<p>Is there any advice you guys can give me on how to succeed in ap bio and ap chem? Like how to take on info and stuff.
Thanks a lot</p>
<p>Hiya! I was an AP Chem student last year. </p>
<p>Last year, the AP made some changes to the test that focused more towards reading and concepts than it would with calculations. Due to these changes being so recent, I’m not sure how exactly your school has changed the curriculum to match the new exam requirements, but I would suggest you try to understand everything both conceptually and mathematically. When I took the exam, I did’t come across very many calculations as opposed to the 2013 which had one every couple of problems. Our schools are probably different, so I can’t honestly give you a detailed answer on how to deal with the course, but just don’t rely on your math skills to carry you (it’s what got me a 4 and not a 5 LOL)</p>
<p>Oh, and if anyone would like to verify this for me, that’d be great. This is what I was told and what I experienced, so take it with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>@bonsly how much time on average did you spend per night? Homework? Labs? Before tests?
I understand the differences in the school but I wanna hear about you!</p>
<p>@vigrara Hey bro. Sorry for the really late response. </p>
<p>I like to think that our chem department is really good because 2 years back we only had 1 out of 90 students fail the exam, so I hope this is an accurate representation of a good AP chem class. My teacher was notorious for giving out quite a bit of homework, but more often than not we were able to do the HW in class,so I’d estimate that I spent 1-2 hours a day on chem homework. It was sorta half-assed though, since hw was ~10% of our grade and she didn’t really grade it strictly. Tests made up 70% of our grade, so I tried my best to study a lot for them, maybe 1-2 hours prior to test day on top of the homework. It really varies for you though, so I can’t honestly say how long it’ll take you. For example, when I was doing VSEPR/Lewis Dot w/e, I didn’t even bother to study and I did quite well on the test because I found it easy. However, with solution chemistry, I got DEMOLISHED even after studying! Regarding labs, I’m not sure how they’re done in your class, but we basically did labs in class for a day or two and then the write-ups/reports were assigned as homework over 2-3 days. We did them in groups however, so it was really easy to “collaborate.” If you were to do them individually, they might take 1-3 hours depending on lab length.</p>
<p>Like I said though, it varies for each person. If you have difficulties in one subject, you might take longer in it or shorter if it’s easy. I knew a guy who would literally do homework the period before and breeze through it because he’s just that good at Chem. Hopefully you’ll be the same and my estimates are not too long. Good luck and if you have any questions, just PM me or reply here.</p>
<p>Here’s how to ace chemistry:
- have a good teacher or find good lecture videos online
- Read entire chapter (over a week this shouldn’t be too bad for an AP level student)
- Do every odd exercise the book has
- on the last day before each test reread the book just skimming and work through the examples given in the text.</p>
<p>Shouldn’t take you more than 45 minutes a night.</p>
<p>Labs are pretty easy you just do what the procedure tells you to do; the only problem there is you may get somebody in your group who doesn’t know how to read a piece of paper and sets you all the way back to the beginning of the lab.</p>
<p>Didn’t have a great teacher, didn’t have a good class, still able to get a 5 on the exam. It’s pretty much dependent on the student.</p>
<p>I took AP Biology last year, and these are the two reasons I survived:</p>
<ol>
<li>Bozeman Science: <a href=“AP Biology Video Essentials - YouTube”>https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFCE4D99C4124A27A</a></li>
<li>CliffsNotes 4th Edition AP Biology Review Book</li>
</ol>
<p>The 5 Steps book is good too, but I lost mine before I could get far with it. </p>
<p>HI! I am taking AP chem too and I don’t really like the fact that they are giving us 3 long answer questions and 4 short answer questions for the FRQ. All of this has to be done in 90 mins. And when we asked our teacher how the time should be split, she said that we would have 60 mins for long answers (20 mins for each) and then she went on about how we don’t have enough time for the 4 short ones which is very true. 30 mins is not really enough, if they require a pretty detailed answer. I just wanted to know how were the FRQ’s before and how was it basically given. I am trying to get a barron’s book, but I feel like those review books don’t do much. I really want a five on this exam!! 
</p>
<p>I think it really depends on the school.</p>
<p>For me, AP Bio was quite lecture-heavy, so you had to make sure that you took lots of good notes to study for the test (although the Campbell Textbook was also great for this!). Also, reviewing a bit everyday never hurts for either, since it might be hard to follow along/catch up if you fall behind (I definitely felt this whenever I was absent for a couple of classes).</p>
<p>Also, at my school, we had to make our own lab procedures for both AP Bio and Chem, so it was REALLY important to prepare well and have a solid plan (preferably the same plan as your partner, so you’re not wasting precious time arguing over the procedure). I found that working very quickly during labs was important, because of the limited time.</p>
<p>And @overachiever, the timing of the AP Chem exam is quite tight. I left two FRQs completely blank since I just never got to them, and only answered half of another. Still ended up with a 5 though.</p>
<p>I’m taking AP Chem right now, and I just wanted to say that the homework/studying will take you more than 45 minutes so don’t have that kind of mentality, unless you’re a Chem genius or something. AP Chem hw takes about 2 hours for me, because I have two class’ worth of homework (a lab and a lecture). But, it’s pretty different for everyone who takes the class. If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that your teacher is IMPERATIVE to your success in AP Chemistry. There are a lot of difficult concepts, and without a good teacher, you will be totally lost. My teacher is really smart, but he’s an awful teacher and can’t explain for his life. If you don’t have a good teacher, form study groups and prepare to Google the heck out of everything. It basically turns into a self-study class.</p>
<p>The other posters pretty much captured the essence of AP Chem, so I’ll just leave you with that. Good luck, let’s pass the AP exam next year!! :)</p>