Organic Chem II

[PhantomfanMD]

For those that have been through it, how was it? I just got through the first semester and was just wondering how the second half of the class was at your school. Did you get a better or worse grade than Orgo I? Thanks!

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[SurgeonUFO]

The second half was a lot harder, but I did better (A- second half, B+ first). That's probably because I had found out what worked for studying for me, had an excellent study partner, and literally did every single problem in the textbook (and then some more).

 

[moe_4eva]

I did the exact same in both (A-, A-). Second half is less than a shock than the first (I swear that first test was a bit of shell shock for a college sophomore!), so it tends to be less work. For me, that meant I didn't study quite as much, although retrospectively I think I could have received an A in the class (hindsight is 20/20 though)

 

[tch001]

I thought 2nd semester was somewhat easier because I ahd an easier time remembering reactions when I could really understand the mechanisms behind them. But then, there were more reactions to remember...I spent a lot more time in lab second semester, trying to figure out my qual compounds, but i feel like i learned a whole lot. Good

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

When you take Orgo II, you'll finally understand why you took Orgo I - that's the shortest comparison I can think of. In Orgo I, you learn the "language" of organic chemistry - but the reactions you learned in Orgo I are pretty simple. In Orgo II, you'll learn lots of reactions that are actually useful in the real world and hopefully it will all make more sense than it did in Orgo I. If you were a superstar in Orgo I, II might actually be a little easier since the concepts won't be so foreign - I thought Orgo II was a little tougher, but more interesting. Try to understand the basic principles of why things react the way they do rather than just memorizing reactions - I'm sure you've heard that before, but it's even more important in Orgo II. Good luck!

 

[xucardsfan08]

The way my organic professor phrased it fits the best, in my opinion, "Getting an A in OrganicI will make getting an A in OrganicII easy."
Going from a C in I to an A in II is pretty tough.

As someone else pointed out, you learn all the mechanisms, electron densities, patterns, names, etc in the first semester.

A good analogy is the foundation of a house. You build a strong foundation early on in the class, then you have a solid base to build. With a shaky foundation, building on it will be difficult.

 

[rickthetwinkie]

pure hell. I did horribly on the first few exams, and somehow, I pulled a B out of my ass.

 

[babycapybara]

The grades for Organic 1 were just posted but I'm too scared to look....

 

[PRIMER]

I thought orgo II was easier because learning the basic was the hardest (orgo I). Learning orgo is a totally different kind of chemistry than gen chem. So that is what you do for orgo one. For orgo II all you are doing is applying the chem you learned in orgo one to a different (larger/biological) molecules. The structures are larger in orgo II, but you are using the same concepts from orgo I.

 

[corbis11]

I actually did very well in both semesters of o-chem and enjoyed the class. As others have stated, you will be using what you learned in the first semester and applying it to everything from here on out. What I did was kept up in the reading and practiced all the syntheis problems ad nauseam. Also, make sure you keep on going over your old notes because some of the problems you will have to do will be many steps long and require material from earlier chapters.