[cmaster94]

Hey y'all. I want to get an idea from somebody who took the official ACS general chemistry exam and find out what topics and questions will be covered. I own the ACS study guide, but I've heard different things from people. Some say that not all the things from the book will be tested. If anybody out there will be taking or has took this exam please share your experience. 

[Arkcon]

If you search on this forum, you'll find the topic has come up often.  Many people will be glad to give you general tips.  If you need the specifics, however, you're going to be disappointed.

[orgo814]

I've taken the ACS General Chemistry and ACS Organic Chemistry exam. Honestly, it is pretty thorough and the only way to study for it is to study the topics you are weak in (rather than study EVERY topic since we are human and only have so much time on our hands!). Getting an official ACS study book is a great way to do this. The problems in the ACS book are similiar to the ones you will see on the exam and therefore it is good practice.

I never found the exam to be extremely difficult. If you have understood everything you have been doing all year, with a little review you should do decent. There will be questions that you will not know.. could be because your professor never covered that material or simply because you forgot. Try and do all the problems you know first and then go back and look at the ones you skipped and just take an educated guess. Another thing to note is that these exams are graded on a curve. For instance, my grade on the ACS General Chemistry was 51/70 (they are 70 m.c questions) which translated to an A- on the scale. So, all in all, it's doable.

[mkurek]

The ACS General Chemistry exam is a joke. It is a very basic covering of General Chemistry. In my opinion I could have gotten an A on the ACS exam straight out of high school, before I even took Gen Chem in college.

[Woopy]

When I took the ACS Organic Chemistry exam, I remember that the practice guide helped me a lot. It's well worth the purchase. The exam is inclusive and covers everything. I don't remember the details of the General Chemistry exam as much, except that I did worse on it because I took chemistry during the summer and didn't prepare as much for it.