ACS Chemistry Final!

[huskerdye]

Hi, I'm preparing for my final in my Chemistry class which will be the standarized test from ACS.

I'm wondering how to prepare for this, if anybody has any good links for practice tests, and how hard this test actually is!

Thanks!

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[sizillyd]

You're in high school? It is the ACS so it will be difficult. The best way to prepare for it is to purchase their manual.

 

[acegsm]

You're in high school? It is the ACS so it will be difficult. The best way to prepare for it is to purchase their manual.

I agree. I am taking the ACS Organic Chemistry exam on Wednesday, and the manual is definitely the way to go.

 

[astrife]

I am in Physical Chemistry II right now, and our professor is giving us the ACS P. Chem exam as our final. I was so relieved to find out they have a study guide for this exam at the ACS website.

I took the general chemistry ACS exam a few years ago as a final, and honestly it was not that difficult. The guide is only like 30 dollars with shipping, so if you want to be extra cautious go ahead and get it, but it's not entirely necessary.

People taking the ochem or pchem ACS exam should definitely get the guide though.

 

[Perth Domer]

From my experience the ACS is a joke, at least for Gen Chem and Orgo. We took it after our Gen Chem II, which covered nothing in the exam (prof gave as extra credit to brush up on chem I and take it) And I took it after 3 hours of studying gen chem the day before (took gen chem 1 1.5 years prior to Gen Chem II) and got a 90% raw score. Our Orgo II prof said they stopped giving the Ogo ACS as a final because the prior year's Orgo II class average was a 96% and "You can't make a good curve out of that". I wouldn't even buy a manual, just find an old exam and figure out the topics they put on it.

 

[apumic]

From my experience the ACS is a joke, at least for Gen Chem and Orgo. We took it after our Gen Chem II, which covered nothing in the exam (prof gave as extra credit to brush up on chem I and take it) And I took it after 3 hours of studying gen chem the day before (took gen chem 1 1.5 years prior to Gen Chem II) and got a 90% raw score. Our Orgo II prof said they stopped giving the Ogo ACS as a final because the prior year's Orgo II class average was a 96% and "You can't make a good curve out of that". I wouldn't even buy a manual, just find an old exam and figure out the topics they put on it.

Sorry, but by definition this is virtually impossible. Nationally, on the 2007 Gen Chem exam, no one got a 94% or higher and <1% had an 89% or better. On the O-Chem ACS exam for 2008 no one got a 96% raw score. The highest score was a 94%. I'm not sure where you are getting your anecdotal evidence but the published data simply don't agree with your post. Here's my source: ACS Exams: National Norms

 

[Perth Domer]

The Organic must have gone off of national average then (class av. in the 96th percentile). Or my friends who took it were exaggerating. I guess my gen chem experience might not be normal because I ended up not having to study for that on the MCAT much at all. But seriously, if your subject has been taught rigorously the thing should be a breeze. For God's sake the thing is multible choice!

 

[apumic]

The Organic must have gone off of national average then (class av. in the 96th percentile). Or my friends who took it were exaggerating. I guess my gen chem experience might not be normal because I ended up not having to study for that on the MCAT much at all. But seriously, if your subject has been taught rigorously the thing should be a breeze. For God's sake the thing is multible choice!

My guess is two things happened: 1) there was A LOT of exaggeration going on and 2) someone is mixing up normative (percentile) scoring and raw scores. The fact is that students are not typically given their graded ACS exams back (I would guess this is against the testing policies of ACS, actually, since it's considered a standardized exam). Your gen chem experience may be out of the ordinary insofar as you probably got a 96% percentile rank. I don't think it's that uncommon for someone with that rank to think the test was pretty manageable. My experience was similar with the gen chem exam (97th percentile after about 2 hrs of total studying all in the morning of the exam). The thing you have to remember, though, is that for most examinees the test is going to kick their butt. Otherwise, it wouldn't have norms that place most students getting over half the questions wrong! (Yes, it's MC but the MC questions tend to fool a lot of people, just as those of the MCAT do.)

 

[huskerdye]

Thanks to all who posted, I'm taking it in college..

It's my freshman year, I took Chemistry I first semester and am taking Chemisty II this semester.. Our final is this coming Wendesday and is the Standardized ACS.. Just so that's clear

Does anybody remember if they give you the equations or if we need to memorize those and I just don't really know what to study.

Thanks!

 

[clairbear]

I'm taking it Monday. The practice exam my prof. gave us had the Arrhenius Equation, Graham's law of effusion, the nernst equation, and integrated rate law for zero-second order. The rest you have to memorize she said. It does have constants though. The practice test was pretty much a survey of everything we covered in chem I and II.

 

[cfx]

Does anybody remember if they give you the equations or if we need to memorize those and I just don't really know what to study.

Thanks!

As others have said, get the guide. Since ACS makes it, and intends it as a study guide specifically for their exam, it is probably your best bet to direct your studying. It's a nice resource to have and include in whatever other study routine you use for the exam.

