<p>Last year I took honors chem and liked it very much, so I decided to take AP Chem. However, the teacher that taught last year is no longer teaching. </p>
<p>I'm having a great amount of trouble trying to understand concepts in there and my grade is seriously at risk. Right now I have an 81% and my grade has never been as low. Her lectures are from the textbook...every single word and just a simple powerpoint. Reading the section or chapter provides me with the SAME thing and nothing more.</p>
<p>Her tests are directly off the AP exam and so, I really do not know what to expect. When I ask during class about the problems, she usually says they are pulled off prep books and she does not know whether it's going to be on HER test or not. It's also 50% of our grade and with hardly any other work to make up for mistakes. I guess she's trying to mirror "college environments".</p>
<p>I'm tired of studying day and night not knowing whether I'm doing the right thing or not. I also feel as if I am not getting the right preparation for the actual exam.</p>
<p>Anyone have tips as to what I should do at this point?</p>
<p>I'm so sorry! That sounds awful, I'm lucky to have a fantastic teacher and a challenging but not impossible/overwhelming AP chem class. What textbook do you use? If zumdahl, do you have the solutions guide? I would suggest doing as many practice problems as you can and if you run into trouble, come to your teacher with a specific question/problem and ask how to do it. As for concepts, I would try using your textbook in combination with a prep book and other mediums and going over the information until you understand. </p>
<p>As for tests, ask her if she could give you a test breakdown, or at least a general idea of what sort of questions will be on the test. Good luck!</p>
<p>We use the Brown and Lemay textbook, but one of the other problems is that the problems from there are actually too easy compared to what she gives us for the tests so it really doesn't help all that much.</p>
<p>But yea I'll try to ask for the text breakdown. Thanks again.</p>
<p>My teacher was very similar to yours last year. It's frustrating, I know, but it'll be over soon enough haha</p>
<p>If I were you, I'd find a good combination of friends and smart kids in the class and form a study group of sorts. It makes stuff easier and it's even fun (sometimes).</p>
<p>As for taking old AP questions and giving them to you, it is stupid now, but it helped me to prepare for the real test when that time of year came. I got a 3 though, so I guess it didn't help enough. </p>
<p>If I could offer one piece of advice, it'd be to study hard, but don't kill yourself over small stuff or just because you teacher is bad; it's simply not worth it. Life goes on...</p>
<p>Ah thanks. Yea my friends and I have been getting together and studying. We even got our old teacher to give us her notes and worksheets since she was the original AP teacher. It helps, but not as much as we would like it to since we don't really know what to study.</p>
<p>But yea, the thing is I care more about getting an A than passing the exam. Although if I passed the exam, she will change any grade to an A both semesters. Either way, I can't rely on that so it's just hard.</p>
<p>Yes, if we score a 3 or more, no matter what we got in the class it'll be changed to an A. It's only if you have no missing assignments, but that's not a big deal.</p>
<p>I used Brown and Lemay last year. It was an okay textbook; I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. In this case, I think you should get a prep book for the AP test (I used Princeton Review, which is pretty good, I think) and use it alongside your textbook. That is, before reading the textbook chapter, read the corresponding prep book explanation. That'll usually give you a basic outline of what to expect and the major concepts. Once you can understand the big picture, it's much easier to understand the details and examples in the textbook.</p>
<p>Also, since she pulls her test problems from old AP exams, start looking for old exams. CollegeBoard posts the most recent AP FRQs with the solutions, so you should work through those first. It may be hard to find older tests online, since you have to pay for them, but it doesn't hurt to Google "AP Chem FRQs."</p>
<p>I know this is easier said than done, but talk to your teacher about it. Just say that you have to know what's going to be on the test. It doesn't have to be specific questions, but she should at least give you a list of concepts that she'll use to make the questions.</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to rely more on prep books than your text books. If you see all the textbook material on a PowerPoint, it's really unnecessary to read through it all again unless it's really not making sense. Use a prep book to fill in the gaps.</p>
<p>Well really the powerpoints just highlight what she's going to talk about and her explanations are really hard to understand even though it's directly from the textbook. That's why I read the textbook instead.</p>
<p>So do the prep books such as Princeton Review help a lot?</p>
<p>Well, I really can't say if they help a ton because it varies from person to person. In your case, I think it would be helpful to go over them because they present less detailed explanations, so it'll be easier for you to get the big picture. </p>
<p>If you don't want to invest in one just yet, you can always check one out from the local library.</p>