<p>Does anyone else plan to take orgo as a freshman this fall? Are you going to do anything special to prepare this summer or just slack? I haven't taken chemistry since 10th grade when I took AP, so I'm kind of rusty. I'm taking it because I'm premed and might major in chem, so I'd like to take orgo early. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Orgo has nothing really to do with AP Chem so dont worry about that. Just rest up and enjoy the summer. If you want, you can order the book ahead of time and look at it, but its pretty pointless since his exams and problem set questions are much more difficult than any problems you'll encounter in the book.</p>
<p>If you take orgo as a freshman, especially first semester, dont take any other sciences with it. Just focus on getting adjusted.</p>
<p>Okay thanks. Did you have Semmelhack? How was he?</p>
<p>I did have Semmelhack. I dont usually listen during lectures and lectures dont usually help me, i'm more of a "need to do practice problems" person, but he was great. He's a great guy, and he has a good sense of humor about things.</p>
<p>I'll be a junior Chem E next year, and I took orgo with Semmelhack freshman year. It was pretty brutal waking up at 8:30 MWF when all the other frosh were waking up at 10 or 11 for their intro to music or intro to soc classes... Orgo requires constant study so you don't fall behind, and for me, that took away my social life that most freshman have, because they're taking all easy intro courses (at least the ABs are). Semmelhack is great--problem sets are optional, only graded on whether you handed them in or not. You have 3 exams, and he drops the lowest one. If you have a very high grade in the class, you're exempt from the final. For the labs, you do a rough draft, the TAs correct it, and you re-do it, so basically everyone gets a 100. He gathers an army of TAs so that after every exam, scores are posted a couple hours later--literally like 20 people furiously grading those things into the wee hours of the morning. After all exams, you can write a short paragraph about why you deserve more points, and he usually gives it to you. Watch out for the lab exams--hardest part of the course.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. It's scheduled for 11:00-12:20 T Th this year so that shouldn't be too bad. Are most of the people that take it sophomores? Was it hard to find a study group?</p>
<p>No, it was changed to 8:30 for some reason or another.</p>
<p>CHM 303
Organic Chemistry I - Biological Emphasis
(ST)
Professor(s): Martin F. Semmelhack, Henry L. Gingrich</p>
<p>Description/Objectives:
This course is designed as the first part of a three-semester sequence, CHM 303/304 and Mol 345 (biochemistry). CHM 303 will introduce the principles of organic chemistry, including the structures, properties, and reactivity of simpler organic compounds. The emphasis will be on the mechanisms of organic reactions, with examples taken from biology when appropriate to illustrate the principles. For a complete presentation of the subject, the course should be followed by CHM 304 in the spring. (Continued in "Other Information.")</p>
<p>Sample Reading List:
Main Text , To Be Announced
Main Text - Study Guide , To Be Announced
Zubrick , The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual, 6th Edition</p>
<p>Reading/Writing Assignments: Reading as needed. There is an optional but very important problem set each week.</p>
<p>Requirements/Grading:
Final Exam: 40%
Other Exam: 40%
Lab Reports: 20%</p>
<p>Other Requirements:
This course is required for Concentrators.</p>
<p>Prerequisites and Restrictions: Prerequisites: CHM 201 and CHM 202, or CHM 203 (or CHM 207) and 204, or CHM 215. Please contact Surjit Chowdhary at <a href="mailto:skc@princeton.edu">skc@princeton.edu</a> for all changes in lab and class sections after the completion of registration OR to add CHM 303 OR to be added to the waiting list for closed lab or class sections.</p>
<p>Other Information: (Description - Continued) CHM 303 will be taught in the lecture format. Appropriate for those in biology or premedical programs. For more information, contact Professor Semmelhack (<a href="mailto:mfshack@princeton.edu">mfshack@princeton.edu</a>).</p>
<p>Related Web Site</p>
<p>Schedule/Classroom Assignment:
