<p>I just picked my classes for next year, and I'm trying to decide between taking normal and AP Chemistry.</p>
<p>I'll be a sophomore, and the other classes I'll be taking are PE 10, AP Statistics, Spanish 3, AP Calculus, English 10, and AP European History.</p>
<p>I'm smart, but I don't put in effort and I don't want to spend a lot of time on AP Chem. I have an A+ in biology, and the lowest grade I've gotten on a test is a 100%. I don't study or do homework either.</p>
<p>I don't know that much about chemistry (or science in general), but I pick up schoolwork really quickly and I've never had to be worried about anything school-related.</p>
<p>How intensive is the AP Chem class? Is there a lot of memorization, or can I pass with an A just by being smart?</p>
<p>In my school AP Chem is a high-effort class The teacher told us to expect to work at least an hour each night on notes or homework Most people (including me) do</p>
<p>For the test there is a lot of memorization required We have weekly quizzes over ions solubility rules and all the other crap we’re supposed to remember</p>
<p>AP Chem is a tougher class since there’s quite a bit of memorization. I thought it was fairly straightforward though in terms of concepts, but if you don’t put in the work, you won’t be able to get results. I took IB Chem 2, which was basically also an AP Chem class.</p>
<p>My entire sophomore class of AP Chem (there were 11 of us total) took it without chemistry or physics. We all passed the AP exam, with an approximately equal amount of 3s, 4s, and 5s. Chem is one of those classes where, if it makes sense to you, you’ll do really well. Otherwise, you’ll have to work a little bit harder to do really well. But it’s definitely doable.</p>
<p>Don’t take AP Chemistry without a solid knowledge in Chemistry. My school does a good job at preparing students for AP courses. It looks like you’re pretty full with challenging courses already. A lot of people don’t take AP Chemistry seriously. AP Chemistry is one of hardest APs under AP Physics. Do the right thing and prepare properly. Studying is essential, about an hour a day.</p>
<p>You WILL have to work hard. Like you, I thought school was very easy and I got A+'s on tests without studying. Big mistake (I didn’t do too well junior year when I suddenly had a bunch of AP classes). There is usually more content in AP exams than the teacher can actually cover in class, and you will need to put in extra time outside of class learning and reviewing the material (stuff that you learn in September will be on the AP test in May, unlike regular school tests). As for memorization, the polyatomic ions and solubility rules are pretty difficult to memorize (it’s not as bad as biology with the different phyla), but it’s not as much of a memorization class as it is a concept based class. The physics you need (like coulomb’s law) can easily be learned while you take the class.</p>