How To Study Organic Chemistry?

[Gregor Wiesmann]

I just have a question for those of you who have already taken or are currently taking Organic Chemistry; how do you study? What I mean by this is do you read the chapters in the textbook, or do you just take notes in class and do practice problems? I got A's in General Chemistry and I would just go to lecture and take minimal notes, and then I would read the whole chapter at home and do the homework problems. That worked for me, but I almost feel that taking 3-4 hours to read the textbook was a waste of time because the teacher provided us with the powerpoint slides from the lectures. Do you guys even use your book, or do you just focus on the lecture slides given out by your professor? Thanks for the help!

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[Shirafune]

I take careful detailed notes in class and do practice problems. On exams, my professors tested on predicting products, providing reagents, spectroscopy, mechanisms, and some definition/fill in the blank/multiple choice concept questions. The most effective way I used was to memorize a mechanism by following some common organic chem themes: acidity/basicity, nucleophilicity, electrophilicity, hybridization, and etc. If I can remember what steps happen for what reasons, it becomes much easier to follow what happens given a long list of reactants for predicting products, for example. It's helpful for the reverse as well. If you know what steps you need to do for a synthesis problem, then it's much easier to provide the reagents in the proper steps.

 

[smpbound]

I read the textbook; it has the highest Weismann Score out of any study strategy.

 

[allantois]

I did not read the book for Gen Chem. I read all the chapters for Organic Chemistry I (4 times a week for 2-3 hours). And I am currently not reading the book for Organic II as my professor does not go by the book. Do what your professor says, and if he says that you need to read, then you need to read. Also, if you need to memorize pKa values to rank the acidity of different molecules, you are not doing it the right way. As for the mechanisms, I honestly just memorize what reagents, solvents, and under what conditions you react them and what the resulting product is (Markovinkov's or not, syn or anti addition) but all my tests are multiple choice so if I had to draw the mechanisms, this method wouldn't work.

 

[persumas]

I don't think I ever sat down and read an entire chapter. But I would refer to it when I the professor didn't clearly cover something, or I wanted to cross check my notes. But I had a friend throughout ochem, who only showed up to exams, but read the book, did all the practice problems, and pulled away with a 3.9-4.0 for ochem the whole year. I think it is more about what works for you... (though I would highly suggest attending class 😛). I felt the lectures + practice problems helped me the most in ochem. That and making up random synthesis problems.... 🙄

Haha I actually really enjoyed ochem though! My biggest suggestion would be to make sure you do work the first quarter/semester. As you know, ochem really builds on previous concepts, so you'll thank yourself later for paying your dues.

 

[Heday]

So I do it differently than those above. I read textbook on concepts I had difficulty wrapping my head around or if my technique failed. I like my method because I had no need to study Orgo for mcat few weeks back even though I took it freshman year. It becomes intuitive.

1. Internalize basic gen chem concepts (eg lower energy is more stable, opposite charges attract, shielding, etc.) if done correctly everything will make sense, you'll be able to derive periodic trends from logic and generally guess the nature of chemistry correctly.
2. Listen very carefully in lecture. The concepts you hear about should be broken down to the fundamentals of chemistry. Taking notes not necessary (probably should take minimal so you can concentrate on what's being said instead of writing). These basic building blocks will provide a structure for complicated concepts.
3. When looking at reactions, search for patterns. As you do more of this, you'll modify your reasoning of why something happens until it fits most cases/scenarios. Electronegativity for example can be something you use to predict what will happen. Looking at reaction mechanism is very helpful in pattern elucidation (did I use this word correctly?).
4. You'll need to memorize or have a general ballpark in mind for pKas of different functional groups. Also memorize name and structured if different functional groups (common ones are sufficient). Know how to use all types of drawings (skeletal, kekule, etc) and nomenclature (cis/trans, e/z). This is best done with reading, tables, and practice.
5. ???
6. Profit (which would be As).

