How to study for orgo I final?

[DrHoosier]

So right now my orgo grade is somewhere in the mid to low C range. I did decent on the first two tests, pretty good on the quizzes, but I know I did really bad on the last test (Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2, synthesis, etc.), but I haven't gotten it back yet.

My final is in two weeks and it counts for 1/3 of my entire grade for the course. So if I can pull even a decent grade, I will pull my grade up significantly.

I am just wondering what approaches other people have taken that have worked when studying for an orgo I final. I really need to do good on this but I am unsure of how to study. I am planning on studying everyday until the exam so I should have around 30-35 hours to put into studying.

Thanks for the help everyone!

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[MSRM]

The best way I found to study for orgo was to make a list of all the mechanisms, with rules, and learn them REAL well. After that, just do many many practice problems so you know what curveballs can be thrown at you during the test. Also, ask your professor what a good source of sample problems would be for his test if your textbook is not sufficient.

 

[chrisp]

it depends how your tests are. If they are heavy on mechanisms then make sure you have a complete review sheet of all the mechanisms. I just took my orgo 2 final and I created a thing I called my "orgo bible" which I wrote down every reaction that can occur that I learned. Not mechanisms just that if you have A if you add B youll get C (secondary alcohol --PBr3--> bromine by SN2). that seemed to help me out the most on multi step synthesis.

And if you can make up saying to help you memorize the reactions. "Backside attack" for Sn2 was a favorite in my class lol

 

[Lunasly]

So right now my orgo grade is somewhere in the mid to low C range. I did decent on the first two tests, pretty good on the quizzes, but I know I did really bad on the last test (Sn1, Sn2, E1, E2, synthesis, etc.), but I haven't gotten it back yet.

My final is in two weeks and it counts for 1/3 of my entire grade for the course. So if I can pull even a decent grade, I will pull my grade up significantly.

I am just wondering what approaches other people have taken that have worked when studying for an orgo I final. I really need to do good on this but I am unsure of how to study. I am planning on studying everyday until the exam so I should have around 30-35 hours to put into studying.

Thanks for the help everyone!

I may not be of as much help here as I have NOT taken Orgo, yet. However, I have heard the practice problems in the ACS Final Exam Study Guide or working through the problems in Exam Kracker would be very beneficial.

 

[sc4s2cg]

Practice, practice, practice.

 

[wlee43]

studying for orgo final sucks. my final is 3 days after the last day school wtf

 

[omgyou8myrice]

honestly, I just studied the basics (resonance, molecular orbital theory, etc) quite a bit, and then worked on practice problems.

Of course, in my state (is this nation-wide..?), the finals for all chemistry classes are state-standardized. This led to tons and tons of questions on the tests that I didn't know and had never heard of. Studying was almost pointless for me as I still earned a low C (68 iirc), and it as curved up to a high A.

And I'm sure you already know this, but it should probably be said. Orgo II is nothing but crap-ass mechanisms and synthesis. Start working on it or you'll find yourself drowning quickly.

 

[kexy]

I agree with most of the advice above.... you need to make an "orgo bible." Staple together sheets of white paper, make 4 sections: 1. reactions, 2. mechanisms, 3. data, 4. synthesis tricks. If your tests are mechanism-heavy, make sure you write out the mechanisms enough times that you could do it in your sleep. Just looking at them will never, ever help... you need to practice writing them. 3 involves things like pka values, IR and NMR values, etc. 4 is probably the most important: in doing all of your practice problems, whenever you come across some sneaky little trick--or whenever you miss a problem--write that down in your bible! For example, "oh wow... I didn't realize x could react with y to form z! If I see z, remember that it could have come from y."

One last thing that has been IMMENSELY helpful to me in both I and II (and can be a real pain to create, but is absolutely worth it IMO): make guidance flashcards for each functional group you know. Make one for ways to prepare that group, and one for reactions it can undergo (e.g. "Ways to make ketones" and "Things I can do with ketones"). If you memorize these cards, you will never, ever get stuck in the middle of a synthesis. Good luck

 

[asli]

Also---you might have heard of people who memorize their way through orgo, but it is not helpful AT ALL. This just makes it much more difficult to retain the material. Like others have said, practice as much as you can and try to avoid memorizing mechanisms---try understanding them.

 

[hiyaman]

Also---you might have heard of people who memorize their way through orgo, but it is not helpful AT ALL. This just makes it much more difficult to retain the material. Like others have said, practice as much as you can and try to avoid memorizing mechanisms---try understanding them.

This and

honestly, I just studied the basics (resonance, molecular orbital theory, etc) quite a bit, and then worked on practice problems.

This.

Plus remember never draw a texan carbon lol.

 

[omgyou8myrice]

I memorized my way through orgo 2. Woudln't recommend it, but that's what I did

 

[PreMedder]

I memorized my way through orgo 2. Woudln't recommend it, but that's what I did

This. And to everyone saying don't simply memorize: I don't think anyone is recommending "simply memorizing". In order to do problems, you need to inherently memorize and be able to recall what reagents they involve, how they function, when you use them, etc. "Understanding" why this and this happen still requires you to memorize it so you can recall it later. 😕

uh but so not to derail this... for my orgo 1 final, I made a really comprehensive list of all the reactions we had learned: all possible additions to alkenes/oxidations/reductions/radical mechs/alcohols/ethers/organometallics. Studied it. Understood it (not hard to do so). Memorized it (harder to do than just understand it because the sheer amount of material). Obviously, if you didn't get Sn1/2, etc then you absolutely need to review it because it's not something that is going to end @ that last exam you took - it comes up in almost every single reaction/mechanism you learn from here on till u finish orgo 2. So it'd be in your interest now to master it now (really not that difficult to understand the difference/when each is favored). 30-35 hrs is definitely sufficient. I just balled my last ochem2 exam today with like ~20 hrs from wednesday night/thursday afternoon-night/this morning. Good luck/if you need more help, PM me.

 

[Procyon]

There's definitely memorization involved in organic. It's true, a lot of mechanisms have similar concepts, but there's no getting around the memorizing either.

OP, do you have a solutions manual? If so, do all the problems in your book; if not, look for practice problems online. Practice makes perfect.