Omg Ochem!

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for those who have already taken ochem, have you used any good reference books (lots of good practice problems, explanations) that you would recommend me getting? I have heard "ochem as a second language I/II" was pretty good. are there any other ones out there i should check out?

also did any of you guys use models/kits to understand ochem better? what kind did you use? thanks

 

[146233]

Organic Chemistry as a Second Language is excellent. I wasn't one for using models, but plenty of people in my class did. About 1/2 used the ball/stick models, 1/4 used the weird stick-only ones, and 1/4 didn't use any.

 

[Abilene85]

Totally not answering your question here, but I will give you my o-chem advice.

Learn the basics very very well.

O-chem definitely builds. If you learn the basics just well enough to get your A on the test, but don't have a deep understanding of the material, you will likely have problems later on in the class. A solid foundation should make you golden. And I really thought o-chem was hyped. It's not that bad. I enjoyed the class. Good luck!

 

[JRockdown]

I am going to agree and elaborate on the usage of models in ochem. First, I think they can really help on homework, looking for rxn sites, etc. Do not become dependent on models, use ochem as a place to build your 3D spacial acuity. We were allowed to have model kits on tests, I could swear half the kids burned up their hour building crazy molecules when it would be way better to actually come close to finishing than getting the first two problems right.

Anyway, that is my $0.02

 

[Fiddlergirl]

I agree with the sparing use of models during test. During the homework though, I would go to town. Also, I did really well in both semesters of o-chem by working on understanding and memorization. No matter how many times the professor stands up there saying "all you have to do is understand it" writing and rewriting the equations is the best way to do well.

 

[Decicco]

Like said before, most ochem is memerization, which is kinda nice, because I never really had to use my textbook. That said, I would recommend getting the book "pushing electrons." This helps alot with resonance structures, etc and will help you in everything that organic chem covers that is NOT memorization.

 

[TheRealMD]

I agree with the sparing use of models during test. During the homework though, I would go to town. Also, I did really well in both semesters of o-chem by working on understanding and memorization. No matter how many times the professor stands up there saying "all you have to do is understand it" writing and rewriting the equations is the best way to do well.

Woah.... Ochem is NOT memorization, that's why most people think it's so hard. Same with physics, also not memorization. Biology IS memorization.

Ochem depends on critical thinking skills for learning how to remember interactions. The hard way is to memorize everything. The easy way to is understand a few simple basic rules and eventually notice that almost all ochem reactions follow them. My prof called them the "golden rules of chemistry". Rathe tacky, I know, but I didn't have to study nearly as hard as my friends and made an A+ in the class.

Models ae useless. Molecules get too complicated for you to use them. I'd highly recommend doing a crapload of practice problems. It's just like math where practice makes perfect. It's also one of the few classes where nothing on the test should ever be new to you, so you know when you're doing well when you can walk away from a test extremely confident.

 

[deuce924]

I second TheRealMD. If you try to memorize Ochem thats when it gets difficult. If you can understand a few trends and mechanisms, you can go from there. Working practice problems help in learning these trends and mechanisms.

 

[badasshairday]

Totally agree with TheRealMD.

I did really well in Ochem and I attribute it to working out tons of problems.

I had friends that would try to just memorize the rxns and not do any problems. They would totally be screwed on mechanism questions and synthesis questions. Also it is just hard to flat out memorize a crap load of reactions by sitting and staring at them. Doing the problems will help you memorize them anyways.

 

[Long Dong]

I thought ochem was memorization. I would just do the practice problems over and over again tell I memorized the problem. Then I'd go out and find more practice problems and do them over and over again. Come test time there wasn't a test question I hadn't seen before in one way or another. So just memorize over and over again and eventually you'll understand it. Same goes for med school.

 

[JaggerPlate]

Reading 'O Chem as a second language' for a class right now. Too early to tell if its good or not. But just know ... you are not alone!

 

[Trevelyan]

My advice is to get a white board and markers, and practice in-chapter examples and end of chapter problems over and over again. I wish I had figured this out sooner, because I had to retake O Chem II.

I used to approach O Chem as strictly memorization, but it is something you just have to practice by actually writing out all of the reactions and focusing on ideas and patterns that tie various things together. Also, don't attempt to do the bulk of you exam studying the night before. That was also pretty stupid of me.

 

[shotdiscus]

If you're going to have to take the ACS final after 2nd semester be sure to brush up on your 1st semester reactions every now and then

 

[sistahnik]

Orgo is part memorization and part conceptualization skills. Some of the stuff you just have to memorize, but when it comes down to the mechanisms and transition states you have to be able to apply the concepts. I recommend learning the concept behind every rxn so when you have to do other rxns similar to it you can just memorize b/c you know how to apply what you learned from the basic form of the rxn. Good luck with OChem, I just finished my second take of Orgo I and it was good! Make sure you learn what you need for Orgo II 😀

 

[powerful_squib]

Models are not needed if you can visualize the molecule. I just finished O-chem I and I used the second language book, it was good as long as you do all the problems and understand it all. If you do that you should be fine.

Just remember to do a little bit of o-chem everyday, because it is seriously like a second language.

 

[TimeResonance]

Woah.... Ochem is NOT memorization, that's why most people think it's so hard. Same with physics, also not memorization. Biology IS memorization.

I disagree...it is all memorization. One you memorize a process of solving a problem ...or the events that lead to a descriptive equation. (Mathematics... physics). Bio is also critical thinking and the memorization of problem solving but with a lot of straight fact memorizing thrown in. If you dont think so...take some upper division bio. You have to memorize alot of random facts and ways to solve various situations to do well in ochem. I recommend doing the practice problems and looking at the old tests. Also, after the first test look at what type of problems the prof picks. They are usually fairly consistent in that department.

 

[Fiddlergirl]

Maybe we're just coming at this with radically different perspectives. My teacher (same one both semesters) set up his tests to basically rely on memorization. There would be a few pages of "A+B=?" and then some "write a mechanism" and then an essay. The trick was, the mechanism and the essay were always based over pathways covered in class or the homework, so if you went into the test with every reaction you'd seen memorized, it was hard to get less than an A.

 

[prmdbeach17]

Organic chem 1 for dummies..really great for understanding fundamental concepts. I found the models to be useless about 98% of the time. Probably only used them for a few rxns and understanding chair/boat conformations