Molecular model kits: every instructor recommends them, many students buy them, but fewer end up actually using them. In this tutorial I want to talk about a few different styles of molecular model kits, their benefits and drawbacks, and how to use them properly. Spike and Tube Set The first style I want to discuss…

Summer organic chemistry is not a faster version of the regular class. That distinction matters more than most students realize before they sign up. The material is the same. The exams are the same. The standard you’re held to is the same. What changes is everything around the material: the timeline, the pace, the recovery…

If you’re spending hours studying organic chemistry and still not getting your A, this post is for you. Let me start with an example. Here is a fairly typical second-semester organic chemistry question: we start with benzyl alcohol and need to convert it into a carboxylic acid. The first thing I notice is that the…

Look, I get it. Organic chemistry has a reputation. Professors flex with surprise quiz questions, lectures feel like they’re written in hieroglyphs, and the whole class is branded the “weed-out course.” I hear the same line every semester: “I’m smart, but orgo terrifies me. I freeze on tests. One quiz feels like it could end…

Stay awhile, and listen! ~Deckard Cain The “Why” Part Are you taking organic chemistry this semester, or maybe next, and already dreading it because of all the horror stories? You’re not alone. After working with students for over 20 years, I can tell you: fear of orgo is almost universal. And that fear often becomes…

“I’m studying hard, doing all the mechanisms right, but when the exam asks ‘Why?’ or ‘Explain,’ I get completely stuck. What should I do?” Sound familiar? If it does, know this — you’re not alone. Many students hit this exact wall. Memorizing mechanisms and naming compounds feels like a good start, but when it comes…

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Bilbo Baggins might have been talking about a grand adventure through Middle-earth, but the feeling he describes resonates just as powerfully with anyone staring at…

If you’re taking Organic Chemistry, you’ve probably heard the horror stories—brutal exams, endless reactions to memorize, and lectures that feel like they’re in another language. The truth? OChem is one of the most challenging college courses, but it’s not impossible. The key to success isn’t just working harder—it’s working smarter. And one of the smartest…

Organic chemistry is an extremely interconnected science. As you have already seen in the first semester of your organic chemistry sequence, one topic connects to another in such a way, that mastering consequent topics is very hard without mastering previous ones. Before we go further, let’s look at the typical first semester organic chemistry topics….