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Organic Chem

ANewKindOfArmy

ANewKindOfArmy

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
466
I was just wonderin how many people took organic chem here on bluelight, im plannin of taking it this fall when i start schooling again, i was soposed to start last fall but alot shit went down and didnt have the money to go. So anyway yes how many of you guys/girls took this? Oh yeah and what school did yous do this at? anyone have any advice on which school here in the US would be best for this?
 
I took it.

Just take it anywhere man, hopefully at a nice place with macroscale equip.
 
I took it last year at the college i go to. like dunwich said anywhere is fine, but you should definately not take it over the summer because i know people who have done this and have gotten nothing out of the course because its just too short.
 
took it. loved it. now i teach it.

did my course at a UC in calfornia. are you interested in making this a career? really you can take ochem anywhere and be fine, if you're actually interested in doing a chemistry related job then it becomes a bit more important - not where you took the course - but if you did research, which is only available at research universities...

PM me if you ever need help or have any questions
 
I'm in it right now - it's a fascinating class. You can take it at any 4-year university...but as someone mentioned if you are considering a chemistry program....try to find a school that does research. My organic professor is heavily involved in photochemistry research, with specific focus on solar cell technology.

One thing you should know is that Organic Chem is a hard class. At least for me, it was the first class ever in which I felt really challenged. There is a mountain of information to absorb and not very much time for each concept, so you have to work fast to do well.

If you apply yourself in this class, you will be rewarded with a new appreciation of the world around you. Things will suddenly "make sense" and you'll come to understand how organic compounds really are the building blocks and toolkit of life itself.

Good luck :)
 
Actually im quite serious in trying to make a career out of it. I would have started schooling this year but i was an idiot over the summer and lost ambitions to do anything with my life. I've always wanted to take organic chem, its a wonderful thing. and yes Sir, i will deifnitly be PM'ing you over the next couple months if thats ok.

- B
 
I would love to do organic chemistry but I'm having trouble in the math department. I got good grades in chemistry and I'm pretty good with science, how math involved is organic chem?
 
ochem = minimal mathematics. well, until you get into physical organic chemistry, and then you start doing scary differential equations and stuff like that, but that's only graduate level shit, so don't worry.

i'm pretty much a TA, doing lecture type stuff for small groups.

ANKOA - you're deffo welcome to fire off some questions my way. i recently jacked up my leg and have been taken out of teaching for a few months - i already miss it.

p/c
 
PlurredChemistry said:
physical organic chemistry, and then you start doing scary differential equations and stuff like that, but that's only graduate level shit, so don't worry.
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Speak for yourself, as a biochemistry major I am required to take "p-chem" (as we call it) my junior or senior year. The guy I work with in my lab showed me some of the homework, calculus in chemistry, fun. I have taken two calculus classes, so it should be alright.

I enjoy chemistry, but I must admit I am far more interested in the biological applications. I am in Organic Chem II currently, and from here on out it will only be biochemistry classes (minus the p-chem class) :D
 
^ditto. I'm totally not looking forward to p-chem. Thankfully, I got enough honors credits that I can take "regular" p-chem and only feel like a little bit of a moron when I take it instead of a complete idiot. I did intro p-chem my freshman year as part of a special honors program, and it was complete insanity. If anyone says the words "particle" and "box" too close together near me, I start twitching uncontrollably.... :D


As for O chem, well, i didn't like it much. It's basically just lots of memorization. Of course there is logic behind all the chemical equations you'll have to learn, but you have to memorize the rules of the logic.... So yeah, if you're looking to learn lots of really cool shit about molecules, it's the way to go, but keep in mind that it can really be drudgery at times.

I recommend UW-Madison for any science major (it's where I'm going anyhow... :D). It's one of the best research facilities in the world, and the professors are really top-notch. I haven't had a bad one yet in my science classes. I'm a biochem major, and I've really enjoyed what I've been learning for the most part. The classes are just hard enough to make you work for it, and interesting enough to make it well worth it.
 
I had to take 2 organic chemistry courses. Org. Chem I and Org. Chem 2. I found both classes extremely difficult . Each class had lecture and lab. I had to repeat each course twice and still only got a C.

I found it much more difficult than Basic Chem I+II, Quantitative and Qualitative chemical analysis (Analytical Chemistry), and Biochemistry.

Most textbooks for organic chem are HUGE and the reading is very DRY.
 
kittyinthedark said:
^ditto. I'm totally not looking forward to p-chem. Thankfully, I got enough honors credits that I can take "regular" p-chem and only feel like a little bit of a moron when I take it instead of a complete idiot. I did intro p-chem my freshman year as part of a special honors program, and it was complete insanity. If anyone says the words "particle" and "box" too close together near me, I start twitching uncontrollably.... :D


As for O chem, well, i didn't like it much. It's basically just lots of memorization. Of course there is logic behind all the chemical equations you'll have to learn, but you have to memorize the rules of the logic.... So yeah, if you're looking to learn lots of really cool shit about molecules, it's the way to go, but keep in mind that it can really be drudgery at times.

I recommend UW-Madison for any science major (it's where I'm going anyhow... :D). It's one of the best research facilities in the world, and the professors are really top-notch. I haven't had a bad one yet in my science classes. I'm a biochem major, and I've really enjoyed what I've been learning for the most part. The classes are just hard enough to make you work for it, and interesting enough to make it well worth it.
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Honors p-chem would definetely suck. There is no way in hell I will do that. I am in honors Organic Chem II, and that is hard enough. Thats cool they expose you to that class early though, but I just don't think you could get a lot out of it as a freshman. It is going to be hard enough remembering all the calculus I learned my freshman year when I take p-chem, I can't imagine taking it with only high school calculus.
 
Enlitx said:
Speak for yourself, as a biochemistry major I am required to take "p-chem" (as we call it) my junior or senior year. The guy I work with in my lab showed me some of the homework, calculus in chemistry, fun. I have taken two calculus classes, so it should be alright.

I enjoy chemistry, but I must admit I am far more interested in the biological applications. I am in Organic Chem II currently, and from here on out it will only be biochemistry classes (minus the p-chem class) :D
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trust me, you won't have to do physical organic. you'll do pchem, which is enough of a bitch on its own.

pchem isn't so bad, it actually is pretty cool <sarcasm?> it just makes no intinutative sense, but it WORKS, so we use it.

so, is kittyinthedark some sort of schrodingers cat reference?

evil evil living/dead cat. urgh.
 
Organic was the most fun I have ever had. I took it my senior year of high school.
I still have my notebook from that class, along with a massive 3 subject notebook of Latin (in college), it's the only thing I kept from school.
 
i really enjoyed the year of organic that i took, once you learn the rules/mechanisms much of it comes down to pattern recognition. also, like others have mentioned physical chem is somewhat of a bitch. often times it is not nessary to actually apply the calculus when solving physical chem problems though. it just happens that a lot of the equations are derived using integrals that can be difficult to follow.
 
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