[menthol]

Hi all chemistry enthusiasts!

This august I`ll be taking ACS organic chemistry exam, and being an international student, who has both never been to the US and never learnt in English before, I wonder how difficult this exam is and which books are the most useful for reviewing material to pass it (above 70% in my case).

A few days ago I began reviewing McMurry and Morrison&Boyd (in my native language) to prepare for ACS exam. In addition I bought Clayden to familiarize myself with typical English chemical vocabulary. In fact, I constantly find that this book is awesomely written. The authors (have you noticed how young 3 of them are?) explain sometimes complex aspects of organic chemistry in perfectly understandable language, basing on real-life examples, with loads of useful lab tips. Adding to this, that they put an extreme pressure on understanding rather than memorizing, this book provides a great deal of motivation for a budding synthetic chemists!  

Anyway, any suggestions guys? Should I buy perhaps some typical books used tin undergraduate level, like Wade or Corey? Have you got any experience with ACS exam?

[movies]

I also think that the Clayden book is one of the best out there.  Some parts of it are much more advanced than you would find in any other typical undergraduate organic text book, so that is probably good and bad for your purposes.  While I am not certain of the exact level of the ACS organic exam, from what I hear it should be comparable to a final exam in a typical undergrad. organic class.  I would imagine that thoroughly knowing the typical texts (like McMurry) would be sufficient.  Clayden probably has more info than you would need.

That said, if you find the Clayden text to be the easiest to learn from, then by all means use that one.  The biggest hurdle in learning from a book and not a lecture is finding an engaging book!

[dexangeles]

Is the ACS exam the national undergraduate exam for Organic Chemistry?
Is it the one with 70 questions?

If it is, you need not worry too much, all you need is a good understanding of the basic knowledge of organic chemistry and you can work yourself through the test.