Organic chemistry study tips? :(

[Rinasza]

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Hi! This is my first post on here, so I hope I did it the right way. 🙂

I'm really stressed out about organic chemistry. I went to one office hour a day since the start of the year (every T.A. plus the professor every week!), went to every class, perfect scores on homework, read all the chapters and worked at least a hundred problems to prepare. I even watched lecture videos from other schools! I worked so hard, and I swear I felt like I was really prepared! But when I took the first test last night, half of the multiple choice section ended up being true/false stuff that was never mentioned in class, the book, homework or office hours at all (or was awkwardly worded to the point at which I just couldn't understand). While more of the test was free response stuff that I felt confident on, the MC was worth a lot.

Scores aren't out yet but everyone else seems to be freaking out, too. I just don't think there's anything else I could have done to prepare for this exam, but I know for certain that I didn't do well. I feel like I completely wasted my time working so hard, and I'm really upset about it. Professor had said she made the test really hard during an office hour, but I didn't think it would be over weird stuff I'd never even seen before.

What do you guys think I should do? Have you ever been in a situation like this? I know it's probably my own fault for not studying hard enough, but I don't know what else to do to prepare. Any tips? :'( I actually really like the material and I think organic chemistry is fun, but I want my grade to reflect that, too--so if you know of any resources for extra practice I'd really appreciate it if you'd share! It's only going to get harder from here...

Thank you!!

 

[GiveMeThatMD]

Is there a curve? If everyone felt like they failed... well, then you'd just need to fail a little less than everyone else. Khan Academy, quizlet combinations, and work the **** out of practice problems. In the meantime, Xanax.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

Sue her for everything she's worth.

It's sounds like you certainly put a ton of work into it. Sometimes the easiest thing to do is blame the professor for a hard test, compounded by the herd mentality of everyone else thinking it was unfair too. Maybe that's not what this is, but even so there's nothing you can do to change the past. Don't freak out until you get your grade, and after that if you're not happy with it you're already meeting with the prof and TAs all the time, so you'll have the opportunity to get their input on how you could have prepared for questions that you feel right now were unfair.

And of course, once in a while, there are professors who legitimately give wildly unfair tests with questions that students could not answer based on what they studied. This probably happens 90% less frequently than students think it happens, but when it does there's not much you can do anyway.

 

[7331poas]

Just because you havent seen it before doesnt mean you shouldnt be expected to understand how to get there. For organic I its not usually like that, but I definitely had an Organic II teacher who would put things none of us could have imagined, and expected critical thought to be used.

Time to get used to it.