NoSuchThingAs

I'm taking AP Chemistry for my junior year and I just wanted to know, what are the things I need to know before taking AP Chemistry? Should I even take the class since I have no basic chemistry knowledge? I just want to know what should I expect, what should I know and what we're your strategies when you took this class? Thanks in advance

Weeknd

I really don't think you should skip Honors Chem. and you should know all of those topics. But if you do end up taking AP Chem. I'd get a chem honors text book and watch some khan academy videos

asianandproud

I took honors Chem I sophomore year, then AP Chemistry and AP was still quite difficult. I mean definitely doable though. I just had a tough teacher.

NightShadeQueen

How good are you at math? If you picked up algebra easily, you'll probably pick up chemistry easily.

Go to MIT OCW, look at a few 5.111 lectures, and if you can keep up, you'll do fine. (If you can't - those are MIT lectures! They're faster-paced than HS lectures!)

samshan3

I'm going to be honest with you. AP Chemistry is one of the hardest AP courses, in my opinion. I excelled in Honors Chemistry as a sophomore and the material was still hard to grasp in AP even with a good chem background. It's a valuable class, just very difficult. It's extremely fast paced with a broad range of material on the actual AP test. Unless you plan on going in for lots of help and making the class your main priority, (I'm talking hours a night), you might not do so well. You need the basic chem concepts to even begin to understand it.

FantasyVesperia

Woah~! I wouldn't skip Honors Chemistry. The AP Chemistry material covers Honors Chemistry material in 3 days. Statistically, AP Chemistry is one of hardest AP classe. Honors Chemistry isn't that hard, but it only touches the tip of the ice of the General Chemistry curriculum which is essential for learning and understanding the AP Chemistry material. I'm taking AP Chemistry this fall as a Junior also and during Sophomore year, Hon. Chemistry wasn't a walk in the park either, but it's really good preparation for actual Chemistry topics. I'm my opinion, don't take the class. You always have senior year to take it. Not to sound rude, but don't waste your time. Some students can pull it off, but MANY can't. If you do decided to take it, make this class your number one priority, and stay on top of things. In Chemistry, you are building a house. In order to get started, you need a strong foundation to keep the house up. Once you learn one thing, you'll use it again and again. You have stack bricks on bricks. If your foundation isn't strong the pretty house will fall. Also remember Chemistry as Chem-Is-Try, get it? Chemistry is trial and error. Stoichiometry is a good example. Chemistry topics may seem confusing and outright stupid, but you have to work at it. Knowing this, if you decided to take it, you will have to study at least 2 hours a night to master the material brought to you. This class is time consuming and could get stressful, but with proper preparation, and dedication, a good score in the class and a good score on the AP exam are certain. Choose wisely, and good luck.

RandomHSer

I will say that it is very possible to take AP chem without any previous background in chemistry-that's what I did this year. It was difficult, but certainly doable. I finished with a B and I'm not all that great at science. The beginning of the class is the hardest, when you 'review' honors chem material. I wish you the best of luck if you decide to take it

Farron

I agree with everyone else in here. You should definitely take Honors Chem. first. I took Honors Chem., excelled in it (made straight A's! Our class' grade consisted only of labs, quizzes, and tests. One week would be a quiz, the next, a test. We had homework but it wasn't for a grade -- our teacher checked anyway, just to see whether it was done or not) -- and I still found AP Chem. difficult.

I made it my top priority (sadly, I still think I failed my AP exam :'(...). Our class would take a test on 2-4 chapters every month or so; however, we still weren't able to cover all of the material. So, of course, there was a lot of studying to be done on our own, as well.

Mansu007

During summer vacation, try to understand and memorize several types of chemical reactions (organic, composition, redox, transitional, etc.) because knowing those reactions before taking AP Chemistry will really help you throughout the course.

yodelo

AP Courses are kind of meant to be standalone so you dont need any prior knowledge, but an Honors chemistry course would definitely help, and so would basic algebra skills to solve equations

NoSuchThingAs

I know this is late, but I want to thank all of you for your advice. I still want to take the class, but I'm really leaning towards taking Honors Chem. instead. Thanks again

earthdancer7

If you want to take it w/o prior knowledge, over the summer look up some books on general chemistry to help with the quick review of chemistry in the beginning of the year. At least learn how to use the periodic table efficiently.

caseyy

I did not take an honors chemistry course, but had some background knowledge from 8th grade, which wasn't much. I had summer work, which helped my class get caught up. I got a 5 on the exam.

Sohoist

How is your AP Chemistry 2012 class coming along? Let us know, those of us thinking about how difficult could it be to take it next year.

bismuthoxide

AP Chem has been manageable (not easy to the point of being boring, but certainly not too challenging to comprehend_ but enjoyable thus far. I'm probably going to major in chem, but I highly recommend it, even if you aren't considering a career in a related field. (: