I have AP Chem scheduled for my junior year along with AP Calc, Econ and Honore Physics, so it should be a little bit manageable. Anyway, what’s an honest review on the class? What should I expect every night? Do people really spend hours and hours one one problem? What’s the truth? We have a great teacher, and I have her for Chemistry I right now, so the instructor is the least of my concerns…
Well, being in a class from the other end of the spectrum - our teacher is reputably terrible, and although his tests are relatively easy, he only gives us the “how” and not the “why” of the material that we cover and focuses mainly on quantitative as opposed to qualitative knowledge; in addition, the class has a 20% pass rate for the AP Chem exam - the class itself shouldn’t be too hard. The material covered is a more in-depth version of what you learn in Chemistry Honors, although concepts like Gibbs free energy are unique to the class (at least, to our AP Chem class). I’ve never spent hours upon hours struggling with a problem, though (who’s told you that?) I do spend a fair bit of time studying the concepts (this is mainly a result of us not having a great teacher).
It’s an interesting class, despite its reputation for being notoriously hard, and I enjoy the knowledge that I’m learning in it.
I’m sort of in the opposite situation of desideratum, my teacher is known for being a fantastic AP Chem teacher (I think she’s worked with the College Board in developing the exam or something like that).
It definitely is a more in depth review of Honors Chem, to the point that my first semester was almost entirely a review of what i learned last year in Honors Chem, with a few new concepts thrown in. There’s absolutely no reason to be spending hours and hours on one problem, but perhaps on a particularly challenging lab or homework set. I find that homework takes me regularly anywhere form half an hour to an hour and a half (weekdays) and an hour to two and a half hours on weekends.
Homework wise, expect problem sets, worksheets and labs. When studying for tests, go over concepts! I find AP Chem to be a LOT more concept/explanation oriented that problem-solving. A lot of my test questions have asked me to explain why something occurs, or go through a data analysis or something of the sort. Do be prepared for calculator-less multiple choice questions. I suggest you brush up on your mental math and long division and such by hand.
Although it’s a hard class (and it does have a reputation for being one), I’ve found it quite enjoyable and rewarding.