All the strategies discussed above can be applied equally to the SAT II Chemistry test and the SAT II Modern Hebrew test. That's why they're called “general hints.” However, as you may have noticed in the past, there are a number of dissimilarities between the study of chemistry and the study of modern Hebrew. And because chemistry is unlike modern Hebrew, and even unlike English and biology, a number of strategies apply uniquely to the SAT II Chemistry exam. Some of these strategies will help you out in chemistry generally, while some are suited to the unique idiosyncrasies of the SAT II format.
Chemistry Hint 1: Know Those Formulas!
As you know, you aren't allowed to bring a calculator into the SAT II test, nor are you allowed to bring in a sheet of paper with useful on it. That means that if you haven't memorized formulas like Boyle's law and the ideal gas equation, you're going to lose points.
This doesn't mean you have to do a lot of rote memorization. In fact, it's more important to truly understand the principles of chemistry than it is for you to memorize equations. You’ll find that as the principles of chemistry become second nature to you, the equations that express these principles will become increasingly intuitive. Knowing your chemistry will help guide you to the right conclusions.
A lot of people feel burdened coming into an exam with lots of formulas and equations in their head. It's like your mind is “full,” and there's no room for the problem solving at hand. If you have trouble remembering formulas, you might want to look them over carefully in the minutes before the test and then, before you even look at the first question, write down the formulas you have a hard time remembering on the back of the question booklet. That way you can refer back to them without any painful effort of recollection.
Chemistry Hint 2: Estimate
This hint goes hand in hand with one of the general hints above: Know What You're Being Asked. Don't dive blindly into five possible answer choices until you've already taken your best stab at coming up with the answer yourself. Obviously, estimation is only useful in questions involving calculation: you can't “estimate” which law of thermodynamics states that the world tends toward increasing disorder. In questions involving a calculation, though, it may save you from foolish errors if you, for example, have a sense of the order of magnitude you're looking at. If you're being asked to calculate the pH of a slightly acidic solution, you can be pretty confident that the answer won't be pH = 0.50, which would be too small, or pH = 14.00, which would be too big. You know that the correct answer must lie somewhere between 2 and 6. Estimation is a good way to eliminate some wrong answers when you're making an educated guess.
Chemistry Hint 3: Put It on Paper
Don't be afraid to write and draw compulsively. The first thing you should do once you've made sure you understand the question is to make your own notes about what you're dealing with. Sketch molecules when dealing with a bonding question, or electron configurations for periodic trend questions, or whatever else may be appropriate. Not only will a visual representation relieve some of the pressure on your beleaguered mind, it may also help the solution jump right off the page at you.
Don't forget to write down important Writing down all of the may lead you to a correct answer even if you don't really understand the question. Suppose the question asks for the volume of a gas produced in a certain reaction. Write a balanced equation, plug in values, fiddle around a little, and see if you can come up with an answer that looks right. Chances are, it will be.
