Organic

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Okay, I need some input. I am worried about O-chem. I am taking 4 classes and am already feeling a little lost in this class. I have a 4.0 and usually do really well with chem- but this is totally different. I have 1 test before the withdrawl deadline- but that is mostly on review from previous classes. I don't want a W, but I would hate getting a D more. Any advise? (I made some stupid mistakes and got an F on my first lab report- too much going on in my personal life- which could also be a big part of why I don't feel like I am retaining any info)

 

[HristosKaran]

Organic is definitely doable and not as bad as everyone can make it out to be. The only issue is you NEED good grades in Orgo. I took Organic with 4 other classes + labs and did fine in it, but it also depends on the level of difficulty of your other classes. See how you do on your first test and if its really really bad, then I might consider dropping it, especially if you are having other personal issues going on at the moment. Organic does require A LOT of attention. If you do decently well on your first test then stick with it!! It'll get easier as you get used to the subject matter. I promise!!

 

[diosa428]

Is this your first semester of O-chem or second? Talk to the prof about the first test - see if you can get your grade before the withdrawl deadline. If you don't do well then withdraw. You def don't want a D. Also, talk to him about your lab grade. Does he drop the lowest grade by any chance? I would also say that if you feel like there's too much going on in your life and you aren't going to be able to get back on track, then you might want to drop the class. I don't know what your summer plans are, but I think O-chem in the summer is a great way to learn it. You can focus just on that one class and it goes by so fast that you don't have any time to forget it by the final.

 

[Rafa]

I'm totally not looking forward to O-1 this semester. I bought the book ahead of time and read some of the chapters, and I've looked at previous years' tests, but they still aren't making too much sense. Here's to hoping they will in time. Before I decided I could actually still apply to m-s (decided a couple of months ago), I'd already taken the one chem class required as an undergrad @ mi colegio, and I did horribly at it (fast class, nearly no experience with the subject in high school). However, I passed, and consoled myself with the knowledge that it was the last chem class I'd ever take. Now I'm getting ready for O-1, and it's like...oh man.

 

[McMD]

First off, don't have the mindset that you "can't do it." I went into Organic dreading it the first day and it turned out to be my favorite class in all of undergrad. The thing with Organic is that it IS a challenge, whether the material is a challenge or just the managing of time because Organic takes more studying than any of your other science classes, ESPECIALLY Organic 2!!!

I think you should just study REALLY hard for this next exam and have the mindset "if I can do this, I can do medical school"...because I firmly believe that you don't learn how to actually study until you hit Organic! Once you ace Organic, every other class the next few years will be a BREEZE!! Not because the material isn't difficult in other classes, but because you will really know how to study after organic!

If this gives you ANY encouragement, I got a 69 on my first Organic 2 exam after making 100's on ALL my organic 1 exams two semesters before. However, I had changed schools, changed teachers, and changed textbooks in between org 1 and org2 and I had a lot of "catching up" to do because of this transition. I cried for about 2 weeks over this grade and I, like you, couldn't decide if a W or an F was worse! I didn't withdrawal and at the end of the semester I had the highest grade in a class of 200. Anyways, point being that you can REALLY do this if you REALLY want to!! Make organic your first priority as far as classes are concerned. A med school is going to look at your A in Organic more than your A in underwater basketweaving! 😉

 

[rehanyazdani]

Try to put as much effort into studying organic as you can. But do not let it affect your other classes at the same time. I made a B in orgo 1 and a C in orgo 2.

My original orgo 1 professor was diagnosed with leukemia 2 weeks into the semester, so we had a substitute who was more of a physical chem guy. He would tell us that he sucked at orgo in college, just my luck 🙁. So the entire class went thru orgo 1 not really understanding much. Out of 10 people, we had 4 B's, 4 C's, and 2 F's. Our original professor came back for orgo 2, but as you can imagine, the entire class had a weak foundation. Now everything just seemed so much harder because this professor was really into orgo; her dissertation was on some orgo topic. Only 2 out of the 4 people who made B's in orgo 1 managed to do the same. My friend and I dropped from B to C, and the rest you can guess! So it entirely sucked, and I hope that adcom's will understand this situation.

