<p>Hey guys! Congrats on your excellent achievements on your AP exams! I'm entering junior year and was quite worried about AP Bio because of the test change and the horrifyingly low AP Bio score distribution(5% 5s etc) but according to most posts you guys did really well!!! </p>
<p>Overall, what did you think of the exam? What do you think was something important you did that helped you the most on the test? What are some target areas one should focus when studying for it? How helpful were the prep books?</p>
<p>Lastly, are there any self-studiers that got a 4 or 5? Many posters suggested that the lab work they did in class helped them the most. As a self-studier, did the lack of lab work hinder your understanding of the subject? Would love to hear you guys' thoughts on the exam.</p>
<p>Once again CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR AP SCORES!!! Be proud of whatever you got because you worked hard for it!</p>
<p>Hi Issac, I just got my Bio grade this morning. I got a 5 (which I am very happy of) and let me give you my two cents. This year’s AP Bio test certainly was one of the easiest tests Collegeboard has produced ever. If you have the ability to read quickly and be able to understand what you read immediately, you should have no problem as this year’s MC had a huge amount of reading comprehension. People groan about the test change and how it makes the test “harder” but it really didn’t. In fact, it seemed to be easier than many of the older version practice tests I took for practice. The free response threw me off a bit, however, as I was somewhat unprepared for the format and nature of the problems. Bio was the first AP I ever took so I was a nervous wreck throughout the test and I actually probably could have done better had I not been such an amateur. The good thing about my AP Bio course at school though was that my teacher taught primarily based on the old curriculum. The format for the test may have changed but the content you need to know certainly did not (although the ideas tested were more broad- that should work to your advantage). I supplemented my learning in class with a Barron’s review book and I took quite a few of the practice tests that my teacher provided. So overall, the AP Bio test was not as hard as everyone made it seem. I’m sure if you just get a good, quality teacher that knows what he/she is doing and study hard for the test, you’ll do just fine.</p>
<p>Hello, I honestly would have not been surprised with a 2, but somehow I pulled out a 4. The test itself was really random. I would note that the test is now much more concept heavy, not detail heavy. There was pretty much a max of 1-2 mc questions on things like animal body systems and plant reproductive systems, so don’t stress on the complicated topics like that. Also, Barron’s 2013 bio prep had TERRIBLE practice tests, absolutely nothing like the AP. The questions on the actual AP are longwinded and more like passages. There are 0 basic fact recall questions. Overall, make sure you know all about DNA/RNA (transcription/translation), cell. reap./photosynth, and evolution. Make sure you have a great detailed and conceptual understanding on those 3 topics and you’ll do great!</p>
<p>@hssophmore. Absolutely agreed. The people who didn’t do well were not prepared for the new format. I expect the curve to shift over the next few years to a normal AP curve.</p>
<p>@tonton5 Yeah…Barron’s sucked this year, but so did all of them really. Now that they have released exams, should be easier for them to make a correct book.</p>
<p>I got a 5, but after seeing those distributions I thought I had gotten a 4 or a 3. The test was definitely more reading comprehension than actual knowledge of the science.</p>
<p>5! Shocked! Bio is my thing though. 790 on M and I work in a genetics research laboratory. So I would have been pretty heartbroken with anything less, esp considering I need a 5 or Oxford won’t consider me.</p>
<p>Got a 4, somewhat expecting a 5 because I’ll be majoring in some related field (not sure, maybe pre-med or biomed engineering) and I work in a biomed research lab, but not too disappointed considering I self studied.
