Schaum's Outline of Organic Chemistry

I was able to gather some (a very small amount) useful information from it. But, pick the book up anyway, because to master Orgo you need as many resources as possible, especially at 3 in the morning and you are trying to figure out where to place an ethyl group. In addition to this book, grab an elementary type orgo book, like orgo for beginners or orgo for nursing majors. These type of books explain things with great detail using an ABC approach. Then do as many problems as you can! Buy a ring of notecards and write part of the reaction on the front and the rest on the back. Study these cards every night religiously. You should be able to make sense out of the reactions and pass the class with a good grade with a considerable amount of study. (I received an A using the above method)


Practice Makes Perfect   March 13, 2001
 13 out of 15 found this review helpful

Schaum's outlines are perfect for what they propose to do -- give the student as much practice as possible. They are experience tools, not teaching tools. The secret to doing well in genchem/orgchem is to practice, practice practice. The more problems you do, the better you will become. Concepts and theories are only half the game in chemistry.


So you want to do better at Organic?   March 12, 2001
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

What you should remember about the Schaum's series is that all of them, though they may call themselves "outlines," are in fact rather cheap textbooks. They include many more solved problems than your standard textbook, but they are also not as slick or nice to look at.

The organic chemistry outline can be helpful to you, perhaps. The main draw is that each chapter includes a summary of reactions that might be worth it... if, that is, you already know which reactions are more useful than others. The amount of information is great, and this may make it difficult for you to sort out which ones are worth your attention.

The Schaum's outlines are, in my opinion, great for those motivated students who would like to gain some knowledge of the subject. They can also help when you are stuck with a problem, as chances are you will find a solved problem in the book that is at least similar. Whether that is worth the cost is another question.


it is not helpful   May 27, 2000
 11 out of 19 found this review helpful

Very few of the Schaum's outline series are helpful. This one is no exception. It does nothing to clarify the confusing concepts. All it does is provide more problems. Anyone taking organic chemistry knows that it is hard enough to have time to do all the problems in the assigned textbook let alone do more from this book. Furthermore,the answers to the questions are poorly explained. Save your time and money and check out your school library for other helpful books instead.