Organic chemistry 1 and intro Biochemistry together

[Rainspeckle]

First off, sorry if this has been posted, after some searching I can not find much on this subject and would like some opinions on it.

I am planning to take ogranic chemistry 1 and biochemistry together. My adviser said with good study habits it was feasible so I agreed to it. I did however want to get some second opinions by others on what they thought about taking both of these classes together. I do understand that biochem uses some topic learned from organic 1 but is it feasible? Also I planned on studying some organic chem over the summer to possibly lighten the load, using various youtube videos and websites such as khans for example. Please give any and all feedback, much appreciated and thank you in advance.

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[Ad2b]

my biochem course required Ochem 1... and I don't know that it was really necessary but it did help to know how things fit together and why enzymes worked like they did as well as mechanisms (chymotrypsin, for instance).

 

[eteshoe]

Don't shoot yourself in the foot. Take ochem first (I and II) and learn the foundational material. Then take biochem.

 

[allantois]

If it's taught properly, Biochem would make little sense without Orgo I at the minimum.

 

[AMSRebel]

I'd say it'd be dependent on your school. Some biochemistry classes require in-depth mechanistic understanding; others are just pure memorization. If you actually commit to understanding organic chemistry throughout the summer, you should be fine.

Nonetheless, you’d be better off asking around students at your uni than anybody on SDSN.

 

[Medgrant]

Didn't know many universities allowed biochemistry without finishing the organic chemistry series. As mentioned before, its best to talk to some students who have taken the classes and see if you can handle both together. Also, don't believe what everyone tells you. I've been told that difficult professors and classes were easy and vice versa.

I decided to take the rest of my classes needed to graduate for multiple reasons. My adviser suggested I not, but let me make the decision since I have done well in every class I've taken. I am in class 8-12 1-6 most of the week, except for a day where I have an afternoon off. I spend almost ALL of my free time in the library studying and doing school work and some days its not enough due to constant assignments, reports, papers, quizzes, and exams.

Unless you really need to, don't put yourself in a situation like that which may cause you to drop the class or beat yourself up. Also, enjoy your summer. I wouldn't bother with studying ahead of time like that.

 

[DingoPingo]

I wouldn't do it unless there was no other choice. It's just not a smart decision to pile on hard classes at the same time.

 

[kiwifriend]

I did it and it was fine in the end, but I don't recommend it. My biochem class didn't require organic chemistry (just 2 semesters of gen chem and 2 semesters of bio), but I pretty much had to redo all of biochem for the MCAT. My biochem class really glossed over all the mechanisms so I wasn't really prepared as I could have been.

 

[JustAPhD]

If it's taught properly, Biochem would make little sense without Orgo I at the minimum.

That.

But this is also why you need to ask your peers, because it varies from college to college. I will say that if I (n=1) went into my undergrad biochem class without have previously taken ochem, I would have been dead in the water. Thermo and acid/base chem would've been ok, but once the mechanisms hit I probably would've committed seppuku in the library.

 

[mistafab]

If you still have more than 1/2 semesters left, why make it that much harder on your self? What on earth is an adviser telling you that for? You haven't even learned about alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes yet. How would you understand biochemistry without even a basic understanding of chair confirmations, fischer projections, etc.?

Anyway, you asked this without a lot of context. Some good things to know is 1) your year in school, 2) your major, 3) how you've performed in other science classes, and 4) what other chem/bio courses you've taken.

 

[benjamin94559]

Its doable. I had a little bit of organic in high school so I think if I were in that situation it would be rather unfortunate but survivable.

That being said, what other thing has such a high opportunity cost that you need to double up?

 

[Astra]

Ask for the syllabus for each class.

See if the topics covered in Biochem require Orgo.

If they do, then take biochem later.

 

[raiderette]

Remember that you aren't just taking the class as a prerequisite, but you want to understand it for the MCAT.

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[Azete]

I mean honestly, how much Org do you really need for Biochem? Hydrogen bonding, understanding pKas, and maybe a little bit of electrophile vs nucleophile -- that's about all I can think of. Some things might make more sense with Org but 99% of Biochem is brute memorization anyway.

 

[Azete]

Remember that you aren't just taking the class as a prerequisite, but you want to understand it for the MCAT.

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Most Biochem classes are insane overkill for what's required for MCAT. He could learn MCAT Biochem in a week without ever taking the class.

 

[raiderette]

Most Biochem classes are insane overkill for what's required for MCAT. He could learn MCAT Biochem in a week without ever taking the class.

My biochemistry class helped a lot, and my score reflected it. Test prep is so much easier when it is all review.

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