Leah here from leah4sci.com and in this video I'm gonna walk you through how to prepare
for the upcoming Organic Chemistry semester.
Organic Chemistry is notorious for having a very high failure, withdrawal and retake
rate.
Now keeping in mind that every student and every scenario is different.
There are still things you can do before the semester begins to give yourself not only
a fighting chance but to put you ahead of the class and ahead of the curve.
When it comes to preparing for the upcoming semester there are three main categories.
There are students who are taking Organic Chemistry 1 for the first time, students taking
Orgo 2 for the first time, and students who are retaking the course because of failure,
withdrawal, or because you need a higher score.
The way that you approach it is going to be very similar with a few slight differences
so let's go through them one at a time and make sure no matter what you know exactly
what you have to do.
When I first took Organic Chemistry, the time when I withdrew because I didn't want that
F, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
And by the time I figured it out, it was too late!
The first few weeks I knew it was a difficult course but it didn't feel difficult.
It was General Chemistry review easy stuff and by the time it got difficult or rather
by the time it hit me that the material was difficult, it was too late.
I had already bum the first exam, we were approaching the second exam and I was hopelessly
behind.
The biggest thing you can do going into Orgo 1 is making sure that you understand exactly
what to expect.
I don't just mean hearing from other students what the course is like, I mean being familiar
with the material and understanding what these topics are all about and what specifically
makes it so difficult?
The first few topics you will have seen before probably in General Chemistry.
But after that you wanna start getting familiar with things like resonance, and mechanisms.
What you do will depend on how much time you have left but try to at least get through
three chapters.
The initial topics will look very familiar to you because these are things you've seen
in General Chemistry but then once you get past that, you'll get the things like resonance,
acids and bases from the mechanistic approach, and just mechanisms in general.
These are very very important.
But don't just go into it thinking, this is what I have to do, let me see how much I can
get done, be deliberate about it, set a goal, make a calendar, make a plan, and then work
to execute it every step of the way.
You don't have to stick to it exactly but you'll have an idea of what you're trying
to accomplish.
The first thing you need is a syllabus.
Some professors will give it to you early, and some professors will email it to you if
you ask them.
You can also try searching online for an old syllabus by the same professor or asking a
student who has taken the class before.
If none of those options work, that's no excuse.
Just use my syllabus companion linked below and go through that in order.
The early topics are pretty similar, it's only when you get to mechanisms that the order
tends to change between the schools.
Then figure out what you want to accomplish.
You can do this in two ways.
You can decide on how many chapters you want to cover or how many hours you want to devote.
If you're just starting out, I would focus on hours as the goal and chapters as a recommendation.
Because when you don't know what to expect, you don't know how many chapters you can cover
in any given time.
So for example if you have three weeks, you can decide one chapter a week or you can do
two hours a day for three days a week every week leading up to your class.
During that time go in order, start with chapter one, go through the book, go through videos,
make sure you understand, move on to chapter 2.
Don't worry so much about doing extra practice at this point rather focus on understanding
the material and then anytime a question comes up within the chapter or within the video,
try it on your own and then look for the logic behind the answer.
Not just the answer but why is that the answer and how does that work.
That is the key to doing well making sure you actually get what's going on.
Another option is to use the Orgo 1 Review Preview playlist that I have linked below.
This has the basic Organic Chemistry topics from beginner to more advanced so each video
goes on the next and if you set a goal of say 1 video a day you're still gonna get through
a decent amount by day 1.
Most schools break undergrad organic chemistry into two so you have Orgo 1 and 2.
Some schools break it into three especially if you’re on the quarter system.
Organic Chemistry is a subject where one chapter builds on the next which builds on the next.
So you can look at Organic Chemistry 2 as Orgo 1 on steroids.
In Organic Chemistry 1 you learn Acids and Bases, in Orgo 2 you're gonna learn acids
and bases again but instead of a simple alkyne, now you're looking at benzene, now you're
looking at enolate ion formation.
Same concept more complex.
In Organic Chemistry 1, you looked at a lot of reactions.
You looked at mechanism, you looked at synthesis.
Same thing in Orgo 2 but they're more advanced.
The molecules are bigger, there are more exceptions and there's definitely more steps in every
reaction.
So how do you prepare for this?
There are two things you have to do.
The first is to make sure you actually remember everything from Orgo 1 so you have a foundation
to build on.
