How to Get a 5 on the AP Chemistry Exam!

MEK’s Advanced Placement Course & Exam Prep classes are opening in January 2024. We’re offering small group virtual and in-person classes and private tutoring designed to give students the strategies and skills to ace their challenging AP classes and earn a 5 on the AP exam in May.

This Spring, we are offering AP Chemistry taught by expert instructor Mr. Nicholas Lang.

Mr. Lang is an enthusiastic teacher devoted to helping students reach their academic goals and enjoying learning along the way. He teaches School Support math and science tutoring, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP Physics, and MAPC – Competition Math.

Read on to find out Mr. Lang’s top 3 tips for scoring a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam in May!

Tip #1: Doing well in your AP Chemistry course and doing well on the AP Chemistry exam require different skills.

At school, a student is focused on getting a good grade for a certain quiz, test, or midterm. Because there is a grade backing to the way school operates, students will have a short-term focus in order to keep their grades up.

When it comes to the AP Exam in May, students will have to adjust their mindset to be much more cumulative. For many, this may be the first time they’re taking a bigger picture look at all of the material together, as opposed to just keeping up on one topic at a time for a quiz or test.

In addition, the Chemistry test takes a very bite-sized approach to each topic one at a time, especially in the multiple choice. Learning how to tackle a question with broad strokes will be critical to getting through the test with time to spare.

Tip #2: Understand that all topics in AP Chemistry are connected.

Once they’ve finished a unit, find critical points within their lessons that connect to previous units. Interconnection is key for chemistry. The ability to identify where two units crossover is an element that the College Board loves to test students on.

What equilibrium concept is important for Acids and Bases? How does the structure of a molecule affect its vapor pressure and boiling point? Those kinds of 2 or 3 step reasoning problems are crucial to the construction of the AP exam. Drawing those connections are going to help you more than anything else would.

Tip #3: Want to do well on the Free Response Questions? Know your vocabulary!

Especially for Chemistry, students should be very mindful about their vocabulary. In questions that require you to justify an answer or describe a phenomenon, many times, the College Board is looking for you to use one specific word, phrase, or term. Be on top of the specific uses of terminology that may be similar, but not exactly the same.

In addition, Chemistry is a good test to look over an entire FRQ before you start solving any individual part. If you look ahead to see the future questions before answering them, you can make mental notes about which results or calculations are going to be used multiple times. This can help you prioritize and contextualize the different pieces of a question early.

Next Steps

Although AP courses are tough and may seem intimidating at first, a solid study plan and good study habits can help students get high grades and ace the exams.  

Many AP teachers focus on only the course material, leaving students underprepared for the actual 2-3 hour exam. At MEK, we take a two-pronged approach to AP Prep. Through providing students with both lectures by experienced teachers and practice exams, students gain a solid understanding of the material and learn test-taking skills to maintain their performance under time pressure.

Click here to learn more about our AP Course offerings for Spring 2024!

Interested in registering for AP courses with MEK? Fill out our Registration Form to get started.

Or if you have questions, contact us! We look forward to hearing from you.