And to possibly give you some encouragement, I started off with a C on my first test in orgo 1 and ended up with a B for the class. In orgo 2 I got an F on my first test and got a C for the class. Just remember to work hard, that's all I can say. Good luck!

 

[DocHobbitVT]

Someone said that orgo is not as bad as everyone says it is, but there is a reason why this class has such a bad reputation. It's one of those classes where if you don't get right on the ball at the very start, you'll pretty much die (it's what happened to me). If you are quick to catch on and you study hard right from the beginning, you'll do just fine! Everything builds on itself. If you're really worried about it, my advice is to take it during the summer if your school offers it, because that way you'll be able to give it your all and concentrate only on that, without other classes and labs to juggle. Good luck!

 

[nimotsu]

remember there are general trends of reactivity.. it all boils down to the electrophile and nucleophile... once you understand that then everything is just a pattern recognization exercise but you will also learn the basic descriptors for stereochem, etc.

Just make sure to buy this wonderful product of Japan:

http://www.currys.com/drafting/prodinfo.asp?SubcatID=145&catID=10

Best pencil for drawing mechanisms, etc.

 

[kdburton]

The only reason why Orgo was challenging (IMO) was that I wasn't used to doing practice problems from my other classes. I could sit in a Gen Chem class, see the teacher do a couple problems after teaching us the concepts and I'd pretty much be fine come test time. The way I had to study for Orgo was to do an assload of practice problems and eventually you start to figure out all the mechanisms and patterns. Some people think that the key is just memorizing everything, but memorization only plays a role in the sense that you memorize patterns (dont waste your time trying to memorize how every single reagent reacts with every substrate). When the teacher says "you should be putting in a MINIMUM amount of X hours studing for this course" you can usually ignore it, but not for Orgo... so if you dont think you could make that commitment then I would suggest taking it with a lighter courseload.

 

[BMW M3]

The only reason why Orgo was challenging (IMO) was that I wasn't used to doing practice problems from my other classes. I could sit in a Gen Chem class, see the teacher do a couple problems after teaching us the concepts and I'd pretty much be fine come test time. The way I had to study for Orgo was to do an assload of practice problems and eventually you start to figure out all the mechanisms and patterns. Some people think that the key is just memorizing everything, but memorization only plays a role in the sense that you memorize patterns (dont waste your time trying to memorize how every single reagent reacts with every substrate). When the teacher says "you should be putting in a MINIMUM amount of X hours studing for this course" you can usually ignore it, but not for Orgo... so if you dont think you could make that commitment then I would suggest taking it with a lighter courseload.

I agree with him(?). Practice makes perfect .. good luck!

 

[McMD]

The only reason why Orgo was challenging (IMO) was that I wasn't used to doing practice problems from my other classes. I could sit in a Gen Chem class, see the teacher do a couple problems after teaching us the concepts and I'd pretty much be fine come test time. The way I had to study for Orgo was to do an assload of practice problems and eventually you start to figure out all the mechanisms and patterns. Some people think that the key is just memorizing everything, but memorization only plays a role in the sense that you memorize patterns (dont waste your time trying to memorize how every single reagent reacts with every substrate). When the teacher says "you should be putting in a MINIMUM amount of X hours studing for this course" you can usually ignore it, but not for Orgo... so if you dont think you could make that commitment then I would suggest taking it with a lighter courseload.

I also agree, memorizing won't get you far when the test comes. The only thing you DO need to memorize is stuff like "exceptions to the rule, what a certain reagent won't work with, etc"...as far as everything else, learn it, don't memorize it. But if you are in the beginning of org 1, you probably are doing naming, stereochemistry, etc (I could be wrong) in which there is a combination of learning and memorizing...so don't let our statement of "don't memorize it" throw you off...you'll understand once you get to the reactions!