I effing hate Orgo

[richter915]

I don't know why but I just can't seem to ace the class easily. I work my fucking ass of and I have to settle for A-, B+ and probably another B+??? I am not that kinda student...why in the hell is this happening??? I understand the material...I guess just when they say to apply it to a scenario I've never seen before, I blank out...any one taking/taken this cours and have advice? I know Kyle should've considering he's pre-med...Tristan will take this in time since we're the same major.

[noodledancer]

i'm assuming you're talking about organic chemistry, so here's a few things to consider:

1) you weren't that kind of high school student. college is a whole new ball game... with pre-meds. it sucks like that.

2) really you just need to drill the material: review your notes every day, start a study group, make flashcards, whatever works for you. if you're not sure what works best, do it all. you need to be extremely comfortable with the material so you can apply it to novel situations.

3) track down old exams from people who've taken the course, if possible. it'll give you an idea of how the concepts you're learning can be applied.

4) try not to get too down on yourself- o-chem is tough & it takes time to really get it. there are some things i learned my 1st quarter of o-chem that i didn't truly understand until i did my mcat prep.


it's kinda hard to give you advice since i don't know anything about your school. at ucla we dealt with structures one quarter, & reaction mechanisms the 2nd. if you could tell me what your course covers, i could probably come up with something that's more helpful. anyhow, good luck!

[richter915]

thanks for replying.

Oh trust me, I'm well aware that college is different from HS. I'm so thankful for all my AP courses in HS cause that really prepared me for the jump between HS and college. I aced general chem 1 and 2...and by aced I mean I had a 96 avg in gen chem1 and a 99.8 average in gen chem 2. It's just for those two courses I studied purely off the practice exams. I did questions out of there and looked up any concepts I may have missed and it really helped me learn most of the material. This does not work for orgo though I have come to realize. For whatever reason, our exams are so much harder than the previous ones he's given...no idea why but he just pulled shit outta nowhere on us and it really pissed me off. Like for example, we learned to do H-NMR and C-NMR and some mass spectroscopy about a month and a half ago (before our unit 2 exam) but he put it on our unit 3 exam anyway...AR! it was an 8 point question, down the drain.

Ya I guess our curriculum is set up that way...structures sem 1 and rxns semester 2. What we've learned so far this semester was stereochemistry, some trick resonance structure stuff (nothing crazy though)...alkene reactions (hydrobromide, bromide and water, oxymercuration, acid catalyzed hydration, hydroboration, ozonolysis, and osmium tetroxide) and our last exam was on SN2/E2, SN1/E1 reactions and some alcohol reactions and alkyne reactions. The test really sucked cause we learned SOOOO many reactions with alcohol and alkynes...acid catalyzed dehydration, oxidation using chromic acid, periodic acid to make aldehydes...PCC reactions...and we learned tons of alkyne reactions...and in all honesty, all that stuff may have compromised 20 points of the test...EVERYTHING else was substitution/elimination reactions...and those things aren't always easy because of all the retarded exceptions. For example, the question I got wrong was set up like so...we had a primary haloalkane but the primary carbon was attached to a "bulky group" (although it didn't seem so hindered to me)...then it was reacted with the acetylene anion...we learned that in that scenario...SN2 ALWAYS occurs...primary haloalkane with that anion will be SN2...except for this time! he said that since the electrophile was "bulky"...E2 would occur (and we learned E2 will only occur for more substituted carbons and with heat...NOT THIS TIME THOUGH!)...ugh it bugs me so much.

I plan on taking mcats and all so I really would like to stay in touch with you with all this stuff, thanks for your input, much appreciated. If you could hit me up with old orgo exams at UCLA, I'd love to use them. Thanks again.

[halfamile]

I assume you are gonna have to take the ACS standardized test at the end of the year. yeah it's a bitch, but you'll be fine. If your class is set up anything like mine, which it likely is, the first test next semester is going to be the hardest. there will be a ton of reactions that seem easy the day you learn them in class, but come time for the test, they will have accumulated so much. keep up with the material and study far in advance and as the days go by. Everyone will wonder why they did so bad...they just didn't study right.

about all the E2, SN2, etc nonsense, make sure you know 1)what your professor wants you to know for all possible reactions and 2)what the ACS exam will want from you. If you havn't done this already, make a chart of all the possible primary/secondary/tertiary reactions with weak and strong nucleophiles or whatever, and write out the possible reactions...like in whatever case, according to my professor, you MUST get an E2 reaction, although he told us that this is not always true. He just wanted to standardize the conditions for the class. it seems like your prof hasn't been that merciful

