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[quote=Anonymous]Unfortunately, a terrible (or even not-that-great) professor can make orgo difficult. If you have a good professor then it will click right into place.

Orgo is different than the kind of chemistry classes the kids are used to. Intro chem is just a series of topics that are not really very interconnected. So if you don’t really understand crystal structures, well you’ll still be OK when you get to thermodynamics, and won’t bomb the class.

Orgo, however, is the class where the whole point is to build molecules (that contain carbon). The topics in the course build upon one another. For instance, if you don’t understand R and S and enantiomers in the beginning, then you’re kind of screwed because you will be using these topics the whole way through. You also have to learn how to “push electrons” - this is particularly important when double bonds and benzene rings come into play in the 2nd semester. However, if you understand how to push electrons and know some basic ways to, say, make a ketone or an aldehyde or do syn & anti hydrogenation etc., then you’re good to go!

I had a horrible time in Orgo my first semester, where I had a pretty lousy professor. But the professor in the second semester was just brilliant at conveying what we were learning and why (shout out to Dr Jacobi at Wesleyan university back in the 90’s!). It turned a class that I hated into a class that I loved, and I ultimately worked as an organic chemist for a few years before med school.

I really grew to love orgo - when taught properly it makes a lot of sense and it’s so much fun – it’s like a series of little puzzles, and it’s exceedingly satisfying to build a complex molecule from basic building blocks.

I think your niece might benefit from a tutor. Someone who really knows how to TEACH it, and is not some famous chemist who is being  forced by their chairman to run an introductory class. Believe me, a good teacher here can make all the difference. I went from terrible at orgo to loving it based on getting a new prof for the 2nd semester.

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