Organic Chemistry... Who's with me?

[climberchick]

Hey all,
This is the year I ace OCHEM! It's the second time around so this is my last chance. To anyone else out there attempting OCHEM this semester, GOOD LUCK. And my advice is to stay ahead. I didn't the first time, and I paid the price, I may have even cost myself any chances of getting into medschool, an F is not looked kindly upon, but hey, If I ace it this semester, maybe they will overlook the screw-ups of my past and pay more attention to the great grade I'm going to get. OCHEM is doable, you just have to be willing to put the time in. So, put the time in everybody, and maybe we'll all make it through this semester together.

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[bella_dottoressa]

Good luck good luck!! I'm sure you'll rock ochem this time around!

 

[UCLAstudent]

I'm done with o-chem, but I just wanted to wish you good luck! Just do lots of practice problems and you'll be fine.

 

[climberchick]

Thanks for the support guys!!! I'm off to take your advice and practice, practice, practice.

 

[AspiringDoctor9]

Hi guys!

Don't worry - I totally empathize with you about ochem - I may decide to retake it myself this year (well, one part of it anyways). I got a C+ after ditching 60% of the lectures and not doing 40% of the labs (not smart, I wonder how I even passed?). I think I needed better study habits back then. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but just make sure you do better this time. If you do poorly again, it'll be a huge flag to adcoms which will put you in a bad spot. That F will remain on your transcript when AMCAS cauculates your GPA, but if you're interested, if you apply to some DO schools, they will totally remove the F from your transcript and not even calculate it if you do better the second time. This really helps those who needed to retake classes. I know some people are really pro or anti-DO, but I know personally I just want to be a physician - I really don't care what letters are after my name. If you feel the same way, it might help to look into it. Does that help?

 

[BallerinaTina16]

Hey, this is my second time around too with Organic Chem. I took 118A here at Davis and got a D+ even tho I felt like I worked my butt off. I think my problem was not understanding the material, I was simply memorizing it. So by final time, I had no idea how to work through the mechanisms. Anyways, good luck to you! Feel free to PM me if you ever want to rant and rave about it.

 

[atria78]

A good ochem book should be valuable too, incase you get stuck with a sucky teacher... so does anyone have suggestions?

 

[climberchick]

I'm glad to know Im not the only one retaking OCHEM this semester. My text is by McMurray and it seems like it will be a good one, I'll let you know more once I've used it for a while.

 

[Nanon]

Originally posted by atria78
A good ochem book should be valuable too, incase you get stuck with a sucky teacher... so does anyone have suggestions?

When I was taking it, everyone swore by Zumdahl, and I liked it pretty ok, too, even though in general I hate the way science books are written. By the way, I did pretty well in ochem, and if you get stuck with a topic and want my bizarre slant on it, go here and email me with the topic you're having issues with. I'll see what I can do. Right now, there's only SN1/SN2 and E1/E2 reactions up cause I'm being lazy about it. I figure when I start studying for the MCAT in earnest soon, I'll add to it.

Good luck to you, and remember. Grignard is your friend.

Nanon

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

My text is written by Vollhardt and Schore. I keep hearing good things about the one written by Wade (specifically, 5th edition)...so I might look into that. I'm already done with the problems the professor assigned so far from Chapter 1 and I'm planning on just working through the rest of the problems in each chapter as we go through them. I'm also taking General Bio 2 (Bio1B at my school), Statistics, and an upper division biology class called Medical Ethnobotany (Integrative Biology 117 at my school). Good luck you guys!

 

[honsano]

I am just starting Organic this semester and was wondering, is it a gradual onset of difficulty or does it just sort of hit you all at once? I am kinda of getting scared about this class because everytime I read SDN people are always telling their horror stories about their OCHEM experiances.

 

[climberchick]

I wouldn't go as far to say that it hits you all a once, but OCHEM requires alot of time, and if you slack any little bit your going to have trouble catching up. Just work at it a little everyday, and keep ahead of your lectures and you do fine. Like I said, most of the problems, at least it's this way for me, start occuring when you get behind. Lot's of people do great in OCHEM! remember that too! Good Luck, if you have any questions feel free to PM me, I did okay in OCHEM I, so I may be able to help a bit.

