@Marg532 That doesn’t fun. My classes quiz tomorrow covers the essential things found at the end of the chapter in the textbook that we use, The American Pageant.
hey guys I’m thinking of dropping ap chem because i definitely will not be ready for the ap test at the rate of understanding that i’m going and i don’t want to spend money to fail a test (my school requires us to take the ap test). that will leave me with 3 ap classes, but i’m worried this will lower the rigor of my schedule…
@fuzzypolarbears I think you’re fine with 3 AP classes. I don’t think many juniors take 3 AP classes, anyway. Personally, I’m only taking 2. Talk to your guidance counselor about it. Go with your gut. If you don’t think you’re ready, don’t do it. Have your schedule reflect the rigor you can successfully accomplish, not the highest rigor possible (overlapping may occur anyway).
I’m sleeping! Bye
@frazzledazzle thank you for the advice! i need to think on this some more…i wanted to take the most rigorous schedule i could take because i got to a very small, unknown school so i could prove i’m can handle it, but i didn’t think of all the other factors that could change me being it to handle it like ecs and who the teacher is and all that extra jazz. anyways i will keep thinking about this 
@frazzledazzle @Marg532 We did a small DBQ in U.S. and Virginia History on The Salem Witch Trials last week. It was pretty small compared to the DBQs I did in Pre-AP World History last year. Large DBQs like those are one of the main reasons why I’m not in APUSH right now. I literally hate them!
@fuzzypolarbears Have you taken a first-year Chemistry class already? AP Chemistry is A LOT easier with first-year Chemistry knowledge under your belt as most of the first semester is first-year Chemistry with new topics sprinkled in here and there. If you haven’t, then maybe it would be best to go down to regular or Honors Chemistry.
If you’re mainly having trouble with understanding the content, I would say to either get help from your teacher or from the wonderful world of YouTube videos. Other than that, if you truly think you will not be ready for the AP test, then switch out and definitely don’t waste your time and money.
I also do not think it will really affect the rigor of your schedule that much (What’s your schedule again? LOL :)) ) If you’re really worried with how this affects your rigor, then see if taking another AP science class (AP Bio maybe) would work,
@frazzledazzle I’m also taking 2 APs: AP Lang and AP Chem.
@apple1893 Goodnight!
@ak2018 I’m taking AP Lang and APUSH. AP Chem seems too hard at my school considering the teacher. It’s known as one of the hardest classes offered.
@apple1893 Goodnight!
@fuzzypolarbears Going off of what ak2018 said, AP Bio is a good class. It’s not too hard and is mainly memorization. If you were to take it, STUDY! I didn’t study until the week of the exam last year and got a 3. It’s a lot of fun, though.
@ak2018 lol i’m taking ap calc ab, ap lang, and apush along with ap chem with a couple electives. i took regular chem already and i’m still struggling…i’ve been watching youtube videos but they never seem to help on tests or quizzes where my teacher gives us problems that are way harder than the ones we do for practice. to top it all off he doesn’t have the answer key for the test he gave us so he told us he was as in the dark as we are -_- my school has a nice amount of courses, but way less compared to most schools. i know this site has only a small sample of students, but it feels like everyone on cc takes 4 or more ap classes and many people still get rejected from a lot of colleges they apply too so i guess i wanted to show i can do just as good at a smaller school that hasn’t sent anyone to a really known school in a while. and i know stats aren’t everything but i wanna be the best i can be ya know?
this is just making me realize that i shouldn’t be doing things for college and instead i should be doing what makes me happy (sorry for the long post guys)
I have a bunch to do this week.
Monday: After school, go to my local library to work on homework, return ACT Prep Book, check out an SAT Prep Book, and study for my math quiz on Tuesday.
Tuesday: Stay after school to do lab for Chemistry and potentially go to a club meeting.
Wednesday: Nothing planned:
Thursday: Go to a club meeting.
Friday: Finally take my permit test?
@frazzledazzle we have kind of an ap class hierarchy at my school with certain classes only being allowed for certain grades. ap bio is a senior only course, while ap chem is both
oh my gosh actually thinking everything through makes me feel so dumb because I’m just trying to take as many ap classes as i can when i don’t even have to in order to have a rigorous schedule…i’m set to take 4 ap classes that i’m excited for senior year, which means by the end of the year i would’ve taken all the ap classes available except 1 if we don’t add anymore. i feel really stupid now :((
also i might not be able to switch since we’re already several weeks into the school year…
sorry for spamming you guys with my posts, i’m just so confused right now…
@fuzzypolarbears That stinks. We started having a hierarchy at my school this year when the science department head barred non-STEM academy sophomores from taking AP science courses.
