A useful strategy that many students have used is to take chemistry in the “off season”. This means that they have taken Organic I in the spring and then followed with Organic II in the next fall. This presents a number of advantages, including that since you are “out of sequence” the class sizes will most likely be smaller; this will usually provide for a better learning environment.
Many will ask if they should take it in the summer. This is not an easy “yes or no” question, and definitely depends on the student. Here are some of the considerations for summer classes:
The Good:
1. It is only usually 5 weeks long.
2. If you are not working that summer, it is much better than just sitting around doing nothing.
3. If you are not majoring in chemistry and don’t want to go to medical school, it is a great way to get organic chemistry out of the way quickly.
The Bad:
1. If you ARE majoring in chemistry, it is very easy to forget everything that you learned in the class because you crammed it all into 5 weeks.
2. Classes are usually at least 3 hours per day, plus homework every night and an exam once a week. This can be overwhelming.
The Ugly:
1. If you get a bad professor, keep the hemlock close.