Tips for Chemistry

Be familiar with periodic table. I took Chemistry years ago, so I cannot remember anything, but I do remember that we used periodic table many times.

Keep the periodic table handy. If you need to do calculations and need the atomic mass and things of that nature then it will surely come in handy. My two chemistry courses were highly different from one another. One consisted of all math, the other just general information. Study any power point slides given, read the material assigned, and do any home work and extra credit if given and you should do just fine Good Luck!

I would highly recommend reviewing dimensional analysis. It is a necessary part of chemistry, and some people struggle with it.

Pay attention to your instructor! Seriously, focus a lot. Reading the book before class doesnt help since it is somewhat based on math which doesnt make sense unless taught by the instructor. Practice after class! Math is better when practiced rather than just read alone. Keep good notes and record the class if you can. If you miss one lesson or cant understand one, you'll be in trouble. One lesson builds upon the other so try to practice on your spare time. And have your periodic table ready. I always have mine on my binder cover (where the plastic sheet is at)

I would immediately at the beginning of the course get the list of polyatomic ions and other memorization lists from the teacher or department and start studying them immediately. One thing that tripped a lot of students up in my first chemistry class was that the teacher told us at week 4 to have all of the polyatomic ions memorized by week 5 and gave us the list. If we had had this knowledge from the get go many more people would have been successful on their week 5 quiz.

^These people are stressing super hard. I guess it depends on what chemistry you're taking. My school offers Survey and Principles. I took survey because it was all I needed to take for nursing, and it was easier than my chemistry class in high school. I showed up, took notes, studied at the last minute the night before and got an A in the class. The only things I really struggled with was trying to memorize the different equations and figuring out the name of certain compounds and whether they were an acid or a base. I start Survey II tomorrow, and I'm sure it will be a cakewalk.

Practice makes perfect. Plain and simple. Most schools offer free tutoring if you're having trouble.

Listen in class, take good notes, refer to the book if you have questions, ask the professor, do practice problems. If you can teach other people, it will only reinforce what you've learned.

I got "Chemistry for Dummies" from the public library and read over it in advance. My textbook also came with a liitle booklet that had math tricks for Chemistry that was super helpful.

Make sure your teacher had good reviews on RateMyProfessor.com, then keep up with the assignments and you'll be okay.

Good tip about the periodic table! Start memorizing the names and abbreviations now so that you'll be ahead later on and have more time to study more difficult material. Also, brush up on your metric units and conversions. Definitely read the first chapters before class begins.

The advice about polyatomic ions is spot-on. There are also some super helpful videos available on youtube, some of which can provide you with some helpful mnemonic devices. The ones I found most helpful were from the user, Papapodcasts. They are clear and really easy to follow.