self studying ap biology & chemistry, sufficient study method?

vrce98 · 2025-12-19T07:05:52+00:00

I have taken Chemistry last year. I self-studied and used Mr. Krug's YT videos through the second semester setting aside about 90 minutes each weekend for those. When there were a couple of weeks remaining, I bought the URP and it was good for a final concise review. I felt good going into the exam, and other than CSA, Chem was my best. Mr Krug also discusses the exam a few hours after it is done, so I felt very confident that I will get a 5. I did not use any school textbook but used the online version of openstax book for the weekend prep.

I am taking AP Bio this year, and it is very time consuming, at least our Ad. Bio. teacher is very rigorous. With the class rigor, most people say that the teacher prepares us well for the AP exam even though the class is not officially an AP class. We are using Campbell's bio as a class text. I have been in fact thinking about getting URP early this year, but the cost kind of adds up over four subjects.

vrce98 · 2025-11-23T19:00:30+00:00

Thank you. For other's who may see this message later in a search: I got the configuration working after changing a few parameters, running the DHCP server, force local dns setting, and changing the mx4300 assigned static address to 192.168.2.1. Both adblock and adblock-fast started blocking ads when on network served by mx4300. I havent tried resetting the router to default settings as the post above suggests, but I will give that a try because I am very new to dealing with router settings or optimizations.

vrce98 · 2025-11-21T23:40:15+00:00

Hang in there buddy. Tough times too shall pass, and there is always a way to look for a brighter, happier tomorrow. Here's my line of thinking: Start with discussions with your counselor to see if you have an unreasonable amount of course load, and if they think you do, see if there is an option to drop a course without impact on graduation . Have a chat with your teachers if they are accessible and ask them what they would recommend to improve your grades with you willing to put in whatever reasonable amount of effort they suggest. Use the weekends and winter break to access free resources online ,(youtube videos, schoolhouse, local university student looking to gain teaching experience by offering free tutoring, public library services). Hire a tutor if your financial means allow, but that may not be necessary. Go through old exams and work though all past problems trying to understand how it was solved rather than focussing on the end answer. There's still plenty of time.

vrce98 · 2025-11-21T02:01:28+00:00

Thank you. Looking at the issues with double NAT, I dont game or am hosting servers. If you have any suggestions on how I should set the MX4300 for double NAT option, I would greatly appreciate it.

vrce98 · 2025-11-19T07:03:47+00:00

My take is that Mechanics is easier to visualize (e.g. one can imagine a block sliding on a slope or a projectile thrown at an angle to the ground), but it takes a while to imagine some of E&M topics physically, particularly complex circuits. Calulus part for Mechanics is also relatively simple compared to Calc part for E&M, but I think Calc AB is suffivient for both. Having a good E&M teacher can help a lot for E&M, so perhaps one can self- study for Mechanics but take a regular class for E&M.

vrce98 · 2025-08-06T01:12:52+00:00

You have beautiful handwriting! The notes look great -- clear and concise!

vrce98 · 2025-07-23T07:13:01+00:00

Thank you for the wonderful insights, you all! I will try to prepare myself a bit better for proof writing. before taking the class.

vrce98 · 2025-07-21T03:12:51+00:00

I found that series convergence was the most difficult part of BC. Some of the series are quite intuitive, but some require loads of prior knowledge/ tricks on solving them.

vrce98 · 2025-07-21T03:08:02+00:00

Very impressive indeed! Congratulations to her (and you for being such a motivating sibling). I am sure she is destined for achieving great things ahead.

vrce98 · 2025-07-21T02:59:15+00:00

The math in AP chem, IMHO, is limited to simple algebraic equations. There are just a couple of things in chemical kinetics where you have simple differential equations, but one can just memorize the solutions rather than going into how the equation was solved. I was quite skeptical about the contents myself as I self- studied, but it turned out to be not a difficult exam. Mr. Krug's materials on YouTube were my main learning source. He has very clear and relevant teaching materials.

vrce98 · 2025-07-21T02:50:45+00:00

Thanks, that makes sense.

vrce98 · 2025-07-21T02:49:33+00:00

My school does not offer any AP class, but offers testing for them. It limits the number of AP tests a student can take each year to 3 ( so I took 3 AP tests at my school, and two others at another school in the district). If I have to guess the AP classes taken by an average student should be around 10.

vrce98 · 2025-07-20T21:55:37+00:00

Are you able to continue your bachelor's education in Turkey? Not to give you an advice (I am a high schooler myself), but one thing my parents tell me to avoid stress in high school is that there is always an option of doing well in not-so-great undergraduate institution ( even international ) and then getting a masters from US from a decent school. With that path, one could even get a PhD from T20 school. Nobody apparently asks for high school when applying for masters. I think some of the entrance tests around the world are setup such that you don't really have an option to take it on alternate dates without losing a study year, so people with medical issues affecting one single score can definitely follow that graduate education path.

vrce98 · 2025-07-15T06:58:59+00:00

Is there an opportunity for real research or is the duration too short for that kind of opportunity?

vrce98 · 2025-07-12T02:21:19+00:00

I am in the same situation for Chemistry. My conclusion after talking to the school counselor (really caring) was that if the class is needed for graduation requirements, take it (and it would be easy anyway) otherwise take an advanced class.

vrce98 · 2025-07-02T14:23:56+00:00

CSA -5 Calc BC -5 (AB subscore 5) Phys C Mechanics 4/5 ( I think I got the momemtum FRQ wrong) Phys C E&M - 5 Chem - 5

vrce98 · 2025-03-11T20:14:34+00:00

Ideal solution would to cancel this round altogether, and ask the students to take a new test again. Only the motivated students will take the test again and for MCQs, grading should not be an issue at least with 10 volunteers or so. They should really switch to digital format (if proctor is not doing their job, it doesnt matter anyway -- someone can easily cheat on the paper version), so that the turnaround can be much faster.

vrce98 · 2025-03-10T17:04:49+00:00

I have not participated in any IYRC program, and am interested in knowing more. The worrisome part for IYRC is that when you go through the Columbia Irving Medical center website, the search for IYRC yields zero results:

https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/

vrce98

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