Is AP Biology really hard? how did you study?

<p>did you also use study review books? did you have a good or bad teacher (how were passing rates?) did you procrastinate a lot? were you interested in bio? were you good at memorization? how many hours of homework and reading a day did you have? did you get easy a's in the class? thanks</p>

<p>i heard the ap bio teacher was dumb and the passing rates last year were 7 out of 28 people that took it. is life next year goin to be really hard if i try to study myself from course notes and review books while taking that class and AP US HISTORY and AP CALC AB next year junior year??? with other honors classes? (english and anatomy) orr should i just take it next year senior year along with ap gov , and maybe ap econ and ap lit? </p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>Senior year. In my school you can study for seven hours per day and still score a sub 75 on the tests. Several times this year were there stories where people literally cried because of their ridiculous effort going to waste after taking a test.</p>

<p>If your passing rates (forget A rates, PASSING rates) are only 25%, don’t take it junior year. It’s not worth screwing up your most important year by taking an insanely challenging course.</p>

<p>Hold on, I just checked your previous posts, so I guess when you said 7/28 pass you meant the AP exam and not the course itself. Still, if a teacher has a 25% track record then it’s not sacrificing your grade UNLESS it’s a joke course and easy A. Especially since AP US involves lots of memorizing and AP Calc is AP Calc. </p>

<p>I should mention that I’ve never taken (or will take) AP Bio… but I know a LOT of kids who take it, and I guarantee that every single one of them would agree with what I said.</p>

<p>yeah sorry about that, I did mean that only 7/28 people passed the exams. thanks for pointing that out tenor :)</p>

<p>Really, depends on your school. Personally in mine, it was the hardest class I have ever taken. The tests were almost impossible to earn satisfactory grades on and the amount of information was beyond overwhelming. My friend told me that out of a class of 30 students only 3 people received A-'s (not even A’s) But once again, really depends on your school. My teacher at mine does not know what she is doing and barely teaches. Good luck on your decision.
Unlike AP Bio, I also believe APUSH and AP Calc. AB are possible to do well in.</p>

<p>NemoStudent, did you use review books also or other websites to help you study from? and were you good at memorization?</p>

<p>Because I was just wondering that with a bad teacher, if one can even have a hard time in the class with even with the helpful review books and note sites.</p>

<p>Well I used cliffnotes and barrons. Both did help to a large extent but they could only help me so much with my teacher’s tests. Hers tend to be extremely specific, but once again it could be different with your teacher (even though you said he is bad?).
As for memorization, I tend to be good at it, but usually with information that is more chronological (like APUSH :p) Its just the speed and my teacher’s crazy tests eventually got to me.<br>
All in all, one if they have the time and effort they can do in AP Biology. It will just be extremely difficult. Also, I would suggest to take it senior year instead of junior year. If I heard what the class was like, I would have taken it then.</p>

<p>In AP Biology, learning the material may be complex-just set aside some time. You need to be able to understand the material. Some is hard, some is easy, know all the tiny details for tests. Junior year is a busy time, with standardized testing…and you’re taking APUSH which is also a lot of memorization. Senior year might be a better time but remember you can do it if you put your mind to it :)</p>