<p>I just officially finished up my freshman year with a 3.9 GPA overall and I'm pretty proud of myself for that. However, I've heard from many people voluntarily as well as involuntarily how hard organic chemistry can really be and I really don't wanna screw my GPA up with one class next year after working so hard to get it to where it is. I was wondering if anyone have good advice on how to succeed in such a class. I'm a chemistry major with minors in Biochemistry and French and I aspire to go to either Medical School or Grad School, still haven't fully decided yet. Another reason for doing well in orgo is not just because of the GPA issue but it is required for my major and if I can't do well in a class like that how will i fair against later and more difficult classes. Help would be highly appreciated.</p>
<p>The thing about orgo is that it is time consuming. I devoted more time to that class than all the other classes I took that year combined. Also, you cannot let yourself fall behind. I think if you review the material every other day or so and do the problems in the book or whatever you’re given (actually do them, not look at the answers and assure yourself you could have figure it out), it’ll be fine. Depending on the curve you might not get an A, but I am sure you could at least get a B+ or A- with these behaviors. And one B (3.0) will not kill your GPA or keep you from highly competitive med schools.</p>
<p>From what I hear, pchem is the class you should be worrying about since your a chem major - not ochem.</p>
<p>Yeah I figured but since I have organic chemistry is next year so I’m just taking it one semester at a time so when physical chemistry rolls around I’ll deal with that but right now I’m just focusing on next semester orgo and trying to see how to approach a subject I’ve never really had any experience within except through general chemistry.</p>
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lol. I know one kid who would agree with this. Intro and Organic (and every other Chem class) were not difficult for her as a Bio and Chem double major. (She says that most “math-y” kids get chem pretty easily.) Missed 3/5 first classes in PChem due to med school interviews. Then she went to class #6 (the last class before the first test) and didn’t know her :eek: from a hat-rack. Had more absences coming up so …Adios chem major. ;)</p>
<p>I hear most of the kids at Caltech and MIT think P-chem is a breeze, but then those kids are not regular mortals. :D</p>
<p>WARNING: Nobody should view this as anything but a cautionary tale. It didn’t end pretty and I regret my involvement. Well, sorta. </p>
<p>Blue, I had a class in law school that I just couldn’t get. There were reasons for that , but -for me- I was making a yeoman effort. (A “yeoman effort” as it is defined here means stayed awake when I went to class, did not immediately sell the book for beer money, and tried to limit pre-gaming the lecture.) When called upon to answer a long “twisty” question, that for some reason unknown to me ended up in a series of numbers, I stood as required and responded “Dean E, I don’t know if you are talking about trucks or chickens.” He was not amused. ;)</p>
<p>You shouldn’t regret that for a second, curm! :D</p>
<p>The only way to be successful in Orgo according to my D. is to WORK VERY HARD. Orgo was not harder than her firs freshman Bio. However, both were killers as most Bio classes. Average Orgo exam required about 30 hours of prep. However, perfect GPA is very doable. Do not worry to much ahead of the time. Just do what needs to be done for each class and prepare for exams, there is no magic about it. Good thing, Orgo is not used much in other classes, and only about 25% of Bio section in MCAT.</p>
<p>I think it’s quite unrealistic to say that a “perfect GPA is very doable” in ochem. That is just not true for the majority of students. My D is smart and a good student and she had a heck of a time with ochem. She got a C in the second semester, which was much harder for her than the first. She was a biology major. She probably didn’t study enough for ochem, but it was hard because she had all science classes (4 classes plus labs for each).</p>
<p>Look at the sticky at the top of the pre-med page; there is one about ochem.</p>
<p>i loved ochem when i took it. i got an A in ochem I&II, physical organic, advanced organic, and bioorganic, without putting half as much effort into it as other courses such as genetics and cell biology. it just clicked for me the first time i looked at the material and i found the subject itself to be extremely straightforward. </p>
<p>it also really depends on the person you are. are you a logical and calculating thinker? Can you visualize 3 dimensional models in your head? Can you reason through a process rather than just memorizing it? are you good at solving puzzles (organic synthesis) and mind games (good ol’ NMR problems)? These are all the qualities that make great organic chemists.</p>
<p>it might be hard at first, but my advice is to NEVER FALL BEHIND. everything in organic builds upon itself, and if you get stuck at say, resonance structures and acids/bases during your 2nd week, you better ask for help as the rest of organic chemistry builds upon those topics. </p>
<p>from personal experience, its a crapshoot. people either hate it or love it, i havent really met anyone in between.</p>
<p>"I think it’s quite unrealistic to say that a “perfect GPA is very doable” in ochem. "</p>
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<li>I meant not just in Ochem, but perfect GPA overall. It is doable, veyr much so. I did not mean that one needs to be very smart. I meant that one needs to work hard. My D. has very good work ethic and that is the only way she knows how to achieve. In classes like Bio and Orgo, one cannot rely on being smart, unless one is super genius with with exceptional photographic memory, the only thing that works is exceptional effort.</li>
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