I live in north dallas and am in need of a great Ochem tutor. The last exam our class took we had a high, yes I did say high of 68. I really need focused help as my university does not have a tutoring program, professor does not have a TA and when I have gone to office hours I can’t get anywhere with him as he never gives a strait answer. His response is always, “is that reasonable?” (and that’s it…nothing, I mean nothing else) I have Ochem as a 2nd language…and used a few online resources however; my issue is the way he words his questions and the fact that they don’t come from the book. I’m hoping all you experienced OPM’rs will have some guidance as I really want to gain a mastery over the subject so I can do well on the MCAT. Anyhow, just looking for some advise/help. Thanks everyone.
Hi,
Have you seen any ads around campus about tutoring? Can you give an example of how he words a question (without actually using one of the test questions)? Are the tests multiple choice? Have you been able to go over the test with him at office hours? Are you studying alone or with a partner? Have you asked the professor about study tips? Have you tried emailing him about something you need help with? (maybe he can explain it better by email instead of face-to-face)…
What does he say if you respond that you don’t know if it’s “reasonable”?
If you google for “organic chemistry tutor dallas tx” there are alot of websites that come up. Even though the school doesn’t have a tutoring program, check to see if there are other chem students or grad students that tutor…
Sorry for all the questions 
Test consist of 40 questions, 12 of which are multiple choice (we have 50 minutes to complete). An example of m/c… “arrange groups in decreasing order of sequence-rule priorities (highest first).” That’s it, not clear and the choices were even less clear as well. He will not review the test with us as he states that it is our job, he does post a key that we can check our work. I have been studying alone and with a partner (someone who has taken the class before, just needed a better grade). His idea of study tips is to do more problems from the book, which is good advice and is what I am currently doing however, he writes his own tests and does not pull from the book. Herein lies a majority of the problem. As for email, he doesn’t respond, he wants us to come to his office hours, which I’ve done twice, however it was incredibly frustrating as I stated. He just responds with “is that reasonable”. What is very strange is that he consistently states in class that he is not looking for the right answer, but the reasonable answer. He will often write incorrect mechanisms on the overhead and ask if they are reasonable or not, then never correct them.
So I have searched for a tutor online, I was just hoping for a recommendation. Thank you so much for responding, this has been by far the most challenging class I have ever taken, not so much the material, but the professor and his unreasonable “reasonableness”
Again, thank you for your reply and my apologies for my rant…just incredibly frustrated.
I tutor science students and can do so by Skype (Orgo is one of my strongest areas). Send me an email and we can go from there.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Search google for Organic Chemistry Exams. You’ll come up with a lot of exams from other courses and they often have associated keys. These are great practice.
- Be sure to hit up Khan Academy, and also check out http://www.freelance-teacher.com/videos.htm. Freelance teacher guy goes into the organic stuff in detail and I thought his videos were very helpful.
- If you already have MCAT review books, use those as another resource for learning the topic. The EK1001 Organic book is another great resource for practice (if you don’t have it, let me know, I may be able to help you out).
Hope that helps out. Good luck.