't memorization: it's applied so you need to practice a lot to gain solid mastery so you can tackle a surprising new reaction which you haven't seen before.

 

[swolebrah]

n=1 but drawing structures really wasn't useful for stereochemistry. I think you're referring to the R/S configuration, which is manageable by assigning priorities and determining the direction by drawing an arrow. It didn't seem that bad.

OP since you're in ochem 1, you should be proficient in nomenclature, stereochemistry and basic reaction patterns. Make sure you know the mechanisms well, along with the rate laws (this is easy, it's in the name). Ochem isn't memorization: it's applied so you need to practice a lot to gain solid mastery so you can tackle a surprising new reaction which you haven't seen before.

Ah almost forgot about the rate laws for the sn and e reactions hehe