<p>I'm a junior year, and needless to say, it's been pretty hectic. I took bio this year because I thought we were going to have my old honors bio teacher, who was AMAZING, by the way, but instead, I got my 7th grade life science teacher, who, for lack of a better word, hates me. Also, let's just say she's been subpar in her teaching methods. I haven't really had the motivation to study, because she treats us all like we're still in 7th grade. I had a revelation that I should probably study for the AP exam on my own, since I'm obviously not learning anything now. It's January, and we're only on the cell cycle. She claims we'll be done by mid-April, but I doubt it. I have all the books I need (Barron's, 5 Steps to a 5, and my textbook) to get a good score, but, if I utilize all those resources, can I really get a 4 or a 5 with only 4 months left to study?</p>
<p>it possible but its going to take a lot of work. im a junior and am also taking ap bio. my school doesn’t offer it so im doing independent study. you probably don’t have enough time to go through you entire textbook now so i recommend using the review books, especially the 5 steps. i have the 5 steps for the english and it had 3 study plans, a year long one, a 4-5 month one and a 2-3 week one. im not sure if its the same in the bio book but check. </p>
<p>as far as studying, go to this link: <a href=“Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board”>Supporting Students from Day One to Exam Day – AP Central | College Board;
and go down to topic outline. it breaks down the ap test into sections. focus on the parts that cover most of the test. for ex. organisms and populations is 50% of the test. look at your review book and read the outline for that section and then go back to the textbook for parts you do not understand. in reality, if you can remember everything in one of the review books and nothing more, you have enough knowledge to get a 5. </p>
<p>Email me if you have some questions or don’t understand anything: nisckhan13@**********</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks! There is a 4 month plan in my 5 steps book so I think I’ll follow that.</p>
<p>It can be done. I was taking an Honors Bio class and decided to self-study about a month and a half or so before the exam. I procrastinated a bit on that, and maybe crammed more than I should have. I received a 5, so clearly it is possible.</p>
<p>I will admit I had a really good Honors Bio teacher who also taught AP Bio and the class was only slightly less in-depth and only did not cover human systems. Nevertheless, in the 4 to 5 months left, I would recommend finding a good review book to use.</p>
<p>I know you’ve already bought your review books, but I would highly recommend flipping through a copy of Cliffs. It was more concise than Barron’s and I found it AMAZING.</p>
<p>My teacher is definitely not going to get through all the chapters of the Campbell book. I suspect I will have to self-study. I already got Cliffs and as liveforscience says, it is AMAZING.</p>
<p>liveforscience, did you only use Cliffs along with your class?</p>
<p>Like liveforscience, I also recommend that you use Cliffs as your primary study tool. Truth be told, I mostly read out of Cliffs and only briefly skimmed through the textbook for classroom assignments and still managed to earn a 5 on the AP exam. Furthermore, the Cliffs guide contains an outline in the front that details what percentage each topic represents on the AP exam.</p>
<p>I wish you luck on studying and ultimately on the AP exam! If you have any questions or would like to know more specifically how I prepared for the exam, feel free to send me a message.</p>
<p>@ those who have used CliffsAP: do you think it is possible to begin self-studying AP Biology at this point in the year, using only the CliffsAP book and (as AimHigh2 recommended) watching Bozeman Biology videos on Youtube? I took an Honors Bio class ~2 years ago and did pretty well, but I’m not sure how much I’ve retained since then. Hoping for a 5 (:</p>
<p>@archaic: Yeah, that should definitely be sufficient. Cliff’s is a really good review and got me a 5 reading it the weekend before the exam. Any topic you don’t fully understand, be sure to supplement with further research and learning, perhaps referencing a textbook like Campbell’s.</p>
<p>It can be done. AP Bio is straightforward. As long as you know your stuff, a 4 or 5 is possible. As long as you can finish reading the books at least once, I think you’ll be ok.</p>