PS: Orgo 2 will have more memorization as you'll need to be able to read different spectra as well as have good spatial intelligence. Practice will help here if you have a hard time seeing things in your head.

 

[Quizlet04]

I never read the textbook because, among other things, the professor never used it. Instead, I did practice problems from all over the web. Let's say you're studying the Claisen condensation, which shows up in OChem II. Go to the various college websites and download their problems and answers. Be sure to cross check with your TA/prof to make sure their answers are okay, since not all schools use the same reactants. Still, 80% of the time, you're getting awesome practice.

 

[Dielswithit]

Organic Chemistry is much different from General Chemistry; it's more about solving a puzzle utilizing the concepts you know rather than regurgitating facts, but it can be made easier than you think. The secret? Practice problems. Loads and loads of practice problems until you're sick of them (my teacher gave us thousands of problems each semester to do). My Organic teacher had the philosophy that doing organic chemistry is way different than reading about it in a book. Never fall into the trap of thinking you can read from the book and master the material. I believe that's why so many people dislike/dread taking Organic because they don't experience how to solve the problems or how to recognize a certain reaction/chemical behavior. That being said, it requires many hours to master the material (for me it was around 15 hours a week and weekends before a test were more like 12+ hours a day studying.) It seems intimidating, but the reward (I received an A for both semesters) is so worth it.

Also, I agree with Heday's general approach; that's along the lines of how I was able to do well. On another note I'm studying for my MCAT in August and I go into beast mode every time I review O-chem. Good luck!

 

[madmike 20]

organic chemistry concepts are fairly easy and for the most part make sense...so if something was a bit confusing i read the chapter or section in the chapter that i needed some help on (which was maybe a few times per semester) but what helped me ace both semesters of organic chemistry was rewriting my notes over and over, specifically synthesis problems and predict the product problems. there is a lot of memorization in organic chemistry with "what does what" and the only way (for me at least) to memorize everything was to see it over and over again in different scenarios and how i did that was rewriting my notes and doing homework/old exam problems. ocms (organic chemistry makes sense)...this was the only chemistry course i actually enjoyed which probably helped out a lot too

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

I read the textbook; it has the highest Weismann Score out of any study strategy.

......What?

 

[AGSIII]

Would anyone recommend any particular textbooks? I wanted to start studying this summer for next fall.

 

[masaraksh]

 

[hunterjumper14]

Understand the mechanisms. That's what saved me every time. Figure out what works for you (i.e. reading the book, studying lectures more, going to outside resources, etc.). Clue yourself in with the kinds of homework problems that your professor chooses, and use that as a springboard. Take those problems, and make sure you can explain WHY the reaction takes place like it does (recognizing a pattern doesn't count, simply relying on recognizing a pattern or memorizing a mechanism will likely end with you struggling on exams). If the class book, lecture materials, etc. are not enough to understand the material, google it, look up youtube videos, consult other textbooks, etc. I would even jot a little note next to problems explaining in words why the mechanism happened the way that it did. Do lots and lots of practice problems! Luckily Ochem is a very common class so there are boatloads of resources.

I'll never forget one of my friends saying "a huge part of passing orgo is having the courage to open the book." Everyone hypes it up so much that people think it's an impossible subject. It's not! It will take time more than anything. Getting As in the gen chem sequence is a great start! Good luck!

 

[amazing tekkers]

Get that Ochem as 2nd language by David Klein, it made the class a breeze.

 

[mjhhockey98]

Try to spend less time memorizing and more time trying to understand why things work.

 

[anon2014_2014]

fck reading the text.
it has always been a huge waste of time IMO.
I have done fine so far without it.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

fck reading the text.
it has always been a huge waste of time IMO.
I have done fine so far without it.

Okay, but that probably depends on the teacher, right? My General Chemistry teacher let us have access to all the powerpoints he lectured from, so we could just download them and study from those. However, my Biology teacher didn't give us any powerpoints at all, so if we wanted to get A's, we had to read all the chapters in the book.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

Get that Ochem as 2nd language by David Klein, it made the class a breeze.