Don’t worry about schedules and feeling dumb. You are taking more AP classes than a lot of people on here and in my school life. College admissions and CC are a crap shoot. That’s just the way things are. Take a step back, breathe, and know everything will be okay. Are you able to speak to a college/guidance counselor about AP Chem and a potential schedule change? Maybe your counselor could make an exception since I think it’s clear that you’re really struggling and in a bad environment with that class (to my knowledge). That’s what I’d do. Being in situations or classes that are really hard is toxic towards learning and inhibits it. I’ve been in that situation before and it was horrible to my grades not just in that class but in other classes.
Don’t worry about post spamming. Things happen and it’s completely understandable.
@frazzledazzle aw that sucks…the thing is, i’m not even struggling that bad. i have an 86 in the class right now (although my teacher hasn’t updated grades since the first week of school) but i know i’m not gonna do well or understand the material that’s gonna come next. i wish my teacher would support us more but most of my class already knows we’re pretty much on our own. i guess i’ll talk to my teacher about it first…the thing that makes me more nervous is i’m taking less classes than previous years because i had to get a whole bunch of required classes like health, visual art, and things like that so right now i’m only in 6 classes: the 4 ap classes, a required religion class, and student government with 2 off periods…i guess i’m also scared that i’ll just have less classes than students from other schools…
@fuzzypolarbears An 86 is really good! I’m only in 5 classes at my school this year (will be 6 when I take a class at the local uni). Since you said that you’re basically on your own - get study books. Research online and see which one would be the best for AP Chem and get it, whether it be on Amazon or at a local bookstore. Study books are very useful and helpful.
@fuzzypolarbears It sucks that you’re in this position 
AP Chem is known as the hardest AP my school offers (we offer maybe 8? Small school environment), along with APUSH (which I hear a lot of people are thinking of quitting due to the large workload every week and the suuuuper high expectations. I, for one, won’t be quitting, because I feel that if I get practice in this kind of environment now, college won’t be as difficult (still challenging, but not quite as difficult)
As for this week, my schedule is:
Monday: marching band practice
Tuesday: student council meeting
Wednesday: marching band practice
Thursday: chorus council meeting
Friday: currently nothing planned. It will probably be a homework day (I’m 100000% sure that this packet I just finished a few hours ago will be a weekly occurance, so I will probably be working right up until the deadline every single week) or an SAT prep day. I have been slacking lately, and I don’t want to waste opportunities like the PSAT for qualifying for the NMS.
Along with work maybe a couple of days this week. I don’t have the schedule in front of me, so I don’t know for sure
My week is
Monday: maybe hoco dress shopping
Tuesday: softball meeting
Wednesday: nothing
Thursday: Key Club meeting and work
Friday: work
My week
Monday: Research group, flute lesson
Tuesday: Student council, Guidance counselor appointment
Wednesday: Science Bowl
Thursday: BSYO audition
Friday: idk, maybe math team?
Fun, fun, fun! I also have 2 books that I ordered coming in the mail today!
@fuzzypolarbears It is fine that you don’t have everything figured out. We can never really truly plan out our lives as life sometimes has a different plan. You definitely do not have to take as many AP classes as you can in order to have a rigorous schedule. Colleges know that not every school offer a lot of AP classes and that small schools exist. In your case, both are true. In order to make the most out of your situation, you will need to take the most rigorous classes you can. However, rigorous classes does not the college admissions process make. Test scores, ECs, and a bunch of other things are taken into consideration. I think it is perfectly fine to have one less AP class in this case. Also, one thing to note, a lot of colleges DO NOT take AP scores into account, so all you really need to do is get a good grade in the class. Since it looks like you’re pretty much stuck in AP Chem, you pretty much have two options: try and do as best as you can in the course or take one of the other science classes at your school. If you end up choosing the former, the first option, the I can try to suggest a few things that might help.
- Asking you first-year Chem teacher for help. It seems like your current Chem teacher is pretty unorganized.
- Going on the AP Chem thread, here, or on Red-dit. We're always here to help! Remember: **WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER** :D
Definitely keep doing things that make you happy! You’re definitely not stupid. If you have the capability to type a pretty good paragraph on a forum, you’re definitely not stupid.
I would also consider maybe switching out of AP Chem and the adding an extra class to make your schedule more rigorous.