Customer Reviews

How to Prepare for the AP Chemistry 3rd Edition

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm serious too. The guy who found this book tediously long is only saying that 'cause he hadn't taken the test before he wrote his review. But for me, the test is over, and as a reflection, I don't know what I would have done without this book. Seriously, I had an awesome AP Chem teacher. I mean, his homework and test questions were harder than the ones on the actual AP exam, but this book helped so incredibly much.

As I was working through this book, I quelled my dissapointment of missing about half the questions at the end of each chapter and in the sample tests by assuring myself of the fact that Barron's is known for its harder than actual thing type simulations. Not this book. The test was totally hard, but luckily, not harder than the sample tests in this book. If you want an accurate representation of the actual AP test, I strongly recommend this book. And, if you're thinking of getting the Princeton Review, DO NOT buy it without buying this book as well. I was hardely missing a question at the end of the chapters with that book and the sample tests were assuring me of high fives. It was just insanely easy. Also, it screwed me over on one of the free response questions(I wrote like a page for part i of part a and ran out of the time for the rest of the question). For some miraculous reason, I still ended up with a five, but now that I look back, it wasn't so much of a miracle. I was just prepared because I bought this book at the beginning of the year and I recommend that you do the same. It doesn't work miracles unless you use it, but if you do, I think that you'll find it a very helpful guide for the incredibly hard AP test(and yes, it is a VERY hard test).

GET THIS BOOK! I AM SOOOOOOOO SERIOUS GET THIS BOOK! (that's if you are taking AP CHEM). My teacher (including all the chemistry teachers in my school are by far the WORST TEACHERS IN THE WORLD! ). My AP Chem teacher is sooooooooooooo bad. She hasn't taught me a thing...and for sure I know I'm going to fail the AP exam...until I found this book...I found some hope. This book explains EVERYTHING! And I mean EVERYTHING. My teacher really never emphasized the conceptual aspects of chemistry and just concentrated on the calculation parts ~ she gave us problems that she couldn't even configure. WORDS CAN NOT EXPRESS THE VALUE OF THIS BOOK. BEFORE EVEN TAKING AP CHEMISTRY GET THE BOOK AND READ THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS AND YOU WILL BE AHEAD! I'm telling you now.....get this book. I would give this book 10 stars if I could but I can't. Also get the AP Chem Cliffs by Gary S. Thorpe...that one concentrates on the calculations. Barron explains LUCIDLY the concepts and the AP Cliffs should give you a STRONG basis on the Chemistry calculations. Those two are the only books you are going to need. THANK YOU Mr. Jespersen (author)! With this book I don't need to pay attention in class anymore.

I'd actually rather give it 4.5 because it had too many typos (just like the answer key saying it was B and then the actual answer in the explanation would be D and stupid mistakes like that which really irritated me).
However, yes, this book does go into quite a bit of depth which is great when my textbook skimped out on information. And their organic chem section was way too detailed.
And yes, the tests are MUCH MUCH MUCH harder than the actual AP exam. Which is why I liked it so much! I hate Princeton Review's AP books which are sooo incredibly easy and then the real AP exams are several times harder. That does NOT prepare you at all for the AP exam. That's fooling you into a delusional comfort only to kill you viciously on the AP exam day.
Never so with Barron's. Sure, they give you lots of extraneous material, but believe it not, a lot of that, particularly their Experimental Chemistry section can come amazingly in handy on AP exam day. And plus, just surviving the horrifically hard Barron's tests will make you think that the AP exam is a joke.
Between Barron's brutal but very efficient preparation and my beloved, absolutely genius of a TF at Harvard Extension, I, who put hardly any effort into Chem class, got a 5 on the AP.

