Really scared about orgo, nine days till exam, what should I focus on?

[allcle4r]

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I'm about three chapters behind in doing homework problems and two chapters behind in reading. I have all day today, tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, all day Monday (more or less), all day next Tuesday, and all day next Wednesday to prepare for the text nest Thursday. I do not want to cram next week and pull all-nighters.

(1) I'm going to make flashcards (Anki) of all the mechanisms
(2) I'm going to do several hundred chapter exercises

I plan on getting my $hit together this week and then going to office hours to ask any questions I have on all the material next week. What else should I focus on doing? Try to form a study group with someone else?

 

[wjs010]

I'm about three chapters behind in doing homework problems and two chapters behind in reading. I have all day today, tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday, all day Monday (more or less), all day next Tuesday, and all day next Wednesday to prepare for the text nest Thursday. I do not want to cram next week and pull all-nighters.

(1) I'm going to make flashcards (Anki) of all the mechanisms
(2) I'm going to do several hundred chapter exercises

I plan on getting my $hit together this week and then going to office hours to ask any questions I have on all the material next week. What else should I focus on doing? Try to form a study group with someone else?

I'm stressed about it as well...it's hard because my class meets up 2 days a week for an hour..which is simply not enough; and my professor talks like female ben stein. But anyway, you didn't tell us what your test will be covering?? If it's your first test, i'd say, make sure to master naming alkanes, draw diasteromers and enantiomers. Understand chiral carbons and what makes their R/S configs. That should be good, if it's your first test.

 

[Barcu]

Focus on practice problems and anything your teacher specifically mentions as well as class notes. Book reading is pretty low yield. I would usually only use the textbook if I needed to reference something or get an alternative explanation (which sometimes helped, sometimes didn't). OChem is repetition.

Study groups helped me a lot, but they are really only worth it if both you and the group members are prepared, so the priority should be on getting prepared. Definitely consider it if you are feeling pretty good and can find some good people to join.

 

[ComfortCreature]

Focus on practice problems and anything your teacher specifically mentions as well as class notes. Book reading is pretty low yield. I would usually only use the textbook if I needed to reference something or get an alternative explanation (which sometimes helped, sometimes didn't). OChem is repetition.

Barcu said it pretty well. Though you may not agree right now, I'd say you have given yourself a fair amount of time to prepare. Take a deep breath and get to it.

 

[Bangersandmash]

Lol at several hundred chapter exercises. What does your test focus on? I don't know how your class works, but in mine, the majority of the test (~60 points) was about understanding the concepts of certain mechanisms and the ideas behind them (electron induction, stabilizing conjugate bases, strongest electrophiles, etc), while the rest was the difficult synthesis and predict the products by memorizing a lot of reagents.

Understanding mechanism reactions and the theory behind them will go a long way towards improving your ability to predict products and syntheses, which can be honed by practice problems.

 

[Steeleer]

Ya I got an orgo test next thurs too at WVU. Just study

 

[coyotelime]

Look for review/help sessions and go to office hours. Confidence in yourself is key. You're off to a good start by starting extra early. Good luck!

 

[spacetomatoes]

I hear you - I always found orgo to be the most overwhelming before you really got started. I bet once you get in there, you'll find it's not as bad as you originally thought. Draw your mechanisms over and over again. Maybe this is just me, but I could stare at a mechanism all day and walk away and forget everything about it. But if I drew a mechanism, say, 15 times, each time mapping the path of all the pieces, I'd really start to understand it AND be able to reproduce it.

Good luck - you'll be fine! Deep breaths!

 

[angemon89]

Definitely practice. Do all of the problems in the book. You never know what's gonna be on an orgo test so getting all your bases covered is the best strategy IMO.

If your school is anything like mine, all you need is like 50/100 on an exam to get an A lol.

 

[drscholls]

Is the material more synthesis based or more naming/ name the mechanism/ fill in based?

I found that I studied orgo I [At my Uni this was mostly naming, subs/elminations/other mechs, and basic functional group properties) by relying totally on flashcards (i.e. memorize information) and spent all of my time in orgo II [This was all synthesis, carbonyl chemistry, and the chemistry of proteins, carbs, and nucleic acids] doing practice problems and attempting synthesis.

 

[poopsicle]

I studied by understanding concepts and then memorizing stuff. Honestly I think flashcards are a waste of time, there are better and more efficient methods to studying than flash cards. Writing things out was very important, it helps engrave information in your mind and lets you practice writing it out for the exam.

 

[MangoPlant]

Reading the book well and doing practice problems is normally sufficient for most material, but there is definitely some hard material. Yeah I know I'm hard to take seriously with my avatar.

 

[Double A]

you should definitely email your professor and ask him/her

 

[smarts1]

In all honestly, from my experience thusfar, orgo is nothing compared to biochem.

Anyways, relax and since this is your first orgo exam, it's probably all memorization at this point, so the key is to do many practice problems.

 

[kpcrew]

don't waste time with flashcards

practice problems are a good idea

 

[coyotelime]

In all honestly, from my experience thusfar, orgo is nothing compared to biochem.

Anyways, relax and since this is your first orgo exam, it's probably all memorization at this point, so the key is to do many practice problems.

Yeah I have a bioc test friday and orgo seems significantly more manageable and less conceptual.

 

[487806]

In all honestly, from my experience thusfar, orgo is nothing compared to biochem.

Anyways, relax and since this is your first orgo exam, it's probably all memorization at this point, so the key is to do many practice problems.

👍

Biochem is pure memorization, and it's difficult to use orgo to understand biochem.

 

[Chemdude]

Don't use flashcard. Complete the following steps in order:

1. List/draw out all of the mechanisms in class.
2. Redraw each mechanism until you know it like the back of your hand.
3. Do a bunch of practice mechanism problems.
4. Stereochemistry (I'm assuming that you're enrolled in Orgo I).

That's about as high-yield as it gets.

Source: I'm chemdude.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Did you know that benzenes actually look like sad faces? Now you can never un-see it.

 

[allcle4r]

Exam got moved up two days... only two days left and I am royally screwed.

 

[myronnie]

Did you know that benzenes actually look like sad faces? Now you can never un-see it.

*glances over at my whiteboard*
OH MY GAWD THEY DO 😱

I have an orgo 2 test in approximately 5 days and I'm in panic mode also

 

[allcle4r]

*glances over at my whiteboard*
OH MY GAWD THEY DO 😱

I have an orgo 2 test in approximately 5 days and I'm in panic mode also

Five days is plenty of time.

OTOH, I have a day left. I'm feeling a little more relaxed now that I understand the stereochemistry of the reactions we're working on. Now to memorize the mechanisms.

But, no all nighters. So I'll have to be efficient. Here's what we're covering. What should I focus on? (Orgo 1)

- Basic R,S stuff. Nomenclature when >1 asymmetric center
- Specific rotation, enantiomeric excess
- Meso compounds
- Stereochemistry of some addition reactions (ones with carbocat. intermediate, H2, hydroborane oxidation, peroxyacids, Br2 or Br2 + CH3OH/H2O/etc.) for alkenes
- Reactions of alkynes; tautomerization; water addition vs. hydroborane oxidation for internal vs. terminal alkynes
- Hydrogenation of alkynes; Lindlar cat.; formation of trans alkenes
- Synthesis of C-C bonds
- General synthesis and retrosyntheis problems
- Resonance, molecular orbital description of stability (HOMO, LUMO)