Hello fellow CCers, I’m completely certain you are all busy right now but I desperately need some advice on how to address this confession. AP Chemistry is notorious for being so arduous, and is one of the most difficult APs out there. Unfortunately, my experience with AP Chem thus far has not been pleasant as I keep failing every test my teacher has given. This time I was determined to study my tail off to achieve a minimum grade of a 60 the first time, but in the end I got the exact opposite result; luckily, my teacher offers corrections regardless of how well you did by redeeming half of the points that we missed. For instance, on this test I made 11/28 on my kinetics test, so that would be a grade of a 39, so (100-39)= 61; 61/2= 30.5; 30.5+ 39= 69.5. Therefore, I could only earn a maximum score of a 69.5, however, I have many revulsions towards this process. Firstly, it’s a tedious process as you have to describe why you missed the problems you answered incorrectly, state the correct answer, justify it with evidence from our book which is Chemistry: A Molecular approach (3rd Edition) for every single wrong problem. I do not want my dad to pick me up for a week from school just because of my careless mistake of not studying hard enough, it’s selfish and inconsiderate of his plans. Secondly, I’m already busy enough with all my other rigorous courses I’m taking this year, I don’t want to dawdle behind and fail in those classes too. Thirdly, I don’t want to disservice myself by relying on these corrections to achieve a mediocre score, although they revive a significant amount of points back (saving my average and gpa) they don’t teach me what I missed thoroughly enough for me to understand it (I can’t ask my teacher to help me because she’s constantly preoccupied with loads of ungraded assignments and club plans). What should I do? I want to succeed so badly in this class but I just don’t know how to since I don’t engagingly read my book, I want to but whenever I attempt to it backfires and I am unpleasantly confounded. Please help, and could you also tell me an effective way to study for these types of tests.
Hey there,
I’m currently a soph in AP Chem, never even took regular chem. I think the main thing that has helped me through this class are videos and the teacher himself. Channels such as Bozeman Science and Khan Academy have saved my life for some of these tests. I also have come in during study hall many times to ask my teacher for help. Make sure you’re doing your homework early, or at least look over it. Identifying what you’re having trouble with is key to being successful. I have never really touched my textbook (most notes and stuff are from lecture), and I do have trouble at first with concepts but doing your best to be involved in the labs help a lot. Good luck!
@KSanders24 Okay! I’ll try to follow your tips; thanks for the feedback! 
@beerme Thank you too, instead of posting commentary I should be taking initiative to improve my skills.
You’re gonna have to corrections, selfish or not. Otherwise, there’s gonna be a big problem and you’re not going to learn from your mistakes
As hard as it is to have to redo problems, it is how you learn from your mistakes. My daughter’s teacher required redos on all tests and many homework assignments, regardless of your initial score. You’ll need to know it again in May, so do the work.
Another great chemistry YouTube channel is Tyler DeWitt
His videos don’t cover all the topics, but his playlists are well organized so you can find things if they are there.
A) Tell your parents what is going on. THey will want to support you.
B) You have to change how you study.
Here are suggestions:
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GO TO CLASS, BUY THE BOOK, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
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Go to Teacher’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
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If you have problems with the homework, go to Teacher’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
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Form a study group with other kids in your class.
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Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or chemistry whatever. Watch online videos on line about the topic you are studying.
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If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
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Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
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For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your college.
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How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? It is generally expected that for each hour in class, you spend 2-3 outside doing homework. Treat this like a full time job.
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If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the guidance counselor and talk to them.
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At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The teacher may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
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Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the prof wants).
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If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
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If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the teacher’s office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
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Take advantage of the “re-do”…your teacher wants you to learn the material. Future material depends on it so you need to have the foundation. By explaining what went wrong you really understand it. Take advantage of this.
For those of you curious, throughout the year I significantly improved my test scores by improving my study skills. Instead of concentrating on studying my notes in class, I focused more on reading and re-reading my chemistry textbook to fully understand concepts I learned in class and most importantly practiced problems I wasn’t completely comfortable on. Thank you for everyone posting their advice on how to tackle this problem, it has helped tremendously. Please, PLEASE to anyone who is reading this READ YOUR TEXTBOOK. I cannot emphasize this enough! I know reading about thermodynamic favorability and voltaic cells isn’t the most thrilling thing to be doing on a typical school day, but it’s such a great resource and will pay off in the long run when you’re taking your AP Exam. Good luck to anyone taking this class in the future, AP Chem is a great course especially if you have a sincere desire to learn it! :-bd