I really hope that made sense, and honestly, I don't remember exactly how I made that chart, but I do remember that knowing what my prof wanted for the different circumstanses helped me immensely. You sound like you're doing fine and you'll probably ignore what I said. haha. it's cool

but yeah. I'm a senior biology major right now and I'd be more than happy to talk about any of this stuff. are you taking any bio classes now? I hope you end up taking biochem, it's a great class. alright, well, best of luck to you, take care

[richter915]

I assume you are gonna have to take the ACS standardized test at the end of the year. yeah it's a bitch, but you'll be fine. If your class is set up anything like mine, which it likely is, the first test next semester is going to be the hardest. there will be a ton of reactions that seem easy the day you learn them in class, but come time for the test, they will have accumulated so much. keep up with the material and study far in advance and as the days go by. Everyone will wonder why they did so bad...they just didn't study right.

about all the E2, SN2, etc nonsense, make sure you know 1)what your professor wants you to know for all possible reactions and 2)what the ACS exam will want from you. If you havn't done this already, make a chart of all the possible primary/secondary/tertiary reactions with weak and strong nucleophiles or whatever, and write out the possible reactions...like in whatever case, according to my professor, you MUST get an E2 reaction, although he told us that this is not always true. He just wanted to standardize the conditions for the class. it seems like your prof hasn't been that merciful

I really hope that made sense, and honestly, I don't remember exactly how I made that chart, but I do remember that knowing what my prof wanted for the different circumstanses helped me immensely. You sound like you're doing fine and you'll probably ignore what I said. haha. it's cool

but yeah. I'm a senior biology major right now and I'd be more than happy to talk about any of this stuff. are you taking any bio classes now? I hope you end up taking biochem, it's a great class. alright, well, best of luck to you, take care
I haven't seen or heard anything about this ACS exam...what is it? is it only for your school, if so, why do you need it?

I really thought I had known what my professor wanted. I looked through previous exams and I was ready for most any question he could throw my way...except that didn't happen, he decided to mix it up or something...I don't even know what. In all honest, our exam was harder than previous years...but maybe it just seems that way, I dunno. I do have that chart for all those reactions but I guess I have to add onto it considering the errors I made on this exam...I really shouldn't have made them but for whatever reasons, the exceptions I thought I had down slipped my mind. But I know what you mean...E2/E1 reactions depend on the professor you have more than anything else.

Right now I'm taking organic I, physics I, and bio 202 (which is essentially intro to molecular bio and genetics)...it's pretty easy the bio...don't have to bust my balls for it which is great...the curriculum is really fair. Next year I plan on taking bio chem...i'm a biochem major so I have to take physical chem too...oh and next semester I'm gonna have the vicious five hour orgo lab...yay...

[halfamile]

more ochem....that's terrible. but I'm sure you'll learn alot...gotta stay positive. But yeah, the ACS is a standardized test that I heard is given at like 98% or colleges or something, although that may be the gen chem exam. maybe you don't have to take it. but it's just a way for the department to tell if their students are achieving at the national average. From what I understand, chem departments are sort of pigeon-holed into giving the ACS exam because it makes them look good, thus making the university look good, thus making the department look good to the university...you know

[noodledancer]

dude, you're fucking way smarter than me! i kinda sucked at g-chem.

nmr is a bitch i didn't really understand it until my 2nd quarter of o-chem (when i was no longer being tested on it), so don't let that get you down. as for the substitution/elimination reaction question, it really seems like the professor was trying to trick you, which is a shitty thing to do in a class that's already tough.

i don't have any of my chem stuff with me in berkeley, so i won't be able to get anything to you until i go home for winter break (dec. 16th or 17th). i have some good stuff on reaction mechanisms & the various rules in my notes, so e-mail around then if you're still interested & i can scan them for you.

as for exams, here (http://voh.chem.ucla.edu/) is a site where you can find some old exams (under "useful links" click "previous quarters' voh webpages" & surf around to find old exams). oh, & fyi, the 14 series (what i took) is generally taken by people majoring in biology, physiology, etc., while the 30 series is usually required for biochem majors. however, i think the 2 series are pretty comparable for o-chem. also, i highly recommend you peruse materials from dr. luceigh classes- she was phenomenal. i had her in the spring & fall of 2002 (man, that makes me feel old), but she taught through spring 2004.

good luck with everything!

[richter915]

thank you soooo much for the exams. That's my new strategy...do practice exams from around the globe...I found some from MIT and other schools...it exposes me to tons of scenarios and sharpens the thinking which is good. Thanks again.

on that exam I ended up with an A-...on the NMR I got 5/8 points but on another question I got 0/10 which really sunk my grade. If I can get a high A- or an A on the final I just might ace the class...wooo.