Keys to Chemistry: Practice Problems with a Chemistry Tutor

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Organic chemistry can be frustrating, but it doesn't have to be if you find an able chemistry tutor or study group to help you with your class. Not sure where to start? Sign up for a free consultation!

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I’ve spoken to so many students who come to me for chemistry help, who work hard and still can’t get it to click.  They attend every lecture, read every word of their textbook, and memorize their notes.  But when the test comes, the structures seem foreign, and these diligent students have no idea where to start.  After investing so much time and effort into studying, to still do poorly on the ensuing exam is understandably disheartening.  This poor performance can lead to low self-confidence, resulting in a downward spiral. 

Where did things go wrong given the time you spent preparing for the chemistry test?

For many, the answer is simpler than you might think: poor time management. 

Let me take a minute to talk about what I mean by that.  The life of a student can be busy (especially when working toward a chemistry degree or medical school!).  No matter what professors might believe, there is not a magical contraption that allows their students an unlimited amount of time to study for a test (Hermione’s Time-Turner notwithstanding).  Let’s say the typical diligent student has twenty hours they can devote to their organic chemistry exam.  They might spend three reading through the textbook, fifteen memorizing their notes, and two working example problems.  Maybe they even get some last-minute chemistry tutoring, to help explain troubling concepts.  Seems pretty good, right?  Twenty hours is a lot of studying for one test, after all.  For many classes, especially those based largely around memorization like biology, this form of studying represents excellent preparation for the exam.  Unfortunately, it does not work for organic chemistry. 

Practice Problems.  These two words are THE KEY to organic chemistry. 

Your professor probably handed you a huge stack of problems and told you they were optional.  Sure, you thought, I’ll look over them, but in the end it looks like a lot of busy work.  WRONG.  Practice problems should be the core of your studying.  If you read your textbook, it should be in order better solve or understand a problem.  Your notes are there to help you work problems.  Even your lectures are just a tool to help you work problems.  To truly succeed in organic chemistry, you must devour every problem your professor gives you, and be hungry for more.  Once you have completed a problem set, that does not mean you’re done with it.  Go back.  Look it over.  Talk about the questions with your classmates.  Talk about them with your chemistry tutor, if you have one.  Understand the intricacies of each question.  Think to yourself, “If this element were changed, how would that change the question, and the answer?”

The reason memorizing your notes is so effective for studying biology, but not for organic chemistry, is straightforward.  Biology is based on learning facts, but organic chemistry is based on applying rules

You wouldn’t study for a calculus test by memorizing the definition of a derivative, would you?  No!  You would practice how to apply that definition toward actually solving problems.  Organic chemistry exams, just like math exams, are about solving problems.  With organic chemistry, though, you have an advantage: you already have a good idea of what those problems are before you ever walk through the exam room door. 

Every organic chemistry class I have taken or taught, the professor built the exams based entirely off the practice problems. 

In most cases, the questions were so similar that a full understanding of the relevant practice problem would render missing the exam question nearly impossible.  In other cases, the EXACT practice problem was used as a question on the exam!  If that doesn’t provide incentive to work problems, I don’t know what does. 

That’s all I have for this week.  Next time, I’ll talk about some other “secrets” to demystify your chemistry course.  For now, hit those problems, and good luck!

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