Organic Chemistry I v. II- study tips

[H88808B]

Hi everyone, new to this forum and this platform as a whole but currently a pre-med student who finished up orgo I fall semester sophomore year- did okay (I got a B+) but I expected that I could do better, so that’s what I’m aiming for for orgo II. I know I’m only a sophomore but it took me aback because I’ve gotten A/A- on all my other classes. I started out pretty strong I suppose at the beginning of the year keeping up w practice problems (those didn’t really help though) and readings but for some reason, I just did NOT click with the concepts, not naturally anyway. Scored kind of below the average on the first exam, scored the average on the second, and don’t know what I got on the final. I guess I have 2 questions even though I know I’m totally overreacting I just figured getting some advice would make me feel better:

1. How can I study better and prepare for Orgo II next semester? I heard it built on some concepts of Orgo I.

2. There’s this fear I have that this one B+ will ruin my chances of getting into a top med school which I know is just very paranoid to say but I put a lot a lot of pressure on myself- thoughts?

Thanks all,
Happy holidays
HB

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[icydragon123]

Dont worry about B+, its a great mark for Orgo and if you get an A in Orgo 2 that will show a nice upward trend. Personally, I found prestudying orgo helped tremendously because the lectures go by fast and it can be hard to understand the mechanism.

I used clutch prep and klein book and got A+ in both orgo 1 and orgo 2. I think if you use that you'll be golden

Goodluck

 

[TheBiologist]

you will think you understand chemical mechanisms by looking at it until you are given blank paper on the test and asked to draw one. MAKE sure you can actually do synthesis/mechs from scratch

 

[BehindBlueEyes]

Don't sweat the B+, it's your first experience with organic chemistry and it's a tough subject. Getting into a great medical school is about much more than a grade in organic I.

Preparation for organic II depends on how organic I was structured. Some courses go all the way through the material without mechanisms for the first semester, then go back and repeat them with the mechanisms for semester 2. Other courses will do half of the material with the mechanisms for the first semester, then the other half.

Either way, organic is partially memorization and partially looking at the big picture. Know the reactions and the mechanisms, but more importantly think critically about why they happen the way they do so you can "predict" a reaction/mechanism you haven't seen before or don't recognize.

Best of luck!

 

[Forever Geebs]

Organic Chemistry as a Second Language, both semesters, was really helpful. I would also recommend finding as many testbanks as you can and doing practice problems. Organic is all about identifying patterns, overexposure, and practice. This is not a course you want to try and memorize everything.

Like others have said, don’t sweat your grade and do just as well (or better) next semester. It’s a difficult course and meant to really challenge students. Practice, practice, practice.


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