organic chem??

[PTtoMD]

Hi all-i need a little boost of confidence or a reality check! I was just reading a post about someone re-taking all pre-reqs after 7 years. I am 10 years out and diving right into organic chem (the only one i still need) in the fall. Tuition is due tomorrow and i am interviewing babysitters for the 5 hour lecture/lab on thursday nights. I guess the reality that i am actually going to do this is setting in and i am starting to second guess if this is going to be manageable.

I have been reading posts about chem reactions/model kits/math skills and to be honest am getting a bit intimidated. I did great in all of my math and sciences (3.9) years ago and did well in grad school (3.7) BUT this seems over my head without a review of basic chem and math. A few have said that the first few chapters of o-chem are a review of general chem-will this be enough?? Should i take a year of math and science in prep for organic chem?? I have a good GPA and don't want to risk a W or a C. I also don't want to take time away from my daughter to retake 20+ credits of math/science. Is it the type of course that one can excel in if they put in the time? I am wiling to study hard but will that be enough??

Thanks for your advice...
ON a side note, i am trying to take this class quietly-i don't want questions from my inlaws/co-workers/friends. I am not ready to explain my crazy dream of balancing med school and motherhood in my late thirties. Is this a bad idea?

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[Non-TradTulsa]

With your track record, it sounds like you'll do just fine. Organic is a matter of understanding abstractions - being able to picture a molecule in three dimensional space. Many people suffer, but a lot don't. You will review everything you need for organic - there really aren't many gen chem principles that apply to organic - sure, things like the Ka of an acid do apply, but you'll review all that.

You can keep it quiet that you're taking the course if you want to - but it usually comes out one way or another. Might as well get used to disapproval now - there's lots (and believe it or not, some of the disapproval is thinly-disguised envy that you would make such a radical life change at an older age). I dumped a successful hospital career as a CPA at age 44 - and couldn't be happier. Good luck.

 

[zed350]

Hi all-i need a little boost of confidence or a reality check! I was just reading a post about someone re-taking all pre-reqs after 7 years. I am 10 years out and diving right into organic chem (the only one i still need) in the fall. Tuition is due tomorrow and i am interviewing babysitters for the 5 hour lecture/lab on thursday nights. I guess the reality that i am actually going to do this is setting in and i am starting to second guess if this is going to be manageable.

I have been reading posts about chem reactions/model kits/math skills and to be honest am getting a bit intimidated. I did great in all of my math and sciences (3.9) years ago and did well in grad school (3.7) BUT this seems over my head without a review of basic chem and math. A few have said that the first few chapters of o-chem are a review of general chem-will this be enough?? Should i take a year of math and science in prep for organic chem?? I have a good GPA and don't want to risk a W or a C. I also don't want to take time away from my daughter to retake 20+ credits of math/science. Is it the type of course that one can excel in if they put in the time? I am wiling to study hard but will that be enough??

Thanks for your advice...
ON a side note, i am trying to take this class quietly-i don't want questions from my inlaws/co-workers/friends. I am not ready to explain my crazy dream of balancing med school and motherhood in my late thirties. Is this a bad idea?

Dont worry about it, you will be just fine. It is OK to be nervous at the beginning. My only suggestion is dont think about it anymore..buy the Organic Chemistry as Second Language ,it is an excellent book to get your feet wet . I was in a similar situation a semester ago, I was extremely nervous to start O-Chem since there is so much Hype about it, so i read through this book in my free time before the semester started and I felt it gave me a tremendous edge both academically and emotionally. Also its a really good way to preview O.Chem-1 and it would give you an excellent idea about stuff from G.Chem that you might wanna have a look at before semester starts.

Hope everything works out really well for you..

Best of

 

[Nasrudin]

Dont worry about it, you will be just fine. It is OK to be nervous at the beginning. My only suggestion is dont think about it anymore..buy the Organic Chemistry as Second Language ,it is an excellent book to get your feet wet . I was in a similar situation a semester ago, I was extremely nervous to start O-Chem since there is so much Hype about it, so i read through this book in my free time before the semester started and I felt it gave me a tremendous edge both academically and emotionally. Also its a really good way to preview O.Chem-1 and it would give you an excellent idea about stuff from G.Chem that you might wanna have a look at before semester starts.

Hope everything works out really well for you..

Best of

Yeah me too.

OP, the fear and butterflies can make you sharp and hungry. It will work for you. Just come out swinging and find your finesse as you go along. Good luck!

 

[Empi]

I'm taking orgo this semester, too.

I'm completely nervous about it, people keep telling me some version of, "just do the problems and study hard and you'll do well."

I kept my schedule relatively light, in other words, minimal credits to remain a fulltime student.

I'm going to check out that book.

 

[zeff]

PTtoMD, I was nervous about starting Orgo too, and I hadn't had nearly as much science (or been so successful at it!) as you have been. It was a lot of studying, you can get by in the other pre-reqs without working too too hard if you want, but with Orgo you have to put the time in to get the good grade, so make sure you have that studying time protected in your schedule.

And everyone else is right, you really don't need more than the minimal gen chem (which is the first 2-3 chapters of the textbook) for orgo. And the math isn't anything more than addition/subtraction/multiplication, if I remember right. Everything you need is in that (ginormous) orgo textbook you will soon come to know and love.

Some advice--buy the model kit, I thought it was silly but it really helped me understand what I was doing.

