<p>I am using the Princeton Review books right now for the biology, chemistry, and calc BC AP exams. However, I am not sure if those are the best books to use for the respective exams? Can someone tell me which books they think are best for each exam?</p>
<p>Try petersons for AP calculus</p>
<p>You’ll be fine with PR for all 3, but the most recommended book for AP Biology is Cliff’s. Chemistry and BC Calc, PR is good.</p>
<p>AP Biology - Cliffnotes. If you already know the material very well from the campbell’s text, you will get a 5 without cliffnotes. I got cliff’s ap bio book, but never used it till 5 days before exam. Cramming it like that did not help, so I got a 5 with only knowledge from my ap bio class.</p>
<p>AP Chem - you can try PR to brush up on the “easy-MUST KNOW” stuff, then refer to textbook for topics you are iffy on. Also , do lots of old AP problems.</p>
<p>AP Calculus - rather than a prep book, go do lots and LOTS of old AP problems, and you will get a 5.</p>
<p>Where can I find old multiple choice AP problems? I know that there are quite a few free response on AP Central, but there are very few multiple choice problems. I have Campbell’s textbook for AP Biology, and I was planning to go over the chapters we didn’t cover in class through that and then just do the practice problems in the book. Chemistry we have a crappy textbook (Zumdahl 4th ed) so that’s one test I’d really like a good prep book on.</p>
<p>collegeboard.com</p>
<p>I heard Cliffs is a MUST for AP Bio. </p>
<p>I have PR for chem. It’s pretty amazing. It’s better used as a supplement to the textbook/notes in class though since it’s very concise so if you really need to understand the material, you might use the textbook. Otherwise, it does a great job summarizing the most important areas that you need to know. It has helped me with all my Chem tests this year (which are made up of old AP MC and FR problems)
Barrons is alright. It elaborates a lot more than PR. But it’s kinda wordy and has a bunch of extraneous info. I prefer PR a lot more.</p>
<p>Just do a TON of old AP MC and FR problems for Calc. It’s really the best practice you can do. It doesn’t really help reading a review text.</p>
<p>Peterson’s is amazing for calc, as is Cliff’s for bio. No real opinion about chem, I have PR and it’s fine, but I don’t use it much.</p>
<p>My library has Peterson’s/ARCO for calc, so I think I will avoid buying it and I’ll just use the library’s copy. Not sure about the cliffs for bio. I’m using the Thompson textbook, and I went through the collegeboard’s course guidelines MC questions (~45) and answered nearly all of them right minus a few topics we have not covered yet. I think I am all set for bio. Chem I am a little worried about, and Calc I just need to keep practicing the material and reviewing. I am also doing Latin Virgil, but I assume that none of you are well versed in prep books for that…</p>
<p>PR is pretty good for the difficulty of the Chem test. Calc is pretty much just doing problems, I also used the ARCO book for Calc.</p>
<p>I would not recommend using a book for bio. I have two of them, namely Princeton review and Barrons, they skip over many important details that are absolutely crucial for the ap exam. The best study guide is probably your textbook; in my bio class we use the campbell biology text 5th edition. The chapters are long but the style of writing is much easier to absorb than that of the prep books. I would only recommend getting the prep books to take the practice tests inside.</p>
<p>Good luck</p>