Ok, guys help me out. I’m taking AP Chemistry in my junior year and I was wondering if you all could help me out. Like some tips, how to study etc. Whats the difficultly level of the class ( I’m taking PreAP Chem this year)
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I am taking it next year as a senior, but having friends that took it last year, they all recommended studying every night on your own and always staying ahead in the curriculum. also, to not let low test scores get to your self esteem.
I guess the key to succeeding in AP Chemistry is doing the work, utilizing all your resources and understanding a concept before moving on to the next one. The ultimate study plan that I can think of is to:
Read the chapter of your textbook that coincides with what you are learning in class
Compress the notes your teacher gives you and notes you take from the book and consolidate them into one document
Do the practice problems at the end of each chapter just so you know how to apply your knowledge
Watch Bozeman Science on YouTube, very helpful.
Buy the Barron's Review Book and use it to review, as well as your notes.
Always ask your teacher to help, if you ever miss a problem ask for help.
You don’t need to do all of this, or spend a ridiculous amount of time each night, but this really will help you get a five. If you are looking for an extra practice test, or perhaps a diagnostic to test your current knowledge go to:
www [dot] barronsbooks [dot] com/ap/chem
If you keep up with the content at a reasonable pace, the class isn’t too hard. Just make sure to pace yourself if you have many other AP classes like I do, maybe even using the summer to brush up on all your pre-AP chem notes
If you’re anything like me, an average-intelligence but hardworking student…good luck. This class will really get to you. This is the worst class I have ever taken, and I would never recommend this class to anyone after all of the stress I went through this year. It definitely wasn’t worth it, even if I were to get a 5 (which I won’t - I’m scared I might fail). I study really hard for this class all the time, but nothing really makes sense. I am in my teacher’s classroom every morning to get help because reading the textbook/review books does NOT help me. I need someone to explain it to me, but it does not even make sense then. I had a 100 in honors chemistry sophomore (last) year, but nothing from honors chemistry really helped me this year.
BUT, all else said, if you are extremely intelligent and/or just love science, have fun with this class. I can’t understand the concepts no matter how hard I try, and it is beyond uninteresting to me. Carefully consider your choices before you take this class. College Confidential is filled with a bunch of Ivy-bound students, but you’re hearing this from a less intelligent, extremely hardworking student here. Listen to whomever you think you fit in best with.
If you do decide to pursue this class, I would NOT recommend reading the textbook; it takes too long and has a lot of unnecessary information. Your notes and homework will help you most because sometimes the review books/videos do not have exactly what you guys are doing. Also, the most valuable thing is: If you don’t understand something, ask questions. Don’t mind the people who find you annoying for asking several “stupid” questions. If you don’t understand something and you stay quiet about it, you’ll be lost the rest of the lecture.
Good luck next year!
This class is really difficult. I took it this year as a junior with multiple other AP classes (total 5) and struggled to get by. I’m currently using the Barron’s book to study for the AP exam and feel that it is very detailed. I would suggest using the Barron’s book throughout the year since its very detailed but not as long as the textbook. My teacher really focused on math problems but made sure to cover concepts too. She wasn’t that good since it’s her first year teaching which made this class even harder for me. What really helped me to learn was by reading the textbook with its examples side by side while watching videos online. I highly recommend Norton’s chem tours and these podcasts by Mr. Richardson, a teacher in Tacoma. http://www.screencast.com/users/WilsonRm108
These videos cover the majority of the curriculum and greatly helped me this year.
All in all, take this class if you really enjoy science. Keep in mind that it’s one of the hardest classes (at my school, there is only one class period for AP Chem because everyone is too scared to take it) so don’t take this with a large load of other AP classes.
Hey guys,
I’m planning to self study this exam for the 2015-2016 school year. I want to get a head start on it. Does anyone have any recommendation about how I should do this? I have Zumdahl’s Chemistry 8th ed for a book and will get a review book.
Wish I could give all you new juniors advice based on the credibility of my score, but I do not have that yet as I took the 2015 exam five days ago. I did however maintain a strong A in Honors Chemistry and maintained a 94% in the class throughout the year. This class was full of tears, excitement, stress, fun, love, and hate, but I felt that I learned so much about chemistry and that’s why I loved this class. Anyhow, I’m finishing up my junior year and more importantly, AP Chem (pretty delighted that it’s all over!)
I’ll try to give you sophomores/juniors advice by trying NOT to discourage you from being determined to do well. This class is one that will require many things: One: Read, read, read. Do not fall behind. Take notes. Watch Bozeman Chemistry Essential videos. Watch Khan Academy. Use every available source you have. If you struggle with something, DO NOT LET IT ACCUMULATE. Seriously, put in the extra effort outside of regular class time to truly understand how to do a calculation or a concept, especially if chemistry is not your forte because every topic that follows the first couple of chapters will be the bulk of new concepts that BUILD on chemistry. Another regret that goes along with this is the fact that I was a lazy student and didn’t make the time to practice for tests throughout this year, which resulted in low grades on those tests. Practice, practice, practice. You can never get too much practice. That’s a guarantee, especially with this class. As far as the test overall, it was the most difficult one I’ve taken. Don’t worry about the timing on the free response because you’ll be given extra time on it (that was a change made to the exam THIS year.) Be prepared for the wording of the test questions, and that can only be done with solving previously released questions on the official Collegeboard website. You can’t gain access to any of the multiple choice questions on your own, but ask your teacher for those official questions or practice all the multiple choice you can from Barron’s and Princeton Review. As far as textbooks goes, Zumdahl is the best. Oh yeah, and don’t be afraid to ask your teacher questions!! The cliche that there is no such thing as a stupid question is true because it’s a cliche for that reason!!! Ask away all the questions you have during class or even out of class to understand what you don’t get. Cannot emphasize that enough.
