Organic chemistry on the SAT?

Question

I just wanted to know that how much organic chemistry do you need for the SAT chemistry subject test. Because I am using the Barron's and it has like a 30 page chapter on organics and everything that I have never seen. Is there too much organic stuff on the SAT? And how about hybridization, nuclear chemistry, vsepr, and radioactivity, and lab stuff on there ??? do you need a thorough knowledge or just reviewing would work ? And for those who took the SAT, what do you think from your experiences that the major areas stressed are? After the test, if you were like, ohh I should have done this topic or worked more on this ?? is there anything like that ?

Answer 1

Almost no organic chemistry appears on the SAT Subject Test in chemistry, but occasionally, something pops up.  You might be able to get away without knowing organic chemistry, but you better be able to get everything else completely right.  You will have to do some stoichiometry that happens to involve organic compounds, but you don't actually have to know organic chemistry.  Also, you do need to know the functional groups in organic chemistry.  Know what the following are: ketone, aldehyde, alkene, alkane, alkyne, amine, amide, carboxylic acid, alcohol, hydroxyl group, etc.  There should be a list of these in your test prep book.  You may be asked to identify them.  

You do definitely need to know about hybridization, nuclear chemistry, VSEPR, lab stuff, etc.  For the percentage breakdown on the different topics, check out the links in the sources section of my answer.  Also, trust your test prep book; it should be everything that you need to know, no more and no less.  

I took the test right after I had finished the AP Chemistry class in high school, so I had a pretty thorough knowledge of all of the topics.  This test is easy if you've had good preparation, but it's hard if you haven't had a strong course.