<p>Study cards that are commercially available don't tend to be a great idea--they often include reactions or reagents you're not expected to know. It's better to make your own and tailor it to the class rather than spend money. These study kits often just shovel in reactions, and orgo is more about memorizing a set of reactions and being able to use them creatively, rather than memorizing a ton and spewing them back out on tests.</p>
<p>Use Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language set. It's short, sweet, and clear. Don't get another textbook, it'll seriously just be a waste of your money. If getting another textbook will really make you feel better, then get McMurry's Organic Chemistry. It's the best of the 5 orgo textbooks I've seen.</p>
<p>So how different is Chem 131 from Chem 35? I just took 35 and did pretty well until I pretty much bombed the final :( (my fault I didnt study for it enough) but all in all I disliked the class. Is 131 similar in the type of material taught?? (for the record I actually liked chem33...)</p>
<p>Chem 131 is benzene/ring chemistry for the first half, and then the remainder is a smattering of carbo chemistry and a few other (somewhat) random topics. It's similar in style--given a set of reactions, can you make compound B from compound A, stuff like that. This is from me taking 131 in the fall, though, so it might be different.</p>
<p>Mind if I ask what exactly you didn't like about chem 35 but you liked about chem 33? I'm TAing next quarter, so it'd be helpful to know.</p>
<p>honestly I think its more of how I approached the class than the class itself. I sort of took the 'memorize at the last moment' approach instead of the 'understand the reactions day by day' approach I had taken for Chem 33. I learned my lesson though that's for sure. My grades plummeted as a result...</p>