<p>Since nobody on the AP Bio thread will anser my questions about AP Chem, I've decided to start a thread for AP Chem.</p>
<p>Q: What is the best study book for the AP Chem test and for the SAT II.</p>
<p>Q: Which AP science test is the hardest for those of you have already taken more than one?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I liked PR for the AP because it was simple, easy to get through - very good review. Barron's was decent for the SAT II, though I'd look at others were I to do it over.</p></li>
<li><p>So far in the sciences, I've only taken Bio and Chem. Chem is by far the harder of the two.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>thanks! :)</p>
<p>I liked the Barron's AP Chem book. I didn't use it much to study for the test, but it was helpful to refer to during the year for labs.</p>
<p>I used Princeton Review for the AP exam, but I didn't take a chemistry SAT-II. </p>
<p>Chem was by far the most difficult AP exam that I have ever taken.</p>
<p>I'm taking AP Chem this year. I was wondering the same thing. My teacher told us all to get PR. He said that he's reviewed all of them that are out there, and that in his opinion, it's one of the best.</p>
<p>Here's what happened to me:</p>
<p>I never paid attention in AP chem class. I never did my hw, either. I'm not kidding. I had a very bad reputation. I also didn't hand in a couple of labs because I simply didn't want to. But I thought of taking the AP exam anyway. The teacher didn't really believe me when I said I would be taking the AP chem exam.</p>
<p>What did I do? I bought a PR book and studied it one day before the exam for most of the night. All I did was read it through. I didn't even do the practice tests or the review questions in the back of each section. I got a 4 on the AP test.</p>
<p>There's no way you could be worse off than me. PR's book seriously saved me, and I bet my teacher would think I cheated. You should check out PR's book. It only covers what's on the AP test. Some topics aren't covered in too much detail, but you can get a whole bunch of them wrong and still get a good score since it's a national AP exam. Not everyone can know everything. But it covers enough to get you a good score. I highly recommend it. We used Zuhmdal's (sp?) 6th edition book. It's supposed to be a good college level book, but I couldn't understand a word it said. I really owe it all to PR.</p>
<p>For those of you who took both the AP and the SAT II, do you think that studying for the AP prepared you enough for the SAT? or did you have to study for the sat seperately?</p>
<p>The SAT II Chem is in between an intro-level high school chemistry course and the AP Chemistry course -- without any separate studying for the SAT II, almost everyone in the class thought it was a piece of cake and scored 720+. You can get a couple wrong and still get an 800 too. The T/F/CE section is probably the hardest stuff you'll face on the SAT II. Our class also used the Zumdahl book... just paying attention to the teacher made the confusing language in the book make sense. </p>
<p>I used the PR book to prepare for the AP and found that the little section at the end about the net ionic equations REALLY helps. Because I bombed most of the free response on the AP, I credit acing net ionics because of PR for my 5 on the AP.</p>
<p>If you can get a 4/5 on the AP Chem test, you should have no problem scoring 700+ on the SAT II, because when I took them both, they were almost the same thing, although the SAT II chem had more basic concepts.</p>
<p>I got a 5 on the AP and a 770 on the SAT II. I took them 3 days apart (SAT II on Saturday, and then the AP exam the upcoming tuesday)</p>
<p>I was in a basic high school Chem class, and for the Chem SAT IIs used a combo of 3 guides: Barron's, PR, and Kaplan. That way if any one topic wasn't described well, I switched to another book. I had to teach myself some new concepts but surprisingly got an 800! If you're not up for the splurge, check your library. </p>
<p>If only I could remember what I learned then for the AP Chem class I'm taking this year...</p>
<p>yeah, usually i never "read" the review books, just take the practice tests, and then if i find a subject area that i got questions wrong in due to lack of knowledge, i read that. I always started with Kaplan and PR, and then I usually dabble in Barron's. In fact I knew i was ready for the SATII chem when i got 2 800s on the Barron's tests, which were def harder than the others. I took the SATII after only reg chem, plenty of prep, then took the AP a year later, got a 5.</p>
<p>I hear physics is the hardest science test. It certainly was the hardest SATII. The only benefit to physics is that since they're hard, they have easier curves.</p>
<p>Princeton review was great for me.</p>
<p>I took bio and chem. I got a 5 on bio, 3 on chem. I have to be honest, bio took a lot more work to do well in. Chem is mostly math. I kinda scrwed up on the chem ap exam and got lucky with the bio ap exam. </p>
<p>good luck.</p>
<p>i m taking ap physics next year. anyone take it yet? how was it?</p>
<p>I didn't take the SAT II, but as for the original questions:
1. I used the PR book - it did a good job reviewing the material. Also, I used old multiple choice tests that my teachers gave us to practice with. No "synthetic" test can prepare you as well as old AP tests, and many teachers have copies of the 3 or 4 released MC tests.
2. I've taken Physics C, Bio and Chem and the Physics C test was by far the hardest. The fact that it combines theoretical concepts with calculus based math problems makes it quite difficult. I found the other two considerably easier since the Bio is mainly memorization and the Chem is a lot of problem solving, but with much simpler math than Physics C.</p>
<p>ap chem is so hard.</p>
<p>i'm getting worked in the class and we are still on the review.</p>
<p>I took AP Chem during junior year (I'm a rising senior now), and I thought the workload was overwhelming and the test was certainly hard. How does AP Chem match up to the other APs? Is it easier or harder to get a 4 or 5 in other tests based on the curve? When I took the AP Chem test, it discouraged me from taking other AP tests because of its difficulty. Should I worry about AP USH or such? How do they compare? Thanks!!</p>
<p>My friend got a 5 and used PR and Zumdahl's.</p>
<p>PR and Barron's are pretty much accepted as the best AP Chem books out there.</p>
<p>I took the chem SAT II back in May of 2000 (gee that makes me feel old).. but I was in 10th grade and hadn't even finished regular chemistry (just so you know how easy it is). I got a 680... no special studying.</p>
<p>I took the AP chem test in 2002 after finishing AP chem. I walked out of that test thinking "That was tooo easy...", and got a 5. (Again, no special study book). I didn't realize it until after I took the AP test, but my teacher's tests all year were questions yanked off of previous AP tests related to whatever chapter we finished. The vast majority of my class got 5's, and the rest got 4's.. that's how well prepared we were (unknowingly)... my advice is to get old exams and study using them.</p>
<p>A: I'd say Princeton Review is my favorite for Chem</p>
<p>A: So far Chem has been my hardest AP science test.. my teacher did not prepare us well. >_< But this is out of two science tests, the other being bio, with a really inspirational teacher. I got a 4, wrote in pencil on the essay portion , panicked, yeah. not cool.</p>
<p>I understand that comparing different AP tests can sometimes be like comparing apples and oranges, but for anyone who has taken AP USH and AP Chem, which was "harder"? Which one has the more lenient curve? I'm a little hesitant about taking the AP USH test. Thanks for any advice or information</p>