<p>Okay, so based on what I've heard, AP Chemistry is /arguably/ the hardest AP class. How true is this?</p>
<p>Also, how does it compare to AP Biology and Honors Chemistry?</p>
<p>I'm taking both, and acing both, of those classes now, and I signed up to take AP Chemistry next year. I'm considering spending some time over the summer to start looking up on it in my sister's review book from a couple of years ago, but I'm not sure how necessary that would be. </p>
<p>It was the hardest high school class I ever took. I’d still recommend it, though…it’s not impossible.</p>
<p>@awakeningvenus </p>
<p>If you have a good foundation and are doing good in Honors Chem, I don’t think it should be very tough for you. </p>
<p>AP Chem is one of the hardest APs at my school, but I don’t think it’s as hard as AP Physics C</p>
<p>It’s definitely harder than honors chemistry. It is one of the hardest at my school, but I wouldn’t say the hardest.</p>
<p>Thank you guys! Also, are there any specific AP review books that you would recommend for the Chemistry test?</p>
<p>Hello! I’m a sophomore taking AP Chemistry now. It’s definitely not impossible but does require a lot of work. Word of advice: You should LIKE chemistry if you’re entering AP Chemistry. It’s basically every topic in honors Chem but “raised to another level” if that makes sense. </p>
<p>@PoisonIvy20
That makes sense. I like Chemistry, albeit not as much as biology. But hey, what’s biology without chemistry? I think I’ll have rough patches, but I don’t doubt that the class will interest me too. 
</p>
<p>It’s hard. There is no sugarcoating it. Harder now because the AP exam has changed towards application. I’m taking it now, and my teacher has no idea what to expect (she’s the department head and recognized for her pass rate). We’re hoping we’re not blindsided like AP Bio was two years ago when their test changed to application questions.
This class is a beast. AP Chem and AP Physics C are tied for hardest classes in my school. Honors chemistry does not compare to AP. AP Bio’s material is significantly easier to digest.
On the first tests D’s are more than normal, although they should go up a bit with time and studying. Many drop the class the first week.
The plus sides? It’s an amazing foundation for the world of chemistry to come, and will definitely prove to be a leg up if you retake General Chem in college.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I’m currently taking AP Physics C and AP Chemistry right now as a junior in my school (took Physics B last year). As someone who absolutely loves mathematics and the physical sciences, I can tell you that AP Chemistry IS a hard class to master, but it’s definitely not impossible. </p>
<p>To put it in perspective, I would say that AP Bio, AP Physics C, and AP Chem are all tied for the “hardest” science AP courses – each in their own unique way. Though I haven’t taken AP Bio (although I’m planning on taking it next year), I’ve heard that the main qualities that make AP Bio hard is that there is generally a LOT of material to cover, and you essentially have to memorize definitions on top of understanding the underlying concepts and processes of various biological systems. AP Physics C is generally considered “hard”, because it is VERY calculus-involved, and requires you to be very fluent in the basics of derivatives and integrals, as well as understanding the concepts behind the mathematical equations (which are, again, derived using calculus) used to solve problems. Basically, whereas you might’ve gotten away with the so called “plug-and-chug” method in a rudimentary physics course, there are very few equations and actual things you have to know (compared to the amount of definitions you have to learn in AP Bio), but the hard part is applying them using calculus. AP Chemistry, interestingly enough, a balance between AP Bio and AP Physics C; it definitely has more mathematical rigor than AP Bio (especially when you get to thermodynamics, and kinetics/equilibrium and acids/bases) but it has a lot more definitions and concepts that you have to be able to know on the spot than Physics C (though not as many as AP Bio), which is what makes AP Chem hard. So no, AP Chem is definitely not the “hardest” class out there, because hard is a subjective term which is different for every person. What might be “hard” about one class for one student might be really easy to understand for another student (for example, you might notice that the reason I held off AP Bio for senior year is because I’m VERY reluctant to taking a course in bio, since my previous experience with bio in middle school was not particularly good). </p>
<p>The fact that you will have taken a previous course in chemistry (and you’re doing well in it) practically qualifies you (as in, makes you a good, successful candidate) for taking AP Chem next year. You probably have a lot of the basics down already, which is pretty much what the Collegeboard expects you to know when entering an AP Chem course. You already know what to expect from an AP science course because you’re taking AP Bio (as in the commitment, the homework load, etc.) and you already have a thorough knowledge of the basics, so AP Chem will probably be a pretty chill class for you (perhaps, until you get to new material that your honors chem class never covered). I, as well, took a previous chemistry course before taking AP Chem, and I can tell you that doing so definitely helped me throughout the year, since I wasn’t learning entirely “new” things. I have a 95 in that class right now, and I know others in the same range as me who would probably tell you the same thing that I’ll tell you, which is that you’re pretty much set to take AP Chem (as in, if you’re currently worrying about taking it - don’t - because you are sufficiently prepared).</p>
<p>I’m not sure how much “reading up” on chemistry during the summer is going to help you in the long-run. Rather, I would suggest that when you do take the class, that you make sure to stay on top of all the homework assignments, and textbook readings as they are handed to you throughout the year. I’ve found that part of my success in my AP classes this year is around 50% due to the fact that I’ve stayed on top of everything; which is an extremely important skill to develop in terms of preparing for college. If your teacher doesn’t mandate textbook readings, I would recommend you go ahead and so so anyway (at the same time you’re covering the material), to make sure you’re staying “on top” of things.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m just going to go against what everyone here has been saying and say it’s not that hard. It’s only hard if you don’t know how to study for it. It is harder than any honours course and some other AP classes. If you are math/science type person then you should definitely find some humanities classes more challenging. Don’t get behind and you will be fine.</p>
