just thought i’d start an organic chemistry thread if anyone were interested just like we did for the Chemistry Thread during the summer.
I started last night so i’ll begin the thread with my experience. anyone else taking organic chem please post any questions here and anyone who has taken it please provide advice if you can, etc…let’s have some fun!!!
School started last night (MON) at Northlake with organic chemistry on the menu. I won’t lie, I had always heard horror stories of this class in undergrad and even to date, but surprisingly the teacher said it would be easier than Chem II had been. what a relief! pretty big class well i say bit but maybe 25 ppl or so. teacher is so nice and seems very eager to help and for us to learn. the class consisted of review which went over what we had done with molecular geometry and such with orbitals and then we got into the bonding and such and did some organic carbon chains. met a guy - jeremy, who is in my shoes… has a masters in Finance and works for Comerica credit union. his wife is a MS3 at University of Oklahoma med school and sounds like he’s gonna head towards the same track. never fails, in every class I always find a non-traditional like myself… well maybe not chem II but chem I had some too. it’s nice to finally be on my way moving closer towards the goal of not just thinking about doing this but actually doing it.
Taking CII and OChemI this fall. CII is a prereq so it should be interesting.
I’m actually kind of looking forward to organic chem 'cause I hear it’s so much more interesting than gen chem 2…taking that right now and it’s ok but eh, organic compounds seem a lot more interesting.
I took organic-1 two semesters ago,
I did not find it hard at all, keep in mind the class started off with approx 450+ students, by time the final came, the class shrunk to about 280 or so students.
Well, let me say this again, I did not find it hard because I spend alot of time studying and doing problems over and over and over… Its kind of like calc based physics, you have to do problems on your own to do well in the class…
I am currently enrolled in Orgo I, along with Physics I and Cell Bio. Of the three I can definitely say that I’m struggling with Orgo the most this semester at the 2 weeks+ mark.
At least math based stuff like physics can be conquered with enough practice. However, I feel that the material thus far covered in Organic is just so… um… unique and feels more like a MENSA “which shape is similar to the other” type exercise 
The last tidbit was in reference to Resonance Structures. If anyone has a good online or cheap book reference for Orgo let’s hear it!
my book certainly wasn’t cheap. $188 i think total. (that covers Orgo I & II at my school). had to suck it up and pay the full price but I won’t have to next semester fortunately. My Bio book works the same way so I’m paid up until next summer 08. Organic is different, right now we have been reviewing so far but are finally getting into the Functional Groups. I think it’s going to just be a matter of getting to really know these structures and how they are formed and their nomenclature. it’s tough. are you working full time as well or just taking the classes? i’m working and taking 8 hrs of classes… it kills me working all day and then going M-Thurs. to class from 5:45-8:35. I wonder what I’m doing but just trying to pound out as much as I can so it isn’t as bad.
- Miller J. Said:
my book certainly wasn't cheap. $188 i think total. (that covers Orgo I & II at my school). had to suck it up and pay the full price but I won't have to next semester fortunately. My Bio book works the same way so I'm paid up until next summer 08. Organic is different, right now we have been reviewing so far but are finally getting into the Functional Groups. I think it's going to just be a matter of getting to really know these structures and how they are formed and their nomenclature. it's tough. are you working full time as well or just taking the classes? i'm working and taking 8 hrs of classes.. it kills me working all day and then going M-Thurs. to class from 5:45-8:35. I wonder what I'm doing but just trying to pound out as much as I can so it isn't as bad.
Actually, learning the functional groups isn't the hard part, it's the reactions that each functional group can do and what the products & reactants are. I've done about a week and a half of organic chem in my gen chem II class, just finishing it up now, and yeah the reactions are the biggest pain imo.
And no, don't ask me why they taught us a crapload of organic chem in a gen chem class. At least some of the material will be familiar to me when I start orgo 1, although that may be the point behind it.
what’s cool is my biology class is basically tailing off of gen chem I and II and organic … it’s cool that i’m taking organic right now but i can tell that all those young kids who haven’t had college chemistry are soooo lost and it’s just elementary stuff to me like bonding, etc. i sure am thankful for that 8 hrs of chem this past summer !
- Miller J. Said:
what's cool is my biology class is basically tailing off of gen chem I and II and organic .. it's cool that i'm taking organic right now but i can tell that all those young kids who haven't had college chemistry are soooo lost and it's just elementary stuff to me like bonding, etc. i sure am thankful for that 8 hrs of chem this past summer !
This must be normal then because my biology class is doing that too...kinda ironic actually, I was learning about functional groups and organic chem reactions from both biology and chemistry at the same time for the past week and a half.
Same thing happened as well...I've had 3 diff people sit next to me before one finally stayed, so im guessing those 3 people dropped out since I know I don't smell.
one was a pre-med and she said she hadn't even taken any chem yet...she was so lost, I felt bad for her. Tried to bring her up to speed, but there's only so much you can tell someone on a 10-minute break.I’m taking a 1-semester Biochemistry class (no lab) this semester just because it was something that seemed interesting. Now that I’m a few weeks in, I highly recommend it. In the way that someone mentioned that Biology is tying Gen Chem & Orgo together, Biochemistry is tying Gen. Chem, Orgo, Biology (and to a lesser extent) Physics together in a way that is producing a lot of A-Ha! moments in the higher integrative centers in my noggin’. I feel like I will be ready to crush the MCAT by the time I am finished with this semester (Biochem, Physiology, Microbiology, and Neurobiology)… if my head doesn’t implode first.
Good luck with your Organic Chem. & don’t let it get too dusty… you’ll be seeing it again. 
Tim F.
- T_Forsythe Said:
I'm taking a 1-semester Biochemistry class (no lab) this semester just because it was something that seemed interesting. Now that I'm a few weeks in, I highly recommend it. In the way that someone mentioned that Biology is tying Gen Chem & Orgo together, Biochemistry is tying Gen. Chem, Orgo, Biology (and to a lesser extent) Physics together in a way that is producing a lot of A-Ha! moments in the higher integrative centers in my noggin'. I feel like I will be ready to crush the MCAT by the time I am finished with this semester (Biochem, Physiology, Microbiology, and Neurobiology)... if my head doesn't implode first.
Good luck with your Organic Chem. & don't let it get too dusty... you'll be seeing it again. ;-)
Tim F.
Good luck with your Organic Chem. & don't let it get too dusty... you'll be seeing it again. ;-)
Tim F.
Sounds like a fun class for the most part, yeah I'll probably take biochemistry as an elective once I'm at UCSB. Thanks, I'll try to remember most of the orgo I learned over the past 2 weeks.