I am taking AP chem next year as a sophomore. At my high school it is not unusual for sophomores to take it, but most of them took chemistry freshman year. I didn’t. There was a scheduling mishap. I am also taking APUSH, which is a mostly sophomore class also. I took ap human geo last year and got a 5 on the exam (I know it is easy).
So, any tips on how to succeed in ap chem and apush?
(please don’t tell me I am going to die, or to drop the class because at my school you aren’t allowed to drop harder ap’s without taking an F)
I can’t say anything about AP Chem, because I’m taking AP Chem next year as a senior, but I took APUSH as a junior and loved it. I got a 5 on the AP exam and an 800 on the subject test. Pay attention in class, that’s how I learned best. I didn’t actually read the textbook (my teacher didn’t have us outline, we answered paragraph long extended responses for homework and those could be accomplished by googling or asking a classmate for their answer). The best advice I can give you, is to not waste time memorizing super specific facts or dates. APUSH is now a document analysis based class, so memorize trends. Practice making connections between time periods. Those will definitely get you 1-2 points on the DBQ.
AP Chem is a hard class without a doubt. Most of the people who have taken it have taken regular/honors chem, but there are a few who haven’t. You might have to put in a little bit more time than the others, but it will be worth it in the end. I would get a textbook this summer, just a basic chemistry one and look over the main topics. Watching videos on Khan Academy and Bozeman’s Science on YouTube will help too.
Check out this thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/sciences/1751368-official-ap-chemistry-thread-2015-2016-p4.html Many people have commented who have taken the class. They have some good links on there with stuff to study if you haven’t taken chemistry yet.
As for APUSH, I always found flashcards to help. It’s not about knowing a whole timeline in history, you need to know the ideas and trends like @emilyskates said. In my experience, it was a lot of writing and analyzing essays/documents. To study for tests and quizzes, I always used sites like quizlet to study. I also made outlines every chapter. I only used bullets and I kept the information to no more than 3 sentences per definition. The bigger picture helps a lot.