Did you use that exclusively, or as a supplement to your regular textbook?

 

[plumazul]

Okay, but that probably depends on the teacher, right? My General Chemistry teacher let us have access to all the powerpoints he lectured from, so we could just download them and study from those. However, my Biology teacher didn't give us any powerpoints at all, so if we wanted to get A's, we had to read all the chapters in the book.

It very much depends on the professor. In both Orgo I and II, I had access to all slides and notes, however, both professors let us know that we would be responsible for everything in the assigned sections of the text, and that the lecture would probably only cover a subset. So reading the text was mandatory.

I would just go to lecture and take minimal notes, and then I would read the whole chapter at home and do the homework problems.

I would always read the text before each lecture. I found that it was much more efficient.

 

[amazing tekkers]

Did you use that exclusively, or as a supplement to your regular textbook?

The textbook for my ochem class was very good actually, well written and organized, it wasn't difficult to study for long sessions. But yeah, I used the book as a supplement, an excellent supplement it was.

 

[amazing tekkers]

I would always read the text before each lecture. I found that it was much more efficient.

Same here. Reading ahead before lecture helps so much, when the instructor presents new info, you already understand some of it. All you have to do is go back and re-read the text.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

Same here. Reading ahead before lecture helps so much, when the instructor presents new info, you already understand some of it. All you have to do is go back and re-read the text.

Okay, I'll be sure to try doing that for once!

 

[Gauss44]

I just have a question for those of you who have already taken or are currently taking Organic Chemistry; how do you study? What I mean by this is do you read the chapters in the textbook, or do you just take notes in class and do practice problems? I got A's in General Chemistry and I would just go to lecture and take minimal notes, and then I would read the whole chapter at home and do the homework problems. That worked for me, but I almost feel that taking 3-4 hours to read the textbook was a waste of time because the teacher provided us with the powerpoint slides from the lectures. Do you guys even use your book, or do you just focus on the lecture slides given out by your professor? Thanks for the help!

I focused on whatever the professor focused on during lectures. Whenever a concept was unclear, I either looked it up online, often with youtube, or went to office hours. If it's OC 1, looking up concepts in MCAT prep books like Examkrackers would probably be a fast solution for some concepts. There's also a bunch of additional online resources here: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/free-stuff/1247592/

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

It very much depends on the professor. In both Orgo I and II, I had access to all slides and notes, however, both professors let us know that we would be responsible for everything in the assigned sections of the text, and that the lecture would probably only cover a subset. So reading the text was mandatory.



I would always read the text before each lecture. I found that it was much more efficient.

Ah, don't you hate that though? My Biology professors would always test more in-depth than what they covered in the lectures and I always thought it was annoying. Alternatively, every single math professor I have taken has always had really straightforward problems on the exams that they went over in class.

 

[DermViser]

Ah, don't you hate that though? My Biology professors would always test more in-depth than what they covered in the lectures and I always thought it was annoying. Alternatively, every single math professor I have taken has always had really straightforward problems on the exams that they went over in class.

In college anything said in lecture or in the textbook is fair game. It's to separate out those who go beyond just the minimum requirements (which just happens to be the population that goes for professsional school). Are you a freshman college student?

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

I focused on whatever the professor focused on during lectures. Whenever a concept was unclear, I either looked it up online, often with youtube, or went to office hours. If it's OC 1, looking up concepts in MCAT prep books like Examkrackers would probably be a fast solution for some concepts. There's also a bunch of additional online resources here: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/free-stuff/1247592/

I will certainly be using the Khan Academy videos a bunch! It's seriously amazing how you can go to an hour lecture and not have any idea what the professor is talking about, and then you go watch a 10 minute Youtube video about the subject and suddenly it makes perfect sense........

 

[PakiMDDreamer]

Evident from all of these posts above, each and every student finds their own peculiar ways to understand Organic Chemistry.

