During the first semester of AP Chemistry, I had an A and it was pretty easy to get that grade. Much of the material was from regular Chemistry anyways. But now I just keep getting worse and worse. For the first few tests I got As. Then I got a B on the midterm. Then I got a lower B on a thermodynamics test. Then I did badly on the final (but it was curved so it didn’t hurt me and I maintained an A).
Now we’re in second semester. On the first test of second semester, I got a low B after the curve. And here comes the worst part. I took a test today, with the hopes of getting my second semester grade up to an A. I even walked out feeling pretty confident, thinking I may have missed around 3 questions at the most, which would still get me an A. However, I got a C, meaning I missed 8 or more questions (out of 27).
This keeps happening over and over. It’s very frustrating because I study a lot for it and on the practice tests I do very well, but somehow I do very badly on the actual test. Some people in the class even get 100% on the tests, yet I do so horribly. If I don’t get an A on the rest of the tests I won’t have an A in the class. And I need an A because I already got a B in another class last semester.
Please help. This is very frustrating to me because I’m really trying as hard as I can here.
My suggestion is that you start by identifying what you are not doing well on. Meet with your teacher, go over the test. Ap chem is tough, but you sound determined to do well. Another strategy is to use khan academy or another internet learning site to go over the concepts you aren’t mastering well in class.
I understand where you are coming from. I’m also in AP Chemistry this year. I am doing much better than I did last year when I took Honors Chemistry, where I barely got a B. Got an A on only one test then!
How liberally does your teacher use the textbook? We don’t use it very much in class, but it is a surprisingly useful tool. I noticed I did much better on quizzes and tests when I studied the textbook. I read it all over, even the stuff we did in class. I also like to read the chapter beforehand, so I come into the first day of a new unit familiar with the topic. Cliche advice, but my textbook is really good at explaining things. We also have Mastering, so I study topics on Mastering as well.
Also, what kinds of questions are you missing on the tests? A lot of the stuff in chemistry is cumulative. Sometime I get a problem that has some weird anion in it that I just don’t remember what it is. Make sure you go into each test knowing your common polyatomic ions. Sometimes I forget what the R value is for mmHg.
Are you making silly mistakes? For example my teacher takes off for not having the right # of sig figs. It can be easy to get lost when doing a big chain of dimensional analysis stoichiometry (make sure you’re writing it out) and you end up with a wrong answer.
Also for stuff not on tests, make sure you’re getting maximum pts on homework and labs!
I’m in AP Chem right now, and doing decently. (However, we just had our acids and bases test- which killed me…)
Regardless, you need to get a feel for the tests and exactly what kinds of problems you’re missing. My teacher has been putting more AP released questions for multiple choice, and it’s these weird conceptual concepts that are throwing me. So when you review, you need to focus on those kinds of things.
We also watch videos from Rene McCormick, from the National Math and Science Initiative. She has a tendency to talk a lot, but she really knows what she’s doing. I’d advicse you to look her up and see if her stuff will help.
What I’ve also started doing is making little ‘studying guides’ to get all the information into one place- because for me, the conceptual stuff is the hard part. That helps me retain more things.
If you need any specific help, let me know! My teacher organized the year so we did all the hard stuff first and now we’re going to be working on the easier stuff (well, as my teacher says…).
Good luck! Don’t lose hope. It’s a really, really challenging class and you aren’t alone in your struggles. <3
Another idea is to find a willing sucker (likely a parent or sib) and explain what you are learning. If you can make someone else understand…than you really understand.