<p>Is it OK to self-study? I've read that you can just pick up a good book, read, and then take the test..</p>
<p>I would recommend getting the CliffsAP bio book as the primary text, and use the actual textbook if you don't understand something. It's very self-studiable, as much of it is just memorization. Some areas are more difficult and not so much about memorizing facts, like the genetics chapter, but other than that, you should be fine.</p>
<p>I have an AP Biology teacher who "thinks" that she teaches.
She doesn't. She doesn't really understand the concepts that well, so we usually end up teaching ourselves the info.
If you have a full year, I would recommend buying Campbell's Biology and reading through the entire thing. This book is a pain (personal experience) and often overly complex. However, if you are studying for just the AP exam in May of this year, Cliffs is the way to go. It has a great summary and covers a huge majority of the topics discusses - only leaving out a select few minor details. Seems to me that biology is sheer memorization, so I would definitely try and absorb Cliff's like a sponge. I would also recommend going online and looking at the free response questions from years past in order to fully understand the extent of difficulty on the essays.</p>