Grade of B+ in Chemistry Honors or a grade of A- in Chemistry, or department recommendation.
Ability in math will be a consideration in the recommendation of this course.
Note for tenth-grade entry: Honors Chemistry. Those who have not taken Biology will need to register for Biology Honors concurrently in the same year.
AP Chemistry is an introductory college-level course where students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through inquiry-based investigations as they explore topics involving scale, proportion, quantity; structure and properties; transformations and energy.
Students develop and apply the science practices throughout the course to the four big ideas that underscore the chemistry unit concepts. These include scale proportion, quantity; structure and properties; transformations and energy. The science practices include: models and representations; question and method; representing data and phenomenon; model analysis; mathematical routines; and argumentation.
The course will have formative/summative assessments, inquiry-based laboratories and a mock examination in April using AP level questions and essay prompts.
“Personally, AP Chemistry is one of my all-time favorite classes. Each concept leads into the next with smooth logical transitions. Everything in AP Chemistry definitely just felt connected. Of course, there was also a strong problem-solving aspect that lends itself to view during this course. Each question may seem labyrinthine at first, but the answer always seems to be staring you in the face. Take the course if you love a challenging mind puzzle. You never know, AP Chemistry might just be one of your favorite classes.”
- Angelina Wang (Class of 2024)
“AP Chemistry is a stressful but rewarding course. It is very fast-paced and covers all topics of chemistry---from kinetics to electrochemistry. The courseload is very heavy and homework can take more than an hour per day to complete. Both teachers are highly passionate in their work and are great at explaining any questions you may have. However, this is a course where as long as you put in the effort and work hard, you will definitely succeed. I highly recommend AP Chem to students who are interested in Chemistry or want to go into STEM in the future!”
- Arthur Zhang (Class of 2024)
“AP Chemistry is my favorite class from high school so far. As [teacher] says, homework is proportional to how well you do on summatives, so make sure you get all the practice in that you can, and this course will be really fun. There are a lot of really cool labs, lots of practice for homework, and many problem-solving opportunities. Good luck!”
- Catherine Suo, Class of 2025