Finally: I continued in my former career part-time, as a consultant, and did not mention to many people that I was starting over to go to medical school; in my old professional world, that would have been regarded as, at best, proof that I was insane and, at worst, proof I couldn't cut it. But that was a personal choice, and looking back I don't know whether it made my life easier or harder.

Good luck, and congratulations on having the guts to make this change

 

[queenbee]

to the op, based on your track record, i don't think you'll have a problem with orgo. yes, it does seem very intimidating before you start, when you hear and read advice from others about having to study your @ss off.

but, just do what works for you - do the problems, get a model kit if you think you'll need one, and study hard. i started another thread called "just bombed first organic test" or something like that, people had some good pointers.

good luck!

 

[Julietcf14]

With your previous science history, I think you will be able to handle O-chem. Your biggest challenge will probably be that you haven't taken chemistry in a while and may not remember your acid base stuff. You can try poking around http://ochem.com/ and seeing if you can review some stuff. You don't need everything from gen chem but there are a few things I would review: Acids and Bases, molecular orbits, and everything on atomic structure. You don't need stuff like galvanic cells and enthalpy/entropy/free energy. I wish you luck and I am sure you are going to do really well!! Ochem was my FAVORITE subject so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

Oh and I think you should tell your family. You will have to explain and they may not understand but 1) if you tell your family then you become more committed to the idea, thus when things in class get tough, you are less likely to just give up. 2) being a post bac can be VERY trying and its good to have your families support. I had to basically cut off my best friend for a few weeks while I was studying for the MCAT. I thought she would be FURIOUS, but instead she left me alone and the day I finished my MCAT she threw me a party and bought me a cake. My point is that you may be surprised. People who love you want to see you happy. At first they may not know how to support you but they will get the hang of it and the sooner you let them start getting use to the idea, the sooner they will become rockstars at supporting you. I hope that made sense.

 

[njbmd]

Hi all-i need a little boost of confidence or a reality check! I was just reading a post about someone re-taking all pre-reqs after 7 years. I am 10 years out and diving right into organic chem (the only one i still need) in the fall. Tuition is due tomorrow and i am interviewing babysitters for the 5 hour lecture/lab on thursday nights. I guess the reality that i am actually going to do this is setting in and i am starting to second guess if this is going to be manageable.

I have been reading posts about chem reactions/model kits/math skills and to be honest am getting a bit intimidated. I did great in all of my math and sciences (3.9) years ago and did well in grad school (3.7) BUT this seems over my head without a review of basic chem and math. A few have said that the first few chapters of o-chem are a review of general chem-will this be enough?? Should i take a year of math and science in prep for organic chem?? I have a good GPA and don't want to risk a W or a C. I also don't want to take time away from my daughter to retake 20+ credits of math/science. Is it the type of course that one can excel in if they put in the time? I am wiling to study hard but will that be enough??

Thanks for your advice...
ON a side note, i am trying to take this class quietly-i don't want questions from my inlaws/co-workers/friends. I am not ready to explain my crazy dream of balancing med school and motherhood in my late thirties. Is this a bad idea?

You can check out the essay in my SDN blog about Mastery of Organic Chemistry for specific ideas on preparing for this course Mastery of Organic Chemistry.

If you find that this course is beyond you, and you should know this by the end of the first lecture, drop the course and enroll in what you need before you jump back into the course.

Many non-traditional students make the jumping into a more advanced course rather than perhaps auditing something that would be a good refresher. When they become overwhelmed, they try to "gut it out" and end up with a poor grade. My advice is to assess your readiness as quickly as you can and make adjustments up of down based on your needs.

How well you do in this course is a function of preparation, study skills and time-management. Only you can figure out what is going to work for you. You can put in 60 hours per week of study for this couse however, if you study is not effective, you won't see the results in the form of a good grade.

Be proactive about your studies and be willing to adjust your methods as needed. If you believe that you need a review, do a review before you take this important pre-med pre-req.

 

[PTtoMD]

Thanks for all of the tips and the confidence boost. I will pick up that study guide which was mentioned and start some prepping over the next few weeks. I just picked up the main text...$180! They just switched to a new edition so no used ones are available.

Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom. I will keep you posted.

 

[ghostfoot]

Thanks for all of the tips and the confidence boost. I will pick up that study guide which was mentioned and start some prepping over the next few weeks. I just picked up the main text...$180! They just switched to a new edition so no used ones are available.

Thank you all so much for your words of wisdom. I will keep you posted.

I think you'll be fine. I also used "O. Chem. as a Second Language" before the first semester and it gave me a huge advantage. It's not an easy class, but it gets blown way out of proportion IMO.

Best of luck to you

 

[montessori2md]

Remember that all the other people in your class are humans, mostly under 21, and none of them are any more knowledgeable about orbitals or cations than you are. And yet, half (or more than half, depending on the curve) will pass the class, and 10% (or more, depending on your curve) will get an A/A-.

That said, do problems till your fingers can't hold an ergonomic pencil anymore, and you'll do fine : )

I liked organic, much more than any of the other science prereqs, I thought pushing electrons was cool, which apparently makes me a nerd. It was the only class in which I felt the instructor was attempting to show us the whole picture of currently known info. In my other prereqs, I thought we were getting the quickie summary for those who lack the time and IQ necessary to actually know how things actually worked.

 

[lainey234]

It had been 10+ years since I took gen chem and I chose to do the same thing last year - jumped right into O Chem. I found I did not need much gen chem. Almost none until we got into acids and that was well into second semester. You will be fine, just be disciplined (which I am sure by this point you are) in your studying. Don't fall behind and you will do great. Good luck!