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
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You'll also be the first to know when I have
a new video or live review coming up.
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