<p>Questions:</p>
<p>What textbook did you use?
How fast was the pace? (how often was there a test)
Review Books?
How often you studied and did the reading?
Your score on the AP test?
Any other tips/tricks/advice?</p>
<p>For AP Chem, one thing to remember is that you must, must understand not only where and how to plug and chug, but also WHY you are doing that. What is the reason behind the equation? Logically, why does kinetic energy of a gas increase as pressure increases? Little things like that, the details, are what will make the difference between a four and a five. Unfortunately, I am not one, up until right after the AP test, to take to studying. As so, I only received a four.
As far as the textbook my school uses, Zumdahl is your man. Sometimes, the book will have problems that are harder than what you will see on the AP test, such as with equilibrium in which when solving for the change in concentrations, x, it may make you solve a degree greater than two, which makes things a bit more difficult. If you don’t know what that means, you’ll see later on in the class, and don’t worry about it.
For in class testing, we had a test in every unit (basics, thermochemistry, equilibrium, acid/base, etc.). Sometimes we would break them into subunits, but not commonly. The tests consisted mostly of past FRQ’s and MC questions, and my teacher graded the tests on a curve, much the same as on the AP test in which you only have to get ~65% of the points to receive a five.
As for a review book, I did not use one, and I can not really advise you on this. From what I’ve just heard, I would say Princeton Review and Barron’s are, generally, the best for many of the AP’s.
Like I said before, I never really studied for the test, minus some last minute skimming of gas, equilibrium, and acid/base notes. I would implore, though, you to keep up with the studying and be consistently looking back at past units. This keep you from doing the last-minute scramble that I did, and your chances for a better score are likely much higher.
Overall, just make sure you grasp the info when your teacher is teaching it. Ask questions, stay after, and research the information on your own accord when needed. Keep up the studying. Be actively reviewing past material.</p>
<p>I hope you have an awesome time in Chem. I enjoyed that class a lot. :)</p>
<p>What textbook did you use?</p>
<p>Zumdahl. It was okay-- and some of the metaphors they used to explain the concepts were funny. I remember one about a poor college student receiving $50 vs. a rich guy receiving the same.</p>
<p>How fast was the pace? (how often was there a test)
Fast. Test every 2 weeks. Not boring though, so that is nice.</p>
<p>**Review Books? **
Princeton Review. It doesn’t really teach you the concepts, but it has good questions and some useful things that you can check to see if you really know. Recommend using your textbook with it while covering the sections. Start in February, work through Spring Break. Btw, Barrons is riddled with errors, so don’t pick that up.</p>
<p>How often you studied and did the reading?
Studied the reading whenever we didn’t have long worksheets with problems on it. Not very often, to be honest. Helpful to do so however before covering a new concept. </p>
<p>**Your score on the AP test? **
5.</p>
<p>Any other tips/tricks/advice?</p>
<p>Do your work. Work a couple hours in the morning on weekends. Do your worksheets, review & practice them before your test on the chapter(s).</p>
<p>Text: Zumdahl, 7th ed.</p>
<p>Pace: Test every 2-3 weeks which covered 2-3 chapters at a time. Curriculum was finished by early April.</p>
<p>Review Books: None.</p>
<p>Study/Reading: None.</p>
<p>AP Score: 5</p>
<p>Tips/Tricks/Advice: Understand the why as best you can. Plugging and chugging could get you a 3 or 4, but the understanding of concepts will push you over the 5 mark. Do released MC/FR. Do your work.</p>
<p>Also, along with the pace of the class, how much time did your class leave for review? In other words, did your class finish all the material right before the exam, or did you have enough time to focus on some review?</p>
<p>Also, did you guys take any practice tests?</p>
<p>^Yes, very worth the investment in buying official ones, at least when I took it in 2010. Lets you see your weak spots and find out what kinds of questions you can’t do (and why). Our class left about a week and a half for review. None of us had taken chemistry beforehand.</p>
<p>What textbook did you use? Zumdahl, although we only used it for 10 or so questions at the end of each chapter, and that work was optional (I often did not do it)</p>
<p>How fast was the pace? (how often was there a test) Every two or three weeks</p>
<p>Review Books? Baron’s. I read through the entire book in the month before the exam. Skimmed some of the questions and did a few.</p>
<p>How often you studied and did the reading? Honestly, almost never. I only studied for the AP exam.</p>
<p>Your score on the AP test? 5</p>
<p>**Any other tips/tricks/advice? **As mentioned earlier, the key to doing well on Chemistry is knowing why. If you know why, you can figure out the problem. There are often multiple ways to solve things, and they are all very logical. Most formulas can be worked out if you know why. And most of the multiple choice questions are concept ones where you have to know why, and many of the free response require explanations.</p>
<p>And your other questions…</p>
<p>Also, along with the pace of the class, how much time did your class leave for review? In other words, did your class finish all the material right before the exam, or did you have enough time to focus on some review? We didn’t finish all the material and I had to self-study it by reading through the stuff in the review book. We didn’t do any review in the class (class had ended months before the exam), but we held about 4 study sessions after schools.</p>
<p>Also, did you guys take any practice tests? We did practice free response in class before tests, and it was the only thing we studied in our review sessions. Apart from that, I didn’t do any.</p>
<p>Ahhh, AP Chem. As much as I liked that class, I’m so glad it’s over. Anyway…</p>
<p>What textbook did you use?
