Importance of Learning Assistants
Learning Assistants (LA’s) are current undergraduate students who were previously successful in Organic Chemistry. Our LA’s work in a crucial space, bridging the gap left between independent study and classroom instruction for many Organic Chemistry students. Their role as LA’s are multifaceted; they lead group workshops, assist professors with exam support, and help current Organic Chemistry students find their best practices for success.
Advice and insights from our Learning Assistants
We asked a few of our Learning Assistants some FAQs about their experience taking Organic Chemistry. See below for a few FAQs!
A few of the highlighted LA’s have since graduated. To see what they’ve been up to, visit our Former Learning Assistants page.
Tips for Surviving Organic Chemistry
The tips below are from the WashU Chemistry Department.
Tip 1: Attend the Lecture
Tip 2: Ask a lot of questions and visit office hours
Tip 3: Take advantage of Workshops and other resources
See “Learning Assistant FAQs” below to hear directly from our students!
Learning Assistant FAQs
What do you wish you would have known before taking the class?
“I wish I knew that it was okay to struggle with the content, because whatever the topic is, if you put enough time into it, it will make sense and come to you once you put in enough effort. Orgo requires work, but if you dedicate the time to understand it, you will definetly succeed!”
–John Georgiades | Class of 2024, current PhD. candidate at Princeton
“I wish I would’ve told myself to relax a bit more and enjoy the process. I was worried that it would be me vs. the class, however, that’s not at all what it turned out to be. Orgo was challenging, but once I started realizing that I had access to Learning Assistants, professors, and my peers’ support, it really helped me navigate the course. You don’t have to go through the course alone as there are many resources available, you just have to tap into them.”
–Ashutosh “Ash” Kumar | Class of 2024
“I wish I would’ve told myself at the beginning of the course to relax a bit more and embrace the growth process. Our learning only comes from our struggles! Orgo is challenging, however once I started realizing that I had access to Learning Assistants, professors, and my peers’ support, it truly helped me to navigate the course and love we were learning. And so, while I was initially worried that it would be me versus the class, that’s not at all what it turned out to be. Instead, it was very much us versus the Organic Chemistry material, working as a team to tackle and master each complex topic together.”
–Joanna Li |WashU Class of 2023, current MD Candidate at WashU Med
How did you study for the class?
“Aside from independent study, I would always go to office hours. Working out problems with the professor and building those connections helped with getting into the professor’s head and seeing how they think. This really prepared me for exams as I learned how to understand what they were really asking for and how they wanted us to answer questions.”
–Polina Barzova | Class of 2023, current Ph.D. Candidate at UC Berkeley
“There isn’t one way to succeed in orgo or one best way to study, however, I personally liked to focus on the professor’s contents, their problem sets, and use the other resources they offered in class to study.”
–Jonathan Huynh | Class of 2024, current MD Candidate at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
“Create concept maps! Orgo covers A LOT of information, so creating a visual representation of the concepts is helpful to find connections between different mechanisms, theories, diagrams, etc. This was one of the ways I prioritized studying for exams.”
–Edan Leshem | Class of 2024
“I found the book very useful, especially the summary sections at the end of each chapter. There is objectively a lot of information in organic chemistry that you will have to know but making sure you use time management to keep up with everything will help you from getting overwhelmed”
–Tully Liu | Class of 2023, current MD Candidate at WashU Med
“I would read the book before class to prepare for the lecture. Then I would go to lecture, take notes, and rewatch the lecture at night if needed as it was helpful to hear the material multiple times. The next day, I would do a few practice problems in the book to keep up with the pace of the material and practice it as we learned it. The main tip I have is to keep doing practice problems as possible, and if you don’t understand the problems, then utilize the workshops, office hours, and Learning Assistants for help.”
–Trinidi Prochaska | Class of 2023 – Current Ph.D. Candidate at Emory University
Did you utilize supports outside of lecture?
“I went to workshops every week and also went to office hours. At weekly workshops, I made sure to interact with the Learning Assistants and tried to learn their style of teaching. It was really helpful seeing how they would go over the problems and they were really encouraging when we’d do the problems ourselves. The Learning Assistants made themselves easily available, so it wasn’t hard to ask them for help”
–Alison Deng | Class of 2024
“There are a lot of resources available, including tutoring, workshops, office hours, etc. but I went mainly to workshops. I would recommend trying out the different resources and supports, but then focus on the ones that really worked for you as it can be overwhelming trying to go to all the different resource and support options.”
–Ashutosh “Ash” Kumar | Class of 2024
“I went to workshops and office hours. However, I had a few friends that were taking the class at the same time, so we would always work together, ask each other questions, and it helped sort of normalize the orgo struggle working in a group. I found that going through the explanations and problems we would get from the Workshops, Learning Assistants, and professor with my group of friends was really helpful in learning the material”
–Rithvik Ramesh | Class of 2022, current MD candidate at UCSF Med
How many hours a week did you dedicate for class?
“My mantra was to touch Orgo content every day. We had lectures MWF and I tried to attend Professor Office Hours at least once per week, as well as the Workshop sessions. Outside of that, I tried to do about 30 minutes to 1 hour of targeted self-studying every day. I also created many summary charts/diagrams to synthesize and consolidate each week’s material. Then, every weekend/Saturday morning, I would go through the textbook and apply my studying from the week to problem-solve through the chapter’s practice questions and extension problems.”
–Joanna Li |WashU Class of 2023, current MD Candidate at WashU Med
“I studied anywhere from 1-10 hours a week for the class, but would only really study 10 hours a week when it was exam week. I also tried to study with friends in the library.”
–Jonathan Huynh | Class of 2024 , current MD Candidate at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
“It varied by week, on an average week we have about 3 hours of lecture, and on top of that I’d spend a total of 3 hours going to both office hours and the workshop sessions. So aside from those 6 hours and actually sitting down and studying, it would be about an additional 2-5 hours per week, but I would increase up to 10 hours per week during exam week”
–Rithvik Ramesh | Class of 2022, current MD candidate at UCSF Med