Students can approach the subject of Organic Chemistry with trepidation for many reasons; it can be a challenging course.  Here are some things to think about as you prepare to tackle the course:

• Make use of the resources I provide!  Come to class.  Take notes.  Read the textbook.  Work the assigned problems.
• While technology is important, it is critical that you use pencil-and-paper: for taking notes in class, and while working problems. Numerous studies show that in general, students who use laptops/tablets/phones in class learn less and peform worse than those who take written notes. Much of Organic Chemistry relies on developing "muscle memory" for drawing organic chemical structures.
• Read the text, and follow the sample problems in context.  A good idea:  look for similar end-of-chapter problems and work them right after you go through a sample problem.
• Work the assigned problems (both those recommended from the text AND the assigned Sapling homework).  These are designed to illustrate how to apply concepts from lecture to the wide array of compounds that Organic Chemistry deals with.
• Use your molecular model kit; holding things in your hand and looking at them from different angles is important. Organic Chemistry is a very visually-oriented discipline.
• Both on text problems and when you get an exam returned, compare your answer to the answer key--why did you work a problem one way, and I (or the author of the Solutions Manual) do it differently?
• Ask questions.   If you don't understand something, it's quite likely someone else has the same question.
• Come to office hours.  Time out of class offers us a way to explore concepts that challenge you in more depth.
  
• Understand how you are learning.  Memorization is important but is not going to get you all the way there.  If Organic Chemistry is a new language, the things you need to memorize are "vocabulary," and the way it all fits together is the "grammar."  You need both!  The true value of what you are learning lies in applying the knowledge to things you have never seen.
  
• Slow and steady:  spend some time on problems every day; don't expect to be able to master the material by "cramming" a day or two before an exam.
• Recognize that organic chemistry is a cumulative experience:  the concepts we introduce early are used over and over.  If you don't master them, that will cripple you later.  If you focus on success now you will build the basis for success in CH 335 and CH 336.  If you struggled with concepts like electronegativity, acids/bases, and formal charges in General Chemistry, you will be doubly challenged now.
• Ask for help when you are struggling.

If you Google "Succeed Organic Chemistry," you'll find a lot of pages with similar advice.  

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