Organic Chemistry Lab at UPENN?

[yalla22]

Anyone have any advice for someone that has to take the lab at Penn after taking the actual course several years ago (and doesnt remember any of it)?

I'm thinking of taking it at night with CGS (w the post baccs) but am wondering what other peoples experiences are-if the daytime courses are better than evening, how they differ, etc.

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[riceman04]

Anyone have any advice for someone that has to take the lab at Penn after taking the actual course several years ago (and doesnt remember any of it)?

I'm thinking of taking it at night with CGS (w the post baccs) but am wondering what other peoples experiences are-if the daytime courses are better than evening, how they differ, etc.

I hear that alot of the post-baccs and cgs students, alike, take orgo lab at Villanova.

Hey take Histology...I'll be TA-ing

 

[yalla22]

I hear that alot of the post-baccs and cgs students, alike, take orgo lab at Villanova.

Hey take Histology...I'll be TA-ing

really??? why is that? doesn't that look bad? Is it that much easier at Villanova?

 

[riceman04]

really??? why is that? doesn't that look bad? Is it that much easier at Villanova?

Yeah it is much easier at Villanova. I know that there is a prof that comes over to Penn to teach the night CGS orgo class and he deliberately makes the class harder for the Penn students.

I don't think it would look bad to take the course over there. It is still orgo afterall

 

[yalla22]

But why go to villanova versus a school like temple/drexel which is much closer to Penn? Is there something specific about villanova?

 

[riceman04]

But why go to villanova versus a school like temple/drexel which is much closer to Penn? Is there something specific about villanova?

With Drexel I think it might just be scheduling...aren't they on a weird schedule. I do know of some people who did go to Temple, but I have not really heard anything in depth about their orgo lab.

 

[muncher]

.

 

[yalla22]

From looking at the schedule, it seems as though organic chem really is just about mastering certain techniques-do you really have to know mechanisms in and out? I'm so confused about what the criteria is for doing well in this and what you have to know, etc...

 

[DenimDanCO]

From looking at the schedule, it seems as though organic chem really is just about mastering certain techniques-do you really have to know mechanisms in and out? I'm so confused about what the criteria is for doing well in this and what you have to know, etc...

from my experience at penn, the key to doing well in orgo lab was 1) master the procedures and be able to go through them efficiently but more importantly 2) KNOW WHY you are doing them. the exams in this class were focused on WHY, not just how. so you do need to know mechanisms. the more you know about why you are using a certain technique, the more efficiently you can perform it in lab as well.

bottom line: don't expect to do well if you're trying to take shortcuts.

 

[wolfram241]

But why go to villanova versus a school like temple/drexel which is much closer to Penn? Is there something specific about villanova?

If you're worrying about how it looks, Villanova is a much better school than Temple or Drexel.

 

[amathew]

as someone who graduated from penn and is familiar with penn orgo lab, if you could possibly do it somewhere else, i'd recommend you to do so. I'm sure orgo labs in general are hard, but Penn's orgo curriculum is rigorous and not too much fun. I know plenty of people who were penn undergrads but took orgo lab elsewhere and did better than they would have if taken at penn. In the end, its the grade on the class that matters, not where you took it. Just a suggestion.

 

[yalla22]

really? I'm just afraid since i've been taking classes at penn the past few semesters and will be taking at least one AT penn this semester that it will look funny if i have another class in the same semester at a different school. do people do this? How do you all think orgo at villanova will be easier than at penn? more details would be greatly appreciated, guys, thanks!

 

[amathew]

i cant say for nova but penn sciences in general are harder. Again this is compared to those i hear about from people in other local schools. One of my friends took Orgo 1 at Penn and got a C, took Orgo 2 at Temple and managed an A. The curriculum is demanding. 8 hours of class per week just in lab and the write ups take time. But if you really want to take it at Penn, and if you don't have a regular schedule (as in are not taking 4 or 5 other classes like I did when I took it) it might not be as bad. Take it as you will.

 

[DenimDanCO]

i cant say for nova but penn sciences in general are harder. Again this is compared to those i hear about from people in other local schools. One of my friends took Orgo 1 at Penn and got a C, took Orgo 2 at Temple and managed an A. The curriculum is demanding. 8 hours of class per week just in lab and the write ups take time. But if you really want to take it at Penn, and if you don't have a regular schedule (as in are not taking 4 or 5 other classes like I did when I took it) it might not be as bad. Take it as you will.

agreed. it f***ing sucked. and i remember hearing how it would be unacceptable to take it over the summer somewhere else..."not up to penn standards" i was always scared of this, but in hindsight, i'm not sure adcoms really care where you take it, as much as how well you do.

