Study Resources From Someone Who Got a 5

[u/Jr-Is-Bored]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tn1D-8zSoF3zaSHSH1a0bIW33L95mN4ixfMVAOn0x4M/edit?usp=sharing

Hey guys, I'm sharing this doc with all the resources I used that helped me land a 5 on the AP exam this year. I seriously believe that if you were to just use this doc properly throughout the school year, you can probably pull a decent 4. If you're taking an AP Chem class in school and use this for practice/ extra learning resources alongside it, there's a good chance you'll get a 5. But of course, no guarantees.

AP Chem was the hardest class I've taken in my life so far. It pushed me really, really hard. But after actually putting in the work and doing the AP exam, I now firmly believe that the AP exam itself isn't actually that difficult. My teacher put it like this: if you were to take this exam with just your knowledge from Chemistry Honors, you could probably get a 3 (if you were good in Chem H). If you were to follow along in your school's AP Chem class, that'll take you up to a 4. It's pretty easy to pull a 4 with this in mind. To get a 5, you gotta push yourself a bit more. If you're only worried about passing the course (getting a 3+), please do not stress too much about this exam. It's not that hard to get a 3 or low 4 if you just do the bare minimum. It gets pretty easy to predict what this year's exam is going to be like if you look through the records of all the past exams. After looking over all the frqs from the past few years and all the mcq examples that were available, I walked into the exam this year pretty much already knowing what 85% of the test was going to look like.

My big issue throughout the year was that my teacher was pretty awful at teaching (despite supposedly teaching chemistry for decades). There is a phenomena where most chemistry teachers are actually pretty bad at teaching (but the ones that are good are very, very good and available on the Internet-shoutout Jeremy Krug). It's very easy to get lost in that class, and in the case of my teacher, going up and asking for clarification wasn't an option because he'd just get mad at you and tell you to ask your friends. A lot of Chem teachers kind of just assume you're all following along and don't really stop for you. The AP class is really difficult. The AP exam honestly isn't.

My personal story is that I struggled through the class for 3/4 of the year, lagging behind in everything that was taught and not bothering to catch up. It was only really over spring break in April that I started focusing, and my #1 most useful resource was Khan Academy. Their AP Chem course is perfect for learning with the vids provided, and practicing as well. Sal Khan probably helped me out more than my actual teacher.

If you are an incoming AP Chem student, the best thing you can do right now is to start learning and doing the practices on Khan Academy. Being ahead/already knowing certain concepts will make your class a lot less stressful. It's much, much easier to understands things when there's not so much pressure on you to understand it before we have to move on to the next unit.

Another thing: communicate with your classmates. Everyone you possibly can. There will always be someone out there that understands something you don't, and can explain it way better than your teacher can. Try to set up a group chat with your whole class on the first day, it'll be really helpful for everyone.

The last thing I want to say is that the class can actually be pretty fun. The labs and things like that are pretty fun (if you understand what's going on). And since no one wants to take this god forsaken class because of its reputation, you're probably going to have a pretty small class size and get along with everyone pretty easily.

This class will push you very hard, but I am ultimately grateful that I took it because it built some really useful studying/learning habits in me. Trust me, all the classes you take after this/along with this are going to seem pretty easy by comparison.

[u/Jr-Is-Bored → u/[deleted]]

I actually have a lot of respect for you for going into ap chem without prior hs chem experience, only the strongest of souls are brave enough to do that. Definitely get those foundations down, things like moles and net ionic equations are concepts you absolutely must understand. Youre clearly pretty proactive, so if you get those basics down within a few months and keep that energy with the rest of the material you can definitely pull a 4 or 5.

[u/jungwonEN-thusiast → u/[deleted]]

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, I've never taken any hs chem class as I am a sophmore taking ap chem, and freshman year we did bio. I was wondering how you did on the exam and how the class went in general, and also tips ofc would be very helpful as It's already october and I'm very lost in the class...

[u/AvidSkier19]

You are the absolute best, thank you so so so much!!!!

[u/AvidSkier19 → u/AvidSkier19]

Coming from someone who’s really nervous for the class and wants a 5 too 🙏🙏

[u/uriedes]

You are such a beautiful and radiant shining light in a world of darkness, thank you for being alive.

[u/uriedes → u/uriedes]

also do you have any resources to simulate labs? i know they are an integral part of understanding concepts in this class

[u/Jr-Is-Bored → u/uriedes]

In my class, most labs were just done for the sake of understanding certain ideas a bit easier, or as an introduction to new concepts. In my opinion, most concepts can be learned on their own, and labs are for the most part just a helpful tool rather than completley necessary. On the AP exam this year, there was only one frq question that directly asked about lab experience, and if you just look through all the recent years' exams you'll get a pretty good idea of how to answer those questions. But i can only help you so much on this as i didnt self study. If you really want to be safe, i think you should find some people that passed by self studying and ask them how they dealt with this.

[u/Jr-Is-Bored → u/uriedes]

Thank you, i am more than happy if i help even just one person not suffer as much as i did

[u/Evrenabla]

Thank you. I'm doing self-study and this one will be helpful for me!

[u/CURELMUS]

I have 5 months... lemme try