Imagine yourself doing your homework or reading the textbook and something doesn’t make sense. What would you probably do in such a case? Correct—ask your teacher. Next day you go to school, go to your teacher’s office hours or visit with them after the class, you ask your question and… you get an answer… not…
So you’ve decided that hiring an organic chemistry tutor might be a good idea. Great. Now let’s talk about how to find the right organic chemistry tutor, because while organic chemistry tutoring can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, finding the wrong tutor can cost you not just money, but valuable time and, ultimately,…
If you’re going to be taking organic chemistry in the future, or maybe you’re already taking the class, and especially if you’re struggling with the course, you might be wondering whether getting an organic chemistry tutor is a good idea. So, let’s address the elephant in the room: do you need an organic chemistry tutor?…
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…
Here’s my unpopular opinion on Eamon Healy’s “Should Organic Chemistry Be Taught as Science?” The central claim in Eamon Healy’s paper is that the traditional mechanistic approach used in teaching organic chemistry is fundamentally inductive rather than deductive. According to the author, mechanistic theory (especially as expressed through curved-arrow formalism) relies on trends and inferred…
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…