Also does anyone have to do a research project for their AP Chem class?
@solarsystem Thanks. School starts for me on August 29th so should get it way before. I don’t have a research project, though.
@ak2018 Oh cool. School starts August 10th for me due to the school board wanting to start 2 weeks earlier.
My school starts around the second to last week of August. We don’t have any summer homework because this’ll be the first year we have AP chem but I’m taking regular chem so I think I’ll be ok with the basics.
Regular chem over the summer that is
Just wanted to say that I’ve purchased the Cross Platform 5 steps to a 5 AP Chem 2017 book, and it is very good. The information is a bit scarce compared to books like Barron’s, but the online course provides many questions and lessons to make up for that.
Anyone have any tips on memorizing all the ions and polyatomic ions and stuff?
A message to all prospective AP Chemistry students:
I received a 5 on the 2016 AP Chemistry exam and it was probably the most challenging AP I have ever taken.
(A lot of people on this site have the tendency to fabricate their scores, so here’s proof: https://gyazo.com/a575e7101be4fb14b7b8cafe14ec0dd0 )
The single most important piece of advice I can give you is to PAY ATTENTION TO THE CHANGES IN THE EXAM!
The AP Chemistry exam has changed multiple times throughout the years. Old review books WILL NOT work! I made the mistake of buying an old version of the Barron’s and I learned a bunch of Nuclear and Organic Chemistry that is no longer tested. I suggest getting new versions of both the Princeton and Barron’s (trust me, you want to do as many review problems as possible).
Needless to say, pay close attention to labs. Labs made up a vast majority of the MCQs and about half of the FRQs.
Also, as much as I hate to say it, if you want to succeed you’re going to need to memorize. Memorizing facts can save a ton of time (and frustration). For example, if you memorize that the pH = the pKa at the half-equivalence point of a titration, you can skip right to the answer and avoid doing all the math. There’s no way to understand bond angles and VSEPR theory without sheer memorization. As much as I hate memorization for the sake of memorization, there’s no way around it. Shortcuts are your best friend in this class.
Last but not least - use YouTube if you need help. NEVER use the textbook unless you’re assigned problems out of it. Often, reading the review books can be very boring and tedious, so it’s best to learn the material through channels such as Bozeman Science and Tyler DeWitt.
Also, expect some low test scores throughout the year. I’m not joking when I say that I’ve witnessed people get 13s on exams in this class (all of them got a 2 on the exam, but that’s beside the point)
@lhw1998 Thanks for all the advice! Do you know of any materials that can help with the new FRQ’s? My teacher seems to teach how to do FRQ’s by using ones from the older exam. I found books like Sterling’s for MCQ practice but cannot find an organized set of new FRQ’s.
Your teacher is going about it the best way possible. The Princeton Review book has some decent FRQs (they’re a little bit too straightforward), but the Barron’s FRQs are complete garbage. Take as many old FRQs as possible in order to practice, but if you find yourself completely clueless make sure to look up the AP Chemistry course description and check to see if the topic being tested on the FRQ is even on the exam anymore (i.e. you’ll find questions on freezing point depression, nuclear reactions, organic nomenclature and other topics in the free response index that are no longer on the exam). One of the many factors that makes AP Chemistry so challenging is that the FRQs are completely random. Make sure to rack up as many MCQ points as possible going into the FRQ section because the FRQs tend do be considerably harder. For example, I’m not sure if you’ve taken AP Calculus, but you know that every year the first FRQ will be an accumulation problem, the second FRQ will be the volume of a solid problem, and somewhere along the road you’ll come across the differential equation and the derivative analysis. The AP Chemistry exam, however, is not predictable in the slightest. Going into the AP Chemistry exam this year, I practiced by taking every single released FRQ available on the collegeboard website, and there were still problems that felt completely foreign to me. For example, according to @AP_Trevor (the guy who tweets out AP exam statistics), 73% of AP Chemistry students got a whopping ZERO points on the equilibrium FRQ this year. I’m not kidding. Doing well on the AP exam requires that you do more than just practice the FRQs, you need to truly understand as many of the “whys” of chemistry as possible.
Polyatomics tips - I would first get all the base ones down using flashcards, then learn the rules to alter those basic ion types. ie if it has one fewer oxygen than the base polyatomic it will end in -ite rather than -ate
my other advice would be committing to this skill as soon as it’s introduced so you have these down firmly for the whole year.
Does anyone have a list of the polyatomic ions that they found helpful to memorize in this class?
I just started a few days ago, and love it!! 
You could check out this pinterest board
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Link Deleted - Not allowed
there are a few nice lists there
I think these links are helpful if you’re looking to be in the right mindset as you get started
https://www.albert.io/blog/ap-chemistry-tips/
http://www.eagan.k12.mn.us/dirksen/honchem/APChemistry/TipsAP%20Chem%20Exam.pdf
@Shanban1607 I’ve been composing a list of things to memorize for AP Chem. I’ve only gone through 20% of the material but have come up with:
- Periodic trends
- Polyatomic ions
- Solubility rules
- VESPR models
I will continue to add things to the list throughout the year.
@StoicCyclops @ZealousScholar
Thanks guys, that’s really helpful! 
Guess who’s already failing AP chem…
@Shanban1607 We just had to memorize all the elements- pulled off an A on it though.
I’ve been self studying as well, so the class is easy so far.
@ZealousScholar That’s great! Good job.
We literally spent 1 day on empirical formulas before my teacher gave us two insanely hard questions on them. No one in the class did well. All our grades have suffered. It kinda sucks, but now I guess I need to do a lot of studying any time a concept is introduced!!
@ZealousScholar Did you just have to memorize the element and the symbol?
Omg my teacher ended not putting the quiz everyone failed into the grade book!
God bless #:-S
Currently doing my AP Chemistry summer assignment now. Trying to get through an 8-paged assignment on Formula Writing and Naming.
I also texted my AP Chemistry teacher, through Remind 101, and she said we will be having a diagnostic test next week, during the first week of school, and that it WILL NOT be graded! It is a test to see how much we’ve learned last year and reviewed from our summer assignment.