My advice, since it is not your typical "memorize and regurgitate" class (or at least it was not for me, notoriously hardest premed professor at my school) is to run a marathon of sorts before your first test trying everything everyone is mentioning.

- go to lecture
- record lectures
- relisten
- read chapters
- do practice problems
- group studying
- use online videos/sources
etc.

What was the trick for me specifically? My professor was really fast and left a lot of material up to us to understand quickly. If you don't keep up you can find yourself in a really ugly hole later on. I recorded every lecture and relistened and edited my notes accordingly. It filled any misunderstandings I had from actual lecture and also reiterated anything I already got down before. I think its foolproof.

Got a B+ first semester and an A second semester once I started recording. Apparently its a common oncurrance in medical school too, to record lectures and relisten.

 

[Radon XP]

I highly recommend reading the textbook. I think a recipe for success would be 1) read the relevant parts of the textbook AND take notes! 2) go to lecture, take notes (I keep two different notebooks, one for lecture material and one for textbook material, although you can just keep one and use different pages) 3) practice problems!

Definitely a good idea to get "Organic Chem as a 2nd Language" if you can

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

In college anything said in lecture or in the textbook is fair game. It's to separate out those who go beyond just the minimum requirements (which just happens to be the population that goes for professsional school). Are you a freshman college student.

No, I just finished my Sophomore year. I was just under the impression that I might need to apply new/different study strategies in order to do well in OChem.

 

[DermViser]

No, I just finished my Sophomore year. I was just under the impression that I might need to apply new/different study strategies in order to do well in OChem.

Ok. Well part of college is being able to hone down and gain good study skills, staying organized etc. Thus:

• Reading the appropriate chapter in the textbook
• Coming and paying attention to lecture (some even recording lecture)
• Taking proper notes
• Using group studying as well as going to university-sponsored tutoring groups
• Doing practice problems
• Using the internet
• Using review books (which for Organic Chem there are TONS)

are all skills for you to learn. Many universities have specific departments to help all students with tips on study skills. Don't have an ego - use that resource (which you pay for with tuition).

 

[Bodysurfer]

For me I would take notes out of the book in old fashioned pencil + notebook and do all problems in the back. Also one of the ways that helped me study is buying the solutions book. Highly highly recommend.

I also used orgo has a second language and I highly recommend it.

Then I would type up my notes that essentially summarized notes from class, book notes, and things I had learned from actually doing problems. Importantly, I would type of some background on the reactions and leave a space to draw the reactions with arrow pushing and intermediates in pencil.

The key to orgo is to study hard in the beginning. Because essentially when your "chem intuition" develops you realize its electronegative/neutrophils reactants attacking electrophiles. So for my second semester while I would type up reactions and write below in pencil the reaction, I didn't have to put as much effort.

 

[Laurenxxxx]

Read the chapter/section in the book BEFORE attending lecture. I can't explain how helpful this is, for all classes. You really get a LOT out of lecture since you know what is going on, you can pick up on the details during lecture instead of worrying about getting the big picture first.

My favorite way to study is read through the chapters and transfer vocab/reactions/notes/concepts onto index cards. I bring them everywhere and flip through them when I have time. It is like a portable textbook but condensed down to what I need to focus on.

Most importantly, this question does not have a definitive answer. Some professors lecture on whatever the heck they want and then only test from material in the book. Some professors may only test on material they lectured on. Some a mixture of both. I read the book because my professor would spend an entire lecture covering a small topic in serious detail and skip over huge concepts. Then of course, on exam day we weren't tested on those little details he taught but instead on all the book stuff that he never lectured on.

I am not genius, but getting an A both semesters of organic really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Before organic, I read and heard horror stories about how organic is the ultimate pre-med weed out. Yes, it is tough but certainly not the worst class you will take (especially compared to medical school). Calc based physics on the other hand.....

Go in with an open mind. I found organic to be both exciting and challenging.

 

[z_maverica]

Just give up loser.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Why are you bumping these organic threads?