The large number of reactions and textbook problems can seem
overwhelming. You might remember that feeling from 2301. Chapter 20
has ~80 book problems! Ratherthan trying to carve out a big block
of time in your life to plow through themall once a week (or worse,
a huge marathon session right before the test); students generally
have better outcomes if they tackle them in smaller 10-20
problem"portions" on a regular basis. 10-15 problems can typically
be done in ~30-60 min or so, either every day or every other
day.
Q) I'm freaked out about needing to know stuff from 2301 - that
was a long timeago!!! Can you tell me what I need to know?
A) Take a few deep breaths, then dig in. Two things that people
seem to be struggling with from 2301 are stereochemistry and
recalling old reactions. You're going to need some of that - and
not just on this exam (our next exam, the MCAT, the GRE, etc).
Review stereochemistry first - it's not going away and the
Diels-Alder deals with stereochem a lot. Then review some of those
old reactions. Reactions of alkenes are particularly helpful here
since the Diels-Alder makes alkenes. Oxidation/reduction chapter
also has a lot of alkene reactions, so reviewthose (via the end of
chapter summary) too.
