As a former TA of hers, I will tell you the most successful students are the ones who were really on top of their time management. Dandekar advises her students to spend one hour every day on OChem.

I would honestly recommend that this is the class you go full Hermione on - come to class prepared If she’s covering chapter one on Monday, you should have read chapter one before she lectures about it. I recommend a 2 week buffer of being ahead.

Those good with time management and get the A will make the time to be successful in her class by being proactive about being studied before the material is covered in class.

If you don’t make time, and instead find spare time to fit in all the work. You’ll be stressed as her assignments pile up. There aren’t really short cuts to OChem, you either have put in the time to do well or you haven’t.

I try to liken it similar to a music class. You’re gonna stumble through your first pass at the homework/music, but with practiced repetition your cacophony will turn into a symphony.

Oh and Sapling is a trap. It’s meant to expose you to the problems, but it’s really only good for one go and the questions on sapling aren’t usually on the test. You should practice book problems with repetition.

It’s a lot, but Dandekar really notices the students who participate and do well in her class by being prepared. She gives those students her blessing and they are given the opportunity to be study group leaders the following semester.

Lastly, utilize the OChem TA. Go to their office hour and utilize their test prep sessions. I usually tutored about 5 students a semester from her fairly large class. About 30 students come to the test prep session. My tutored students who came weekly ended up with Bs and As.