Final Study Tips!

[Megan Verschuur 1C]

Hey everyone, does anyone have any tips to go about reviewing content and problem sets for the final? Any methods that you could recommend that worked well for you last quarter?

[Nane Onanyan 1G]

Time yourself while doing the textbook problems!! It will make you SO much more confident for the actual test, because you'll know that you'll be able to finish it on time or with time left over! I usually give myself about 3 minutes per problem, so if a set has 7 questions, I time myself for 21 minutes total. You're also less likely to get distracted or go on your phone since you have a time limit. For electrochem, I recommend giving yourself more time since they take SOOO long.

[Kayle Lim 2C]

Hi! I didn't do so well on the first midterm but I changed how I studied for the 2nd midterm and did way better. A week before the exam I would review my notes that I took from Lavelle's lecture and then watch a ton of youtube videos pertaining to subjects we studied, they helped me a lot with the conceptual questions. I would also read and take notes on the textbook too. I spend a lot of time studying the textbook problems and I also try to time myself when I try to solve the problems because it gives me a sense of how long it takes me. If you don't have time to attend any step up sessions looking over the worksheets posted here on chem community help a lot. I hope all of this helps :) good luck with studying!!

[Abby Lam 3F]

I would try to go to as many review sessions held by TA's and UA's as possible, even the review sessions on topics you're comfortable with. I would also review the textbooks problems and make sure you understand how to do all the different types of problems.

[Alexis Sanft 1E]

Does anybody know if the final is accumulative or not? Also, if so do you know if it will be an even distribution of all the topics or if it will be more about the new stuff we are learning since midterm 2 and a little bit about the previous topics covered?

[Megan Hulsy 1A]

I'd definitely go through all of the textbook problems, and go to UA sessions if you can! These are the best and most effective techniques to be prepared for the final. :) At least, this is what helped me!

[George Kaleb Jimenez 1K]

One thing I like to do is put all the conceptual stuff we should know on one piece of paper, well more than one but it's all at least in one place, and use that to help me review. I also plan on going to review sessions when Lavelle posts the times for those!

[Jonathan3B]

Step up sessions and workshop meetings that the TA's host are so incredibly useful, I don't know where I would be without them.

[Nathan Chu 3H]

Going to the TA review sessions and the UA general review sessions helped me a lot last quarter. I definitely recommend going to those and doing textbook problems.

[JaylinWangDis1L]

Hi! Obviously, it really depends on how your study style is like but for me, I've found that just doing textbook problems and making sure to figure out what I'm actually doing helps a decent amount. I know going to review sessions are pretty helpful for most people but I find that that actually stresses me out a lot more for some reason lol

[Megan Singer 3D]

It really helped me to go to the UA sessions!

[Julianna Shimabukuro 1D]

I think going to the step up sessions is really useful, but definitely doing the textbook problems helps a lot. I definitely struggle with chemistry and didn't do well on the first midterm, but after I did the textbook problems for the second midterm, I did significantly better. Also, Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube is your best friend. Good luck!

[Joanne Yuh 3I]

Make sure to review the outlines! I made study guides that summarized my notes for each bullet point on the outlines and they helped me organize the info. Also, do the textbook problems and review over sapling problems.

[nayha a 1E]

I would definitely say review the outlines and previous Sapling problems!

[dana hu 1B]

Would any of you guys know the percent concentration of what topics will the final reflect? I'm assuming that 50% is going to be on electrochemistry and kinetic, but correct me if I am wrong?

[Nick P 3D]

Last quarter, I found that the most helpful for me was probably the outlines and the older sapling assignments. The outlines for me help because it breaks it up into the sections we learned it and when I review it in the order we learned it it helps me. Also I think the older sapling assignments are super helpful because those problems are the most similar to the ones on the tests.

[Uyenvy Nguyen 1D]

Does anybody know if the final is accumulative or not? Also, if so do you know if it will be an even distribution of all the topics or if it will be more about the new stuff we are learning since midterm 2 and a little bit about the previous topics covered?

I think the final will include everything we've learned, but there may be more questions from the topics that we've covered for a longer period of time. I'm sure Dr. Lavelle will give us more information on the final exam soon.

[Samantha Low 3D]

I usually try to review notes and quiz myself on the content. I also look through every assigned textbook problem to see if I know how to solve it. If I know how to solve it, I don't do the problem. If I don't know how to solve it, I write it out and try to solve with math to the best of my ability before copying down the textbook solutions. I think it helps me to keep all my tough problems together so it's easier for me to review. Hope this helps!

