-If your text has practice problems spaced throughout the chapter, read the whole thing first, then go back and do the problems. This way, you'll pretty much do the reading twice.
-O.Chem A is much more conceptual than O.Chem B. Your model kit is your best friend. I made it my mission to sit down and play with it for every chapter, even when it seemed like it was overkill. It will really help you understand stereochemistry, learn chair conformations, etc.
-As much as everyone says not to memorize reactions, the vast majority of studying in O.Chem B
will be memorization. To me, this would be like saying Anatomy is conceptual and not just memorization. No, it involves both. There are tons of different reactions and various reactants you can use to acheive them. Most of them are specific, Ie: you know it is acid catalyzed, base-cat., etc.... but that "conceptual" knowledge won't help you remember that it first requires BH3:THF followed by H2O2 in NaOH....that sort of thing
-Making flashcards (like making a "reaction book" as an above poster said) will really help you keep a record of the material. This will make your final exam a million times easier if you have a set a flashcards made for each chapter. In Ochem B, most of the chapters will be only mechanisms/reactions and thus going back to re-read them after having your flashcards made is completely useless. Again, this will save you 700 pages of review each semester for the Final.
-The other good thing about flashcards is they force you to have a superior knowledge of the material. Simply, you can shuffle them up. If you need a page that says "The twelve ways to make an aldehyde" in order to remember them all, you're going to have a very tough time with synthesis problems where you have to link like 5 or 6 reactions in a row (ie: Kind of like seeing a chessboard before and after a game and being able to "see" all the steps in between). Flashcards help you study for
recal and not
recognition, which is good. This does not mean it is a waste to make flowcharts and stuff as mentioned above, I just wouldn't use this as my only study method.
-Mechanisms are important to understand, but again, if you have to stop and think about a mechanism to get the product of a reaction, you'll never have time to finish a test (I had like 3 or 4 pages of "give just the product" type questions on every test). "Lasso" chemistry- knowing that X and Y come together to make Z, is just as important as the mechanism itself.
-Only study the mechanisms that are gone over in class. Mechanisms are so specific, especially when you start getting into debates over which steps are concerted or not, that it is very doubtful any professor will test your knowledge of a full-page mechanism without having shown you the answer at least once in class. Thus, use your notes to study mechanisms. Not only will it eliminate un-needed studying, but sometimes/often the professor's ideas will differ slightly/not-so-slightly from the book.
I could keep going, but I'll stop here
Good luck
