AP books for EVERYBODY! :D

<p>any recommendations for calc AB, chem, lang, and us?</p>

<p>here's what i'm thinking...
calc - barron's or pr
chem - again, barron's or pr
lang - peterson's or kaplan
us - kaplan</p>

<p>(also, feel free to post any other recommendations for others looking for books)</p>

<p>my two cents:</p>

<p>ap enviro
anyone taking enviro should NOT buy the barron's book (the only book published by a test prep company). instead, use the collegeboard's list of recommended textbooks in the exam info pdf file.</p>

<p>ap us
barron's doesn't review any material. it tells you what you should study from other resources and then analyzes question TYPES. like how to approach them and stuff. is it just me, or is that common test strategy? i bet barron's was too lazy to summarize american history. so much for patriotism. (just kidding).</p>

<p>ap stats
kaplan just gives you examples. it's kind of like "hey, here are some problems. oh, you got some wrong. that sucks. next topic!"</p>

<p>ap comp sci A
barron's is good. i don't know anyone who used anything else, though, so i can't really compare. plus, it has both A and AB, so you can save 20 bucks next year!</p>

<p>ap bio
pr is a good review. barron's is too wordy with excessive details. i loved kaplan. in other words, they're comparable to their SAT II bio books.</p>

<p>BIO - Cliffes. No contest.</p>

<p>chem: PR. No contest. (assuming you have zumdahl too)</p>

<p>US: amsco for review, REA for practice tests.</p>

<p>My AP chem teacher said that REA chem problems are as hard or harder than those on the AP test, so that's the book I used. I liked it, but I don't think it told you how to compute your scores. One piece of advice I would give for all subjects would be to make sure your book tells you how to figure out your score--there is nothing, and I mean nothing, more unsatisfying or anti-climactic than spending three hours on a practice test, and then not being able to see how you did. Otherwise, I like Princeton Review--that's what I used for all my tests this year.</p>

<p>calc - textbook; also peterson's guide (used to be arco) is really good
chem - textbook; i used zumdahl but barrons or kaplan is ok
us- just rea and old exams, maybe pr for practice</p>

<p>For Calc I used PR and got a 5. Of course I had an awesome teacher, so I'm not sure how much the PR helped.</p>

<p>APES - I actually felt that the new REA book helped. I bought the book a week before the AP test and merely took the practice tests and then looked at the explanations for the ones I got wrong. Some of the questions were really close to the ones that showed up on the AP test. </p>

<p>US - Old exams and notes. I really recommend outlining your textbook chapters actually, even if your teacher doesn't require it. I didn't use a book, and that prepped me more than anything. It sucks to do, but it REALLY helps.</p>