Would you be a little mad?

[Noeljan]

Ok something has been bothering me for two days now, so tell me what you think.
Ok, so organic....So far to me it seems pretty easy(I keep up with the readings, pay close attention, etc) BUT out of 8 lecutures now my prof has only been there twice! He goes out of town a lot this Sept, so he says. Anyway, so we have had subs I guess you can call them the other 6 times. Now his syllabus states that he takes the exam questions from his "lecture notes" Well, what the subs have given us so far are sooo SIMPLISTIC compared to the text. One of the days he has been here I asked him about it, and he said he wasn't sure what the subs had covered but that we would only be affected for the first exam(well hello, every exam counts) He then asked me if I understood the text, I said yes pretty easily, but I was quick to point out that the text goes in far more detail that the notes we were receiving. He said he thinks I am in good shape. Ok as you can see, I am irritated about his absences but I don't know his situation so I will try and make the best of it...
But here is the part that is getting to me.... I started talking to a few people from my lecture who cannot follow ours(because of the above reasons they said) So, they told me they attend the later lecture as well(from a different prof) I can't go to that lecture because I have another class. I am getting so upset now about this. They all said they didn't understand the text though, which I find pretty easy. Do you think I am at a huge disadvantage now because I am not attending two lectures??? Why should I have to attend two lectures? Am I overreacting to my mind thinking they all have this huge advantage now??? I don't know this is really upsetting me and I don't know what to do about it.

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[Anka]

Call the department. Usually, when a university pays a professor to be in a certain place, they want them there... of course, if you're at certain universities, the profs don't have to show up and the departments don't care.

You have every right to be angry, upset, heartbroken, depressed, or anything else you want to be, but here's the thing -- orgo is orgo is orgo. Learn orgo. That's the only thing you have control over, so stressing about the rest isn't gonna do anything but turn your hair grey.

Anka

 

[glj79]

Call the department. Usually, when a university pays a professor to be in a certain place, they want them there... of course, if you're at certain universities, the profs don't have to show up and the departments don't care.

I would save calling the department for a last resort. Chances are, it would get back to the professor (unless you did so anonymously and it's a large class), and you never know if you might need a recommendation from the professor later on. Just tough it out - it sounds like you understand the material really well as it is. Good luck on the test!

 

[Nutmeg]

I know someone who left UCSD to go to SDSU for precisely this reason. I guess I'm glad I went to JC. But I must say, ochem rests differently with different people--either you get it or you don't. If you're able to understand the book, then Halelujah! you're standing in the greener grass. There's a good chance that the 'subs' are crawling because they're afraid to leave anyone behind. But I think you're in good shape. Take advantage of office hours to the best of your ability.

 

[Sonya]

just an idea...

Ask him for a DETAILED sheet of exam topics, and what you should know from each.
Some proffessors don't give this, but tell him because of the problems and confusion, you guys really need it.

Can you get someone to tape record from the lectures you can't attend? (is tape recording even helpful for orgo, considering so much is written on the board). is there ANYONE whose notes you can trust from the other section.

maybe you're overeacting, but, you have the right. In anycase, there's no reason not to get the proper information. But, it's also useless to be pissed. Professors (bosses, etc) do a lot of unfair, incomprehensible, or weird, things, as you'll come to see in years to follow of undergrad. Pretty much, as a student you have to accept them. It's nice to take consolation in the fact that it happens to all the students.

Good luck,
Sonya

 

[AspiringDoctor9]

HI guys,

If this is any consolation, this same thing happened for my Honors General Chemistry II class. We had 12 lectures before the first exam, and the professor was absent for 10 of them. Her response? - "You're honors students, you should be able to learn the material on your own." Needless to say, that exam we did very poorly (we all averaged A- on General Chem I... and about 2/3 failed that exam)... To make a long story short, even though she wasn't retained the following year, that term our grades suffered immensely. I guess that's how things fall sometimes.

 

[Paws]

Well, for what it's worth my expereince in OChem was to basically do ALL the problems in the back of each chapter and then go back and do them again. So maybe like: 50 - 75 problems per chapter.

Then I would read the chapter and make sure I understood all the weird examples and exceptions as well as such and such molecule when done as a RING instead of a straight chain (or whatever nonsense).

But we had an OChem II guy who would put strange interpreations of the Curtius reaction (?!) or whatever on the exams so that most people didn't even know what he was talking about.

In the end, because I had made myself sick doing all those problems, if you had woken me up in the middle of the night I could have done those problems for you just like that.

It sounds like a teach-yourself course, like so many others ...

Good luck !