How to Succeed in Organic Chemistry at CSUB
If you have any suggestions for advice/links to add, please contact Dr. Solano at dsolano@csub.edu.
Your personal learning style
Tutoring
If you would like to meet with a tutor, the CSUB Science Tutoring Center for Biology & Chemistry has tutors for organic chemistry. This is a free service, and as such the quality of the tutoring varies from tutor to tutor. Check out the CSUB Tutoring Services webpage for the current hours and location (and information for other tutoring centers on campus).
Online paid tutoring services (e.g., Bartleby, Chegg, Clutch Prep, Course Hero, OneClass) are NOT recommended. These services vary in quality, and you often get wrong answers for your hard-earned money. Further, note that it is illegal to post content from your courses online (i.e., outside of Canvas) and there is a good chance using such websites is a violation of your course's academic integrity policy.
Basic Needs
Advice from Dr. Solano
Practice, practice, practice! You can’t learn organic chemistry by cramming the night before the exam. It requires practice and hard work. Organic chemistry has often been described as a language: you have to memorize the “vocabulary”, study the “grammar”, and then practice before you can communicate effectively. Given that, here are some things that have worked for me, and students I have taught. Test them out to discover which are most effective for you:
Before Class:
- Read the chapter and/or watch a video associated with the content that will be covered in class.
- If applicable, download or print a copy of the lecture slides.
- Write down any questions you have to ask in class.
During Class:
- Take notes in a notebook and/or on the lecture slides.
- Ask for clarity when you are confused about something. (I've found that the best students ask the most questions.)
- Try all problems/questions posed in class on your own before looking at your notes and/or waiting for the answer.
- Make sure that all of the questions you had before class have been answered.
After Class:
- Review your notes and check for any errors or points of confusion.
- Summarize and/or recopy your notes.
- Complete any homework problems. Be sure to try all problems/questions on your own before looking at your notes and/or getting help.
- You may need to review your lecture notes, textbook, or other resources if you get stuck.
- Note any questions that you can't figure out and/or don't understand what the question is asking so you can get help later.
- If there is a particular type of problem you need more practice with, work more practice problems.
- Go to your instructor's office hours when you need help! If you are nervous about going by yourself, bring a friend (or even your whole study group) with you.
Prepping for Quizzes/Exams:
- Start studying at least a week before the Quiz/Exam (not the night before).
- Go though the list of topics that will be on the Quiz/Exam.
- For any content that requires memorization, practice until you have it down (flashcards work great)!
- Try some of the practice problems related to each topic. Be sure to try all problems/questions
on your own before looking at your notes and/or getting help.
- For content you master quickly, work less problems.
- For content you are struggling with, work more problems.
- Go to your instructor's office hours when you need help! If you are nervous about going by yourself, bring a friend (or even your whole study group) with you.
Advice from Previous Organic Chemistry Students
“From day one, stay on top of all assignments, studying for quizzes and exams. Study and review every day. If you fall behind, it's at least 4 times harder to catch up. DON'T allow yourself to fall behind! Ask for help during office hours. Attend all lectures and help sessions - they really do help to reinforce the material and clarify any questions you may have. Treat this like learning a new language - the more you practice, the better you become. Dr. Solano is very willing to help you - take advantage of that by asking any questions you have! Don't fool yourself into thinking that you'll be fine if you just do the minimum and cram before exams - you will definitely be in for a rude awakening when you fail. Instead, set yourself up for success from the beginning by starting with good study habits.”
“Make sure to make good use of the online office hours!!! They really are helpful when trying to learn and understand Ochem 331, and also if Dr.Solano offers to do an on campus study session, GO!!! It really helps to study for midterms or Finals. One last thing, PLEASE STUDY! study study study! It will make such a huge difference, Ochem 331 can be your best friend or your enemy, it depends what you make it. Good luck.”
“Getting a good grade in O-Chem is like a stool, you need to make sure all three legs are there to support you: you need to 1) attend lectures, 2) read the chapters, and 3) do the practice problems or else you'll end up on your rear end looking foolish.”
“Read the appropriate chapter in the book before going to lecture so that lecture will strengthen your understanding of the concepts. I would also recommend going through the lecture notes and translating the major concepts onto a blank sheet of paper to use when studying for the exams. Keep these notes throughout the quarter and use them to study for the final.”
“Study every lecture after it is reviewed in class. Don't fall behind. Stay on top of the material.”
“Learning organic chemistry is like learning a new language: you get better the more you use it. Reread notes, do practice-problems, communicate with classmates, and go to office hours. If you make a mistake, make an effort understand why you were wrong. The class may be tricky, but digestible.”
“Be on your guard for what's about to come. Chem 331 is such a challenging course in which a lot of time devoted to studying and practicing practice problems daily is much required to successfully understand the presented material better. Chemistry 331 is the class will require treating your brain like a muscle. Practice daily to get desirable results.”
“This is a very difficult course, memorizing is not as important in this course as being able to apply those concepts to problems. Expose yourself to as many problems as possible.”
“DONT SLACK DONT SLACK DONT SLACK. THIS STUFF SNOWBALLS INTO A GIANT HEAP OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY BOULDER ROLLING DOWN THE GRAPEVINE AT 80 MPH, CRUSHING SLACKERS, LAZIES, AND THE UNPREPARED IN ITS PATH. OH YEA AND THE BALL IS ON FIRE."
CSUB Organic Chemistry Lab Manual
CSU Pomona's Organic Chemistry Lab Tutorials
Dr. Solano's Organic Chemistry Resources
MilliporeSigma
MIT Opencourse: Organic Chemistry I
MIT OpenCourseWare: Organic Chemistry II
Organic Chemistry Practice Problems at Michigan State University
U.CAN Understand Curved Arrow Notation
Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry