<p>***...ap chemistry is killing me. im using the cliffs prep book and ive had the class all year (i havent learned anything in the class). well im in a predicament. im getting really sick of all the crap that book gives me. im memorizing a hell of a lot of formulas and theres still stuff they will pull on me that is so obscure that its stupid.</p>
<p>i mean...i do okay at the theoretical questions, but when they ask questions using the "factor label method" im like...***...and i see the answer and the work makes sense but how can they expect me to come up with that hairy of an answer during the MC section? do i have to remember all those different rate law things for EACH RATE ORDER? damn, its a lot of arbitrary formulas to memorize. i am good at biology but this stuff is getting on my nerves. is the cliffs book harder than the real AP test? or is it easier?</p>
<p>im getting about 30 right on each MC section on the practice exams ive taken. how many is needed for a 5? (not factoring in the FRQs)</p>
<p>it seems like no matter how much memorizing i do, all the formulas i havent studied or are so obscure that its not even worth it all end up showing up on the exam especially in the last few questions. any words would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I don't even know what the "factor label method" is... so either I don't remember it since I haven't done Chem in awhile or it's really not important to know something like that. Even though it's pretty close to exam time, I suggest getting the Princeton Review book. I've never seen/used the CliffsAP book for Chem, so I can't tell you how closely it resembles the actual M.C. questions on the AP exam, but I found the PR cram book very helpful just as a quick, yet thorough, review.</p>
<p>"im getting about 30 right on each MC section on the practice exams ive taken. how many is needed for a 5? (not factoring in the FRQs)"</p>
<p>I think you need something like 55/80 to be on track for a 5, 40/80 for a 4, and then 30/80 for a 3. I could be mistaken, though; it says what you should aim for (or above) in the PR.</p>
<p>I remember being somewhat inspired when going through PR with how relatively easy the questions at the end of each section were. The questions on the actual AP test, from what I remember, weren't really much different, either...</p>
<p>I got a 5. In fact, there were only 3 or so multiple choice questions that I didn't answer, and the majority of the ones I did answer I felt that I knew pretty well. There was definitely a point at which I felt the same way you do right now -- I think the best thing about the PR book was that it just gave you the most important things to know and didn't make it seem so overwhelming, and then you can always use your textbook (I had the one by Zumdahl, which I really liked) to clarify anything that doesn't make sense.</p>
<p>There's also a helpful section in the back of the cram book for predicting chemical reactions, and it tells you that to be on track for a 5 you really only need a few of them right (maybe only 1 or 2 of them for a 3, even).</p>
<p>Princeton review was da bomb. My class was hell (when our teach tried to make us learn stuff). Read PR in a week and now it mkaes complete sense</p>
<p>P.S. If your memory sucks like mine does, u might want to take notes over stuff you don't think you'll remember for the exam (some general concepts, equations, stuf fliek that). What I did was read a section , took some notes, took the practice questions, and wrote down facts I didn'rt know until I read the explanations for the question I got wrong. Kinda weird. I foudn the PR review didn't directly address all the questions they asked. TRhe same with Cliffs Biology..........</p>
<p>well, by my bloated and long winded paragraph, you can tell I am going todo better onAP CHem than AP Lit and Lang :-P</p>
<p>Also some general advice: be careful to check over your answers to the MC after you finish, if you have time. I tend to catch a lot of stupid mistakes that way. On the last practice test I took, I missed 5 or 6 more than I should have because I finished early and was confident enough not to check over my work. This makes a significant difference, since this is almost 10 points. I also missed mostly questions on safety and things like that, since we haven't learned them at all this year. On the other hand, I only missed 5 points in the free response, so it seems to be going well.</p>
<p>factor label method??? isn't that just a fancy term for dimensional analysis? and isn't that just a fancy term for converting between different units</p>
<p>damn, i guess. i cant do dimensional analysis worth crap though so it really doesnt matter. i cant convert the given info into anything meaningful. lol</p>
<p>if anyone needs the reaction page from PR book (I heard that it is extremely useful) do what I did and obtain it from Amazon.com using its search inside the book function. It's pages 269-274</p>
<p>i have no idea. but yeah i missed USABO by two points. chemistry should be easy for me...and conceptually it is...but i screw myself over on calculations. ironically, im pretty darn good at math...</p>
<p>jajajaja.. im currently/and have been for the past forever, studying AP CHEM.. AGHH... princeton review book practice test is way too easy to be realistic right?! cuz i took some OLD AP Tests and they were harder... especially the FRQ which i mainly find impossible (acid base/etc).. UGH biomaster i share your pain!!! cept im not too good in bio either :D (760)</p>
<p>AP Chem seem so hard because there seem to be a batrizillion trivia questions about chem they can throw at you. It's like, INFINITY number of stuff they can ask you... gah! I just can't grasp it, and it's ultra hard to expect what the questions will be, unlike calc and physics.</p>