All in all, this class isn’t terrible but it is if you procrastinate. Please, don’t do that to yourself with this class especially because you will seriously regret it after a couple of months. Don’t put yourself in that position. Yeah, teachers and your parents have told you that by now, but it’s time to break that habit with this class.
Sorry about this, I just thought of everything I could to help you guys and typed it out…a lot of it’s just unorganized and whatnot so I apologize.
@PhilipL Do you really feel that way? I’ve always been one to think that, with any amount of hard work, anyone can overcome any challenge. Do you really think that this is a course you simply are not “smart enough” to handle?
I’ll be taking this class alongside AP Physics 1 next year (Junior year). I will be taking 7 APs. Fortunately, I possess a lot of AP Biology and Honors Chem knowledge from this year (I just took the AP Biology exam), so I think that I could pass IF I learn from my AP Biology mistakes this year and fix them for next year. I self-taught myself half my AP Biology textbook (Campbell) within five days! I am NOT doing that again!
I’m taking this next year as well! I heard for the exam, you need to know how to elaborate and ramble to earn your points. No one finished the FRQs this year so I’m pretty scared of the class.
Yeah. It’ll be much more technical and down-to-earth than biology(I hope), which is MUCH more conditional and open-ended than Chem responses will be (for FRQ’s). Of course I’m only guessing chemical laws, properties, and equations/theory will be more straightforward.
@Kyuutoryuu Yes I do believe that some people just cannot handle this class. Chemistry is extremely difficult to understand if you’re aren’t interested and/or have some intelligence. I really tried this year, but I still don’t understand any of the concepts. I just tried to recognize questions and memorize trends in every unit, but I could never actually understand the material, no matter how many hours I spent studying or getting extra help. I’m hoping that was enough to get me a 3.
@microversal I’m going to copy & paste from another post.
“I hated almost all of them. The circadian rhythm one about mice made no sense. I had no idea how to calculate ATP production per mole in kJ… My scientific question was awkward. I did not know the difference between permeable and impermeable barriers, so I made up things as they went. If there were abundant resources, then why would snakes decline until new species were put in? (gene flow was my only guess) Finally, I had no idea what to say about olfactory nerves, so I made stuff up about the flow of potassium, sodium, and calcium ions through synapses and how they related to neurotransmitters. (I said that odorant molecules were the neurotransmitters.)”
AP Chemistry is the most rewarding class I have ever taken. I was ambivalent last year when it came to course selections, but I’m so glad I took the class. The material got harder as the year went on (the difficulty peaked in third quarter with equilibrium, rate laws, acid/base equilibria, etc.), but as the content became more difficult, I became more eager to learn chemistry. By the time the exam rolled around, I understood EVERYTHING thoroughly. If I get a 5 on the exam, I have to owe it to my OCD (I actually became obsessed with the class). My teacher often referenced the course description and truly ensured that we would all pass. Of course, there were some kids here and there who did not belong in the class whatsoever. I have to warn you, though. If you’re a Social Sciences person who likes to memorize a boatload of facts, events, etc. (someone who basically doesn’t apply knowledge too often), DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!! The level of thinking that is required for the multiple choice and free response sections of the new exam is out of this world.
Tips for learning material:
Read the chapter in the textbook before you even begin to discuss it in class. This way, you know what your teacher is talking about, and you can even clear some things up with him/her. If you still don’t understand something, Google the topic and read as much as you can about it. Don’t pay too much attention to the “problems” - I know that at the end of each chapter in Zumdahl, there are a few questions that have nothing to do with math. They incorporate diagrams (which the College Board seems to be obsessed with now) and evoke concepts (which are critical to the exam).
Tips for the exam:
If you’ve done what I’ve suggested above all throughout the year and you understand the material thoroughly, you may not even need to study for the exam. I went over a few things that required some memorization (bond angles, geometry, etc.), but that’s pretty much it. Make sure your teacher administers both practice exams, and ask him/her to allow you to review each question with your answers next to you (I cannot emphasize how much this helped me and others).
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me!
**THE TEXTBOOK THAT YOU ARE GIVEN IS THE BIBLE. READ IT AND DIGEST EVERY CHAPTER. SIT DOWN WITH A NOTEPAD IF YOU NEED TO. READ ALL GRAPHS, FIGURES, DIAGRAMS, ETC.
@tina23 the general consensus is that Bio is more interesting than Chemistry (which is probably true), but chemistry is definitely more abstract, and therefore may be more difficult to grasp. It is harder to get a 5 on the AP Bio exam (78% required for 2013, 77% required for 2014, whereas a 72% was needed for the 2014 AP Chemistry exam). Only ~5% of students receive 5s each year on AP Bio, whereas ~10% receive 5s on AP Chemistry. Idk. It’s hard to judge
@apactstudent
Thank you so much! That’s really helpful! And next year is my senior year, so I’m probably not guna take the ap exam anyways well, thanks again for ur answer!
Mark this page. I’m guna need it next year lol.
I’m a junior now and I’ll take AP Chem senior year, not sure about the test, but definitely the class.
My friends were saying that the AP exam is actually not that hard, but idk, we’ll see
I did however maintain a strong A in Honors Chemistry and maintained a 94% in the class throughout the year. This class was full of tears, excitement, stress, fun, love, and hate, but I felt that I learned so much about chemistry and that’s why I loved this class. Anyhow, I’m finishing up my junior year and more importantly, AP Chem (pretty delighted that it’s all over!)
well, thanks again for ur answer!