Ochem on the MCAT

[AOT11]

First time poster here. Noticed a lot of people saying TBR is the best for Ochem, but I decided it wasn't going to be an efficient use of my time since I only had 2 months to study for it. My AAMC averages are pretty good - 12 on PS, around an 11 on VR, and a 9 on BS. The low BS score is because I haven't touched any Ochem and get most of the questions wrong. It's not weighed heavily so I haven't put in any focus into it. After reading about today's test, I realized that wasn't smart on my part. My test is in 2 weeks - what material is best for me to get as much Ochem knowledge in as possible in the next 14 days? I can probably do a good 2-3 hours of Ochem a day until test day. Postponing is not an option. Please let me know. Thank you.

PS - I have TBR Ochem, Princeton review Ochem, Examkrackers Ochem, and obviosuly the site MCAT-reivew.org

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[jevo]

Read through EK first in a few days. Then go through Princeton Review as you are doing TBR passages!!

 

[Life Eternal]

ek 1001 questions in organic chemistry
It should only take you a few days to do the whole thing

 

[AOT11]

ek 1001 questions in organic chemistry
It should only take you a few days to do the whole thing

Thanks for the response. How can I work on questions though if I haven't covered the material?

To the first poster - there's no way I'm doing all of those TBR ochem passages! Way overkill in my opnion. I just want to learn the content.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

EK is a good source if you only have 2 weeks - I would definitely do it in the event you get an Orgo-heavy BS section. Though unlikely, it's a possibility, so don't neglect it! It isn't as hard as many believe it is - rarely will it really test your random knowledge of it. Rather, it focuses more on the fundamental things to see if you know it. But make use of TBR and do some practice - you will appreciate it.

By the way, do you happen to be in Kappa Delta? AOT seems to be a tagline of theirs

 

[Life Eternal]

Thanks for the response. How can I work on questions though if I haven't covered the material?

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Answering the questions and then looking at the answers should help you in covering the material. If you can't get any questions right then read the corresponding section in the EK orgo content book and then answer the questions from EK 1001.

 

[AOT11]

EK is a good source if you only have 2 weeks - I would definitely do it in the event you get an Orgo-heavy BS section. Though unlikely, it's a possibility, so don't neglect it! It isn't as hard as many believe it is - rarely will it really test your random knowledge of it. Rather, it focuses more on the fundamental things to see if you know it. But make use of TBR and do some practice - you will appreciate it.

By the way, do you happen to be in Kappa Delta? AOT seems to be a tagline of theirs

Hahaha yessssir!

Thank you for all of the responses. I would much rather do practice in other sections than Ochem so I'm really just looking at the best book to give me an overall good picture of how things work. I've heard memorizing reactions isn't the best use of time. True?

 

[DavetheMD]

Hahaha yessssir!

Thank you for all of the responses. I would much rather do practice in other sections than Ochem so I'm really just looking at the best book to give me an overall good picture of how things work. I've heard memorizing reactions isn't the best use of time. True?

Memorizing the reactions is not the best method. You will get the regiochemistry and stereochemistry wrong even if you figure out what the product might look like.

Learning ochem in two weeks is a Herculean task, you really need to understand a lot of trends regarding nucleophilicity, basicity, leaving groups, etc.

Get Organic Chemistry as a Second Language 1 and 2 by David Klein and hire a tutor because otherwise you probably won't see a vast improvement. GL

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Hahaha yessssir!

Thank you for all of the responses. I would much rather do practice in other sections than Ochem so I'm really just looking at the best book to give me an overall good picture of how things work. I've heard memorizing reactions isn't the best use of time. True?

Like before, memorizing reactions will get you nowhere - and you'll probably feel really silly when they give you a drawing of a particular reaction, making any time spent memorizing reactions worthless.

I'd go for EK, since they'll have the relevant information picked out for you to study. But the real rub of all this is that you might not even get that heavy of Orgo content on the real thing. But I would really recommend doing at least some practice passages - even if it's only 2 or 3 a day.

Good luck!

 

[ryanjacobs]

I'd have to agree with what most people are saying about the EK orgo material, but I don't really care for their explanations of reaction mechanisms. I find that the reaction steps are pretty tricky to follow. I've found that the J Co Review online animations give a much clearer picture... but that's just my opinion...