Just finished my o chem midterm.... I feel like that golden retriever meme where it says "I have no idea what I'm doing"
Congrats - hope you did better than you're expecting. Damn near every medical professional I've spoken to has said O Chem is the worst class in undergrad.
Congrats - hope you did better than you're expecting. Damn near every medical professional I've spoken to has said O Chem is the worst class in undergrad.
my dad hated it - doctor
my cousin changed majors because of it.
my other cousin hated it
my uncle liked it - doctor
i think 90% hate it and feel they have no idea whats going on at the end. you prolly did fine =)
Congrats - hope you did better than you're expecting. Damn near every medical professional I've spoken to has said O Chem is the worst class in undergrad.
It's actually not as bad as people say, and I say that as someone who took the honors o-chem series at Berkeley.
The trick is this:
1) keep up with your reading ... especially good to read up on the lecture material the same evening ... most important is to understand why things react the way they do, more so than memorizing specific reactions.
2) do as many practice problems as you can ... I spent every Saturday from 8 to noon in the library working problems. If I had trouble, I'd re-read the text that weekend, and try more problems Monday night.
3) go to every ******* class, and pay attention with laser-like focus no matter how early in the morning it is, take the best notes you've ever taken. You can sleep when you're dead.
In a class where it was 200 of the best chem students in the country, the mean was still only 55% ... and 50% was failing. But by doing what I suggested, I aced that damn class. Took 10 damn years off my life expectancy, but I did it. It's not that the material is hard, I'm certainly not some chem genius ... it just takes hard work and repetition, perhaps more than any other class.
O Chem is such a stupid class. Absolutely pointless to being a medical professional unless you're going to be a pharmaceutical or genetics researcher. And any class that requires massive curving is poorly taught. My genetics course at Northwestern, for instance, which needed you to score above the mid 20's% on the final to to get a D.
It's actually not as bad as people say, and I say that as someone who took the honors o-chem series at Berkeley.
The trick is this:
1) keep up with your reading ... especially good to read up on the lecture material the same evening ... most important is to understand why things react the way they do, more so than memorizing specific reactions.
2) do as many practice problems as you can ... I spent every Saturday from 8 to noon in the library working problems. If I had trouble, I'd re-read the text that weekend, and try more problems Monday night.
3) go to every ******* class, and pay attention with laser-like focus no matter how early in the morning it is, take the best notes you've ever taken. You can sleep when you're dead.
In a class where it was 200 of the best chem students in the country, the mean was still only 55% ... and 50% was failing. But by doing what I suggested, I aced that damn class. Took 10 damn years off my life expectancy, but I did it. It's not that the material is hard, I'm certainly not some chem genius ... it just takes hard work and repetition, perhaps more than any other class.
sorry, but any class that has you rereading the material again after the lecture +4 hours of working problems just to understand what is going on is "hard." having to reread the chapter again and work another 4 hours if you don't get it after that is "hard."
50% of the best students in the country failing would also = hard in my mind. unless they all had mid to high 80 percentile scores or above and were simply failing because of a curve - gotta love those sadistic professors.
just out of curiosity, if that wasn't hard, what does qualify as hard?
sorry, but any class that has you rereading the material again after the lecture +4 hours of working problems just to understand what is going on is "hard." having to reread the chapter again and work another 4 hours if you don't get it after that is "hard."
50% of the best students in the country failing would also = hard in my mind. unless they all had mid to high 80 percentile scores or above and were simply failing because of a curve - gotta love those sadistic professors.
just out of curiosity, if that wasn't hard, what does qualify as hard?
This class is for biology students (they have another series for the biochem and chem majors). She hands out so much extra credit and partial points you have to be retarded not to pass.
I got an A the first quarter with the same feeling "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing" and I have horrible study habits (in fact I got some online homework due before midnight tonight so I'm taking my laptop to the game)
It's actually not as bad as people say, and I say that as someone who took the honors o-chem series at Berkeley.
The trick is this:
1) keep up with your reading ... especially good to read up on the lecture material the same evening ... most important is to understand why things react the way they do, more so than memorizing specific reactions.
2) do as many practice problems as you can ... I spent every Saturday from 8 to noon in the library working problems. If I had trouble, I'd re-read the text that weekend, and try more problems Monday night.
3) go to every ******* class, and pay attention with laser-like focus no matter how early in the morning it is, take the best notes you've ever taken. You can sleep when you're dead.
In a class where it was 200 of the best chem students in the country, the mean was still only 55% ... and 50% was failing. But by doing what I suggested, I aced that damn class. Took 10 damn years off my life expectancy, but I did it. It's not that the material is hard, I'm certainly not some chem genius ... it just takes hard work and repetition, perhaps more than any other class.
This really is the key. But it's something you just get a feel for after lots of reps.
This class is for biology students (they have another series for the biochem and chem majors). She hands out so much extra credit and partial points you have to be retarded not to pass.
I got an A the first quarter with the same feeling "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing" and I have horrible study habits (in fact I got some online homework due before midnight tonight so I'm taking my laptop to the game)
