Organic Final Advice

[bass806]

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I am struggling in OChem 1, and the prof. told us he would give us the grade we make on the final exam as our overall course grade. Students have had 40-50 averages in past semesters and came out with an A due to the final. Any advice on studying for this important test? The final is not until Dec. The old tests are helpful but it seems that I get confused if the questions are not similiar. Any general advice for Ochem would be greatly appreciated as well. The prof. is a great guy but he makes up the exams in his head (with little regard to the material covered or a formal test bank) and I often wonder if he is making test questions from what he lectured about last year. I even tried a tutor(a retired Phd organic chemist and professor) and he said some of the questions from my previous tests I showed him were difficult and confusing.Thanks to all who respond, I know this is not a very high speed question, but I could use some advice.

 

[crispwater]

I think that flashcards would definitely help, especially with the different kind of reactions and nomenclature. Also, have you tried to buy a molecular model set? I always have a hard time dealing with 3-D aspects of things, so that really helped me out -- like the Newman projections, transformations, etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[medicomel]

If you don't have the solutions manual for your textbook, get it and start practicing the reaction mechanisms.

Flashcards definitely helped me, as did completely understanding formal charge and resonance structures.

 

[Enkindu]

....and the prof. told us he would give us the grade we make on the final exam as our overall course grade.

I took that option several times back when I was undergrad and it saved my butt every time. They used to call it the "Dutch knockout"... I have no idea why. Is this still commonly offered by UG profs?

Good luck with organic : )

 

[Siggy]

My Ochem 1 (51A at UC Irvine) has it where if you get 160 pts. or higher on the final then you get an A. It comes out to about 75%. She also goes insane on her finals though...

 

[faradayampere]

I would say just do a lot of practice problems in the textbook (and yes, definitely compare yours with the answers from the solution manual) .... if you do enough practice problems, the final will be easy and straight forward.... i'm sure at the intro organic chem level, pretty much every problem has the same underlying concepts ...

I took Chem 112A/B at Cal ... the above method worked for me ... i'm sure it will work for you ... good luck

 

[junebuguf]

Aaahhh Organic...how I rue those summer days spent toiling in obscurity in the nether reaches of the library!

Anyway, onto your question: I think you should concentrate on the types of question from previous exams (and also from previous exams, hw's and quizzes administered this semester, assuming the finla is cumulative.) Orgo is taught in as many different ways as there are colleges that teach it. Some schools require pansy questions like definitions, whereas mine was purely based on stereochem and reactions. Most profs dont deviate from the type of questions they've posed in the past.

If the prof recommends practice problems from the text, work them!!!

 

[Fermata]

Practice problems.

Lots of them.

 

[45408]

I had a rather similar situation, although our averages weren't quite so dismal. Anyways, the week before the final, go all out. I studied probably 30 hours in several days with a group of friends. We goofed around a lot, but soaking it all in so thoroughly kept it really fresh in my mind for the final, which I did quite well in (as opposed to my one-hour exams).