AP exams

[disneyfan05]

Has anyone taken any AP exams before they went to college. I will be taking the Chemistry exam and i was just wondering how you prepared and if you wouldn't mind telling, how well you did. did you get nervous? did you feel you had enough time? did you take the Chemistry test and how hard was it?? THANKS!!!

 

[Megster]

I took the bio exam. I didn't study at all and i got a 4. It wasn't too bad, but I had an AWESOME teacher. My essays were relatively easy. I got kind of nervous during the multiple choice because there were questions on topics we had never covered in class.
I had a few friends who took the chem exam, they got 3s 4s or 5s. I think they all got together and did a study group. Looked over their past exams and quizzes like a week before.
It doesn't really help to study because by now you should pretty much know the material and if you don't you're probably not going ot learn it in time. I would just review a little bit and try to relax. Good Luck!

 

[monarchsfan16]

I'm a high school senior but took 3 AP exams last year so I'll answer this.
I took US history, English lit, and bio. In 3 days time. It wasn't fun. I got some of those review books. Kaplan has some good ones, with facts in them, and Cliff Notes puts them out too. If you decide to get review books, look through them and see which would best suit your needs. I didn't participate in a study group, just studied solo as much as I could. But since I had 3 exams litterally one on top of another, and was still going to my afternoon classes at the time, my study time was limited.
I did find I had enough time for every section of the test. Of course I was nervous those were huge tests. I did stress over them badly, and by the time I was done with them I was ready to die I was so exhausted. Mom wanted me to skip the next day of school to recover but I had missed so many classes taking the tests that I had to wait for the weekend. Now, you're only taking one, so I'm assuming it won't be nearly as bad. Trust me, they do give you plenty of time for the tests. I do recommend getting a review book, and going through your notes, text, etc. But teachers teaching AP classes are generally there to prepare you for the test, so most of the time they do an ok job
And even with all the stress and insanity I got 3's on all 3 of the ones I took. Not great scores, but at that point I was so sick and so stressed that that was my goal.

 

[cheerdancer11]

Good Luck with chemistry!!! I hate to say it but it is the hardest AP exam out there, I'm in the class but I'm not going to take the AP test. Everyone in last years class got 1s and 2s, 1 genius kid got a 4 i think. Im just taking the class as a good preparation for intro to chem in college. I took US History last year and got a 3, and I got a high A the whole year. I'm taking English Language this year since I think that is one of the easier tests. I would take chem but itd be a waste of my $80.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I took the bio exam. I didn't study at all and i got a 4. It wasn't too bad, but I had an AWESOME teacher. My essays were relatively easy. I got kind of nervous during the multiple choice because there were questions on topics we had never covered in class.
I had a few friends who took the chem exam, they got 3s 4s or 5s. I think they all got together and did a study group. Looked over their past exams and quizzes like a week before.
It doesn't really help to study because by now you should pretty much know the material and if you don't you're probably not going ot learn it in time. I would just review a little bit and try to relax. Good Luck!

I also took the AP Bio exam and didn't do anything all year but still somehow managed a 4 too.

I also took the AP French exam and got a 3 on that. That was just a big pain taking that test. There's the written part, but then you also have to do speaking. I was glad when that one was over.

 

[BeckWhy]

Ok our AP (which I took in 2001) for Chem was like psycho hard. It was like 95% Organic. COME ON NOW. I didn't study for it (in class we were assigned assignments out of the Princeton Book thingy). I got a 2. But I didn't study. But then again almost everyone who took it with me got like 3 or lower.

 

[nsyncraider17]

I'm a high school senior, and I've taken 5 AP tests total - European History, English Lit, Chemistry, Calculus and American Government. Chemistry was definitely the worst...but I slacked off in the class for most of the year, got B's and C's, and then tried to cram before the test. I felt like I knew nothing, but it didn't kill me as much as I thought it would, and I ended up with a 3. My best friend was the same way as me, and she got a 2, but I know several people who got 4's and 5's.

 

[cbsunfish]

Sophomore year I took Government and Politics, and Senior year I took Calc AB, Biology, and Spanish. Got a 4 on the first one, and 5's on the last three.

I had crazy good teachers for both the Government and the Calc. No one in Government got lower than a 3 and no one in Calc got lower than a 4. My Spanish teacher was good too: he was from Spain, and basically spent they year fixing all the terrible stuff that American textbooks had taught us for the past 5 years. My bio class had mixed results, but I was on the Science Olympiad team at the time, so my bio was really strong from that.

I bought Barron's review books, I think. I don't think I actually used them that much, but it is nice to have them for the practice questions, if nothing else. I also studied with my friends in the classes some, and I'm pretty sure that all of my teachers devoted some class time to review. I don't think I actually studied that much exclusively for the test, but it's hard to remember since it was 4 years ago that I took the last 3 test (6 years since Government )

I worried some, but really, all that AP scores can do is help you. Since you don't take them until May, colleges don't take them into account when admitting you. If you happen to do well, then they might place you out of a freshman level course. If not, then it's not that big of a deal (except for the money..... )

Good luck on your test! Don't stress too much, enjoy your senior year instead

 

[BluesTravlr00]

i signed up for like 7 of em. didn't really study... just kinda took em.

spanish - 5
history - 5
calc BC - 4

too lazy to go to the other 4.

 

[WDWfanatic288]

if you study for AP exams, you'll do fine. yes, it's nervewracking but just try to keep calm. I always had enough time but then I'm a fast test taker.
I used Kaplan's review books a lot-they always had really good summaries and at the end of every section they had a little quiz and also some practice tests. Make sure before you buy a book you flip thru it and see what it has. Some of the review books I didn't like at all. And ask your teacher for old AP exams. every few year they release an old test with the answers and most teachers have them somewhere.
here are my grades

CompSci-1
English-2
English-2
Government-4
Macroecon-3
HIstory-5

there might have been more, but i don't remember...oh-well. i only got credit for history but whatever...lol

 

[supercarrie]

I think I ended up taking 9 AP exams from sophomore-senior year (but NOT chemistry, eek!) I passed all of them with mostly 5s except for 2 (had their scores cancelled as I spent the night/early morning before them in the ER on a morphine drip and basically took the exams while still on a combo of morphine and vicodin, I was just a bit out of it!) There are lots of ways to study for APs, my best advice is not to cram...start studying now, a bit at a time. Look through the review books in the store or online at amazon.com and choose one that seems to fit you best. Do ask your teacher for old exams, in my classes we all took practice AP exams at least once and that really helped. I got nervous before every exam (well, except for maybe the ones on morphine, haha) but if you are prepared hopefully you will be fine. Although I have heard that chemistry is the most difficult of all the APs so GOOD LUCK!

 

[disneyfan05]

WOW!! i can't believe all of u who said the Chem test was the hardest! as far as i know, no one has gotten a 1 but some have gotten 2's. most who have taken the class have gotten 3, 4, and 5's. i've been struggling b/c i started out in general chemistry, took honors bio, then went to AP chem. im still getting used to the level 1 study habits and stuff. i've heard french is the hardest (everybody gets 1's or 2's) but not chem. and its costing me $90!! i hope its worth it b/c at the school im attending, a 3, 4, or 5 will get you 15 credit hours of chem!!

 

[cheerdancer11]

Yea, I'm planning on taking general chemistry anyway as a good grade for 1st semester, when im adjusting to college life. Good Luck with the test!