So chem is my weakest subject (i had to work really hard to get an 8 last semester, and this semester ain't going too well either). Is it better if I take these courses over the summer? Has anybody taken them during the summer? What was your experience like?

Your grades/overall experience in 1st year chem is really no indication of what 2nd year Orgo will be like. There is very little subject overlap (nothing you learned in Chem 1A03 will pop up again in Orgo, pretty sure) and if the Orgo unit in 1AA3 is confusing to you, no worries. Everything that doesn't make sense in that unit will be explained properly in second year (acids/bases, nucleophiles/electrophiles, etc). The two orgo courses are basically an in-depth explanation of what's going on in that dumb organic flowchart they make you memorize in 1st year.

If you're ok with throwing away your summer, then go ahead and take orgo at summer school But you really don't have to. I failed so hard at 1st year chem, but I've been taking orgo during this year and it's one of my best courses now. And if I can do well in orgo, anyone can! haha

Give yourself some credit though. 8 is a good grade for 1st year chem!!!

not to discourage anybody, and I SUCK BIG TIME AT CHEM...everybody i know who took orgo say that:
if they took it in the summer: they pretty much wrecked their summer
if they took it over the year: they were ALWAYSS doing chem...

if u r always doing chem, how are u supposed to make time for other courses?

be a man and do it over the school year.

Originally Posted by epikness

not to discourage anybody, and I SUCK BIG TIME AT CHEM...everybody i know who took orgo say that:
if they took it in the summer: they pretty much wrecked their summer
if they took it over the year: they were ALWAYSS doing chem...

if u r always doing chem, how are u supposed to make time for other courses?

Personally I haven't found it necessary to be 'always' doing chem. I spend 2 hours tops every week reading relevant sections from the textbook and making notes, plus 1 hour every two weeks doing the tutorials/lab prep. I spend a couple days before each midterm just doing straight practice (old tests + assignments + tutorials). It really doesn't add up to a whole lot of time; about the same commitment as the rest of my courses (maybe slightly more). Some people manage to do even less work and still pull off awesome marks. It really depends on the individual.

Originally Posted by marcie

Your grades/overall experience in 1st year chem is really no indication of what 2nd year Orgo will be like. There is very little subject overlap (nothing you learned in Chem 1A03 will pop up again in Orgo, pretty sure) !

There is a lot of connections you can make with the chem taught in 1A03 an orgo, if you hadn't realized. Take for example the entropy of some reactions, which explains why some reactions are naturally favoured, and why certain conditions, such as heat is needed.

Originally Posted by marcie

Personally I haven't found it necessary to be 'always' doing chem. I spend 2 hours tops every week reading relevant sections from the textbook and making notes, plus 1 hour every two weeks doing the tutorials/lab prep. I spend a couple days before each midterm just doing straight practice (old tests + assignments + tutorials). It really doesn't add up to a whole lot of time; about the same commitment as the rest of my courses (maybe slightly more). Some people manage to do even less work and still pull off awesome marks. It really depends on the individual.

If you can understand things conceptually, then you won't need to dedicate that much time to the course. The course is more so about understanding, than straight up moot memorization, which is why I faired so well in it.

If you don't like orgochem (based on orgo section in chem1AA3), I suggest get it over with during the summer and you won't be bringing down your sessional avg. in 2nd year.
But to honest, it's not that hard of a course, requires dedication and a slightly different approach in terms of studying and tackling the problems, very much so for any other class.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Cirrhosis

There is a lot of connections you can make with the chem taught in 1A03 an orgo, if you hadn't realized. Take for example the entropy of some reactions, which explains why some reactions are naturally favoured, and why certain conditions, such as heat is needed.

If you can understand things conceptually, then you won't need to dedicate that much time to the course. The course is more so about understanding, than straight up moot memorization, which is why I faired so well in it.

Agreed on both points. Actually some concepts taught in 1st year like Le Chatelier's principle do come in handy for Orgo, and knowing how to draw lewis structures is pretty standard knowledge (I forget if those were taught in A03 or AA3 lol) but I can't say we were ever explicitly tested on these. And you'll never be asked to calculate pH or titration concentrations in the Orgo's. We're not even allowed to bring calculators to tests, haha. So hopefully that's comforting to some people!

Originally Posted by marcie

And you'll never be asked to calculate pH or titration concentrations in the Orgo's. We're not even allowed to bring calculators to tests, haha. So hopefully that's comforting to some people!

lol soooooooo comforting that we dont need to do ph or titrations, those are the only sections screwing me over haha thanks...

but the no calc part... i cant do math without a calc, like literally :(

I did Orgo 2OA3 during the school year and found it extremely difficult. I ended up with a 7. I knew 2OB3 had a reputation for being way harder, so I decided to take it over the summer. A lot of people I spoke too said it would be a bad idea, as it was nearly 2 semesters without orgo.

I barely passed the midterm because I was too distracted by the FIFA World cup, lol. Worked my butt off though for the rest of the course, and ended up with an 11! Teri was my prof, and she was awesome!! The exam was very fair, and a lot of the questions from the practice tests showed up on it. The lab TAs went really easy on us as well.

My point is, take into consideration what you're gonna be doing during the summer. Mine consisted only of volunteering and orgo, so I had A LOT of free time to do every single practice question and test posted! Also, if Teri is the prof again, I would highly recommend you take it over the summer. And finally, don't let what people say scare you from choosing the option you feel will work best for you (which makes my post pretty redundant, haha).

Hope that helped a bit though! Good luck

hey is orgo 2oa3, and orgo 2ob3 inter connected alot, by anychance say i took orgo 2oa3 this summer and 2ob3 next summer, would i be able to do allright,?????

My Chem TA (whp is in 4th year) said that you'll probably forget, and it's better to do them in a row.

no as in not a good idea? huh i c, allthigt thanks, ill take it in the year and work my ass off

Originally Posted by krup92

but the no calc part... i cant do math without a calc, like literally :(

Haha, that's ok. Me neither. I think the closest thing to a math question you'd get on an orgo test would be to count the carbons in a molecule lol. Nothing you can't do in your head

Originally Posted by krup92

no as in not a good idea? huh i c, allthigt thanks, ill take it in the year and work my ass off

That's the attitude!! Now you'll have the summer to work, volunteer and HAVE FUN!

lol nope half the summer doing summer school something else ( plan on doing 2 courses in first term) so i only have 4 each term in the winter, and THEN the second term have FUN (<<< cant wait for this part hahaa)