I am a senior in highschool right now. Last year I took the AP biology, psychology, and English language exams and this year I am planning on taking Environmental science, statistics, and english literature exams.
I was wondering if it would be possible to self-study and then take the AP Chemistry exam without taking the class?
I am planning to major in biology and, if possible, I would like to be able to get credit and skip taking the basic chemistry class in college. I heard it is a weed out class, and the next course would also be in a smaller setting and thus easier to learn. Does this sound more or less accurate?
My main question though remains. Would it be possible to get a 4 or 5 on the AP Chem test only through self-studying?
It is not going to happen.
If you were talking about AP Bio, I might say yes, because biology is more memorization. But chemistry is a different world, because you actually have to understand everything. Then, you also have to have a decent grasp of math.
hmm ok, i see what you mean, thank you for your input! do you think it would make any difference if i started studying in april/mid-march or would still be unlikely?
How did you do on your last chemistry class? It really depends on your chemistry foundation. If you are in a really prestigious high school and you took like honors chemistry class and did really well, self-study is possible, yes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend it.
I am in a similar situation rn and I NEED to pass the AP test in order to get into the UC system. I’m a junior that took the Honors Chem class last year, but got a D in the second semester. The teacher said that if we pass the test they’d bump our grades up to to A’s for both semesters. I went to talk to them and they told me I wouldn’t be able to pass it, and the only option would be retaking it next year (they didn’t offer it this year). The only problem is that I will already have all of my grades finalized and turned in long before the end of second semester obviously. Passing the AP test is my only option. I have until May 4th to learn all of the material (on top of Finals, SAT, ACT and other AP tests).
I believe in you mc5751!
This is what I’m doing and you should do too!
The first thing to do is make a schedule of the next 2 months leading up to the test. Do it on an actual paper calendar and map out all tests, finals and any other important dates you have coming up (this is good to have in general if you don’t already have a calendar anyway). Figure out how much time you can spend on chemistry each week along with other tests and plan out every study session accordingly. Now if you’re like me, your may have a lot of other responsibilities (sports, clubs, scouts etc.) with changing circumstances. Even if you have to cram it all in sat. or sunday night, make sure you put in all of the week’s scheduled hours before the next week begins. Falling behind will be detrimental to your success.
I’d recommend going to your school’s library and checking out an AP Chem book to give you an idea of what topics/chapters you’ll need to have finished by what dates. Look up online what has been on previous tests and also what topics are most important so that you can focus on the core areas.
That’s where I am right now. I think i can pull it off but it’s going to be a lot of work! If you find any other good resources or ideas let me know!