Class Number: 20694 - Class C01 : 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm M<br>
Class Number: 20695 - Class C01 A: 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm M<br>
Class Number: 20263 - Class C02 : CLOSED 2:30 pm - 3:20 pm M<br>
Class Number: 20258 - Class C03 : CLOSED 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm T<br>
Class Number: 20703 - Class C03 A: 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm T<br>
Class Number: 20259 - Class C04 : 2:30 pm - 3:20 pm T<br>
Class Number: 20264 - Class C05 : CLOSED 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm W<br>
Class Number: 20704 - Class C05 A: 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm W<br>
Class Number: 20265 - Class C06 : CLOSED 1:30 pm - 2:20 pm Th<br>
Class Number: 20266 - Class C07 : CLOSED 8:00 pm - 8:50 pm Th<br>
Class Number: 22846 - Class C08 : TBA<br>
Class Number: 20254 - Laboratory B01 : 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm M<br>
Class Number: 20261 - Laboratory B02 : CLOSED 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm T<br>
Class Number: 20255 - Laboratory B03 : 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm W<br>
Class Number: 20262 - Laboratory B04 : 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm Th<br>
Class Number: 20256 - Laboratory B05 : 1:30 pm - 4:20 pm F<br>
Class Number: 22845 - Laboratory B06 : TBA<br>
Class Number: 20260 - Lecture L01 : 8:30 am - 9:50 am T Th</p>
<p>I assume you got that from SCG. I just checked it and it says 11:00 - 12:20 on my computer. It also says TBA for all of the lab times. Do you have any idea where the discrepency comes from?</p>
<p><a href="http://scg.princeton.edu/courses/000986/%5B/url%5D">http://scg.princeton.edu/courses/000986/</a></p>
<p>No, she got that from the official registrar's website. The lecture is indeed from 8:30-9:50 a.m. next semester, because the 11 am time conflicted with genetics and biochem that most mol bio majors/pre-meds have to take. Sorry! The SCG is never a good source to go by, since it's updated by students only on a periodic basis. The labs are 1:30-4:20 MTWThF, but the Tuesday lab is already full.</p>
<p>Thanks for the explanation. At least I will have more of an incentive to eat breakfast.</p>
<p>when are we supposed to register for our courses?</p>
<p>also, do we get to pick the professor?</p>
<p>We don't register until we get up there for orientation.</p>
<p>Semmelhack is the class professor, gingrich is the lab professor</p>
<p>The lab exams are easy <em>IF YOU GO TO THE LAB HELP SESSION</em>. Basically, the lab exam is open note. So just retype out all the labs and the practice exam and its pretty easy. Just go to the lab help session. I never studied for these until the day before and just kept all my materials organized. The lab exam was pretty fair, so long as you GO TO THE LAB HELP SESSION!</p>
<p>Hope this helps all you future overachievers</p>
<p>A number of students (probably 10-20 or so) take Organic Chemistry as Freshmen. I took it as a sophomore who hadn't taken Chemistry since Junior Year HS AP Chemistry, so you should be fine if you're willing to put in the work. Precepts and TA's are helpful, but the key is learning the basic concepts (Resonance, Electronegativity, Steric Effects, and s-character) early on in the year (basically the topics for the first exam). These concepts are repeated throughout the rest of the course, so a good handle on them is essential. In fact, according to my TA (who did the statistics for grade distribution in the class) only around 5-10% of students get a different grade in the class than they got on the first exam (meaning students who get an A on the first exam mostly get A's in the course, students who get B's on the first exam end up with B's, etc). There are two reasons for this, firstly, what I said above that the basic concepts are essential and repeated throughout the course, and second, Semmelhack tends to ask similar types of questions (albeit with different material) throughout the class. Organic Chemistry, if you put in the work especially to master early concepts, is no harder or more impossible than any other course. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>my friend did Orgo as a freshman, though he didn't do as well as other kids during the time, it helped him a lot in later MOL classes, like MOL 214 and genetics</p>