<p>I barely passed with a D first semester of senior year. I think I can attribute this to regular chemistry. My teacher was the worst teacher in the school for chemistry, but I tried regardless and got A's both semesters. I came into AP chemistry and put in some effort, but then it just went downhill. It eventually got to the point where I stopped caring. I understood the majority of the labs and I understood the fundamental concepts, but certain math areas just confused the heck out of me and I just didn't care anymore. I was taking AP biology at the same time and I managed high test grades and A's for the semester. I'm now nearing the end of the schoolyear, and I'm thinking about registering for the AP exam. This semester I have done quite well; I have an 80 right now, but that's because I missed a lot of days and failed some tests. However, I understood perfectly what I had done wrong on those tests, and thus everything second semester is clear to me now. Would you guys advise me to review all the material from first semester and take the exam? I believe if I really kept my mind to it I could achieve a 4 on the exam. I also forgot to mention I'm doing chemical engineering at Purdue, so I don't know if it's better to retake chemistry just for reinforcement anyways. Thanks again!</p>
<p>What is your teacher teaching? The most 'advanced' math done in AP Chem should be fairly simple.. like logarithms at most.</p>
<p>The beginning stuff is fairly easy, mostly qualitative stuff. You should review that definitely. Just use a review book from princeton review or one of those sources. AP Chem exam isn't easy like AP Bio, but it's not impossible to get a 5 (like 10-15% do) and it's not that difficult if you understand the stuff like you're saying.</p>
<p>The stuff I have a lot of trouble with is acids and bases, solubility, and lewis structures. The other stuff I understand somewhat; if I reviewed, I could easily grasp the proper concepts. The thing is, acids/bases, solubility, and lewis structures cover so much material that I don't understand. It's the math there that gets me, and I also have little understanding of stoichiometry.</p>
<p>Edit: It just seems to me that if I even manage a 3 on the exam, that I should retake the course in college just to back up everything, since I AM majoring in chemical engineering.</p>
<p>From a brief condensation of all parts we've studied so far, I think I will be fine in thermodynamics, electrochemistry, chemical equilibrium, physical properties of solutions, states of matter and intermolecular forces, electron configurations/atomic properties/periodic table, atomic properties, thermochemistry, and gases. I have trouble with chemical bonds, bonding theory and molecular structure, acids/bases and acid/base equilibria, slightly soluble salts, complex ions. The things I mentioned that I can understand would require lots of review, but I'm sure I can do it. I'm just unsure on the things I mentioned that give me great difficulty.</p>
<p>What you need to be more worried about is keeping your acceptance to Purdue. Won't they rescind you if you fail a class? (At least in my school, C- is the lowest passing grade you can get). You might want to rethink your major if you're planning on majoring in chemical engineering. I think you should definitely retake the equivalent of AP Chemistry in colllege because even the intro course is faster than AP Chemistry (but the same curriculum nonetheless).</p>
<p>Yes I think if I did review everything, that I should retake the class just to make sure. I would think that 2 years of the same class would greatly aid me in my endeavor to become a chemical engineer. Do you really think, however, that I should rethink my major? It's not that I'm incapable of handling AP chemistry, it's just that I chose not to try because I had several outside problems at the time. If I didn't miss several days of school I would probably have an A for second semester, or atleast a high B. I didn't fail a class and I don't think I will. Besides, I had a 3.2 for 1st semester and I explained it in my personal statement, so I guess they took a gander at that before admitting me. I don't think keeping my admission will be a problem, as long as I don't get any C's. At this point, I think I will have A/A/A/B/B/B OR A/A/A/B/B/A.</p>
<p>First year chem is HELL at Purdue. VERY few people like it. When I say VERY FEW I mean like a handful out of thousands taking it, literally. Everyone I know who loved chemistry in HS hates it now. Not to scare you or anything, but just to warn you. I wouldn't worry about changing majors yet, but you might want to make sure you understand the material in AP Chem, it will help A LOT. Otherwise it will be much harder to keep up in freshman chem.</p>
<p>Dude, if you have trouble with multiplication and division, then I would seriously recommend reconsidering being a chemical engineering major.</p>
<p>You absolutely, positively must know how to do stoiciometry. If you can't do it, you will fail college chemistry. Lewis structures and acid base reactions are just the tip of the iceberg. If you are having a hard time grasping these concepts, I'd reconsider your major. Doubly so if the math in chemistry is giving you trouble. Chemistry math is a joke compared to what you need to take for any engineering degree.</p>
<p>I honestly don't think they even teach stoich in freshman chem, unless you take CHM 111, but I think if you're in engineering you have to take CHM 115/116....I'm not completely sure.</p>
<p>You guys have it all wrong; it's not that I don't understand multiplication and division, it's that I don't understand stoichiometry and when to do certain calculations and how to do them. I'm in precalculus.. I have like a high A in there so it's not actually the MATH that I'm worried about. It's not that I can't grasp the concepts, it's only that I had outside factors preventing me from focusing 100% on the class. It was also my first AP class along with bio and lit, so I don't think I handled it well. The AP chemistry class at my school is considered the hardest, even over AP advanced physics. </p>
