@StoicCyclops Thanks for the rundown! Wow, I wish my teacher would’ve explained it in a table, it would’ve really helped, haha. Well, good thing is, like you said, there’s a bit of an upward curve and we’re going into evolution now, which is startlingly easier than what I expected. Then again, it’s evolution. What would you say the toughest parts of AP Bio were, just as a heads up? I’m finding Biochem to be the toughest…
@onceand4all I asked some seniors that took AP Bio last year and according to them, reading the book is essential, haha. They recommended reading each chapter twice until the info sort of “sunk in”. Let me tell you, biochem reaped my soul. Thankfully, evolution should be MUCH easier. If you can work through biochem you should be alright. As for study books, I’ve heard the best one is Cliff’s. I just bought it and it’s pretty helpful, but it’s more geared towards review—sadly, nothing can replace the book. Though there are tons of helpful resources on Prezi, Crash Course, and Quizlet that helps! Let me know what works for you!
@riesling Happy to help - I would say that Biochemistry is one of the more challenging units for most students. I think evolution and ecology are very fun and usually easier.
the other really challenging sections according to students I’ve worked with are going to be cellular biology sections on transcription and translation (and their regulation). You get some significant complexity in talking about human body systems as well.
But near may biochemistry is usually a focal review point. Do you have your properties of water and their importance down? They all relate back to hydrogen bonding.
Offering some tips for anyone who wants them. I took AP Bio last year and it was by far the most challenging course that I have ever taken, simply because of the sheer volume of reading. So with that being said, I offer tip number one. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE ON READING. This is true for every class, but especially for bio, because of the sheer volume of information in the Campbell’s book. I recommend allotting about three days for one chapter if possible. That’s not how my teacher did it, but I asked her for a list of units and tried to get ahead. The Campbell’s book is very dense and you will be frustrated for sure. Tip number two- Buy two review books. The two I recommend are the thick Barron’s book and the Five Steps to a Five Review Book. The Barron’s book is one you should use to supplement your AP exam prep. The Five Steps book is great for use during the year. I wouldn’t get a complex topic like glycolysis in class and the Five Steps book made it simple and easy to understand.
Bump! I wanted to mention that watching Bozeman videos really clarifies some confusing concepts in the Campbell book. He makes everything much easier to understand.
I’m currently a sophomore and I’m super excited to have the opportunity to take on challenging courses next year. My school offers both AP Biology and IB Biology HL. I keep going back and forth as to which I want to take. At this point, I am leaning towards AP Bio, however I do have a few general questions…
1.) I understand that there is a lot of rote memorization involved in the course, does it get harder as the course goes on or do you kind of get used to it? I’m trying to do like brain training apps to get better at memorization in preparation for ap biology.
2.) What are usually seen as the most challenging and least challenging units in the curriculum?
3.) If anyone knows stuff about IB Bio as well, please provide some information as to the differences between the two courses? My guidance counselor is pretty biased and is pro AP on everything so I feel that I can’t get a real answer as to which I would be better fitted for.
4.) Is AP Bio really as hard as everyone says it is? All over the internet it is labeled as one of the hardest APs, memorization doesn’t really seem too intimidating to me compared to like chem or physics. Is the information itself and the vocabulary as challenging as everyone makes it to be?
I actually don’t think it’s so much about rote memorization as absorption. There were some units where I had to buckle down and cram stuff into my head, but if you take good notes, read the book, and watch either Bozeman or Crash Course, you should be fine.
I don’t know. I’m about halfway through the course and evolution was probably the easiest and kidneys and osmoregulation was one of the hardest.
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For me, no. I think it’s one of my easiest classes. Super chill, not a lot of homework, awesome teacher. I spend an average of about 10-15 minutes a night on it and I have a 95. However, most people in my class complain about how hard it is, so take what I saw with a grain of salt. (I just really, really like biology.)
A message to all AP Bio students from a person who self-studied and took the exam last year
For review books: DO NOT use the Princeton Review. It does not include key body systems you need to know but are not explicitly included on the curriculum (It only has the nervous, endocrine, and reprovductive, however, it is good to know digestive, and urinary system and some others as well.) The BEST review book that I found was the Campbell’s Review Book for AP Bio. This book followed the Campbells textbook and included all the AP labs, everything you needed to know, and other useful tips.
For practice exams: Nearly ALL of the practice exams in review books were either too easy or too hard. It is nearly impossible to replicate the AP bio questions, beacause very few of them are just trivial infomration (which is why the Barron’s flashcards are not very helpful). I took the PR exam and felt that there were just not enough data analysis questions.
For THE AP EXAM: It is a long exam! Bring a snack but don’t leave it in your bag because you may not be able to acess during the break. The multiple choice section is difficult timewise because the grid ins (at least last year) consume a lot of your time. You NEED to be able to analyse data given and interpret it QUICKLY. Basically every other question contained a graph of some sort. In addition, there was no Chi-square, hardy-weinberg, photosynthesis, or respiration on the exam last year, however, you should still know these topics well. Also, the last few questions of the MC section take a long time to read; don’t underestimate the time it takes to answer. The free response questions also require data analysis. If you are stumped, always put something down (better something than nothing). The planning time is best used thouroughly reading the first question and starting it. Spending time rewriting your notes is a waste of time. As soon as you are ready to go, start the first question, don’t go on to the second as it will get you distracted. In conclusion, to find the best AP practice exam possible look for the released exams availible. If possible, ask your teacher if you could take one of the most recent exams (since it may not be released, so your teacher will have to collect it at the end). Review what you got wrong and why you messed up.
@StoicCyclops Hi, I am self-studying for the AP biology because my school doesn’t offer any AP. I am starting prep this week, but I am really torn between the various resources out there. I have Campbells 2nd or 3rd edition i guess, but it’s really hard to self study from it because it’s really dense and I am also reviewing for the SAT II Biology from 2 prep books, so the book makes me really nervous. What books do you recommend for my case? I read that together , Sterling AP Biology Practice Questions: High Yield AP Biology Questions , CliffsNotes AP Biology 5th Edition, and CliffsNotes AP Biology 4th Edition (Pearson Education) are best for preparation. So do you think that those 3 would fully prepare me, knowing that I don’t take any AP classes?
Can’t believe I just found this thread.
AP Bio’s just a brutal beatdown at my school. I had my midterm yesterday and I’m fairly certain I got a bad grade on it, which is odd, considering I was doing somewhat decently before this.
We have just over a month’s worth of time before the exam. I’ve waited so long to start my preparation and feel like I’m in a pretty bad spot in terms of concept understanding. Do you think studying all of April is enough for me to score a 4?
My teacher scans the sterling book and gives us print outs. It is pretty good. I bought the cliffsnotes but I feel like it has way too many unnecessary details.
I’m using Barron’s to review, but some of the review seems excessive. Can anyone tell me what is useful to study and what isn’t? Is there a % breakdown of what topics appear on the MC?
For example, how much of the “Human Physiology” section actually shows up on the test?
