Tips to pass organic chemistry:

Taking Organic Chemistry is difficult in general. It is even harder if you have a professor that does not know how to teach the class material. Some people may understand Organic Chemistry, but it is a subject that is hard to help other people understand.

Hopefully your professor knows what he/she is talking about and can help you, but if not, then you might need some tips for passing this difficult course.

1. Study!

This one seems obvious, but it a huge factor in passing Organic Chemistry. Now we have all had those courses that you can breeze through and just listen to lectures and take exams. Organic Chemistry is difficult and therefore requires more time looking over material outside of class. I personally enjoy making notecards to study, but everyone has different study techniques that work for them so find what works for you! Look over past exams, print off blank exams to take, look over the lecture notes, read the textbook, find a partner to quiz you, and so on.

2. Set up a study session:

Some friends and I that were taking Organic Chemistry got together and, believe it or not, found a graduate student that could teach the course material better than our professor. In exchange for pizza, he would meet up with us in an empty classroom before exams and help us understand anything that we struggled with. We would ask questions, he would write out problems on the board, and he would explain what we were doing wrong. This helped so much before exams especially if we had sections that gave us particular trouble.

3. Read the textbook:

Honestly, most courses that involve big lectures do not necessarily need the textbook. However, especially if you have a professor like mine that does not know how to make the material easy to understand, you may want to get this textbook. I found that the textbook explained each section thoroughly and easily so that I could understand what was going on. I literally read each chapter of my organic chemistry textbook just to know how to do the different chemical equations, nomenclature, and any calculations for class.

4. Learn the definition of organic chemistry

Learn the definition of "organic chemistry." Generally speaking, organic chemistry is the study of carbon-based chemical compounds. Carbon is the sixth element in the periodic table and one of the most vital building blocks for life on earth. Living things are made up of molecules made mainly of carbon. This means that O chem includes the chemistry that goes on inside your body every day. It also includes the chemistry that occurs inside animals, plants, and natural ecosystems.
However, organic chemistry isn't limited to living things. For example, the chemical reactions involved in the burning of fossil fuels fall under the O chem umbrella because these reactions involve carbon-based compounds in the fuels. 

5. Go to Class:

Even though I do not learn much in my lectures, there is that slim chance that my professor mentions something that finally clicks. Sometimes I lay in bed and debate going to class, but I still do not want to miss learning some important material. So it is important to go to the lectures even if you do not know if you will learn anything from it. Plus, some professors do attendance or pop quizzes and those points add up in hard courses.


6. Take Notes:

This one goes along with number 4. Even though you may not understand what you are writing down, take notes. Later, while reading the textbook or studying on khan academy, then you may find what the professor said is starting to click. Also, you can look back at your notes, find what was confusing, and search answers for your questions online.

7. Ask Question:

There are usually more than one professor teaching a hard course such as Organic Chemistry. If you do not feel it will help to ask your own professor your questions, try going to another professor that also specializes in the subject. Or try finding graduate students that did well in this course and ask them to help you. Just don’t let yourself stay confused. Find out your answers so that you are prepared if they appear on exams.


8. Memorize:

There are some sections you just need to memorize. Such as strong acids and bases, how to do certain mechanisms (examples are oxidation-boration or mercuration-demercuration), nomenclature, and knowing the difference between markovnikov and anti-markovnikov. Sometimes you just need to look over certain material enough to put it in your memory banks. Professors do not always let you know what you need to memorize, but there is quite a bit in Organic Chemistry that you just need to practice until it sticks.

9. Do Not Get Upset:

My professor takes pride in the low averages on his exam. For example, the average for our first Organic Chemistry exam was a 54% and he said “I think that is a pretty good average for this first exam”. Now, the first exam is the easiest. What does that tell you about our other exam scores? I think it is awful that some professors are happy that half the class is failing and does not understand him/her or the material. Honestly, my score was usually around the average or sometimes a bit lower. I passed the course with a C. I feel that I understood the material the best that I could. I studied for this course more than any other course in my life. Keep your head held high. Work as hard as you can. If you start getting upset and stressed out, then that is just going to make it harder to study and learn this coursework.

10. Keep it interesting:

Lastly, people tend to do better in courses that they are intrigued by and excited to learn about. Whether it is the lab work or how to create different chemicals, find something you enjoy about Organic Chemistry. You will learn more and do better if you want to learn it. I tend to get more agitated with material when it is boring or I cannot grasp it. So try hard to just find parts in each section that are intriguing. Read the first little paragraphs at the beginning of your chapters in the textbooks. Those usually apply what you are about to learn to real life situations. So they are not “need to know”, but they make learning the material more interesting.


Hopefully you learned some better study techniques and I bid you well in chemistry! Good luck and just do your best .


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11. Learn how to represent bonds.Covalent bonds are by far the most common type of bonds you will be dealing with in O chem (though knowledge of ionic bonds, etc. is still valuable). In a covalent bond, two atoms share unpaired electrons to form a bond. If extra unpaired electrons are available, double- or triple-bonded atoms are possible.
In both Lewis structures and skeletal formulas, single bonds are represented by one line, double lines by a double line, and triple bonds by a triple line.
In skeletal formulas, the bonds between carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) atoms are not usually drawn because they are so common.
Except in special circumstances, atoms are typically only allowed to have eight valence (outer shell) electrons. This means that most of the time an atom can bond to a maximum of four other atoms.


12. Learn the basics of electronegativity.There are many, many factors that can determine how two molecules react with each other in O chem. However, electronegativity is often one of the most important factors. Electronegativity is a way of measuring how "tightly" a given atom holds its electrons. Atoms with high electronegativity tend to hold their electrons tightly (and vice versa for atoms with low electronegativity). See our electronegativity article for detailed information.
As you go up and to the right in the periodic table, atoms gain more electronegativity (hydrogen and helium are not included). Fluorine, the atom in the very top top right, has the highest electronegativity of all.
Because electronegative atoms "want" more electrons, they tend to react by "grabbing" available electrons on other molecules. For example, atoms like chlorine and fluorine often appear as negative ions because they have taken electrons from other atoms


13. Physics Background will Help.

I’m convinced that a year of physics, even if only at a conceptual level (ie., without all the math), would make organic chemistry a lot easier. Understanding transition states, activation energies, conformational changes, and a host of other things in organic chemistry would be a lot easier with an understanding of some basic physics. My advice to organic chemistry students that want to really stack the deck in their favor: wait until you’ve had the entire physics sequence before taking organic chemistry.