feel unprepared for AP Chem.... help?

<p>I have the Zumdahl textbook for school as well as the Princeton Review book, and reading them, I still feel like I don't know the material well enough. We took a full-length practice MC, and I didn't do all that great. I really want a 5 on the exam... what should I do?</p>

<p>Read your textbook.</p>

<p>reading the textbook is always good. bu talso, just reviewing out of PR/Barron’s/etc etc. can help. make sure that you use other students in the class to help you because what they know you might not know. also, use your teacher because he/she is there to help you. </p>

<p>i am in the same boat and don’t worry. i plan to take my own advice, but remember, AP Chemistry is considered to be one of the HARDEST AP tests out there.</p>

<p>I second the difficulty. Our class knew the subject through and through. Did great on practice tests…</p>

<p>but the exam… ANNIHILATED our class. I think we had less than a 10% pass rate out’ve 40+ students. Sad because our rate for previous years was 65%+</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestions everyone.</p>

<p>@Mal77: wow… that’s scary. I’m sorry it happened. If it’s any consolation, I’m afraid the same is likely to happen to our school (also ~40 students in AP Chem) this year… Our teacher had mentioned that we as a class aren’t doing so well compared to prior years, and now (surprise!) she’s not even there to help us anymore because she’s on maternity leave. (She looked pretty darn slim for being 9 months pregnant… we figured it was more like 4-6 months until she told us) Our long-term sub is a math and divinity dual-major, and she’s trying her absolute best, but there are times when she doesn’t get the material herself.</p>

<p>since this is about AP Chemistry, I have a question: How am I suppose to know which compound or ion change to which color in an aqueous solution? I saw this question in few of the released free response questions.</p>

<p>jerrry4445 : Some of them you are just supposed to know; lead - yellow, copper - blue, etc.</p>

<p>OP: Do practice tests over and over again. For tests like chemistry, this will help a lot in improving your performance. Biology, on the other hand, requires a lot of memorization and stuff. But you’ll get better at chem as you keep doing more.</p>

<p>Jerrry: You are just suppose to know the colors.
Cu compounds are usually green or blue (CuSO4 is blue, CuCO3 is green)
Pb can be colorless or yellow (Pb(NO3)2 is colorless)
Ni can be green and probably some other colors
Cr is sometimes yellow or orange
Mn is usually purple. (I think KMnO4 is purple)
Group 1 and 2 compounds are usually colorless in solution and white as solid. (NaCl)</p>

<p>take practice SAT subject test: chemistry and get close to full score (750+) first, BEFORE attempting APChem.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>

<p>no problem</p>

<p>Ice, where was that advice last May when i signed up for AP Chem?</p>

<p>just kidding</p>

<p>Chemistry AP is the easiest science ap in our school-- though the teacher use AP free response questions on the test without the curve. </p>

<p>I think Chemistry can be fun if you change your perspective. There’s a bit of memorization though.</p>

<p>Use the Peterson’s/ARCO book! It was seriously amazing! And the practice tests were very similar. Read it, and do the practice, do some practice problems from your textbook, and I’m sure you can get a 4/5.
Good Luck!!</p>

<p>I thought AP chem was one of the easier AP tests I had taken. I use Princeton Review also. Never studied the textbook the whole year. Got a 5.</p>

<p>My suggestion so to go through every chapter in the review book, take notes, make up funny sayings to help you remember things. Then after every chapter do the practice problems. Twice if you have to. Grab all the FRQs off of Collegeboard and do them. Do practice problems from your textbook. That’s what I did two weeks before the AP test after slacking off the whole year and I passed with flying colors.</p>

<p>In chem, the more you practice, the better you get. There are so many different types of questions so if you familiarize yourself with all types and know what they are asking.</p>

<p>thanks! i got the PR book, and it is really helpful, but is it really enough? idk, but i get the feeling that it’s missing some material… but it is really a good book. i’m going to start looking back over the chapters and doing the frqs soon… again, thanks!</p>

<p>I am using the princeton review book and although it seems to not cover everything we’ve covered in class in some sections (I think those things are probably extraneous anyways), it hits basically everything that you need to know. Seems to be working so far. Just read, take notes, do the MC questions, problems and essays, and once you’ve done that, do the two practice tests. That’s what I’m doing and I think that I’ll get a 5 if I keep with that for the next 5ish weeks.</p>

<p>ugh chem- my brain hurts just thinking about it. after thermo, i just shut down. but this advice is really helpful and im ready to study. off to collegeboard.com … yippee</p>

<p>i would say that princeton review was a bit too basic for me. I also checked out barrons and that was way too much extraneous info. I think the best fit would be Petersons.</p>