hello! it's seo from tbhstudying and here is how i survived organic chemistry
if you don't know already, organic chemistry was literally my least favorite class ever
and i made an instagram reel about this already but i thought it might be useful to go into more detail
about how i studied, how i practiced problems, and how i prepped for exams
some disclaimers: my professors may teach differently than yours and the class structure might be different
than yours so please feel free to adapt these tips to suit your lifestyle and needs
so let's start with what i did before class.
before class started, my professors would upload the powerpoint slides and or any handouts ahead of time.
so back when i was doing in-person classes, i would print out the slides ahead of time
because i lost a lot of time during lecture trying to draw out all the structures.
if you're in synchronous online classes, then i would highly suggest doing this as well.
you actually waste a lot of time trying down the reaction when you should really be focusing on
why the structure is like that, and how it was originally formed, and what reagents were used to make it.
however, i would recommend going back after classes and drawing out the structures for yourself
to familiarize yourself with them. for organic chemistry ii, i had asynchronous classes so i could get away with
drawing out the structures while i was watching the lecture video but yeah, if you have synchronous classes
or if you go back to in-person classes, definitely make sure you have all the material printed out ahead of time.
as for notes and note-taking style, i've taken notes both on paper and digitally on my ipad
and after both experiences, i can 100% say that the paper version was so much better.
it was easier to draw out the structures and i could write down reagents and solve problems faster
on paper vs having to zoom in and adjust the pen and line tool on goodnotes.
and also, since i had to take the exams on paper anyways, it was just easier for me to write on paper
during lecture, during practice problems, so i could do the same thing during the exam as well.
i also remember the structures much better after writing them on paper compared to drawing them digitally
and i've also tried typing out my notes and it's just way too difficult to do since i can't type out the structure.
so i would recommend paper notes all the way.
do not worry about the way your structures look or the way your notes look.
at the end of the day, the quality of the content in your notes matters far more than the way your notes look.
the only special thing i did in my notes was to make my electron-pushing arrows a different color
so that i could differentiate them from other lines and memorize the mechanisms more easily.
now, after you've taken the lecture notes, i would highly recommend going back after class
and making sort of a summary for yourself.
it doesn't have to be super detailed and it doesn't even have to be a full review sheet.
it just can be a post-it note listing the topics that were covered.
i just found that when i would do lecture notes, i would lose the main point of the topics that were covered
because i would write down so many example problems
and different structures and orbitals and different drawings and everything,
so having the summary to let me know exactly what was covered in which lecture was very helpful when i was studying for exams.
then, after doing all of that, i would solve practice problems as soon as i was able to.
it's best to do the homework without looking at your notes at first because you can figure out what gaps
there are in your current knowledge. after trying the problems out, then you can look at your notes and then try again.
after you've given it your best shot, then you can compare with other people or ask a TA or the professor
or you can google it if you're still confused. i found that if i did the problems the first time through with my friends,
the smartest friend would figure it out first and tell me how to do it, and then i would falsely believe
that i could totally do it on my own when in reality, i really needed to work through it on my own first
in order to figure out what i didn't know. i think practice problems are where you learn the most when it
comes to organic chemistry because you really need to do it and see it in practice before you fully understand the concept
and before you're able to apply it towards new problems. if you don't have enough practice problems,
ask your professor or look in your textbook before googling them
because i often found that the practice problems online were way beyond my scope and covered topics that i didn't study yet
you should also practice active recall when it comes to old materials because the reagents and reactions that you covered before
start to build on top of each other when it comes to synthesis problems.
i know some friends used flashcards and i know anki and quizlet are great digital flashcard options, but
do whatever you're most comfortable with when it comes to active recall.
just make sure you keep reviewing that old material because it really just builds on top of each other.
and finally, before the exam, i would make review sheets of the material and all the mechanisms
to help myself remember them and memorize them. i would also draw reactions and reagents out
on whiteboards or on scratch paper and go over them again and again to memorize them.
then, i was ready to take the test.
and just one last tip for organic chemistry that can really be applied to almost any class:
make sure to ask the professor or the TAs for any help or any question you have.
there is no such thing as a dumb question, and i literally had to ask my professor what an acid was
and don't be afraid to be embarrassed and i think that it's always better to ask a clarifying question than to
pretend like you know everything because asking your questions and potentially making yourself look dumb
is way better like pretending that you know everything and then failing the test.
i hope this helps some of you survive organic chemistry
it's a class that really involves a lot of work but after putting in the right amount of work
and putting in the right kind of studying in, you can really succeed in that class.
i hope that you're able to apply these tips towards other chemistry or other science classes as well
and i'm wishing you all the best. i'll see you in the next video and until then, bye!