Chemistry

What would you say is the difficulty level of this class?

“I would put it as one of the top three most difficult classes in high school… I think students deal with [either math or concepts most of high school] and when you get to these two classes you have to merge the two… Even if you get a B in AP Chemistry… you should never hang your head… I teach one of the hardest classes in my opinion, [but] I still encourage students to go for it.” (Matt Keyes, teacher)

“On a scale of one to ten, like a six.” (Suzy Anil, student)

“Moderate, it is reasonably difficult for an AP Class.” (Chris Suzuki, senior)

What is the workload like?

“Very realistically, I would say it’s a little bit of an ebb and flow, there’s nights when you are going to read the book for an hour or practice or do homework problems for an hour. I would say average though, if you gave 30 to 45 minutes a night in reviewing notes, taking notes, trying a few practice problems, I think that would average out well… if you can give me thirty to forty-five minutes a night, you can be very successful in this class.” (Matt Keyes, teacher)

“It’s a lot of self-teaching, you have to be able to keep up with your own work and take responsibility for learning what we’ve been learning in class and such.” (Suzy Anil, senior)

“Workload’s like about 30 minutes to an hour of homework just reading notes and doing problems, just reviewing the problems that we learned in class.” (Chris Suzuki, senior)

Why would a student want to take this class?

“Anyone that has a solid foundation in CP Chemistry. I don’t look at just the grade, it’s the conceptual [understanding] and your passion for it. So… if you got a B, or maybe a C+ in CP Chem, but you find yourself still very into it, then I feel like you have a passion and you should try AP Chemistry… [You] should be pretty solid with the CP knowledge, so the basics on regular chem, and then we have a summer packet … so I would say basically anyone that kind of caught the interest for chem in CP Chem, I would encourage that student to at least talk to me about the class and I can even let some of the students preview the summer packet so they can make that decision if whether or not it’s going to be too much for [them].” (Matt Keyes, teacher)

What kind of careers could this class lead to?

“I want to remind students that chemistry isn’t just a one-track career. I am a geochemist, so I could work in geology, with a chemistry emphasis. Biochemistry. That’s a whole other field, biomedical has biochem background. Organic chemistry. So if you are going to work in the medical field or are just interested in working with the chemistry of life, carbon, there’s a whole branch of organic chemistry. The other route is inorganic chemistry. So maybe you want to deal with like in Flint, Michigan, you want to look at the lead levels in water, you could be an inorganic chemist. And not only that but chemistry can sneak into a lot of other fields as well.” (Matt Keyes, teacher)

Any tips for students looking to take this class?

“Definitely set aside an hour and a half every day to stay up to date with the notes and do all the work you’ve been doing in class and really understanding the true meaning of the labs.” (Suzy Anil, senior)

“Stay on top of your notes, always do practice problems. If there’s not enough practice problems, ask Mr. Keyes for more problems. Mr. Keyes will always answer your questions.” (Chris Suzuki, senior)

Is there anything you would have done differently now that you have taken this course?

“I would have spent more time everyday just reviewing on stuff so I would be more prepared for the AP exam and not just cram the week before.” (Suzy Anil, senior)

“Probably done more practice problems.” (Chris Suzuki, senior)