# Anyone here taken AP Chemistry?



## Despotic Nepotist (Mar 1, 2014)

Has anyone here ever taken or is currently taking AP Chemistry? If so, what tips do you have to survive in the class? Personally, I did extremely well sophomore year in Pre-AP/Honors Chem, but nonetheless, I have heard that AP Chem is one of the most rigorous and challenging APs out there.

Advice from teachers is also welcome.


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## koalaroo (Nov 25, 2011)

I took AP chem, but it was over 10 years ago. Got a 5 on the test, but I did extra practice problems every chapter of the textbook for fun.


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## angelfish (Feb 17, 2011)

I took it years ago. It was combined with IB Chem at my school. It was challenging, but not impossible. It was actually one of my favorite classes. I have two major pieces of advice: 

Most importantly would be to always read ahead, so that you have a good idea of the information that will be discussed in class when you walk in the door. That makes it so much easier - it makes class an engaging review session instead of a rush to keep up. Take notes at home, too, if that helps. Then you can just add to them instead of starting from scratch - and then when you go to review, you'll have a good record of what was gone over in class synthesized with what was in your text. This is particularly helpful in case your teacher tends to write the tests based either more on the class or on the book - you'll be covered on both counts. 

Second would be to really get into doing your labs, to take them seriously and do all the calculations thoroughly. And they're fun! Plus, I can't tell you how many times paying attention to lab has saved my butt on an exam. I had Chem last in the day, and was often so ready to leave by the time lab rolled around, but it was totally worth staying focused, doing a good job, and even staying late to finish if I needed to. I would suggest bringing a snack and a drink to have before lab so that you can gear up, because it's usually quite the project after the first easy lab or two. 

Good for you for taking advanced Chem! It will make Gen Chem totally easier in college, too, which if you decide to follow that track is a huge plus. Good luck!!


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## hal0hal0 (Sep 1, 2012)

I have a BS degree in chemistry, have tutored everything from general chemistry to organic to physical chemistry for over 4 years and took HL chemistry for IB.

1) Practice problems. Most teachers (in high school and college) will test you on the basis of problem solving skills. Think about the problems, apply the concept, and understand what the problem is trying to teach you (typically, it will be about a relationship between variables so... math).

2) Chemistry is conceptual. Thankfully, there is (generally) very little memorization in chemistry. So if you suck at memorizing, hooray (except you do need to know the basic terms, sure)! If you understand the underlying principle (i.e., equilibrium, 1st/2nd order kinetics, gas laws, etc.) you can figure out the problem. Teach a man to fish, don't give him a fish. That is the basis of most chemistry courses (except possibly Inorganic chemistry, but that depended more on my professor than the subject itself, IMO).

3) Make sure your basic math skills are solid. Algebra, orders of operations, different operators, make sure you know how to manipulate a mathematical expression with ease.

4) This applies more to organic chemistry but... visualize the situation. Use common sense or real life applications (i.e., gas laws... as you compress volume, pressure increases, other things held constant; i.e., Boyle's law).

5) Have good number sense... this is a criticism my physical chemistry professor once gave us, because he was appalled by (most of) the class's poor math skills. You have to have a "feel" for numbers, what they mean, as well as what a ball park answer should look like; that comes from, again, practice problems. Understand the effect a variable has on a system.

6) Positive and negative attract and things like to be stable. If you understand this, that will carry you a long way. Also, if this makes sense to you and you can explain it, that will help as well.










7) Finally... know how your professor teaches and expects. That is the one variable no one can help you with unless they know your teacher themselves.

8) This applies more to higher chemistry (physical) but know what assumptions and limitations there are for mathematical expressions you use. For instance, there are deviations from ideal gas law, hence they call it ideal gas law. It makes the math very easy, but it's a bit less accurate (but still, mostly useful). If you choose to take higher level courses, like Physical chemistry, you can explore get more precision with a bit more complex math.


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## Amine (Feb 23, 2014)

Just don't put it on a pedestal in your mind. It really isn't that hard, you just _do _it. Like everything. No magic bullet. But luckily that class isn't _magically_ difficult, either. It's just a class. Learn the shit, barf it back up on the test, and move on with life.


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

I did regular chemistry class, it was easy, in my experience honors science the one year I took it was a moderate challenge with most of my problems being that I don't really work hard but I am more of one of those people who study the night before but still get good grades. When I get an 80 I just think I slipped up and need to try harder next time, I don't make a rigor out of it because I know school is a completely useless venture.


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

And it's not even fair to say it's more challenging, it's just more information to compute at once in the same time span.


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## flummoxed (Jun 29, 2015)

I took it sophomore year in high school which was like 15 years ago and 32 of the 33 people in my class got a 5. I don't think it's particularity hard if you've already taken one chemistry course. The test is seeing if you've learned what a college class would teach in one year so if you've had two years of chemistry then you have twice the time to learn the same amount of information. I found it to be the other two science APs (Physics and Biology) that were a little more challenging because I also had two years straight of chemistry and then took the other two APs Junior and Senior year with just one year of class.


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## Hidden from Sight (Jan 3, 2014)

I'm currently in AP Chemistry. I took honors chem with a great teacher last year (the other honors chem teacher apparently is a stern asshole who isn't fired because of his long tenure according to my peers who've had him) and, having already had pretty decent background knowledge of chemistry going into honors chem, I easily had 98+% both semesters. I have that same chemistry teacher for AP this year and I have a good relationship with her from the last year I had her, so I have high hopes for both the class and AP exam.


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## WhoIsJake (Jun 2, 2015)

@hal0hal0

Pretty much nailed everything. Graduating with my own BS in chem this year.


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## flummoxed (Jun 29, 2015)

Hidden from Sight said:


> I easily had 98+% both semesters.


Sometimes I wonder about schools that give out grades like this. They must not really be challenging their students if such grades are possible. I don't think I ever took a single class in high school where any student had a 98% for an entire semester.


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## Hidden from Sight (Jan 3, 2014)

flummoxed said:


> Sometimes I wonder about schools that give out grades like this. They must not really be challenging their students if such grades are possible. I don't think I ever took a single class in high school where any student had a 98% for an entire semester.


Of the ~70 students in her honors classes, I had the highest grade next to maybe one other person, so this sort of grade isn't commonplace if that is what you are thinking. Yes, such grades are possible, but they aren't just "handed out" to everyone like some petty form of currency. I knew plenty of people who struggled in that class. Not all of my grades were that high either, hence why I consider chemistry (and sciences, broadly constructed) to be my strongest subject area.


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