Now time to study up a bit for SAT II Bio in October!</p>
<p>And yes it is possible to do well even if you self study! As I aforementioned, I got a 4 with only a couple review books. I started self-studying around January or February of this year btw. Let me know if you need any tips regarding self-studying!</p>
<p>That is a REALLY good score for having self-studied. The new exam practically requires you to be in a classroom, doing labs, to do well. Well done.</p>
<p>I got a 3. I didn’t even finish the last 5-10 MC questions because I ran out of time (I just guessed for the bubbling without even looking at the questions, haha), so I wasn’t even expecting a 3. It was a pleasant surprise.</p>
<p>I pulled off a five, which I pretty much expected, although seeing the distributions made me doubt myself a little (like almost everyone else). When I first took AP Bio at the beginning of the year, I hated the subject Biology. I took it because it was a science AP class, and I need to learn some stuff for some science competitions. However, I grew to love the class as time went on (not more than Chemistry or Physics though), causing me to work a bit harder. The class wasn’t difficult, there just was a lot of pointless work. I had AP Physics B and Calculus AB and BC and some other AP classes, but I made time to look after Biology from time to time. The curriculum was basically based off of the old exam, like usual, but even then we didn’t cover everything. A difference though was a couple of study sessions that the Bio teachers of my district came up with to help students focus in on the Big Ideas. My school never had someone make a 5 on this exam (or the Physics B/C or the Chemistry exam for that matter) until now. So don’t think it’s not possible.</p>
<p>The exam was, like everyone had stated, pretty easy, if you know the general material. If you want to be pretty successful for the exam, I would say make sure you take at least an AP Science class, perferably AP Biology or AP Chemistry for self-studiers. That way, the thinking type questions and the lab questions would be more comfortable for you. The math questions were also a joke (to me anyway, considering I’ve done Chemistry/Physics/Calculus), it just involved some thinking. So, no matter what, it is entirely possible to get a 5. Learn the material, analyze it, and think critically, like you need to for a college class.</p>
<p>Point is, take the class if you can (like you should for any math/science AP). It’s a great experience that you don’t want to miss, unless the class just sucks for you.</p>
<p>I got a 4 and am totally satisfied with it. The thing is, the AP Biology teachers at my school never really transitioned the curriculum to be more observational/experimental. They fed us the same memorization/detail oriented curriculum and we never ended up doing more than 2-3 labs that required deeper analysis and conclusion the AP test obviously wanted. The only thing the class was useful in was allowing me to comprehend the multiple choice vocabulary and use elimination. We NEVER practiced any of the grid-in questions’ concepts more than once and the two big FRQs had been given a mere 20 minutes in discussion in the entire school year. I think anyone is capable of getting a 5, the problem was that the teachers failed to direct students to excel at making observations, comprehending data, etc.
That said, it kinda sucks because Bio was the class I naturally did well in and it ended up being the lowest score I got this year :(</p>
<p>I got a 3, thought I did a lot better, but those statistics were brutal. I’m sure most people I know didn’t even pass. I also didn’t answer 2 FRQs, and probably could have spent more time going over the multiple choice. Definitely make sure that you are familiar with the testing format. While there is very little memorization involved, the FRQs do require that you know at least some facts. This can also help on the multiple choice to some extent, but there are no simple recall based questions.</p>
<p>My son got a 5. He’s a freshman and quasi-self studied for the test but he also goes to a STEM magnet HS where the regular 9th grade bio class basically followed the AP bio curriculum. He used the 2013 Barron’s book to study (the 2013 Princeton Review book was useless and full of incorrect information) and his bio teacher taught the curriculum according to the new AP test with a lot of emphasis on depth of understanding rather than rote memorization of details. He had to study the animal behavior and plant topics completely on his own as his class never got around to covering those subjects. I also teamed up with 3 other moms in his class who also had freshman that were taking the test to hire a tutor to teach the kids how to write the free response essay. Every week for 4 weeks, my son was assigned 1 long essay and 1 short essay. He’d handwrite it under time restraints and scan and email the essays to the tutor and she’d email it back with a score and suggestions on how to earn more points. I thought the tutor for the essay was extremely helpful as the kids needed feedback since they couldn’t score their own essays.</p>
<p>Expected a failing score since I completely bombed the FRQs( no studying at all), but I was able to pull off a 3. I actually prefer the new format. You dont need to study much for a passing score, but it’s hard to get a 5.</p>