Tips on how to get 70+ on clep chemistry?

[sicdrag]

A 78 on chemistry is impressive! Good job! Not something one can accomplish by just reviewing a few videos and flashcards. Do you mind sharing what methods you used?

Thanks!

Quick disclaimer: I had a few advantages going in, mainly that I had a vague recollection of at least some of the basics from high school that just had to be refreshed and that I am very good at math (I am a math major that is about to graduate -- so none of the algebraic calculations posed any challenge. If you are less good at algebra, then this is a very important thing to get good at or at least comfortable with, as those problems tend to actually be the most gimme points on this exam -- that's why it is so hard.). This was my plan:

Skim Chemistry:Concepts and Problems. Work a few of the problems as I went, but not a concerted effort to answer all of them. I think I would have worked all of them if I was new to chemistry or if I didn't do well in basic intro chem in high school.

Skim REA (I used a 2008 version -- not sure if the new one would have been better or not). I didn't work any of the problems or memorize anything just yet.

Open book practice exams (I used REA, the sample problems on college board, the sample test in clep guide). First, attempt problem with no resources at all. Make educated guess/intuitive guess if no idea. Next, look up any necessary facts/numbers/formulae that I hadn't yet memorized. Try again with those in hand. If I still couldn't do it, I would try looking at some worked problems either in REA or online that were similar.

Obviously, this is very hard at the start. I think I did the first practice exam in REA and got like 10 of the questions without looking anything up, then 20-30 with looking up some minor details. The rest I either still didn't get or had to find someone doing like exactly the same problem type before I could find the right answer. Or I could find the answer but I had no real intuition yet for why it was right.

I did 2 or 3 of these open book tests. Then I started on round 1 of memorization. I started with the easiest ones that appear the most often (ideal gas laws, common cations and anions, periodic trends, entropy/enthalpy/free energy/spontaneity formulas, solubility rules, acids/bases types and properties, probably a few others as well).

Next up, more practice tests. These I did mostly closed book. I would still look up stuff that i hadn't gotten to yet or forgot. But no looking up sample work or anything more than a definition or formula or whatever. Again, this was very hard at first. I probably got about 40% ish right under these conditions.

After doing a bunch of these, I had a pretty good idea for what concepts I just completely didn't get at all yet. For these, I took to youtube to find some actual instructional content. Electrochemistry, thermodynamics, nuclear chemistry, some aspects of molecular structure (VSEPR, types of bonds, etc.). It might be possible to brute force memorize some of this -- but I always prefer to understand if I can. Khan Academy is of course excellent for this stuff (look at their AP chemistry course and possibly the organic chemistry one).

Then I went back to practice exams. At this point, I had mostly exhausted an easy supply of CLEP chemistry practice exams. So I started doing practice AP exams (this is quite easy to find on google). I've taken a few APs before and a few CLEPs, so I generally assume that CLEP will put a much greater emphasis on memorization and much less on synthesis. The AP questions are a good way to check understanding, but a lot of them you are very unlikely to find asked on the CLEP.

Finally, last round of memorization. All the organic chemistry stuff (generally speaking this is limited to identifying a few functional groups -- but there is a chance they ask you more complicated stuff like naming them or asking about some properties), the complete details of all the VSEPR stuff, various experimental chemistry stuff like colors of compounds and lab procedures etc. (I only did a few basic labs in high school, so all these questions I didn't really know anything about. It largely just has to be memorized).

In hindsight after taking the test, I think I focused a little bit more on understanding than I needed to. And memorized less things than necessary. I was shocked by the number of pure "gotcha" did you memorize this obscure fact or not questions on my exam. Like all kinds of wacky constants came up and were not given -- there were at least 4 questions about colors of compounds, etc.

All of this stuff is of course my own personal learning style and your mileage may vary. I've done a lot of self-study for exams in the past (including some that are arguably harder than this. Actuarial exams are just brutal), and I know what works for me. I'd like to think that it would work for a lot of people, but it's possible that it won't.