<p>For those of you who say to reconsider my major, would it make a difference doing it before college or after, say, the first semester? I have a feeling that I might not be good enough for the major.. I'm getting doubts already. I'm very good at math, so I think business at Purdue is another good option.. thoughts?</p>
<p>And one more question, what about the students that take regular chemistry in high school and then go to college chemistry? Do they have no chance?</p>
<p>I'm just wondering, why did you pick chemical engineering as your major? Do you enjoy it? Do you have any interest in it?</p>
<p>From previous posts, it appears that his decision is based on $$$.</p>
<p>i think he just likes to say the words chemical engineering because its somehow an ego booster to him.</p>
<p>I actually do enjoy chemistry more than nearly everything else. It's most definitely my favorite science. However I also enjoy math greatly. If my decision was based on $$$ then I would've gone with pharmacy because it pays nearly twice as much.</p>
<p>I have a lot of interest in chemistry but I was unfortunate to not have payed enough attention first semester, when I had lots of things going on. For that I'm suffering now. I also had the worst chemistry teacher in the school for regular chemistry, and I'm not bsing because she was unfair or anything but because she really was a horrible teacher. I had to self study everything and I did get an A both semesters. I really hate when people like timothy say things like this:</p>
<p>
[quote]
i think he just likes to say the words chemical engineering because its somehow an ego booster to him.
[/quote]
<em>*? Do you know me? I'm sorry for experimenting with different majors because it's not like I'll be doing that major the rest of my life or anything.. idiot. Why would I try to brag about being intelligent on a college discussion forum? *</em>? How in the hell could this be an ego booster?
??</p>
<p>What about Lewis structures gives you trouble? If you have trouble drawing Lewis structures, you're going to have problems in a lot of other things.</p>
<p>Stoichiometry....start off with the value you're given. Use conversion factors until you get wherever you're trying to go. Change everything into moles and then from moles back into the units you want.
Moles = mass / formula mass
Moles = liters x concentration</p>
<p>Now that I think about it, many of the things I don't understand are because i gave up on them. I actually think I will review everything because I know stoichiometry and lewis structures aren't difficult. The structures we do are 3d and have specific angles adn stuff, that's what confuses me. it's not the 2d stuff. But yea nevermind. I will definately study everything again. The stuff I am truly helpless on is acids/bases though. I think i will be fine for college.</p>
<p>The AP exams are suppose to test your knowledge of that subject at the college level. Your AP score will be a ballpoint indication of your success.</p>
<p>Btw, if you truly "enjoy chemistry more than nearly everything else," I don't understand how you would have let yourself fall behind.</p>
<p>Still, there's only so much that 'paying attention' is going to be a factor in doing stoichiometry. That's like the most basic quantitative function in all of chemistry.</p>
<p>People who have taken AP Chem obviously have an advantage, since they've covered more material in HS. However, first year chemistry is NOT difficult in itself. It's generally difficult due to competition between premeds/others and the resultant curving. The topics are pretty basic as far as chem goes, and they match closely with AP Chem topics from what I've seen. You'll have to realize that you will be competing with other people, and slacking off/not paying attention is not an option under any circumstances. Topics should be understandable by the time you hear about them in lecture in order to stay ahead of everyone else and the curve. I haven't personally experienced this, since I didn't opt for the entry level chemistry and went for honors chem instead, but I know quite a few premeds/e schoolers in this spot.</p>
<p>I would suggest reviewing chemistry with an AP Exam book like I said before. The AP Exam itself isn't hard, but it would be good practice for next semester at Purdue. When you go to school in the fall, your schedule may be limited by what E-School tells you to do. However, if possible try to keep other options and interests available. Try taking an econ course or whatever to leave that Business avenue open and from there you can decide. I wouldn't drop out of the E-school just yet, but you probably will have to work harder than you have this semester. Also, having only taken precalculus in high school I think will be a problem.. you should have tried to take calculus in HS but I guess nothing can be done about that now.</p>
<p>Edit: I'm actually surprised about some of the things you're confused with. For the vast majority of people, it would be the other way around (can do stoich, molecular geometry, etc, but have trouble doing electrochemistry, etc). I noticed you left out rates of reactions/kinetics in what you understand/don't understand, so I'm assuming you haven't covered this in class. This is a fairly large topic in the exam, so see if you can understand that well also in deciding how much preparation you need and such.</p>
<p>I agree acids and bases can be difficult at times, mainly because you have to memorize like 10 different equations for specific situations (more like an annoyance), but everything else for a chem major/chem engineer should be coming easily.</p>
<p>Unless you self-study calculus over the summer since you enjoy it just like chemistry. sv3a is correct; the curve in general chemistry in high school is driven more by the competition among peers than the material (the material can still be difficult as well). you'd be better off to some extent if you expose yourself to calculus a bit.</p>