Organic Chem advice?

[geefur16]

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I have two situations and would like input re:which one would be wiser. I need to take both Organic I and II, physics, and the PCAT before I apply to pharmacy school. Do you think it's better to: 1) take both organics in the summer (over 10 weeks total) and have that knowledge before I take the PCAT - but no physics knowledge (obviously taking organic I and II each over 5 wks will be incredibly intense and my grades in these classes will probably suffer) or 2) take organic I in the fall semester and organic II in the winter semester - but I will only have had ~1 month of organic before I take the PCAT in October. (I will take physics in the summer and will at least have that knowledge prior to the PCAT.) I only plan on taking the PCAT once - so I obviously have to do my best. Any advice re: the two options would be helpful. Thanks a lot!

 

[patmcd]

I would take ochem during the fall/winter. Its knowledge that will come in handy later. As I recall there wasn't a whole lot of organic on the PCAT anyhow.

 

[RxGirlie]

I have two situations and would like input re:which one would be wiser. I need to take both Organic I and II, physics, and the PCAT before I apply to pharmacy school. Do you think it's better to: 1) take both organics in the summer (over 10 weeks total) and have that knowledge before I take the PCAT - but no physics knowledge (obviously taking organic I and II each over 5 wks will be incredibly intense and my grades in these classes will probably suffer) or 2) take organic I in the fall semester and organic II in the winter semester - but I will only have had ~1 month of organic before I take the PCAT in October. (I will take physics in the summer and will at least have that knowledge prior to the PCAT.) I only plan on taking the PCAT once - so I obviously have to do my best. Any advice re: the two options would be helpful. Thanks a lot!

Geerful16 are u in GA and if you are what school is that that offers ochem over 10 wk period???

 

[geefur16]

Geerful16 are u in GA and if you are what school is that that offers ochem over 10 wk period???

I live in Kansas City. I actually found several schools around here that offer each organic over a 4-5 wk period during the summer.

 

[DHG]

I took Organic I and II over one summer and it sucked. I don't recommend it unless you have no choice. Really out of the three there is only Organic I on the PCAT. I don't recall any Org. II or Physics on it. Why not just take OChem I during the summer and then take OChem II and Physics in the Fall?

 

[UnclePimpJuice]

I have two situations and would like input re:which one would be wiser. I need to take both Organic I and II, physics, and the PCAT before I apply to pharmacy school. Do you think it's better to: 1) take both organics in the summer (over 10 weeks total) and have that knowledge before I take the PCAT - but no physics knowledge (obviously taking organic I and II each over 5 wks will be incredibly intense and my grades in these classes will probably suffer) or 2) take organic I in the fall semester and organic II in the winter semester - but I will only have had ~1 month of organic before I take the PCAT in October. (I will take physics in the summer and will at least have that knowledge prior to the PCAT.) I only plan on taking the PCAT once - so I obviously have to do my best. Any advice re: the two options would be helpful. Thanks a lot!

Take ochem 1 over the summer. Yes, there is a lot of ochem on the pcat, but it's all easy stuff from ochem 1. There is NO physics on the pcat.

 

[beccala33]

I have two situations and would like input re:which one would be wiser. I need to take both Organic I and II, physics, and the PCAT before I apply to pharmacy school. Do you think it's better to: 1) take both organics in the summer (over 10 weeks total) and have that knowledge before I take the PCAT - but no physics knowledge (obviously taking organic I and II each over 5 wks will be incredibly intense and my grades in these classes will probably suffer) or 2) take organic I in the fall semester and organic II in the winter semester - but I will only have had ~1 month of organic before I take the PCAT in October. (I will take physics in the summer and will at least have that knowledge prior to the PCAT.) I only plan on taking the PCAT once - so I obviously have to do my best. Any advice re: the two options would be helpful. Thanks a lot!

TAKE OCHMI OVER THE SUMMER!!! Don't try to take the pcat without it. That's what I did, I took I over the summer and II in the fall. It wasn't fun (especially because I also took A&P I and II at the same time), but it's doable. Dispite what other people say, there is a TON of ochem on the pcat.

 

[dana92085]

TAKE OCHMI OVER THE SUMMER!!! Don't try to take the pcat without it. That's what I did, I took I over the summer and II in the fall. It wasn't fun (especially because I also took A&P I and II at the same time), but it's doable. Dispite what other people say, there is a TON of ochem on the pcat.

i took the pcat without ochem and it can be done. i just studied the stuff from kaplan (i took the online course.) i got 90% in chem (86% overall).

 

[aya01]

Depending on your chemistry background, the PCAT is doable without organic chemistry. Just to be on the safe side, however, I would recommend taking org. chem I before taking the PCAT. Only a month of the first half of the course would be sufficient since there were very few problems (maybe just one or two) on the PCAT that required more than a basic knowledge of organic chemistry. I wouldn't really recommend taking both organic I and II over the summer though. I would imagine that that would be a hellish summer for anyone besides those people who adore chemistry and can do it in their sleep 😳

Physics wasn't really on the PCAT. There were one or two problems on the quantitative section where physics would have helped if your calculus course didn't go over certain material.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do!

 

[NCRxgal]

I have two situations and would like input re:which one would be wiser. I need to take both Organic I and II, physics, and the PCAT before I apply to pharmacy school. Do you think it's better to: 1) take both organics in the summer (over 10 weeks total) and have that knowledge before I take the PCAT - but no physics knowledge (obviously taking organic I and II each over 5 wks will be incredibly intense and my grades in these classes will probably suffer) or 2) take organic I in the fall semester and organic II in the winter semester - but I will only have had ~1 month of organic before I take the PCAT in October. (I will take physics in the summer and will at least have that knowledge prior to the PCAT.) I only plan on taking the PCAT once - so I obviously have to do my best. Any advice re: the two options would be helpful. Thanks a lot!

I would not take both organics simultaneously, whatever you do.

 

[nypharm]

Maybe it varies from pcat to pcat, but mine (June 2005) had essentially no orgo on it, only had to know how to name compounds and the functional groups, which is like the 1st chapter of orgo and you could easily teach it to yourself. I didn't understand orgo at all but got a 99 on chem section.

 

[Sefowa04]

I would say you definately need general chem for the PCAT in order to do well, but orgo is not as important. However, if you do have the knowledge from orgo you give yourself the chance to get many easy questions right. If I were you I would take orgo in the spring/summer. Orgo 2 is mostly mechanisms/reactions, which are not on the PCAT (at least not on the one I took).