<p>Hi everyone...</p>
<p>So I'm self studying the AP Bio, and planning to take the exam this year (hoping for a 5). I'm currently studying the Campbell book, which I enjoy reading, but I don't think that I will be able to finish the book before the AP exam. For people who have taken the exam, or have experience with AP Bio, what chapters do you think are less important and I can skip? For example, on the AP prep book that I'm using, it does not include cell communication, which is Ch. 11 in the Campbell book. Is it okay to skip those chapters?</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>hi! </p>
<p>I’m a senior and I took AP Bio last year. I didn’t self study, but I had a first year teacher who did not know what she was doing–so it was as if I wasn’t even in the class. I used Campbell’s book as well, and I remember realizing about this time (winter break) that there was no way I was going to finish the book in time for the test. I hadn’t even gotten past genetics at that time. I brought a Princeton Review (and I highly recommend this!) study book and began to read straight from that. I would then refer back to the book only the principals I found in this study book. In addition, I used Pearson’s Lab Bench online to review the ten of the twelve labs we had not covered in class. Even though its somewhat dumbed down, it helped a lot! </p>
<p>Using these two strategies plus going over released exams I managed on getting a five on the test last year. </p>
<p>To answer your question, yes, it is ok to skip these chapters. Focus on what the test covers heavily (plant/animal life) and not on the smaller things (ecology). I know that this worked for me. </p>
<p>I wish you lots of luck! and feel free to pm me with any questions.</p>
<p>Is the Campbell’s textbook 5th edition too outdated to use?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help madrigal. I really like your suggesions and I’m sure other people who are self studying will find it helpful too. I looked at the Pearson’s lab bench and found it very helpful. Sometimes, though, studying from the AP book can be difficult because it is meant to be used as a review. Did you have any experience with other resources to help you learn i.e. Powerpoint, videos, etc? </p>
<p>ianlan: Well… I would think that for the AP exam, it is sufficient, but if you want to studying for the Olympiad or competitions, maybe using a newer textbook is better.</p>
<p>Read Cliff’s review guide. Not any of the others. Cliff’s is simply the best. </p>
<p>Supplement anything you don’t fully grasp or comprehend from the Cliff’s book with the Campbell’s book. Take advantage of some of the much-much-better graphics and illustrations that are in the Campbell’s book, as many of the diagrams in Cliff’s are 2-D and often hard to understand.</p>
<p>As was mentioned, focus more on the topics that are more heavily included in the exam. Use the College Board course description outline to see what percent of the exam is made up of each broad topic, and make sure you know the biggest sections best.</p>
<p>The site mentioned for labs is a good one, and helps familiarize you with the basics of each of the labs.</p>
<p>For me, the best thing that prepared me was 1) reading Cliff’s from front-to-back the weekend before the exam, and 2) taking three released exams (not practice tests). Taking the actual released exams REALLY helped me get a feel for what’s on the exam and what the questions were like. Ultimately, it led to my confidence in the real thing, and I breezed through it, earning my 5.</p>
<p>With this class, I don’t think success is a matter of knowledge and capability; it’s more about how much time you dedicate to studying the material. There were kids in my class who never read, didn’t care, and I know are smarter than me, yet they walked away with 1s and 2s, declaring it as the hardest test they’ve ever took.
Just work hard and study often, and I think you’ll be fine. ;)</p>
<p>@chessfan
I actually didn’t use any powerpoints or videos or anything. I was too cheap to buy anything beside a 12 dollar study book, and I couldn’t find anything for free. One thing that I did end up using which was really helpful was David Macaulay’s “The Way We Work.” I picked up this book like the week before the exam when I realized that I didn’t know jack-squat about the body or its functions besides the very basics. I took it from my younger brother and read it in a day. It explained everything in a very clear succinct manner and was really helpful in explaining this in diagrams and pictures. I would definitely recommend reading this book even though it is technically a kids book. </p>
<p>As for your concern about the study book being a review book and not explaining everything in depth, I had the same problems after reading it, esp. trying to answer FRQs using only the info in the book. However, after carefully looking at the way FRQs are graded online I discovered ALL the info you need is in the study book, you just have to figure out how to utilize it. I practiced the FRQs by bullet pointing the ideas I would have used in my responses and then checking to see if they matched with the actual right answers. This helped a ton because you really learn exactly what is necessary and what is not, more often than not, less is better. It also helped me improve my writing skills. I found that simple declarative sentences were the best to answer the questions. I think that by using only the info in the study book to answer the FRQs actually helped me a bit because it forced me to focus on the most important things and not all the little detailed facts that are always very tempting to write about esp. if you have spent hours studying them. </p>
<p>I will leave off with saying, the last most important thing you should do is go over released exams. There are only so many questions that they can put on the test and they repeat themselves. For example, there’s always seemed to be about 7 different hormones mentioned on each released exam, also there was always one or two question about the lac operon. If you do all the released exams, you’ll see what questions/ideas repeat themselves. </p>
<p>Overall, I wouldn’t worry too much about this exam. If you have a good conceptual knowledge of all the basics, you’ll do fine. It’s not impossible and a lot easier than most people make it out to be.</p>