Lost when it comes to how to study for AP Chemistry?
Then stay tuned.
Because in this video, I'm going to give you some steps that you can
start taking today to score that four or five on your AP Chemistry exam.
Before we get started, this video is brought to you by Albert, which provides
thousands of practice questions for your AP exam prep and other learning needs.
So if you haven't already created a free account, be sure to do so in
the link in the video description.
We can help you score that four or five on your AP exam.
Without further ado though, let's jump into these five steps to scoring
a five on your AP Chemistry exam.
The first step that you're going to want to take is take
a practice AP Chemistry exam.
This will take you three hours and 15 minutes to complete and probably
another hour or so to grade.
The purpose of this step is for you to simply baseline on what you already
know about AP Chemistry and what you need to work on moving forward.
Be sure that you have a scientific or graphing calculator to use
when you take this practice test.
This practice test is a great opportunity for you to get a sense of what you're
doing really well in and where you could spend a little bit more time studying.
As you grade your exam, make sure that you're being really critical with
yourself when you compare your responses to the rubrics that are provided to you.
After you've grade your exam, you're going to want to pull up the AP Chemistry
topics list and then run through every single topic and see which ones
you got wrong more often than not.
From there, you're going to split topics into red topics,
yellow topics, and green topics.
The purpose of this is to put a confidence level on the different
topics that you need to know for AP Chemistry and where you currently stand.
Topics that you highlight in green will be something that you have a high
degree of confidence in, whereas topics that are red will be things that you
have a low degree of confidence in.
Step number two is to make a study schedule for yourself.
This is going to take you about an hour to do.
Now that you understand what the AP Chemistry exam looks like,
you can work backwards on a study schedule that works for you.
We recommend blocking three to five study days every single week for at least two
months prior to your AP Chemistry exam.
In the case where you don't have that much time, you're going to want to
condense your study schedule to be a little bit more intense than it might
be if you had more time to study.
The study time that you blocked doesn't necessarily have to be super long.
It can be as short as 15 to 30 minutes.
But the main purpose of the time that you're blocking is that you have a
reason for why you're blocking that time.
One day, for example, could be reviewing key topic areas whereas the
next day might be actually practicing some more practice questions.
The biggest benefit of chunking your studying into these 30 minute
blocks is that you won't have to cram the night before the exam.
Cramming is what leads to study burnout, as well as that high degree of stress
that doesn't allow you to perform your best when it comes to your exam.
As you form that study plan, it can be helpful to reference that topics list
that you highlighted and broke down into those three buckets earlier on.
The reason why is because you're going to want to make sure that you're working
on all those red and yellow topic areas first, as opposed to those green topic
areas that you know, really, really well.
That being said, it's important that you're still blocking at least one day a
week to those green topic areas so that you don't forget about those concepts.
If you're short on site time, we recommend checking out units three and eight because
they are two of the most commonly tested sections when it comes to AP Chemistry.
The third step, when it comes to your AP chemistry review is to make sure that you
are forming your study guide and that you were reviewing those difficult concepts.
This will take you anywhere from 20 to 25 hours.
But the purpose of this step is that you're going to compile all the things
that you can from different resources.
It could be things like CK-12, Khan Academy, Albert, your
textbook or your review book.
The purpose of this time is to really go in depth on those topics
that you are still struggling with and find other avenues or mediums
for how to learn that material.
If, for example, your textbook, didn't cut it the first time in teaching
you stoichiometry, then you might find it more helpful to go on YouTube
and learn stoichiometry from there.
Whatever form of review content you end up engaging with, we recommend that you make
a study guide as you're engaging with it.
This will save you time later on in your period, because you won't have
to, for example, where you watch that YouTube from the beginning to the
end, instead, you can just review your notes that you took during the first
time that you watched that video.
Before we head into step number four, if you're finding this video helpful, do us
a favor and hit that like button below.
By doing so, you'll help more AP chem students find this video.
Also, consider subscribing and hitting that notification bell for
more AP review content like this.
Step number four is to use targeted AP Chemistry exam prep materials.
This will take you 10 to 15 hours.
And the purpose of this time is to really be practicing nonstop.
It's really important for you to be working through a lot of AP Chemistry
practice questions so that you understand and get familiar and confident
with the way that the College Board presents different questions to you.
The easiest way to do this is with an online resource like Albert, which
allows you to focus on specific areas of practice and gives you detailed
explanations as you're working through different practice questions.
This sort of immediate feedback is exactly what you need to help you learn
quicker and score that four or five.
If you prefer more old school studying, you might find it helpful to pick up
a review book so that you can work through those practice questions.
The important point for you to reach in your AP chem studying here is to
make sure that you can explain why you got a particular answer wrong.
And then from there, to make sure that you understand how your understanding
of that particular topic has changed from your understanding of the why.
By understanding these two points, you will then better understand the overall
topic or unit that you are reviewing.
Before we head into our final step when it comes to preparing for AP Chemistry,
I want to remind you that something that you can do as you swallow this
study plan is to repeat steps three and four as many times as you need.
Finally, step number five is to take another full length practice test.
This will take you another three hours and 15 minutes.
And the purpose of this practice test is for you to see how you've improved
since your first diagnostic tests.
Hopefully, from having focused on those content areas that you
were weakened, you would have improved between your diagnostic
test and your second practice test.
As you take this second practice test, you're going to want
to keep some things in mind.
For example, remember that you have about 90 seconds per multiple choice question,
20 minutes for the long response free response questions and 10 minutes for the
short response free response questions.
After you take this AP Chemistry practice test, ask yourself questions like, did
I feel rushed in a particular section?
Which section was that?
And why did I feel rushed there?
If you understand the nuances of your own test taking experience, you'll be
able to better account for that when it comes to the actual AP Chemistry exam.
If you're spending way too much time on those multiple choice questions
related to stoichiometry, you might want to block away more study time in your
study schedule to stoichiometry in those final weeks leading up to the exam.
There you have it five steps to scoring that five on your AP Chemistry exam.
If you found this video helpful, do us a favor and hit that like button below and
also consider sharing it with anybody that you think might benefit from forming a
study plan for their AP Chemistry tests.
If you haven't already considered subscribing and hitting that
notification bell below for more AP Chemistry review content like this.
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That's it for this time though, if you haven't already checked
out our other AP Chemistry review videos, be sure to check those out.
I'll see you guys there.