Pre-gaming orgo, physics, bio

[meander]

I'm doing a one year career changer postbac and will be starting Orgo I, Bio I, and Physics I in a few weeks. I "pre-gamed" for Gen Chem, at the recommendation of some med student friends, by memorizing the common polyatomic ions, acids/bases, and SI prefixes. It saved me some time and stress during the course and, importantly to me, didn't require actually teaching myself concepts or potentially learning things in a way that would be at odds with my professor's approach.

Any suggestions for similar things to study that would be helpful to get out of the way prior to starting orgo, bio, and physics? I've heard some people suggest memorizing the functional groups in advance but it seems like they'll be easier to pick up in context in class than learning by rote.

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[Zelda840]

Knowing the functional groups (not just how to recognize them, but their general properties) and learning the IUPAC nomenclature would give you a decent head start for organic.

 

[lilyzoo]

polish your skills in trigonometry! Physics I is almost all about trigonometry...

 

[Quik]

IUPAC naming conventions in Orgo are a breeze, as are learning the functional groups while going through each chapter... Each chapter should be devoted to a different functional group and it's associated reactions, so at least in my experience, you won't need to pile the memorization of many functional groups at the same time.

Things you can benefit greatly by knowing ahead of time are distinguishing Lewis Acids from Lewis Bases and how these relate to the concepts of electrophiles and nucleophiles. Then, having at least a vague familiarity with nucleophilic substitution (SN1 & SN2), Elimination, and addition reactions would put you well ahead. These reaction mechanisms are the heart of organic chemistry, and they firmly rely on the concepts of electronegativity and resonance.

The fundamental concepts from Gen Chem that lay the foundation for Orgo are resonance structures, electronegativity, hydrogen bonding, and bonding orbitals (sigma/pi bonding, sp, sp2, & sp3 hybridization). Sit in the front of the class, and when the prof asks why a certain molecule behaves the way it does, pick any one of these properties above and you have a very good chance of being correct. I'm assuming that Gen Chem was recent for you, and hopefully these are drilled into memory. If they aren't, make sure they are before you begin. I can't stress enough how important these concepts are to a good understanding and a quick prediction of behavioral properties.

I think an hour or two with Kahn Academy could bring you up to speed pretty well.

 

[Cawolf]

polish your skills in trigonometry! Physics I is almost all about trigonometry...

I second this.

Having a strong knowledge of trig, algebra, and the most basic calculus (likely just simple derivatives) will make physics a lot easier.

 

[QuentinT88]

I'm taking these 3 courses as well. Any more input is appreciated!

 

[meander]

Thanks for all of the responses so far! I went back and read some of the similar threads and Orgo as a Second Language came up a lot. I've been working through the early chapters and I love how it helps you make the skills of orgo second nature in advance so you can focus on learning instead of, for example, counting up formal charges. I'll definitely be using that for practice this month (and probably throughout the course).