Hello guys. I have asked this in the AP Bio thread awhile ago, but I wanted to start a new topic because I had a problem with the question of which book to get for AP Biology.
People on here told me cliffs, but the only thing I was nervous about buying it is that people on Amazon said that it did not reflect the changes to the exam which is sort of making me worried if I should buy it. I also heard about Barron’s but heard that there were some errors in the book and that they is superfluous content in there. The errors are what mostly are worrying me. That is if it excludes something important in there.
Can you guys tell me which of these books or any other books have been accurately updated? Especially after the changes recently. Last year so many books for AP Physics I were bad and not corrected so I don’t want to make the same mistake here and waste money on a book that will not help.
Thank you very much.
I found the PR book easy to digest and a good summary of the content learned in the textbook. I also really liked Sterling Test Prep’s 1500 AP Bio Questions book. It was a good way to test the material learned. I don’t have experience with Cliff (didn’t buy bc of the negative Amazon reviews, as well).
Thanks for the reply! If you don’t mind me asking, were the questions similar to the actual exam? Also on amazon it seems like a lot of the reviews are negative but I am assuming they applied the reviews to the wrong version. Can you look at the version you purchases and refute any claims if they are wrong (particularly with the recent reviews on the 2015 or 2016)? Oh and did you purchase the 2015 version?
Thank you again!
Sorry I wanted to add (because it is too late to make an edit) that with Barrons I am confused between the 4th and 5th editions. Amazon reviews are making my head spin 
That and the table of contents seems like it changed???
Nope, the questions in the PR book were not at all like the questions on the test. 
I only liked the book because it was a simple review of the important stuff you learn from class. I looked at the Barron’s copy in the library and thought they gave way too much information, and the PR review was less overwhelming to me. I guess it depends on the student; I mainly used PR to accompany my textbook and class notes. I guess save your money, and don’t buy PR.
The reviews for the Sterling Prep book are pretty good! Honestly, I doubt you’re going to find a book with questions similar to the AP exam, mainly because they just changed the exam. Additionally, the actual exam questions are very heavy with reading comprehension. You need common sense in addition to bio knowledge, as far as I could tell. Some questions (the short ones) were similar to Sterling Prep’s questions. The long ones were like nothing I’ve ever studied for, honestly. But if you know enough biology and, more importantly, can apply that knowledge to experiments, practical stuff, and weirdish questions, you’ll be fine on the test.
I bought the 2015 book because that was what was available to me, but I can only assume the 2016 version is more improved than the copy I had. Also, I found BozemanScience on Youtube to be a great resource. I love his Biology and AP Biology playlists. You should check him out if you haven’t already.
Good luck!
Thanks! If anyone else has any opinions I am still taking them before I make a last choice.