<p>I’m taking it next year and it will be the first year my school has offered it. My current Chemistry teacher will be teaching it, she is a fairly easy teacher so I’m not overly concerned, and I’m smarter than almost everybody I know who is signing up for it so I figure if I do bad, then everybody else is going to do really bad.</p>
<p>I’m taking it this year and honestly, if you have a good foundation it won’t be too hard. Although, as far as I know, a lot of the test will be application and concept questions(I took a mock recently and was a bit surprised by how little calculation was involved in the MC, even FRQ section as well). I do recommend going over some concepts during the summer, my teacher assigned us some Mastering Chemistry lessons for this, but what I recommend to EVERYONE who will be taing the class would be Chemistry NMSI- either Google this or use this link:
<a href=“http://apchemistrynmsi.wikispaces.com/AP+Chemistry+Class+Lecture+Notes+AND+instructional+videos”>http://apchemistrynmsi.wikispaces.com/AP+Chemistry+Class+Lecture+Notes+AND+instructional+videos</a>
If you manage to start using the videos and notes early you will be on very solid ground at the beginning of your AP Chemistry class- I wish I had known about it last summer, I would definitely be in a better place right now. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Hey, @jazzyjordan and anyone else who’s taking AP Chem this year:</p>
<p>How is this year’s exam going to be different? My review books are slightly outdated. How should I prepare? </p>
<p>Depends on the competence of your teacher.</p>
<p>@Holocaust</p>
<p>Unfortunately, ALL of the changes to the AP Chem exam during this year’s administration are quite hard to sum up in just a few sentences. The biggest changes to the curriculum (as in what the course will cover, material-wise), are the omission of memorization of exceptions to the Aufbau principle, omission of solubility rules, omission of quantum numbers, omission of assigning “positive” or “negative” to electrodes, and omission of a full reduction potential table (instead the reduction potentials will be given to you in any question that tests you on your knowledge of that topic).</p>
<p>I highly recommend going through the Collegeboard’s very own document - the “AP Chemistry Course and Exam Description” that goes into much more detail explaining what material IS and ISN’T covered on the exam. (Link here: <a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/IN120085263_ChemistryCED_Effective_Fall_2013_lkd.pdf”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/ap/IN120085263_ChemistryCED_Effective_Fall_2013_lkd.pdf</a> ) If you go through the concept outline on this PDF, you will find that any and all topics that the Collegeboard is choosing to omit and/or alter the information that needs to be known about that topic will be italicized and have a “X” to the left of it. Right below the listing of the topic that is omitted/altered, the Collegeboard includes a rationale explaining why this topic was changed or altered in any way, to suit the needs of a changing curriculum.</p>
<p>As far as test format goes, the multiple choice section (90 min, 60 ques.) contains “question sets”, which will test you on a cluster of questions in the same topic area, instead of having 60 distinct questions that are in no way interrelated to each other. I would highly recommend you look at the sample multiple choice question sets the course guide provides at the end, which give you a sense of how question sets will look and be asked on the May 2014 AP Chem exam. The free-response section of the AP exam will include more experimental design questions (a common theme among recently re-designed AP science courses), and will of course test you on concepts and problem-solving techiques.</p>
<p>As far as test preparation goes, I’m currently stumped on the issue of how to prepare for the updated AP Chem exam myself. It seems, at least from a close look at some of the sample questions included in the course guide, that the questions on this new test involve a LOT of thinking, which may end up making this year’s AP Chem exam one of the hardest in years (despite the numerous omissions). Whereas before, on previous AP Chem exams, your ability to understand concepts and perform simple mathematical calculations was all that was expected of you, it seems as though the multiple choice has become tougher due to inclusion of more graphs, more multi-concept questions, and question sets. I’m using Barron’s most updated edition of their AP Chem review book, which is an excellent book for reviewing the material, but not necessarily the best in terms of reviewing for the actual test questions.</p>
<p>I have yet to find an effective way to review for the new types of questions that will be asked on the 2014 AP Chem exam (other than reviewing through old tests, which don’t seem to mimic the types of questions that involve more thought processes on the course guide).</p>
<p>I’m taking AP Bio next year… but AP Chemistry is pretty easy. You just have to be willing to put a lot of hours into note-taking and doing problems.</p>
<p>With so many changes that may make the exam more difficult, College Board has decreased the number of options in each multiple choice question to 4 instead of 5 (now it’s a-d instead of a-e). Hope this helps!</p>
<p>You can do it. It takes time, but it’s worth it!! I took AP chemistry this year–and if I can take it, anyone can. I’m a freshman that had no prior chemistry knowledge–and by that I mean NONE. I didn’t know what an ion was or whether the protons were in the nucleus of an atom or not at the beginning of the year. I’m only taking Geometry this year, so I didn’t even have all the math skills necessary… </p>
<p>I ended up knowing so much about chemistry that I made it to the Nationals level of Chemistry Olympiad (I’m still waiting on those final scores). </p>
<p>My older brother took AP chem last year, also with no prior experience. He received a 5 on the AP exam and an 800 on the SAT II subject test for chemistry. He also made it to the Nationals level for Chemistry Olympiad. You can do it! :)</p>