Since no one else made a thread for this school year I thought I’d take the liberty to do so myself. Feel free to ask for help. We’re all a big family!
Helloooo! I think I’m going to self-study Biology this year, I’ve already bought Campbell’s textbook. Any tips on self-studying?
I’m really nervous for AP Bio- I’m not really a science person but loved bio freshman year. Any tips?
I’m taking AP Biology this year as a Junior and really don’t know what to expect. Any tips on studying for the exam, self-studying at home, summer studying, and pratice books? Thanks 
Rising soph, taking this alongside H Chem. I’m super excited.
I got my book yesterday! I’m a little worried, because it’s from 2008 and thus years before the redesign.
That campbell book is always a bit intimidating and heavy! AP biology probably has one of the highest content volumes of any AP subject, definitely the most of the AP Courses i took , but also my favorite. I’d just suggest reading along with your class even if the reading isn’t assigned, and really focusing on the earlier units. If you’re strong in the biochem stuff the rest of the year is a lot easier and you wont have to cram as much near the end. I got a 5 without too much stress near the test because I worked throughout the year.
Keep your vocabulary in order - it really helps on the free response to be able to define your terms and in eliminating wrong answers for the M/C
My teacher is hilarious!
Hey guys! My first test is tomorrow and I’m really nervous 
My teacher is really hard and she already admitted the test was going to be really difficult. I don’t know what to expect!! Wish me luck…
@onceand4all how did it go? Was it biochem? That can be a tough unit to face right at the beginning of the year. The good news is that your teacher is likely going upward in scope and you’ll be seeing some of the easier material close to the test while you’re trying to review and get things in order. Best wishes!
@StoicCyclops It was pretty difficult but not in the way that I expected it to be- It was a lot more analysis than I expected, but considering that’s how the newer exam is set up it makes sense. The test covered biochem & biological molecules, cells, membrane and transport, and cellular communication. Today was only MC- we take our FRQs tomorrow which is freaking me out a little bit because I feel like it could be on practically anything! Thanks for the well wishes!
@onceand4all I hear you - that’s a class that moves really fast and has a ton of materials. I tutored some students in that course last year. The nice thing is that even though the pace stays high that is really the most technical section of the material in in my opinion and you’re getting it out of the way early as you should.
For specific topics I like to refer people to the Khanacademy videos, they do a good job of defining terms. I think in FRQ’s if you can identify and define related terms you’re always pretty close to making that crucial connection and scoring some big points.
Here’s one on the cell membrane for instance https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/cells/cell-membrane-overview/v/cell-membrane-introduction
I also think this guide is solid - and AP focused with links to some strong resources
@StoicCyclops Thank you for the resources!! I definitely need it… I failed my MC section
Do you have any study tips or methods of studying that would be helpful? I spent over 10 hours of studying and I still literally failed… I feel like I don’t know how to study correctly, especially for the multiple choice. They were all application-based and I’m so used to answering knowledge-based biology questions. They’re so lengthy and I feel like I get lost halfway through the problem. I’m really scared about my grade in the class right now, I don’t want to fail!
I’m sorry the MC went badly. It’s always frustrating to work hard and not get the result you want, but it happens to everybody sometimes and this is probably the most challenging unit of AP Biology. Some teachers choose to make the tests really hard because the test is hard - but you don’t need to get 90 percent of the questions right on the ap exam to get a good score (although it’s ideal)
In my experience as student and as an educator I think it’s important to take notes by hand and make a study guide of the things that you’re still working on memorizing. Carry that around with you and you can look at it whenever you have 5 extra minutes. The tricky part with AP bio is that you have to learn and master a ton of content AND THEN go about applying it , but you’ve gotta have the info down before you can do that.
My best prof at Northwestern taught me to take concepts and build a web, spending about 30 seconds building out from a key word with other terms you see a connection with, then move on to one of those branches and build from there. That will get you to see the links that tie these things together.
Finally, practice. there are some good review books out there: here’s a discussion on a premed forum http://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/threads/best-prep-books-for-ap-chem-and-ap-bio.664902/
There are tons of really good practice questions at these two sites:
https://www.albert.io/ap-biology/questions
http://www.appracticeexams.com/ap-biology
Some of these are free while others require an upgrade, but it could be a good place to start your studying.
Let me know if there’s anything else i can advise on.
I’m a little miffed since I started school four days ago (my school starts pretty late) and we just had a test on macromolecules that I sorta totally failed 
In retrospect, everyone skimmed through the book over summer and made sure to read the chapter, but I didn’t and just read the night before.
I find that Campbell is really intense when it comes to content and hard to understand properly, esp. the models. If anyone knows good resources that can help translate all the science-y language into easier terms I’d be grateful haha.
@StoicCyclops Thank you so much! I have this bad habit of taking extensive notes and then not bothering to look back on them. The web idea is definitely a good one- I’m going to try it this unit. I looked through the albert.io practice questions and they also seem to resemble the application-type questions on my test, which is very helpful because I’ve been having trouble finding multiple choice questions that resemble what I am looking for. Thank you!!
Sorry to keep bothering you, but I have one more question: How do you recommend “learning” the information? My teacher only spends 40 minutes lecturing each unit and while it makes sense in the moment, when I go home and attempt to review my notes it feels as though I’ve forgotten everything. Not to mention the fact that there is just SO much content. Like @riesling said above, Campbell is helpful and good at explaining concepts but it takes me hours just to get through a single chapter, making it impossible for me to balance reading it nightly with my other homework and commitments. Are there any other helpful textbooks you would recommend looking through, or do you just think skimming through a review book is sufficient? I feel lost as to what information is important and what information is “irrelevant.”
I’ve got a lab due tomorrow that I’ve barely started
No worries happy to answer any questions.
I remember my first tour through that campbell book, and it is truly a time commitment to read and take notes on. That’s something that I did and would highly recommend doing. I wouldn’t say there is a direct substitute for your initial read, though reviewing notes and review books are good for later on.
I would block off a chunk of time on weekend mornings to really get through a chapter and try to understand it. You can get an idea from your teacher/lecture what is important but as always focus on your bolded terms and keep an ongoing bank of those. As you answer questions throughout the year you’ll get a better idea of what key concepts are being pushed, but that’s a practice thing. Your teacher will skip chapters and sections entirely that aren’t on the test, so don’t think you’ll need to read every page in that massive text.
One thing you could try is a study group with 3 friends. Everyone should read the chapter but assign a quarter of it to each member that they’ll have to walk the other 3 people through. You’ll get info presented again and teaching is a great way to learn.
In terms of macromolecules and biochem - you’ve got to be able to fill out a table that includes all the functions, major types, monomers and bonds for the major macromolecules. I believe the campbell book has one, and there are several online.
ie: carbs (polysaccharides)
starch - plant energy storage - glucose monomers - glycosidic linkages in straight chain
cellulose - plant structure - glucose monomers - glycosidic linkages in straight chain
glycogen - animal short term energy - glucose monomers branched glycosidic linkages
should be repeatable for all 4 major groups, plus know about dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis (the reaction types by which we build and break)
Cliff notes can help out a lot with AP Bio guys. There’s also a lot of great blogs and resources to help you out. I run a blog on my site as well that may of help to you guys: exammasters dot ca/blog