CHEERS,
Climberchick

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

I'm thinking that doing every single problem in the back of each chapter covered would probably be a good studying strategy. Has anyone tried this..and if so..how did it work out?

 

[CD]

Originally posted by climberchick
I'm glad to know Im not the only one retaking OCHEM this semester. My text is by McMurray and it seems like it will be a good one, I'll let you know more once I've used it for a while.

McMurray is an EXCEPTIONALLY good book! It's written for beginners but also includes the "extras". After my year of o-chem I went on and took the year of advanced o-chem. Several times concepts would be talked about by my prof. that the other students who hadn't had McMurray didn't know about. It was soooo much easier to go back to my undergrad o-chem book and find a SIMPLE explanation of it.

Not only that, I self taught myself the first term of o-chem from the McMurray book. It was easy to understand and started with the "basics" assuming no prior knowledge.

Good luck!

 

[PianoGirl04]

AAAAHHH!!! McMurray! Run and hide! McMurray was my general chem professor at Cornell...let's just say he's not the most interesting prof in the world...

But seriously folks...I don't know anything about the book. We used a different one...a huge black book, but I'm blanking on the author. Anyway, good luck! I actually liked organic a lot, so I can't share in your misery, but I acknowledge that it was a lot of work.

 

[HessExpress]

I'm using McMurray 6'th Edition for my class. I read the entire chapter before class, and it pays off. The professor only skims the material, and you have a great grasp of whats going on.

Try a few chapter problems at the end, but not all of them too burn yourself out.

Also, our organic class has mandatory weekly workshops...these are very helpful as study aids. Anyone else take advantage of workshops?

 

[PrincetonRocks]

O-Chem is a tough subject because it requires not only memorization of basic reactions, but more importantly understanding of mechanisms. I loved O-Chem (but then again my concentration/major is in Biochemistry)...in fact, I even took the Advanced OChem Topics Class. As you can see, I'm a Chem nerd. I was very fortunate to have had an excellent teacher. His tests were very tough, but they make you think which is the most important things.

What really helped me is flashcards. These flashcards also come in handy when you're study for the MCATs. Also, do as many problems as you can. I used spend a good 3 hours every week doing problems. Study for OChem with the realization that it will show up on the MCAT again, and it will show up again in BioChemI. It helped me get a 13 in Biological Sciences, a section I have NEVER felt comfortable with given my strong background in Inorganic Chemistry and Physics. I hope that inspired you! I'm sure you can do better than me. Keep faith and work hard!

 

[Nuel]

Although we use McMurray at my school, the prof (and many others) says the text doesn't really make students think, but it is good for students assuming no prior knowledge of organic chemsitry. However the book is not compulsory for class so I read Brown and Foote O'chem. but the main critique of Brown and Foote is that it doesn't truly accommodate the beginner, but I think it is quite detailed and presents problems that really make you think. I have previous O'Chem knowledge and the Brown and Foote stuff is pretty good. Anyways, Organic chemistry will always be organic chemistry (discoveries are still coming).

 

[DD214_DOC]

Originally posted by Nanon
When I was taking it, everyone swore by Zumdahl, and I liked it pretty ok, too, even though in general I hate the way science books are written. By the way, I did pretty well in ochem, and if you get stuck with a topic and want my bizarre slant on it, go here and email me with the topic you're having issues with. I'll see what I can do. Right now, there's only SN1/SN2 and E1/E2 reactions up cause I'm being lazy about it. I figure when I start studying for the MCAT in earnest soon, I'll add to it.

Good luck to you, and remember. Grignard is your friend.

Nanon

Dude, you need to write a textbook. That is good stuff. My problem with ochem is that it was so incredibly boring, I just couldn't FORCE myself to study.

But if I had a textbook like that, damn I'd read it twice.

 

[deez4life]

I recommend Organic Chemistry by Carey. It's written very lucidly and the figures force you to know (and not just memorize the material). Just read it chapter by chapter as you follow your lecturer, and you'll be setting yourself up to crush both semesters of orgo.

deez