Hello. I’m a freshman who is currently taking Honors Biology and doing really well. My science teacher talked to me about the option of skipping Honors Chemistry and going to AP Chemistry. Since AP Chemistry picks up after Honors Chemistry I was wondering how much I should study and prep. I was planning to use Khan Academy and Bozeman science to learn the basics. Do you guys think this is enough? Should I even bother? My school cluster is stem and I’m interested in science and engineering. I’ve heard the AP Chemistry is very hard hence why it’s two periods. What do you guys think I should do to prepare?
Depending on what your schedule may be next year with all your other classes, this might be a difficult option. But if you are dedicated to it and motivated to have to study some Chem on your own aside from the actual class to catch up and be able to understand everything, then you should definitely give it a try. Maybe look into taking a high school chem/chem honors class online over the summer or start it right now on the side. Some schools have partnerships with online course providers to allow you to take a course outside of school that may not have worked with your schedule. Some states have free online courses with credit for high school students that are residents of that state like FLVS. There are also providers that are open to everyone but for a cost (this might not be a good option because they can be expensive). If you can find an online high school chem course for free, either through your state or your school, I definitely recommend taking chemistry online over the summer because it will really help you. Good luck!
@mirandaf There are few classes in my schedule that might be a problem. I’m going to take AP World History, AP Spanish (Native Speaker), and Honors Pre Calculus. If I do take AP Chemistry it would be my top priority. I don’t think my school offers online classes but I’ve been looking for online materials like Khan Academy to get the basics down.
Hey there,
I was in the same exact boat you were! I was also a Freshman with no chemistry background whatsoever. Currently I have an ‘A’ in the class, and have been doing alright! I was supposed to study up chem over summer, but never really got it down going into the school year. The first two-three weeks was very rough, because we were “reviewing” honors chem material. Of course, this review was completely new to me, and I had to cram a years of chemistry in this short period of time. However, I finally got down the basics, and currently we’re learning stuff completely new (so I’m on the same page now!). I promise, most of the material you learn is within the class.
Alrighty, so to answer your question, DO watch YouTube to get some concepts down. I HIGHLY recommend Tyler DeWitt, and you can message me about the playlists you should follow if you’d like. Focus on the idea of moles, molar conversions, basic atomic structure/tendencies, and stoichiometry. Another thing to look into is nomenclature (ionic and covalent naming). You have the advantage of studying up early. If I can do it, you can do it.