<p>Don’t stress time over Barron’s. Do all the FRQ online and u will do great :)</p>
<p>What prep book do you guys recommend? Cliffnotes or Barron’s? I looked at the reviews and everyone said that both were good. I’m aiming on getting a 5 on the exam. If you read Campbell and the prep book, would that be enough? </p>
<p>I’m taking bio this year, is there anything that you guys would recommend doing over the summer to get a head start and lessen some of the workload?</p>
<p>@silmaril Not really, Bio was a pretty decent class, when about workload. Maybe look at the first few chapters of Campbell’s if you haven’t taken Chem yet. Otherwise I think you’d be fine. </p>
<p>If you really wanted to, I guess you could get a head start on parts of a cell/cell membrane stuff because that’ll pop up alot like in PS/CR, Protein synthesis, and stuff</p>
<p>Hi guys! I’m a rising senior who will be taking the AP Bio exam in May 2015. @Zeppelin7, you seem pretty knowledgeable about the new and revised exam. Which topics do you think I should review the most? (Keep in mind that I have already taken the new AP Chem test and gotten a 5 on it and that I am starting to read the AP Bio book in the summer)</p>
<p>Kapplan guide is absolutely perfect imo, and the Campbell is WAYYYY too dense for the AP exam</p>
<p>I’ll be taking AP Bio as a junior this year. Does anyone recommend Cliffs? I’ve seen a lot of good reviews about it but I’ve also heard that the exam recently changed so Cliffs may not be as effective as it was before. </p>
<p>I just got my score back. Got at 5. Rising senior. I am posting here to help y’all next year. I read last year’s thread before the test and it helped, so I’m here to be here for you to continue the thread to the next year! If you’re taking ap bio in the 2014-15 academic year, you should know that the curriculum has changed — period to fall 2012, the curriculum was heavily based on WHAT you know (content); after it changed, it focuses now on HOW you can apply WHAT you know to a situation. For example, a question pre-2012 could be “which of the following is not a mechanism by which evolution occurs”. Post-2012: “the mechanism by which evolution occurs is natural selection. Which of the following organisms would be considered most fit when there is hawk predation occurring?” Pre-2012 questions were solely regurgitation; in my example, simply pick out which option isn’t the mechanism. Post-2012 questions are more contextual…the options could give you an animal who is described as campflauged, little, and can live under bedrocks in a river, and another option that describes a rainbow trout that swims near the surface. Of these two options, the former obviously the answer. Most of the MC is like this. There are, however, some questions that require knowledge. The best way to prepare for them (and for the FRQs too) is to go to the textbook. I know, I know, no one wants to go to that 19452101-pound book, but it really is helpful. My teacher told me they wrote Campbell by first designing the figures/pictures, and THEN writing the text to explain them. Using this information, i decided to just look at and understand the pictures in the book rather than reading, since the text is an expanded version of the pictures. I distinctly remember one MC question that dealt with genetics. I couldn’t for the life of me remember the answer, but there was good news: the question mentioned flies and chromosomes. I remember looking at a diagram in Campbell of flies and chromosomes, and picked out the answer immediately. I’d recommend doing this especially if you’re a visual learner.</p>
<p>As for textbooks: I bought Barron’s, cliffs, and crash course. Barron’s and cliffs were good because they reviewed content, but i would STRONGLY RECOMMEND the crash course book. It is organized by the “4 big ideas” (how the new curriculum is outlined). I also read the course description guide that CB posted. Good review.</p>
<p>For videos: Bozeman is great, crash course is ok (goes too fast, not as in depth as bozeman, but it is funnier than Bozeman). For FRQs: look at past scoring guidelines. Look what they look for!!! You actually get a decent amount of points just stating the obvious!!</p>