[Pratika Nagpal]

Last quarter, I found that the most helpful for me was probably the outlines and the older sapling assignments. The outlines for me help because it breaks it up into the sections we learned it and when I review it in the order we learned it it helps me. Also I think the older sapling assignments are super helpful because those problems are the most similar to the ones on the tests.

This makes a lot of sens, Thanks for sharing

[Jessie Hsu 1C]

I figured out that I usually did better on my first midterms than the second midterms because I started studying earlier. This time, I think I'm going to watch videos (since I'm a visual learner) and review the lecture notes first before reading the textbook and doing the textbook exercises.

[George Hernandez 3I]

Outlines and sapling review problems are very useful

[Ethan Goode 2H]

Try going through step by step of each textbook problem once or twice, and then doing all the problems again to make sure you've got the practice down.

[Alison Perkins 2B]

I make a packet out of all of the recommended syllabus problems and work through it the week before =

[Pierce Newman 1A]

I would go over each of the outlines in the textbook and attend any office hours or step up sessions to try and familiarize yourself with any topics that are confusing. For me personally, I am confused by electrochemistry, so does anyone know if there are any specific sessions tailored to that topic? thanks.

[Devan Nathu - 2H]

Definitely going to skim through the lectures and try to do textbook problems without help as much as I can! Doing problems helps me most so I will probably prioritize that.

[Mary Gallo 1G]

To study for the final I am going to try to attend a variety of UA and TA sessions this week to practice material and review old concepts. Additionally, I think the problems from the textbook are the best practice for exams so I plan to go through ones that I am unsure of.

[Jacob Schwarz-Discussion 3I]

Youtube vids, redo sapling problems, and the textbook problems. That's the best way to study and I recommend doing all of these things for 3 hours a day the week leading up to the final.

[Ryan_Kien_1L]

Rewatch lectures, attend extra sessions, and the textbook problems are my recommendations.

[Taylor K 2D]

Going to workshops and doing the textbook problems is what really helped me!!

[Cooper Kinne 2E]

Sapling and Textbook problems are what help me the most

[Eric Ngo 1F]

I'd definitely recommend doing all of the assigned textbook problems as those help a ton on all of the exams. :)

[Brenda Silva 1B]

UA sessions are very helpful and also doing the textbook problems that are assigned. If you are struggling with a specific concept try watching youtube videos on it to get a better understanding.

[Simran Bains 2C]

make sure to attend all of the review sessions and do all of the textbook questions.

[Hannah_Kim_1I]

I would spend the most time with the harder topics/topics that were covered earlier in the class. Also, the biggest problem I ran into for the 14A problem was time management so try and be efficient when doing practice problems.

[905579227]

Do practice problems from the book! Lavelle uses some questions straight from the book in his test :)

[Yun Su Choi 3G]

Time yourself while doing the textbook problems!! It will make you SO much more confident for the actual test, because you'll know that you'll be able to finish it on time or with time left over! I usually give myself about 3 minutes per problem, so if a set has 7 questions, I time myself for 21 minutes total. You're also less likely to get distracted or go on your phone since you have a time limit. For electrochem, I recommend giving yourself more time since they take SOOO long.

This really sounds like an effective way to study because I often feel myself dragging out my study time and end up giving up before covering everything I need to cover. Thanks for the tip!

[JafarriNocentelli 1G]

I studied for hours and hours doing the textbook problems in preparation for MT1. Seeing that it was mainly conceptual, how did you guys study? How long would you say you reviewed the syllabus problems for? Did you review over conceptual content, and if so, what are your note taking/study methods? Looking for new ways to adjust my study routines! Thanks

[Esmeralda_Solis_2D]

Practice makes perfect! Take advantage of all the resources provided by the professor and TAs. As we have seen the exams are quite conceptual so understanding the concepts in depth will help a lot. Also, try to time yourself.

[Chris Oh 2I]

I studied for hours and hours doing the textbook problems in preparation for MT1. Seeing that it was mainly conceptual, how did you guys study? How long would you say you reviewed the syllabus problems for? Did you review over conceptual content, and if so, what are your note taking/study methods? Looking for new ways to adjust my study routines! Thanks

I would really focus on his lecture content again! Try to actively find concepts that you may still have any questions on, and go on from there!