Summer Orgo Intensive 2026: what the class said

I did self-study O Chem last year for USNCO, but it was more passive learning because I just read some textbooks, and during the local and national ones I kind of just went with my gut feeling because I wasn't practicing the problems a lot. This program gave me a more structured approach with more practice problems to apply skills.

A LOT. E1, SN1, SN2, E2 reactions. I finally understood chirality, and now I can identify chiral molecules. Chair conformations of cyclohexane really helped, and now I'm able to draw those as well as identify the best form.

I am now capable of answering the majority of the organic chemistry questions on USNCO exams, and I understand the concept of resonance and resonance structures to a much better extent. I am able to detect common patterns between different topics, to make educated guesses for concepts I may not be too familiar with.

I didn't know anything about organic chemistry before this class, so except the AP Chemistry review sections everything was new to me. The workload was challenging but it was also rewarding, and the quiz-lecture-problem set rhythm helped me retain the concepts well.

I think I learned a lot in this class, not just about organic chemistry but also USNCO problem solving skills. I liked the constant problem sets, and the USNCO-styled questions pulled directly from different chemistry olympiads were a good challenge for me.

The pacing was good, with various questions being covered and answered. The depth of the discussions was very comprehensive. The problem set rhythm was reasonable and intensive without being overwhelming.

The week was fast and intensive and very useful in learning organic chemistry. The problem sets and practice reinforced the lectures, and doing hundreds of questions drilled in the concepts. The workload was heavy, but it was heavy in a good way.

Because I decided to go with the recording option for the lectures, the pace felt a little more relaxed — I was able to self-correct for the time I needed on a specific topic.

My most memorable moment was during our lecture on hydrogenation, looking at that diagram drawn on the lecture notes — how the H2 molecules essentially act as radicals on the surface of the metal, attacking the pi bond two at a time. That visual, of the hydrogens sitting as little bumps on the metal surface, made it a lot easier to understand the mechanism.

Doing challenge problem #3 on the reactivities and mechanisms homework — the long arrow-pushing one. The one we did in class I wasn't too confident about and we did together, but doing this problem on my own was very satisfying, just to see the overall reaction.