We used Chemistry: The Central Science. I really didn’t read it though, I preferred listening to lectures and actually applying the concepts. We did use it for HW problems though.</p>
<p>How fast was the pace? (how often was there a test)
It was…okay I suppose. Not too fast. We had a test every two or three weeks or so. Usually about two quizzes between tests.</p>
<p>Review Books?
I used Princeton Review to review for tests and I also used it in the week or two before the test just for a quick skim/review.</p>
<p>How often you studied and did the reading?
I studied for the unit/chapter tests! Usually a day or two before. It’s hard to just study chemistry because it’s not just about the concepts and memorization. It’s about applying the concepts and knowing when to use which equations and why you’re using them, etc.</p>
<p>Your score on the AP test?
5</p>
<p>Any other tips/tricks/advice?
Memorize all your basic polyatomics/compounds/solubility rules (it makes everything go faster). Start review (even if your class doesn’t) around three weeks before the test. You’ll be surprised how much you forget as the AP test looms nearer.</p>
<p>Also, along with the pace of the class, how much time did your class leave for review?
In other words, did your class finish all the material right before the exam, or did you have enough time to focus on some review?
We had approx. 3 weeks for review, but basically my teacher just gave us the class period to study. He’d hand out a study packet for a specific concept at the beginning of class and then the next day we’d have a quiz over that concept.</p>
<p>Also, did you guys take any practice tests?
My teacher held two practice test sessions where he “proctored” two CB released exams. Then after we finished, we’d grade the tests together as a class. It was helpful. I suggest you do practice tests. Do the released Free Reponses. This year, a lot of people had trouble with the Free Response questions. (me included, especially the equilibrium one, grrr.)</p>
<p>Wow! I really appreciate all the responses! Thanks guys!</p>
<p>The Central Science >>>>>>>>>>>> Zumdahl. I used both.</p>
<p>Is the Central Science a textbook?</p>
<p>I used Chemistry: The Central Science. I had a Zumdahl for reference but I didn’t like it as much as The Central Science.</p>
<p>The Central Science was all I used to review with no review book because it explained things pretty clearly, and I got a 5 so it must be a good book.</p>
<p>What textbook did you use?: Zumdahl, but we rarely used the textbook.</p>
<p>How fast was the pace? (how often was there a test): There was a quiz about every week, and a test every two weeks. We had a Webassign (online homework thing) due every two weeks or so.</p>
<p>Review Books?: none</p>
<p>How often you studied and did the reading?: I didn’t read unless the teacher didn’t explain something in class. I mostly just studied what I needed to in order to complete the homework and to do well on the quizzes and tests. I didn’t study every night since I had other classes to worry about, but I knew most of the material from just paying attention in class, and studied out of paranoia the night before quizzes and tests.</p>
<p>Your score on the AP test?: 5</p>
<p>Any other tips/tricks/advice?: Do a lot of the released free response questions on the CollegeBoard website, and check your answers using their keys. Our teacher actually used those free response questions as quiz questions, so by the end of the year we had done most of them.</p>
<p>What textbook did you use?
An older version of this book: [Amazon.com:</a> Chemistry: The Central Science (12th Edition) (9780321696724): Theodore E. Brown, H. Eugene H LeMay, Bruce E. Bursten, Catherine Murphy, Patrick Woodward: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Central-Science-Theodore-Brown/dp/0321696727/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311524393&sr=1-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Central-Science-Theodore-Brown/dp/0321696727/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311524393&sr=1-2)</p>
<p>How fast was the pace? (how often was there a test)
Insane, I felt like I had a 2 labs and a test every week. In reality it was probably two labs one week and a lab and a test another but it felt like a lot of work. </p>
<p>Review Books?
Princeton Review has the best practice problems and some very useful glossary styled chapters. The collegeboard also posts old short response tests and a couple multiple choices. I didn’t look at either of these until a few weeks before the exam. </p>
<p>How often you studied and did the reading?
I did the reading in the textbook in small chunks throughout the week (to avoid the one weekend full chapter reading). I studied before tests.</p>
<p>Your score on the AP test?
5</p>
<p>Any other tips/tricks/advice?
Keep up. Keep up. Keep up. Don’t fall behind in class and study in small increments in order to increase efficiency.</p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for the great advice. </p>
<p>Addition question: Where do I find the old Free Response Questions?</p>
<p>^AP Central: [AP</a> Central - Advanced Placement Scores, Courses & Exam Center | AP Central - APC Members Home](<a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board)</p>
<p>Thank you very much!</p>