<p>i know the ap exam is comin up and i'm kind of having a dilemma about my ap chem class. our teacher doesnt teach but he basically recites the textbook and makes us memorize everything. only like two science nerds in the class actually know what he/she's doing but the other majority of the class is lost. i got an A first semester but this semester i dont bother trying hard in the class anymore so i dont have an A but ive been reviewing past topics instead.
i reallyyy want to get a 5 on this exam and im plannin to start studyin hard over spring break and throughout april.
has anyone else here studied at the last minute like this and achieved a 5 in ap chem? i reallyyyyy need some inspiration =)
also, to study, is it a good idea to review topics using the "syllabus" of chem on the collegeboard website? im also going to use the Princeton Review.</p>
<p>To get a 5, you must score 55% on the multiple-choice portion on the exam. The free-response questions are graded differently, so there's no way predicting that. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Princeton Review was a good book. my AP Chem teacher rocked though, and I blasted through the MC with like 40 minutes to go, and am fairly sure I scored really high on the test in general. (doesn't matter b/c I got a 5, but it would've been nice to know just how many I got right)</p>
<p>you will need about 60% right on everything to get a 5. i think with two months to go your best bed would be to get really good at periodic table properties, (i.e. electronegativity, electron affinity) stochiometry, gas laws, colligative properties, and acids and bases. if you have extra time, go through equilibrium along with the rest of the book too.</p>
<p>if I remember right, the PR book has 2 practice tests. take a practice test at the end of this month, then take a practice test again at the end of april. you can do it.</p>
<p>2 months is more than enough to learn/review everything.</p>
<p>even like 1 week is enough</p>
<p>thanks so much for the advice/input.</p>
<p>this yr is my first yr taking aps, so im curious... does practice tests at the end of the princeton review for ap chem correctly "show" the level of difficulty that the actual test will be like? if not, what book is best?</p>
<p>I think you will be fine with just Princeton Review, since you're already taking a course. If you use that well, it is pretty helpful to discover your weakness, and to improve those certain points. It sounds like you need to focus on the concepts that you have not mastered yet.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the tip.</p>
<p>one other question for someone who has taken the ap exam...
i was flippin thru the PR and i noticed that the PR doesnt go in depth into hybridization like my textbook did (i used the brown book-- one with yellow triangle on white cover). the PR only names like the hybrid shapes and stuff but my book went on how to make the "s, p level" diagrams and stuff that I'm not good at.
and the PR also doesnt go into nuclear chem and we havent done that in class.
should i just go with the PR or should I expect questions on those topics on the ap exam?
i dont wanna be taking the exam and freak out cuz a lot of questions are about that in-depth stuff lol.</p>
<p>there were like 5 or 6 questions in the multiple choice on nuclear chem, none in the free response. i think the PR does go into nuclear chem though, it has to: beta particles, alpha particles, and half-life? those are kind of big. they might not have a section devoted specially to it, but that stuff is on the SAT IIs too.</p>
<p>what do you mean by s,p level diagrams? do you mean filling in the little boxes with arrows that go up and down? (3 boxes for a p orbital with 2 arrows in each box, you know) or do you mean the MO diagrams, with sigma and pi bonds and para and di-magnetism?</p>
<p>by s,p level diagrams lol, yeah i meant the little boxes with arrows that go up and down AND the MO diagrams (with sigma and pi bonds ¶- and di-magnetism). im not really good at both of those and they dont show it at all in the PR i think...
should i know those really well?
this lady is helping me a bit with chem for reviewing and such and she was really in-depth about it so it got me a little worried cuz i didnt see it at all in the PR. i remember seeing it in my textbook but i didnt pay attention to it at all...</p>