How do you study for AP Chem tests?

<p>I can't seem to do well in this class no matter how much I read...</p>

<p>I combine the way I study history with the way I study physics. Book reading and memorization coupled with doing more problems.</p>

<p>^
How long do you spend per day?</p>

<p>When I studied for the AP Chemistry, I read the Chemistry: The Central Science 11/e AP edition. Afterward, few days before AP Chem exam, read PR. Day before AP exam, practiced through past FRQ from AP Central.</p>

<p>AeroEngineer, you pretty much summed up my study methods. I usually only study a few days before the test, and I always start by rereading the entire chapter in my book (Zumdahl, which explains everything pretty well). Then I do a few practice problems of different types, and I find them pretty easy because I just reviewed everything really well from the reading.</p>

<p>We have two types of formal evaluation in AP Chem. Quizzes are basically free response, with few questions that are sort of like MC. They take one hour. We have 4 or so a quarter. Tests are all MC and take two hours. They count as two quizzes and we have one or two a quarter. I almost always get A’s on quizzes. I reread my notes the night before and look back over any problems I missed or found confusing. It takes maybe 30 min to an hour. For tests, I do the same thing, but I usually get B’s. I think it’s the format. Scantrons are scary.</p>

<p>My chem class doesn’t use the book, so I never look at it.</p>

<p>If I can, I try to break it up into two days of about two hours each of study time. Usually though, I end with three hours max of study time the day before the test. </p>

<p>If I feel uncomfortable with a chapter, I’ll spend more time on it. If, on the other hand, it seemed like obvious knowledge, I’d spend my time studying something else (usually a different subject, but I’ve reviewed past chapters more than once before).</p>

<p>The thing about the math-related sciences is that they’re math-related. Back in middle school, math teachers stressed repetition as a way to reinforce problem-solving skills. In order to correctly solve a problem in chemistry however, you need qualitative background information. Both comprehension and problem-solving (especially knowing why you’re solving a problem a particular way) are necessary to do well.</p>

<p>Finally, and this might seem redundant or self-evident, you need to be able to defend your answer and prove others wrong (or just less right, in some MC cases). This is a result of having a complete understanding of both comprehension and problem-solving, and should be done as soon as you start jotting things down.</p>

<p>Memorize the concepts then go through each different type of relevant problem and understand how to do them. You can do the latter by trying them on your own then reading a study guide that explains it.</p>

<p>It seems like a lot of people struggle with dimensional analysis. I really don’t know why.</p>

<p>^ I secretly lol’d whenever someone said that stoichiometry was hard. It is ALL dimensional analysis with a couple of conversion factors…</p>

<p>Go on AP Central and do practice free response problems from past AP exams. They have sample responses so you can follow the work also. </p>

<p>Other than that, I would buy a prep book and try to fish out the important stuff</p>