At my school, they order a ton of them well in advance and I think most people buy it. Otherwise, I think it can be ordered on your own. I don't remember if they give you equations, or what constants are provided...ask your prof about it.

 

[Perth Domer]

What did you guys cover in Chem I and Chem II? I thought the exam was entirely from Chem I material. Our Chem II was a lot of bioinorganic stuff, crystal field theory, lattice stuff, etc. It was a weird class, and none of it was on the MCAT. In fact, we went past some of the generalizations on the MCAT and I had to "unlearn" a few concepts.

Also, our sequence was Chem I, Orgo I, Orgo II, Chem II. Why they did this I'll never know.

 

[apumic]

What did you guys cover in Chem I and Chem II? I thought the exam was entirely from Chem I material. Our Chem II was a lot of bioinorganic stuff, crystal field theory, lattice stuff, etc. It was a weird class, and none of it was on the MCAT. In fact, we went past some of the generalizations on the MCAT and I had to "unlearn" a few concepts.

Also, our sequence was Chem I, Orgo I, Orgo II, Chem II. Why they did this I'll never know.

That's not typical G-Chem II content. Typical G-Chem II concepts are generally things like equilibrium, acid-base chemistry, electrochemistry, transition metals, nuclear chemistry, thermodynamics, and sometimes an intro to o-chem.

 

[organdonor]

We took the ACS exams for finals in gen chem 1 and 2. They were not difficult. They were probably the easiest exams we had all semester.

 

[huskerdye]

thanks guys, I would be happy to order the guide but I go to a small school that probably doesn't have the guide at the book store and my exam is Wednesday


Does anybody have any good links to a GOOD practice exam for it. I have found a couple that seem fairly decent, but they are both very different.. one is very easy and the other is pretty hard.

 

[christina30]

The fact that it's mostly multiple choice could be a blessing or a curse, deending on how you look at it.

For gen chem, I guess it wasn't too bad, but with O.Chem, I was NOT a fan. But my strong points in Orgo were mechanisms and synthesis problems - I was the MASTER

My backup plan if med school didn't work out was to go to grad school and get a MS/PhD in organic synthesis. But, back to the topic at hand...!

I wouldn't be too afraid of the ACS exam.

 

[azide10]

A good thing to know is whether your class has been taught in preparation for the ACS or not. Mine was not and we were told ahead of time that there would most likely be a few things that we barely touched on that would see a question or two while some of our main material would not be on it. We were also told our class average is usually around the 50% mark. My class killed that mark but honestly most did not study. Either you know it or you don't. It is very basic and brushing up on the basics for a little bit might be a good idea but if you have other challenging finals I wouldn't spend too much time on this.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

I just took this final last tuesday for Gen Chem II. You should definitely study - the national average is in the low 60s... Remember that's an average not the lowest score. I'm not sure why some people are saying its easy, because basically half the people who take it fail it.

 

[MaxillofacialMN]

What did you guys cover in Chem I and Chem II? I thought the exam was entirely from Chem I material. Our Chem II was a lot of bioinorganic stuff, crystal field theory, lattice stuff, etc. It was a weird class, and none of it was on the MCAT. In fact, we went past some of the generalizations on the MCAT and I had to "unlearn" a few concepts.

Also, our sequence was Chem I, Orgo I, Orgo II, Chem II. Why they did this I'll never know.

What??? Where do you go to school, your gen chem II did not learn what they were supposed to by ACS standards and your sequence is crazy....

After your report of your scores I am a little skeptical of what you are saying....

 

[Perth Domer]

Advanced general chemistry course which completes the 2-year chemistry sequence for students in the College of Science, Chemical Engineers, and pre-professional students. Extends principles of chemistry with an in-depth look at the periodic table and an emphasis on bioinorganic chemistry. Topics include: bonding across the periodic table, chemistry of the s and p block elements, d-block elements and coordination chemistry, and kinetics, catalysis, and redox/electrochemistry with applications to biological systems. This course is generally taken in the Spring semester with the laboratory CHEM 21274.

We were the first year they did this sequence. It used to be Gen Chem 1 then 2, then Orgo 1 then 2. Chem majors always did this sequence so they decided to try it out on all of us. Oh, btw I go to Notre Dame. Gen Chem is my best subject along with Physics. (Not sure why I decided to major in Biology)

 

[teddy bear doc]

OP are you at UNO?

 

[ILikeDrugs]

There are study guides. I am taking the O-chem one in a couple of weeks. The study guide is on reserve at the library. Maybe your school library has one. This test can actually replace one of three regular exams for my class. Too bad it can't replace the final.

 

[ilovebiology]

I had to take ACS standardized tests for all of my tests in both general and organic chemistry classes...not just the final. pretty sure I've never heard of any school doing that. my prof was nuts...it sucked haha but as long as you get the books just as everyone else is recommending you should be fine. good luck!

 

[jk595090]

The ACS exam book is only for both Ochem1 and 2. It's so early in the semester, I'm not about to confuse myself any more than necessary. Is there anyone who can say which products we really need to know for the ACS?

 

[AymAyzing]

holy resurrection batman!