AP Environmental or AP Chem

rr5001
Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:46:28 +0000

i would suggest AP chem. It depends on what you like. Although APES was concept-easy, it had a lot of work. Very very very boring work. I enjoy science myself, but much if of it makes you ask “what’s the point?” It becomes frustrating when you have 4-5hrs of homework for every 2 days and you do not like the concepts. A lot of the textbooks Ive seen focus on why governments should raise the costs of environmentally unsafe products. There is also a lot of memorization. The phosphorous, sulfur and nitrogen cycles must be committed to memory. Chemicals and definitions MUST be memorized. For instance, you have to know what chemicals make up “grey smog” and “photochemical smog.”
The ap exam itself is very very general. A good portion of the questions may not even be found in the textbook (I’d say 10-15ish). Its very easy to get a 4 but extremely difficult to get a 5. Only 5% get a 5 each year; for most AP’s the percentage is 11-12%.

AP Chem, is also a lot of work and very hard. But for people who enjoy science and chemistry specifically, it is a joy. There is very little true memorization. You just generally have to know how reactions work.