AP classes?

[Maddeline]

I took AP world history and ended the class with a 104, but only GT a two on the actual AP exam (I was beyond pissed).

This year, I have AP calculus, AP US history, AP Lang. 3 and AP chemistry.
All of those I'm fine with....except chemistry. The teacher had a 0% passing rate for the AP exam. Zero fucking percent. Last year, her AP exam students doodled pictures in their FRQ slots because they didn't know electrochemistry of thermodynamics. Instead she rambles on and on about temperature conversions and stupid shit that is useless.
I'm considering on dropping out, but my school won't actually let you leave an AP class because they don't actually make the guidance counselors do their job and rearrange your schedule...

Did anyone pass the AP chem test? If so, I would like some reading material to have so that can pass it.

 

[Razilin]

I passed.

I mainly took AP classes way back in high school out of trying to challenge myself.

Mainly because the major I went into still required me to take certain classes, so the AP credit ultimately didn't get used toward those classes.

Fortunately, high school AP courses and tests for my high school were free of charge, so all it did was accelerate the curriculum.

Unfortunately, for the hard sciences there is no short cut or reading material outside of whatever textbook you're using.

If you want to pass it, practice.

I must have gone through my chemistry book two or three times over the space of a year and I just kept doing the questions in the back of the book until they made sense.

Fifteen years later, I can still crunch the numbers, though I'd have to refresh myself on a few of the topics beforehand and I couldn't tell you the positions of elements on a periodic table anymore.

But I always did like chemistry and physics, so I may be an outlier in that regard.

 

[fatalrendezvous]

I passed the AP Chem test but to be honest it was so long ago that I don't think I'd be of much help now.

If you really want to pass it I'd suggest looking up as much outside material as you can. It doesn't sound like your teacher is going to be of much help here, so it's in your best interest to look online, at a library or at a bookstore for AP Chem prep materials.

In contrast to your story though, my AP Chem teacher had a 90+ percent pass rate on AP Chem because she took real problems from previous years' AP tests and had us complete them, and we'd go over them as a class. The problem was, she had soooo many years worth of AP test material that she would only select the hardest problems for us to do (and then say "all the problems on the AP test are this hard"). So we all went into the AP test scared shitless.

Then we walked out and were like "oh, that wasn't so bad." I got a 5. Sadly I remember virtually none of it.

 

[Sakura]

I had a similar situation @Maddeline !

In my junior year of high-school, I was taking AP Calculus BC, AP Java, AP Chemistry and AP US History. My AP Chem teacher had a 0% passing rate as well because she spent most of the class putting up slides and talking about her failed career in acting. We literally never had a real exam (most were just homework questions put onto the test paper) and never learned anything.

I used the AP Chemistry Barrons and Kaplans books for self-study and got a three. I didn't put as much effort into it as I did my other subjects so if you take it, and put some effort into it, I'm sure you'll do well!

 

[Peter Feels]

AP classes from my school were useless. Some classes, like the English class, were the exact same curriculum. Not that they taught similar things and the AP class was better version, it was the exact same thing. Notes, lectures, and assignments were copied over. Obviously, that's not always the case, but it is something to consider.

Also, probably opposite of the first few posters, I found high school to be mostly a waste of time. Most things I learned in college often told me of how things told to me in high school were wrong. But, keep in mind I didn't go into the medical field like @Razilin and I'm not generally as smart as that mysterious @fatalrendezvous or that sugarkin @Sakura , I'm just a welder. So there's that.

 

[Razilin]

I back you on high school being useless. College taught ,e far more useful stuff. Also, college chicks

 

[Maddeline]

I had a similar situation @Maddeline !

In my junior year of high-school, I was taking AP Calculus BC, AP Java, AP Chemistry and AP US History. My AP Chem teacher had a 0% passing rate as well because she spent most of the class putting up slides and talking about her failed career in acting. We literally never had a real exam (most were just homework questions put onto the test paper) and never learned anything.

I used the AP Chemistry Barrons and Kaplans books for self-study and got a three. I didn't put as much effort into it as I did my other subjects so if you take it, and put some effort into it, I'm sure you'll do well!

I've just heard that Barron's makes it more difficult at times

 

[Sakura]

@Maddeline Barrons is a bit more beyond the necessity of the exam, but I think if you are ready with another book, doing Barron's questions puts you on the spot with the tough questions. Don't bother to read the text in Barrons, just the practice exams.

@Gorilla toad hahaha, not smart at all :D I flunked my first year of college because I didn't know how to study properly. HS doesn't teach you how to manage things or study well. Just how to learn to pass per the class/teacher.

 

[Razilin]

@Maddeline Barrons is a bit more beyond the necessity of the exam, but I think if you are ready with another book, doing Barron's questions puts you on the spot with the tough questions. Don't bother to read the text in Barrons, just the practice exams.

@Gorilla toad hahaha, not smart at all :D I flunked my first year of college because I didn't know how to study properly. HS doesn't teach you how to manage things or study well. Just how to learn to pass per the class/teacher.

You didn't tell me that! ~_~