<p>I'm thinking about taking AP Chemistry next year. However, I havn't taken regular chemistry yet so would this class be almost impossible/very difficult for me? I'm considering taking this class because my friend took regular chem freshman year but took AP Chem junior year when she already forgot all of the chem basics and she still did fine. </p>
<p>Also, if you guys do recommend that I take AP CHem, is it extremely difficult? I know there is a lot of math involved... but does that mean that you only have to know tons of formulas or does it mean that you have to set up formulas from scratch?</p>
<p>It'll be hell for you. I took Chem Honors last year and thank god I know most of the concepts still. It's hard. Teachers at my school expect you to remember everything you learned from Chem/ChemH so you're kind of left in the dust if you don't remember at least about 90% of it.</p>
<p>i would suggest you don't take AP Chem, unless you want to spend 1 hour before every class period trying to understand the concept.</p>
<p>AP Chem bases almost everything that you should have learned in normal chem. if you dont learn the basic concepts first (which youre expected to learn in chem), youll be left behind in the dust. </p>
<p>only take AP Chem if youre confident about it.</p>
<p>its definitely possible. I took ap chem without regular chem...it was alot of work and extra studying, but it wasn't impossible or overwhelming...I got a 5 on the exam. Go for it if you are willing to work hard.</p>
<p>if you think you can do it, then take it. you seem to be a junior now (it says age 16 on your profile if i am correct), so since you will only have one year of high school left, it`s best to take AP Chemistry if you plan on doing well on the exam.
i have a slightly different situation here. i am currently in chemistry honors. i want to take the AP Chemistry exam, but unfortunately, my school doesn`t offer an AP Chemistry class. obviously, my only choice would be to self-study. are there any good prep books for this course?</p>
<p>If you haven't started already started studying for AP Chemistry, you probably just shouldn't take it. I took Honors Chemistry last year and am taking AP right now, and can say with certainty I would've died on the exam if I took it only after Honors (but this is also due to the horrible teacher I had). </p>
<p>There are a lot of math formulas and equations to know, but there is a reference sheet provided on the exam. Nevertheless, it is necessary to be very familiar with them. </p>
<p>I'm currently using Barron's to prepare, and I think it gives a pretty good review of the topics, almost like a textbook. Also you should go to the collegeboard site and look at the sample questions.</p>
<p>I took AP Chem without having taken regular chem; for a week or two, I had absolutely no idea what was going on (since I didn't know any chemistry). After that, though, the class quickly became very easy, and I got a 5 on the exam without any problem. There really isn't too much math (it's all basic algebra). The class is mainly concept-oriented: if you're quick to understand concepts, I strongly advise taking AP Chem. Otherwise, it might be difficult, but if you're willing to put in the work, I expect that you could do well regardless.</p>
<p>I took AP Chem without taking any Chemistry beforehand and got a 5 -- but no prior Chem class was the case for everyone else in my school, so we went a bit more slowly through the first chapters (sig-figs, moles, and all that basic stuff). I would say that if your school uses the Chemistry textbook by Zumdahl that you should be fine, because it's very thorough and easy-to-understand for people with no prior background in Chemistry.</p>
<p>EDIT: I agree with everything that randomperson said -- it took me a week or two as well to get into the swing of things (but that might also have been just because I had a bad teacher first semester), but after that things weren't really a problem.</p>
<p>mirage - i should<code>ve made myself a bit clearer. i am taking chemistry honors now, and i plan to self-study for the AP chemistry exam for next year. it</code>s definitely too late for me if i started studying now.</p>
<p>It depends on how the class is structered. At my school, you must take Honors Chemistry to enter AP Chemistry, and you better have done well in Honors. Our teacher barely goes over any of the material, saying: "You should remember this from last year." In those scenarios...you need to have a stable foundation of chem.</p>