And the second is preview and get as much of the new material as possible.
Let's face it, if you're taking Orgo 2 after a break, say winter break or summer break,
what's the chance that you actually remember everything from last semester?
Not a lot!
And even if you just finished the class and you got an A, chances are you could still
benefit from a review.
In one of my Orgo 2 exams, I got an A with a 78 cause the class average was at 44.
That means there was 20% of the material that I was not comfortable with and I still got
that A. But that 20% of uncertainty just gets bigger and bigger and more confusing the more
you try to build on it.
So no matter what happened in the past, take that time to review.
Fill in any knowledge gaps go back and refresh on anything you forgot and make sure you're
crystal clear with all the basics.
The second thing you wanna do is start previewing the new chapters, start learning the new material.
If you only have a few days and all you can accomplish is review, you're still gonna be
ahead of the class because your classmates forgot everything, your professor expects
you to remember everything and you need to be ready for the new material.
If you have more time, yes, definitely get ahead with as many chapters are you can.
There are two ways you can break this up and I have a couple of sample study calendars
linked below.
You can break it up where say one third is review and two-thirds preview, and that could
be for example if you have three weeks, one week Orgo 1 review, two weeks of new Orgo
material.
Or you can break up every study day for a part review part preview.
Say you study for 2 hours a day maybe the first 30 minutes is to skim through on Orgo
1 topic and the remaining 90-minutes will be going through a new chapter or going through
new videos.
Last but not least if you're retaking the course, the way you setup your study schedule
is gonna be very similar to what we discussed already but you have to add in that emotional
component because for a lot of students, just a fear of failure is what scares them so much
and hold them back that it end up hurting them even in this new semester.
When I first took Organic Chemistry and withdrew I was so scared of taking it again that it
took me two years, two years to find the courage even though in that time I took so many more
difficult classes, I was just so scared of taking it again and failing it again.
What if I put in all this time and money to pay for this course all over again only to
get another F!
I didn't want that to happen.
Before you start studying, ask yourself, what happened last time?
Why am I in this position that I have to retake the course?
In speaking to a lot of students, I hear everything from not understanding the information, not
doing enough practice questions leaving things to the last minute and then cramming or not
practicing the right way.
Figure out what it was and then ask yourself, how can I make sure, how can I prepare in
advance to do things differently so this does not happen again.
If you didn't understand the material, very simple, make sure you understand the material.
If you're book is not enough, watch a video.
If the video is not enough, go to a study group, go to office hours, get a tutor, find
someone to explain it to you so that you're not confused this time around.
Not enough practice?
That’s an easy fix.
Time consuming but easy, just do more practice.
Don't wait till the last minute though, practice consistently.
As your study maybe build in extra time with every chapter to do practice problems.
Do the end chapter problems, do the end of chapter problems, anytime a problem comes
up in a video, pause the video, try the question, make sure you understand it before you move
on and then have an extra resource for practice during the semester so that you don't fall
into that same pattern.
Waiting until the last minute, well that's easy, we're talking about this right now,
hopefully before the semester begins so that you're getting a head start and not forced
to cram at the last minute.
And finally not practicing the right way, ask yourself what went wrong.
Some students said they did the practice, they did all the questions but when they got
something wrong they just memorize the answer.
They did everything from memorization rather than understanding.
It’s a simple fix, you make a mistake, you ask yourself why was this a mistake and how
do I fix it?
These are just some examples but you need to figure out what held you back, how you're
going to fix it, and then give yourself permission to do better this time around.
It's a mental thing but it really really makes a difference.
And then create a study plan, exactly what we discussed earlier or used one of the samples
linked below.
If you're preparing for the upcoming Orgo semester, first thing you need to do is subscribe
and then click the bell icon.
This will make sure that anytime I post a new video, you'll be the first one to know.
And second, let me know in the comments below when your semester begins and what is the
biggest thing you're scared of, either because of what you've heard from other students or
your past experience.
Are you struggling with Organic Chemistry?
Are you looking for resources and information to guide you through the course and help you
succeed?
If so, then I have a deal for you.
A FREE copy of my E-book, 10 Secrets to Acing Organic Chemistry.
Use the link below or visit orgosecrets.com to grab your free copy.
After downloading your free copy of my e-book you will begin receiving my exclusive email
updates with cheat sheets, reaction guides, study tips and so much more.
You'll also be the first to know when I have a new video or live review coming up.
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