 

[Discovery]

I did my post-bac at Penn and took Villanova's orgo lab while taking classes at Penn. It wasn't mentioned at all during any of my interviews and I just completed my 1st semester here at HMS. I didn't particularly enjoy gen chem lab at Penn and had been forewarned about orgo lab. Several of my post-bac classmates also took orgo lab at Villanova and they also did fine during interviews. I also learned quite a bit during orgo lab because: 1) of the more laidback environment; and 2) we had weekly quizzes which prevented you from falling too far behind.

I hope that helps.

 

[june86]

what about taking physics during the summer at villanova as opposed to penn? i'm leaning toward villanova for financial reasons but i don't know if that's taking a step down from my regular undergrad institution (which ranks among the top 25 national universities) and whether that really matters

 

[y8507]

Anyone have any advice for someone that has to take the lab at Penn after taking the actual course several years ago (and doesnt remember any of it)?

I'm thinking of taking it at night with CGS (w the post baccs) but am wondering what other peoples experiences are-if the daytime courses are better than evening, how they differ, etc.

i'm taking it now. i took orgo 1 and 2 a loooong time ago and don't remember a thing, and i'm doing really well in orgo lab. the tests are pretty easy, and the labs are not so bad. it's just a lot of time (rather than a lot of difficulty).

 

[riceman04]

what about taking physics during the summer at villanova as opposed to penn? i'm leaning toward villanova for financial reasons but i don't know if that's taking a step down from my regular undergrad institution (which ranks among the top 25 national universities) and whether that really matters

I am not sure if it matters. My alma mater did not offer major science courses over the summer...so I took it at a university back in Los Angeles that would be considered a step down...one of the deans at Baylor COM has already looked at my transcripts and did not mention it...he in fact praised me for my good grade in orgo at that school

Soooooooo...basically I would not worry about it.

 

[njdmb820]

I'm currently taking orgo lab at Penn as a senior. It's A LOT of work and A LOT of time. I wouldn't say that it's that hard though. I took orgo (the class) last year as a junior and I thought that I would be at a disadvantage taking the class as a second semester senior. However, you really don't need to re-read your orgo textbook or anything. You need to have some orgo background, but it doesn't need to be fresh.

 

[starbury]

hey
im also a senior at penn right now taking organic lab, i took organic class as a junior. honestly i think everyone hypes up how hard organic lab here is, its really not that bad. i really didnt remember much from organic class when i started and it made no difference because for every experiment you do the organic lab textbook gives a little refresher about any mechanism, and theyre all really simple anyways. the exams arent bad either. basically the class is designed so that everyone gets a B. i would say it doesnt take up much time out of class either, in terms of writing the lab reports, if lab is due tuesday for example you can easily write the entire thing monday night.

 

[stiffany]

hey
im also a senior at penn right now taking organic lab, i took organic class as a junior. honestly i think everyone hypes up how hard organic lab here is, its really not that bad. i really didnt remember much from organic class when i started and it made no difference because for every experiment you do the organic lab textbook gives a little refresher about any mechanism, and theyre all really simple anyways. the exams arent bad either. basically the class is designed so that everyone gets a B. i would say it doesnt take up much time out of class either, in terms of writing the lab reports, if lab is due tuesday for example you can easily write the entire thing monday night.

I have to disagree. Orgo lab at Penn is NINE hours a week. For those of us who do not have interest in ever stepping foot in a basic science laboratory much less doing synthesis work, is that really necessary? At other schools, it's 2-3 hours a week and seems much more manageable. I know we're all supposed to learn for learning's sake and all, but the fun of orgo lab got sucked out for me by the third week thanks to too much time spent on lab reports and too many little points taken off that in no way aid in my "learning experience", not to mention too much time waiting for things to stir, refluxing to occur, and distillation to happen. After six years at Penn in various degree programs and with medical school acceptances in hand, enough is enough. That being said, at least the prof is nice!

I think if future people at Penn (especially in the postbac with other time commitments and not just in undergrad) can take it at another school, it's definitely a good idea. The night time version of the course might also be better if you can stand being in lab until 10pm on a Thursday. Sure, it's for an entire year but it definitely beats having orgo lab both in terms of class time and outside lab write-ups and test studying eating up lots of time. For me at least, it takes me more than just an hour or two on Monday evening to write up the reports and I'm scraping by with a B like most people.