<p>Also, there’s a realllllyyyyyy strong possibility that 1+ FRQs will deal with the human body. For my test, one question asked about the immune system; another, the nervous. 2/8 questions…the points rack up, so know your systems. The 3 main ones CB loves are nervous, immune, and endocrine. There were some MCQs on them too.</p>
<p>Just a side note: START STUDYING EARLY. I kinda procrastinated and started like a week or so before, and felt super stressed. If you want to be de-stressed, start like a month ahead. Break down the chapters and allocate like 30min a day to review some concept. It’s worth it to do it leisurely and over a long period of time.</p>
<p>~5% of the 2013 test takers got 5s, and ~6.5% for 2014. I won’t lie, it’s a tough test. Study hard. And always remember, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t pass/don’t get your desired grade. Even if you have to take intro bio in college, you’ll already be ahead because you’ve learned the material one time around. Good luck!</p>
<p>@turnips8 getting a Barron’s/cliffnotes/cc book in the beginning of the year is useless right? All you need to do well in the class itself is the Campbell book?</p>
<p>@tagi1998 for the class itself, Campbell will do. The text, however, be really intense. CC breaks down the material into teen language, so it’s a good accompaniment to Campbell. Something I wish I would’ve done was buy CC earlier and annotate it so I’d have all my notes in there when it was time to study for ap exam. But since I bought it too late, I couldn’t. Buying it early could help. If you really want a comprehensive understanding of the material, buy CC. if you don’t like it, go to Cliffs. Then to Barron’s. I like the books’ content/formatting from greatest to least in that order. Hope this helped.</p>
<ul>
<li>in my first post, I meant post-2012, not period-2012</li>
</ul>
<p>@turnips8 annotate? what do you exactly mean by that? you mean just take notes in it?</p>
<p>@tagi1998 ya like highlighting and writing down examples that explain processes, pictures and acronyms to help me memorize, etc. you have little under a year until you take the test…don’t worry 
OH I just remembered something. It depends on the edition of Campbell you have. There are PowerPoints made for each chapter that are great for review. Google “biology junction Campbell <em>enter edition number</em> edition PowerPoints”. They’re a life saver especially when it comes to the genetics unit lol</p>
<p>Helpful link. Campbell in outline form:
<a href=“http://www.centralislip.k12.ny.us/webpages/jsaffer/apbiology.cfm?subpage=1583158”>http://www.centralislip.k12.ny.us/webpages/jsaffer/apbiology.cfm?subpage=1583158</a></p>
<p>Stupid question…but does anyone who took AP Bio last year have a preferred calculator for the class?</p>
<p>@Matt846 the only calculations you’ll do is the basic x,/,+,-. My teacher limited us to only a four-function calculator. CB posted stipulations as to what type of calc you’re allowed to use on their website. Try to find it and use a calc which suffices their requirements throughout the year so you’re accustomed.</p>
<p>@gemar14 well my version had little to nothing to do with whatever semester 1 is. The frqs and mc was mostly 2nd semester. </p>
<p>One thing I forgot to mention, the main reason why I scored well (turns out I got a 5 after all, so I guess I’m a good frq bser) was because I did the official practice tests and DO THE REALESED FRQS, MAKES IT MUCH EASIER, WHETHER YOU ARE BSING IT OR NOT</p>
<p>I got a 5. I read Barron’s twice all the way through (every freakin’ chapter, reproduction was a mess) and referred back to the huge Campbell book throughout the year. I watched some Crash Course videos when it got closer to the exam, but the Campbell book/Barron’s were the most useful. Make sure to study ALL THE BIO MATH. STUDY Q10, STANDARD DEVIATION!!!
The FRQ’s this year were so annoyingly difficult (mainly the first long one of form O), much harder than last year’s in my opinion. The MC was pretty easy for an AP exam, so I can see how someone with a good teacher may not have to study much. FRQs are the killers though; really practice those.</p>
<p>@sillyface oh thanks. Can I ask when you read through the Barron’s book? One month before or 2 months before the exam? Or did you read it throughout the year? </p>