I took AP Chemistry and although my teacher was good, he could not explain certain concepts such as Redox!! I found this book was very useful in REVIEWING concepts (not for learning new things) as it explained things quite clearly and simply. Certain information is not important, but if used effectively, this book is excellent. The book offers a lot of AP style questions after each section, which are very helpful, but the explanations to the answers are not good. They merely tell the answer, instead of explaining them, which is the worst aspect of the book. However, it has many review techniques which are useful, especially practice exercises and questions. I recieved a five on the AP exam, and although this book is not the only thing that got it for me, it was extremely helpful in reviewing before the exam. I would also use this for reviewing during the year for tests! However, if you wait until the day before the exam, any book you use, no matter what, will not get you the grade, so start at least two weeks early and do a few chapters a day. I hope this review was helpful and GOOD LUCK with AP CHEM!

Depending on what you were looking for, this book may or may not have been helpful. If you are looking for basic concepts to pass the AP Chem exam, then this may be the book for you. Most of the stuff they cover is basic. However, if you are looking to make a 5 on the AP Chem exam, consider buying another book. Most of the topics are not covered in depth enough to get those last few points needed for a 5. Also, the questions in the book are definitely lacking. Not only are there no free response questions (which count for 55% of the AP exam, FYI) but the multiple choice questions are lacking in quality. They really don't resemble the ones on the AP exam. (Trust me, I would know - I got a 5 on the exam last year.) If you are looking for a wordy book to help you get some of the basic concepts down, go for Barrons. However, if you are trying to reach for a 5 or get some really good multiple choice problems, you might want to try the Princeton Review instead. :)

I admit that this book makes the AP seem a lot harder than it actually is. However, the diagnostic tests, practice tests, practice questions, answers to tests and questions, and chapters were incredibly useful in preparing for the test. I realized after buying the book that it was an incredible suplement to my chemistry textbook and teacher - subjects that I never totally understood became incredibly clear once reading the book. I suggest skimming through the book and marking important sections to review in the last 3 days before the exam - good luck!

I am still confused as to how a book can be go in to such detail and be so ambiguous at the same time...yet this is this study guide's main accomplishment.

It has been said that _Barron's AP Chemistry_ is almost like a textbook in itself, and that is true. Most test preparation helps to review, but this book seems to introduce things almost as if you are learning them for the first time. Although most people object, I was actually thankful because there were many ideas which I really *was* learning for the first time. Therefore, although this may not be best for those who have already gone over everything thoroughly and are looking for a quick refresher, I would recommend it to students like myself who have not yet had experience with some important parts of chemistry liable to show up on the exam.

Still, this book is not without its flaws. I was surpised at the amount of errors -- not only minor annoyances such as typos, but actual misrepresentation of facts. These have the potential to hinder your understanding or at least interrupt your concentration. (It also makes me wonder how much I can trust the accuracy...was there not a proofreader, at least?) The pictures aren't so great, either. Furthermore, I personally found the author's style disagreeable at times; the tone could have been less assuming, and the writing tended to be verbose and even repetitious...surely cooking food is not the only example of rate of reaction??!

Overall, this book is useful if not exhaustive, and while not for everyone, can prove to be of some benefit to those in search of a very complete guide to chemistry. For best results, though, I advise test takers to do some research of their own and find a book most suitable for their needs.

to whoever said that this book is too basic: this book is waaay better than other ap chem review books (i have a couple). my teacher doesn't even recommend this book because he says there is too much information in it. i thought this book was more clear than my textbook in explaining most of the concepts, and, there *are* free response questions in the practice ap test section. the multiple choice questions are well written as well, like most of the other barron books.

I am an AP Chemistry student currenty studying for the AP exam. Thisbook goes insanely in-depth, mentioning and focusing on unnecessaryminor details that only become confusing. It is literally anothertext book, spending numerous pages on the extreme basics (such as counting the number of atoms in a molecule). I found that it was necessary to wade through pages of basic information (already known) or unnecessary information (not needed to be known) to find the things really important that I needed to study and that would be tested on the AP exam. It has excellent explanations, I am not denying that, only that it is too long and tedious. Some people may want a book to go into depth and really explain and TEACH you the information, but I am a busy person and do not have that much time.... I would prefer a book like Princeton Review which is quick and to the point. Here is a quote I have heard: "If you want to learn Chemistry use Barrons, if you want to do well on the AP exam use Princeton Review." END

You can't use this to study for the AP test, but rather to learn everything during the year. Its another text book.