<p>I’m going to read through Cliffs this weekend. This is the one test where I really want a 5</p>
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<p>pasword: CC</p>
<p>abdallah, thank you!!</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me more about how the essays are graded? Is there a specific criteria/rubric (like there is for, say, world history)?
My teacher hardly went over this so I’m worried about those 4 FRQs.
It’s written in pen right?
Thanks!</p>
<p>@Harmonium: Yes. To get an idea of how they’re graded, I’d recommend checking out the past FRQs and their rubrics: [AP:</a> Biology](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/biology/samp.html?biology]AP:”>AP Biology Exam – AP Students | College Board). Pick a year from the top section, then pick the corresponding scoring guidelines from the section below. :)</p>
<p>I’m not sure what your teacher DID tell you, but I always hear that you can get points for just about anything that pertains to the essay. Write about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that you can think of that is related to the question being asked. I gave this example elsewhere: if an FRQ asks you to describe the role and function of four particular enzymes that you’ve never heard of, you can probably garner a few points just for describing enzymes in general, their universal function, how they are regulated, etc. If you have absolutely NO idea what to write, don’t write nothing. As soon as you put your pen down before time is up, you’ve given up - you’ve quit. If you want a 5, you won’t quit, and you will work until the very last second. It’s okay to B.S. your FRQs. Points are never deducted. You start with 0 and you earn points as you include information in your essays.</p>
<p>Princeton Review is the best IMO. Prepared for AP Bio in 2 days…</p>
<p>@Olleger: Now that the released exams have been posted (see above), you should take at least two of them and see how you’re doing. The results with released exams will be more accurate than with Barron’s exams. </p>
<p>I’ve taken two released exams and my score is fairly consistent: 60-64. This is the low end of being on my way to a 5. I’m hoping that after reading Cliff’s this weekend, I can improve that by about 10 points. </p>
<p>Once I take the Cliff’s practice tests, I’ll report back to see how different my scores are. If I do much better on Cliff’s, then it means they are too easy compared to the actual test. If I do much worse, than they are harder than the actual exam.</p>
<p>Hey, do you think taxonomy is important? I really don’t want to waste time on that…it bores me more than any other topic…Can i get a 5 without it (like if it only comes for 3-5 multiple choice and nothing else)</p>
<p>Is taxonomy the animal diversity unit (all the kingdoms, phyla, and such)?</p>
<p>^
yea the in-depth classification</p>
<p>Well if you’re not self-studying and you’ve covered it in class before, then I wouldn’t prioritize it. However, if you have not even looked at it, then I’d say you should at least skim the section.</p>
<p>What I’m doing to efficiently study is: </p>
<p>1) Review the subjects that we never touched on in class (many of the body systems: excretion, nervous, digestive, muscular, immune, and endocrine, as well as animal reproduction). I’m learning about these sections with Cliff’s, but I’m also skimming Campbell’s as I go along, looking at the diagrams and figures. </p>
<p>2) Then I’m reviewing the subjects that we HAVE covered before, but that have escaped my memory (cellular respiration, molecular genetics, etc.).</p>
<p>3) Lastly, I plan to make a final run through Cliff’s from front to back. Although it won’t be very detailed, it won’t be important, because in steps 1 and 2, I will have thoroughly covered my weak points.</p>
<p>It sounds like a lot, but it can be done in a weekend. I’ve been up since 8 this morning, and am going to be at it all day. :)</p>
<p>Thanks SeekingUni. Good luck with your studying! :)</p>
<p>I used cliffs to study for this test and I definitely thought the practice tests in the book were more difficult than the past AP Tests we took in class. I thought the review in Cliff’s is very good though.</p>