<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I am a rising freshman and would like to take either AP Biology, AP Chemistry, or AP Physics C Mechanics next year. I will also be concurrently enrolled in AP Calculus AB after completing Honors Algebra 3-4 this year in middle school. </p>
<p>Regarding each: </p>
<p>AP Biology: What is the best AP prep book for this class? If I want to self-study regular Bio over the summer, what is the best website or book to use? Will I need to know some Chem for Bio? Are the concepts difficult to understand? There seems to be a lot of memorization...</p>
<p>AP Chemistry: What is the best AP prep book for this class? If I want to self-study regular Chem over the summer, what is the best website or book to use? Do I need to learn some Bio for Chem? Is the changed AP test curriculum (beginning May 2014) harder/easier than it was before? What changed?</p>
<p>AP Physics C Mechanics: My counselor did not recommend this one because I wasn't in AP Calculus BC yet. I probably won't take it. How does this course compare in difficulty to the other 2 above?</p>
<p>First off, I’d say you’re crazy to spend your last summer before HS self-studying a subject that you will learn next year. Enjoy the summer. Be a kid.</p>
<p>Now, if you want to know the best supplemental materials to use starting in September :), I would say Cliffs for Biology and Princeton Review for Chemistry and Physics.</p>
<p>Regarding the difficulty of Physics C, I took both mechanics and E&M as a sophomore. E&M is definitely harder than mechanics. Mechanics is slightly harder than Chem. Bio is a breeze compared to Chem and Physics.</p>
<p>While you do not need Calculus BC for Physics C, I’d recommend taking Chem first.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I know a current sophomore who was in a similar situation to you, starting HS with calc BC and looking to get ahead in science. He ended up taking the usual track of biology, chemistry, and physics (next year), but took the AP version of each, starting with AP bio. You could probably reverse that order, but I wouldn’t recommend taking physics C if you haven’t seen calc yet.</p>
<p>I took AP chem before the exam was revised so I can’t comment on that and I haven’t even taken AP Bio. It seems like it (chem) is still reasonably difficult without being insane. The labs are fun, too.</p>
<p>I definitely concur with @skieurope though; enjoy your summer!!</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! I won’t be spending too long studying this summer because I’ll also be going to Europe and doing other fun things. :P</p>
<p>So now I’m deciding between AP Bio or AP Chem, but I’m leaning towards AP Bio. I might also ask my counselor about AP Environmental Science. How difficult is that class compared to AP Bio and AP Chem?</p>
<p>When it comes time to apply to college, admissions officers will value Bio/Chem/Physics over Environmental Science.</p>
<p>Going to Europe sounds awesome! I hope you have fun.</p>
<p>APES (probably the best acronym for an AP class, maybe tied with MEH for Modern European History) is supposed to be a fairly easy class. At least here, the students who take it aren’t always the ones with a keen interest in science. I’d generally recommend bio or chem instead, but take whatever interests you and if you love environmental science, go for it.</p>
<p>Took AP Bio this year, and I was really surprised by the AP test and its structure. So, they changed up the test 2 years ago and made it less memory based–i.e memorizing specific enzymes and their functions–and much more critical thinking based–you’re given a data set or experimental setup and told to explain it. Here are the 2013 Open response questions <a href=“https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/ap-student/pdf/biology/ap-2013-biology-free-response-questions.pdf”>https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/ap-student/pdf/biology/ap-2013-biology-free-response-questions.pdf</a>. You can see that these questions are very big idea based and don’t hit many deep specifics. I had a pretty bad teacher, and we moved really slow in the class. I managed to get a high 4 on the practice test with absolutely no prep, and I know I got at least a 4, probably a 5, on the actual test. You don’t really need to know any chem for the test. It really seems like a lot of memorization, but since the re-structure of the test it really isn’t. The concepts are not that difficult to understand (watch bozeman biology videos on youtube, really helpful). The test itself this year actually had little to no questions on the topics I dwelled on a lot like Cellular Respiration, Photosynthesis, membranes, and macromolecules. It was actually very much based on ecology. Self-study is definitely not that hard.</p>
<p>I took Ap bio this year and would say that Cliff Notes is the best review book also make sure you look over the MCs on the college board website for the restructured test they are extremely helpful :)</p>
<p>Wow, so many replies! 
Many of you said that APES wouldn’t be that helpful in the future, but I plan to take AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics C Mechanics, and APES (all the sciences my school offers besides Comp Sci). I just thought that APES would be a little easier on my freshman year. However, it seems that I’ll get busier and busier as I advance through high school, so maybe AP Bio is the better choice here.</p>
<p>Anyways, how does the curve work for AP Bio?</p>
<p>@ninjadu The curve is very generous. Somewhere around a 60% to get a 5.</p>
<p>WHOA! That’s pretty big of a curve. :O</p>
<p>AP Bio:
@Kitsyxoxo Thanks! If I end up taking AP Bio, I’ll definitely get Cliff Notes to preview during the summer. I looked at it on Amazon, and it was published in 2013… should I wait for a new one to come out?
@ivaar004 I looked at some of the questions from the link you posted. There seems to be a lot of reading… wow. So the basic point is that the revised AP Bio is focused on less memorization and more on “critical thinking and applying knowledge”, right? Also, I have no idea how to answer the first question… lol. Does AP Bio teach you the tendency of fruit flies? (or else I might fail :P)</p>
<p>APES:
On the other hand, is knowing some Bio and Chem necessary to do well in APES?</p>
<p>@ninjadu For that question, only one part of it is about the fruit fly distribution, and you don’t need to know anything specifically about fruit flies (you could just say that they would go towards the glucose soaked cotton because they undergo cellular respiration and need glucose). And yeah there is A LOT of reading on the AP Bio test, especially some of the multiple choice questions have maybe a whole page of reading for one question. But, it really seems like they put simple concepts within these long readings, mainly trying to just intimidate you. Also, the labs you will do in class will help a lot with the open response questions. My class did a lab on different wavelengths of color and their effects on light absorption rates and photosynthesis rates.</p>
<p>My counselor has confirmed that I will be taking AP Biology the coming year! The prerequisites for it are Bio 1 and Chem 1-2 at my school. Therefore, does anyone know good websites to learn Bio and Chem (btw, it doesn’t have to be free :))?</p>
<p>@Ninjadu There is no easy way to learn bio. It requires alot of brute force Memorization. Also when memorizing keep in the back of your mind the big picture. What the heck is Alg3-4?</p>
<p>@wcao9311 The schools in my area call Algebra 2 = Algebra 3-4.</p>
<p>My school’s summer assignment for AP Biology requires reading one of: Your Inner Fish, Survival of the Sickest, or the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Which do you recommend; why?</p>