***AP Biology Thread 2015-2016***

I am a rising senior and will be taking AP bio. I am extremely excited, this is the class I have been anticipating my entire high school career!

I also have it everyday (well technically, I have it for 4 days straight). @Ngzk07

APWH and AP Bio are going to be my first two APs for my Sophomore year and I’m scared. For my school, we had to take the SAT II as a prerequisite and I got a 640 on it (my teacher didn’t tutor us that well, I didn’t like PR that much, and procrastinated a lot). I’m planning on retaking the SAT II this October and planning on buying Campbell’s Biology 9th Edition + CliffsAP Biology 4th Edition. I heard people from Barron’s didn’t like it that much if you were new to it and if you already had some knowledge of Biology on a collegiate level, then Barron’s was semi-helpful. CliffsAP on the other hand was popular in my school for good and technical information. However, one thing that I am scared of is the grading. How did you get a 5 for those who took the test.

This year I also took Bio and got a 5.
I would recommend using both CliffNotes and Barrons as your textbooks. Both will reinforce each other, with Barrons being your textbook and CliffNotes being your study guide. Also it will help you to know that the FRQs for the 2015 AP Bio exam most likely won’t be there for next years so don’t fret about those topics as much except Evolution and Cellular Respiration.
For the MC, do not worry about them just have some basic background on the general concepts of Biology and you are okay.
Do not feel intimidated by the exam nor the class(unless the teacher is a doozie then may the odds be ever in your favor).
For FRQs and MC, if there is a question you do not know skip it, but do not skip many in a row beause then you will feel lost and disheartened.
CAMPBELL’s Biology was crazy and did not read that only little brief sections, that book is too much.

@Jason63 I have a Barron’s SAT II Bio Book, can that be a good alternative to Barron’s AP Bio, because I skimmed through the book and the information was almost adjacent to my SAT II book. Another thing is that I am using getafive.com and took their diagnostics and got 54% compared to my APWH diagonstics, which was 84%. A lot of people said that Campbell’s Biology has a lot of information that intimidated many AP Bio students but it was considered to be the Bible of AP Bio. Also, do you have any tips on how to study and on what should I focus (aside from Evolution + Cellular Respiration).

I am self studying as a junior. I am taking 9 AP’s total 5 with classes and 4 self study (and yes, I realize i will probably die). I have Cliffs, Barrons and an Adv Bio textbook (i took adv bio the summer before freshman year and had to but my own book). I also watch the Crash Course videos on youtube as well as some khan academy videos. There is an AP Bio class at my school (I just cant fit it in my schedule) so I was going to talk to the teacher and see if I could do the labs at lunch with the kids that were absent that day, join her class page ect.
Any other tips? Has anyone else self-studied for the new test and done well?

@curiousscience I am planning on doing that as well. If anyone had tips/resources/info it would be much appreciated!

@darkcrescendo Campbell’s biology is a very intimidating book which is why you should read that only when you are learning about major processes(i.e. Protein synthesis, DNA replication, photosynthesis). If there are any specific topics to study for aside from those you have mentioned, my best guess for what the exam will cover assuming they do not repeat the same topics they have covered (aside from evolution and cellular respiration) I would say photosynthesis, body systems, genetics (specifically in application to evolution), and possibly protein/DNA synthesis.

Also, this year I am surprised they did not ask how to construct your own lab, only what would your hypothesis be, I strongly recommend paying increased attention to how the labs are done in your AP Bio class, for those who are self-studying I suggest watching Bozemanscience only for the labs and how he does it.

So apparently college board is making changes to the ap bio curriculum again?

@human997 What do you mean? Didn’t it change for the 2013 exam? Anyways, I got Campbell’s Biology book and started to study for the class. I’m planning on retaking the SAT II Bio M Test because I got 640 and need 750 for my designated school. But the thing is that I’m taking SAT II World History and Chemistry on June and pondering on when I should retake my Bio. I was thinking on either Oct/Nov or May. What do you think is a better date?

Are you taking additional AP’s next year or the SAT/ACT? If so, you’ll probably take these around May, and you’ll have your hands full. I would recommend reviewing this summer for the two tests and taking them in Oct/Nov.

I know this is slightly off topic, but what SAT Subject test for Bio do I take after AP Biology self-study? Biology-E or -M?

So pumped for this course haha lol I’m crazy.
@curiousscience My bio teacher who will be teaching ap said to take e if you’re good at environmental units or take m if you’re good at the molecular units.

@greeneggsandham9 Haha thanks for the tip! It’s too early to see what I am good at, but the first few chapters on molecular units don’t seem that bad. So far, Barron’s seems to be the better book in helping me understand the material (may be biased as I don’t feel as interested in the material when reading the same thing over again) compared to Cliffsnotes. Both books have a few words that weren’t talked about in the book like transpirational-pull cohesion tension. I think the practice tests are the most important aspects of these books.

@LetsGoPats I am taking the SAT/ACT next year (right now I am an uprising Sophomore). The thing is that if I self study for Chem I won’t do as good unless if I have a year filled with experience. World History is really easy but the thing is that I am on a budget and don’t want to waste my fee waivers. I already used one for Bio E/M and planning on using it again either Oct/Nov or Dec.

@curiousscience May I ask if you are using the SAT book or the AP book? Because for the SAT II, Barron’s has almost the same information in both AP Bio and Bio E/M.

@darkcrescendo I don’t think we need to buy another separate book for SAT II Bio E/M do we? I have the impression that AP Biology is more than enough to cover the topics of SAT II. Sorry, I can’t really help you on what book to use. Does College Board offer any free practice questions online?

has anyone grabbed a test-prep book for 2016 new AP bio test? they are coming up on Amazon but i have no clue on which one would work. (based on experience from AP physics 1, Princeton would probablywork the worst)

is the 2016 NEW ap bio exam new in a way more like the NEW chem one(which is like addition/subtraction of topics) or the NEW physics one(which is basically a completely new exam)?

Wait, what do you mean by the “NEW” AP Bio exam.