ochem I vs. ochem 2

[Postictal Raiden]

I just managed to pass ochem 1 with a B+, and if it wasn't for the NMR and IR crap, I could've passed it with an A. So my question is, how much harder is the second part, or is it even harder? I've always heard that ochem is a challenging course, but I thought it was a little over rated.

Just out of curiosity, what was your most challenging science course? (Undoubtedly, physics 1 and calc. 2 were mine).

Lastly, are NMR and IR on the MCAT?

thanks for the input,

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[skarma]

Oooh, I love NMR & IR!
I personally think Orgo II is harder (just got done with it this semester), because of the reactions and reagents and sometimes a million things could happen but you need to know just which one. Orgo I was the basics, and I liked that class. As for IR & NMR on the MCAT, hmm, dunno. I hope so!

I just managed to pass ochem 1 with a B+, and if it wasn't for the NMR and IR crap, I could've passed it with an A. So my question is, how much harder is the second part, or is it even harder? I've always heard that ochem is a challenging course, but I thought it was a little over rated.

Just out of curiosity, what was your most challenging science course? (Undoubtedly, physics 1 and calc. 2 were mine).

Lastly, are NMR and IR on the MCAT?

thanks for the input,

 

[Mohammed1989]

When I take orgo I'll let you know

I'm just mad I'm going to have to retake physics 1 in the summer because I just got my grade and I got a C. Going to just retake and get a A since I know what the class expects now.

 

[Isoprop]

OChem I was easier for me than OChem II simply because the first 3 or 4 weeks was a review of the relevant GenChem (acidity/basicity, hybridization, thermodynamics, etc.). OChem I isn't as "synthesis-based" as OChem II IMO.

That being said, ochem tends to be a big adjustment from gchem for people, and that's why a lot of students don't do wel in ochem I. Once you survive, there won't be any surprises in ochem II. It'll be more reactions, more synthesis, and more mechanisms.

 

[Isoprop]

Oh, my most challenging science class was probably genetics or biochem. Out of the prereq sciences, probably ochem.

Also, yes: IR and NMR specs are on the MCAT.

 

[Cybii]

I just managed to pass ochem 1 with a B+, and if it wasn't for the NMR and IR crap, I could've passed it with an A. So my question is, how much harder is the second part, or is it even harder? I've always heard that ochem is a challenging course, but I thought it was a little over rated.

Just out of curiosity, what was your most challenging science course? (Undoubtedly, physics 1 and calc. 2 were mine).

Lastly, are NMR and IR on the MCAT?

thanks for the input,

I had a B+ in Orgo1 and ended with a C+ Orgo2 (worst grade I ever earned). Honestly though, if the final wasn't ridiculously hard I could have managed a B, so I think you'll be fine and probably end up doing the same in Orgo2 as you did in Orgo1 if you put time into studying. It's a lot of memorization of the "rules" for certain side chains, etc. The most challenging course for me was analytical chemistry.

Yes NMR and IR are on the MCAT, but for the IR spectra you only have to know certain peaks (like C=O, and -OH). Usually IR is more common in the MCAT than the NMR... Honestly, Orgo takes up only a small portion in the biological sciences. Maybe you'll have a passage or two that describes a synthesis of a molecule and you use NMR or IR to figure out what stage the molecule is in during the process.

 

[Isoprop]

I had a B+ in Orgo1 and ended with a C+ Orgo2 (worst grade I ever earned). Honestly though, if the final wasn't ridiculously hard I could have managed a B, so I think you'll be fine and probably end up doing the same in Orgo2 as you did in Orgo1 if you put time into studying. It's a lot of memorization of the "rules" for certain side chains, etc. The most challenging course for me was analytical chemistry.

Yes NMR and IR are on the MCAT, but for the IR spectra you only have to know certain peaks (like C=O, and -OH). Usually IR is more common in the MCAT than the NMR... Honestly, Orgo takes up only a small portion in the biological sciences. Maybe you'll have a passage or two that describes a synthesis of a molecule and you use NMR or IR to figure out what stage the molecule is in during the process.

I personally think NMR is more important than IR. Maybe my memory from the practice AAMCs is a little skewed though.

 

[Cybii]

I personally think NMR is more important than IR. Maybe my memory from the practice AAMCs is a little skewed though.

Well, it's hard to generalize. On one MCAT you might just have NMR, or just IR... or three IR and one NMR, or vice versa. But from my practices and MCATs I have taken, I've only had 3-4 NMR questions but way more IR questions. *shrug* It's the luck of the draw, I guess.

 

[Isoprop]

I've done so many from different companies that I forget what showed up on the actual practice AAMC exams. You may be right. In any case, one should know both IR and NMR for the MCAT.

 

[Laryngophed]

I found OChem II to much better for me than OChem I. I enjoyed the syntheses and problem solving. Really, if you can identify a nucleophile, electrophile, and the quality of a leaving group you can do OChem II.

 

[MN premed]

I'm not totally sure if it will be the same, because I know my school has really intense organic chemistry classes. The head of the department (who also taught both my ochem 1 and 2) is the person who decides whether or not transfer students' o chems can count for ours or not, and he told me that most schools he won't allow because they are a "baby version" of everything we have to do/know at our school. I don't know though. And he wouldn't curve the grades or anything, it was just a lower scale than normal. But I found o chem 2 to be a LOT more time consuming than o chem 1, because every test has way more reactions on it than all of o chem 1 combined. Flash cards helped a lot

 

[sonofva]

i actually thought that Ochem II was a lot easier than ochem I...i managed to get the top grade in my class of 250 people...ochem I is far more general, ochem II is more specific and it was easy to associate certain reagents with different mechanisms and reactions...the trick is just puting in many many man hours doing the practice problems.

 

[175961]

i thought ochem I was a walk in the park. ochem II was difficult, but by no means impossibly hard to get an A in. Also, I didnt have any NMR or IR on the MCAT when i took it

 

[Seraph 84]

Organic II is significantly different from Organic I. In the first semester you're given tools that you get to tinker around with and do simple things like loosen the lugnut, hammer the nail, etc. The second semester forces you to use those tools to analyze more complex reactions - reactions that are more than one step.

In short organic I is all about theory with a few reactions. Organic II will force you to exercise that theory to learn and apply it to many different reactions. If you understand the theory, you should have no problem with organic II...just be prepared to learn a lot of reactions, but don't memorize them, you want to understand them.

And, yes, there is IR and NMR on the MCAT, unless it's been changed for the 2010 dates.