How to Succeed in Organic Chemistry

How many horrendous stories you heard about the dreaded yearlong college sequence of Organic Chemistry? I'm here to tell you that it IS possible to succeed in O-Chem! True, the material is tough, but it's not impossible - think of all the students who have been in the same place you are. I took Organic Chemistry last year - and here are my own personal tips to a successful year!

The Book
If you're taking O-Chem, you must have the textbook! I know it's expensive but it is ESSENTIAL. I think I spent a little more than $300 on my textbook, student solution manual to the textbook and toy molecule set. The price is high, but if you're in the class for an entire year - you can think of it as spending $100 per term or $150 per semester. To save some money, try and look online for used copies of the textbook and solutions (amazon.com). The reason why you need to buy the textbook, solutions manual and molecule set is because the book is full of practice problems that will help you understand the material and text that helps clarify what your professor will lecture about. By having the solutions manual you will know the reason behind each answer - the textbooks are full of different types of practice problems that cover every section of lecture and chances are a lot of these questions will be covered on your exams/quizzes. By having access to these problems (and their answers) before hand you will be familiar with the problem solving techniques of Organic Chemistry. The molecule set is good for the book's chapter on stereochemistry where hands-on interaction is a MUST.

Studying
To study, I used two things: the book and my notes. Believe it or not, you WILL need to read the textbook. Not only does it clarify your lecture, but also, by reading the text you will solidify most of the concepts sooner than later. Try to be as interactive as possible with your notes and book - do the problems, make flash cards, practice your naming skills and "arrow pushing". Scratch paper and white boards should become your new best friends!

Office Hours
When all else fails - GO TO OFFICE HOURS! Your professor will gladly go over the material with you and chances are someone else in office hours will have the same question.

Plan Ahead
I won't lie; O-Chem takes a lot of time away from your day! Not only should you attend every lecture, but you should also set aside at least 2 hours per day to study. Yup, 2 hours! Read your book, do the problems, go over your notes and look ahead in the book so you can get an idea about what your next lecture will be over. DON'T FALL BEHIND!

Midterms and Finals
You MUST realize that studying for an O-Chem quiz or an exam is very different from any other exam. I think the most important advice I can give to anyone who takes Organic Chemistry is to START STUDYING EARLY! For midterms start studying at least half a week early and for finals start reviewing no less than a week before the exam. For the final, I sometimes found myself reviewing material from the beginning of the term BEFORE we were done learning new material.

Good Luck!