{"id":410,"date":"2014-04-23T15:41:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T15:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/?p=410"},"modified":"2014-04-23T15:41:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-23T15:41:19","slug":"five-tips-to-study-organic-chemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/five-tips-to-study-organic-chemistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Tips to Study Organic Chemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"

There may be no subject of study more feared than organic chemistry. Many students quickly find their mastery of the materials inadequate to answer the most basic questions on their practice exams.\u00a0 However with effort, time and a sensible strategy you can definitely become ready for the next exam!\u00a0 Here we present 5 tips to grasp organic chemistry concepts and reactions quickly and efficiently.<\/p>\n

\"Organic<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Most students of organic chemistry<\/strong> begin studying for an exam, very often 2 to 3 chapters of material, a week before the exam.\u00a0 It may have worked for History 101, but it won\u2019t work for this course!\u00a0 There is no short cut, so don\u2019t spend your time looking for one! Think about it – your class is likely 2 hours per day and 3 days per week; that is 6 hours of lecture each week.\u00a0 Your rule of thumb should be 1 hour of studying for each hour of lecture.<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong> Take that time to go back to the PowerPoint or class notes and ask yourself, \u201cDo I really know what\u2019s going on here?\u201d\u00a0 The sooner you begin, the more time you have to answer questions and really prepare yourself for the exam.\u00a0 Set up a calendar to help yourself budget your time and maximize your efficiency; Monday \u2013 study lecture notes on Chapter 1, Wednesday \u2013 practice problems on Chapter 1, Friday \u2013 office hours with professor on Chapter 1 questions.\u00a0 By using good time management, you get maximum results in the minimum time!<\/p>\n

Tip #2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Go back to the beginning.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As students review the material, there is a compulsion to skip of the beginning of the lecture and early chapters of material because it\u2019s \u201cbackground\u201d or \u201creally easy\u201d and jump into the material they don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 This is a recipe for self-defeat!\u00a0 Organic chemistry is like a pyramid – the top will collapse without a strong base.\u00a0 Even if you think you have no time, go back to the introduction and early chapters and spend some time reviewing this material.\u00a0 You will likely be surprised how much better you will grasp the \u201chard\u201d material once you completely understand the \u201ceasy\u201d material!<\/p>\n

Tip #3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gather all practice questions and old exams.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Another shortcut to avoid is jumping right to the practice exam as your method of study.\u00a0 These questions are likely as hard as they will possibly be for your course and require a complete understanding of the concepts and mechanisms involved to answer them.\u00a0 As a T.A. for over 8 years, I estimate 70-80% of exams are based on practice questions assigned by professors from the book.\u00a0 So why not master those practice problems?\u00a0 If you master how to solve these questions and nothing else, you have already passed the exam!\u00a0 During your 6 hours of studying per week, take half of the time to solve the practice problems assigned. Write down any questions you have about each practice problem and try to find the answer in the book or seek help from professors, tutors or websites like StudyOrgo<\/a>.\u00a0 Once you solve these questions, use the practice exam as a \u201ccheck\u201d for any remaining issues and you will be completely prepared to ace your exam!<\/p>\n

Tip #4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assemble you knowledge.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As you review material and practice problems, write down any questions you have, no matter how slight.\u00a0 After you complete the review, come back to these questions at your next study session and look for the answer.\u00a0 If you can\u2019t find the solution on your own, set up a meeting with your professor, tutor or check StudyOrgo for help on the material.\u00a0 For studying mechanisms, try making a table reactions or flash cards of the reactions.\u00a0 Just by preparing these materials you are mentally studying the reaction and are preparing for the test, and you have your own study aid that you can understand to refer to right before the exam.<\/p>\n

Tip #5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Get a good night\u2019s rest before the exam.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Recalling memory is almost impossible if you are fatigued.\u00a0 Pulling an \u2018all nighter\u2019 for organic chemistry exams almost never ends well for students.\u00a0 Your best bet is to get 7-8 full hours of sleep before the exam, even if you feel you aren\u2019t ready.\u00a0 Ask yourself – what can you really learn the day before the exam?\u00a0 Use the day before to refresh your memory on what you have learned in your studying sessions and practice problems.\u00a0 By following Step #3 & #4, you have this material very organized and written in your own hand so reviewing should be easy! And just in case your notes are unclear, the material presented at StudyOrgo.com is tailored to explaining mechanisms and concepts in a very clear and simple format to help you study.<\/p>\n

By following these 5 tips you will feel fresh, have a clear mind going in and have the best chance of getting an A on the exam.\u00a0 Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There may be no subject of study more feared than organic chemistry. Many students quickly find their mastery of the materials inadequate to answer the most basic questions on their practice exams.\u00a0 However with effort, time and a sensible strategy you can definitely become ready for the next exam!\u00a0 Here we present 5 tips to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tips"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyorgo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}