<p>I've decided to take the AP Bio exam this May, and I'll begin studying for it tomorrow. I know that many classes use Campbell's Biology, but seeing as how I only have a few months and other exams to study for/things to do, I don't really have time to read all 55 chapters of Campbell in five months. I heard that the AP Biology exam changed to where it doesn't require as much memorization, so I assume Campbell is rather superfluous. My question is, if I use Barron's AP Biology 2014 (new edition) to prepare for the exam, would that be sufficient? I plan to watch Bozeman Biology and Khan Academy videos in addition to reading the book. Or would trying to cram Campbell into my schedule be a better option?</p>
<p>I'm aiming for a five on the exam, of course.</p>
<p>You seem a little screwed. Your absolute best bet is to use the 5 steps to a five AP Bio and 4th edition cliffs, especially if you’re that short on time. From what I’ve heard, Barron’s really sucks.</p>
<p>I used Barron’s when I took AP Bio 2 years ago. the curriculum for ap biology was different then, but I had a B in the class & ended up getting a 5 on the exam. i believe my score was partly due
to my teacher CRAMMING info in the last 3 weeks before the exam, and because i used Barrons. also, i only started reviewing like 2 months before the exam, you’re starting a whole 5 months before. </p>
<p>as far as Barrons books sucking, if you look on CC Barrons actually has a pretty good reputation for test prep. the only issue is that Barron’s practice tests are usually WAYYY harder than the actual exam (that was the case when i used it for ap bio) , but that actually helps because when you take the actual exam it seems easy compared to what you’ve been practicing.</p>
<p>barrons is complete crap for new ap bio. Cliffs is best.</p>
<p>I mean, on CC, both Barron’s and Cliffs are said to be detailed, and Barron’s practice exams are said to be the most accurate (for the NEW exam).</p>
<p>Barrons was a good choice for me a month before the test. If you have five months, you should easily get all the hard knowledge you need for the test from it. I also supplemented with lots of youtube reviews.</p>
<p>I took the class last year, the first year that the stupid test was changed, ugh. I lived and breathed the new Barron’s and 5 Steps the week before the exam, although I felt that the Barron’s was more helpful. That’s a definite if you’re self-studying. It’s the best for the new exam, IMHO.</p>
<p>I’d at least suggest borrowing Campbell’s and skimming it. You still have some time, and I think it’s worth it. </p>
<p>Good luck! <3</p>
<p>I actually already have Campbell because I planned to do some USABO prep, but my schedule has not made that possible. </p>
<p>Do Barron’s tests mirror the new exam accurately?</p>
<p>Yes. I felt that it did. At least over the old stuff that I had. Barron’s was the only new book out at the time geared towards the new AP exam. I haven’t seen the new 5 steps yet, though, although I think the old one is still good for content and stuff. I started studying late, so I just kind of went through and did the questions, and thought they were pretty accurate. Everything at that time was kind of a crap-shoot though, because no idea what the heck the new AP exam would look like [it turned out to be like the ACT, which sucked].</p>
<p>Would you mind telling me what you made (only if you want to, of course)?</p>
<p>That kind of sucks (about bio being like ACT science) 
I only got a 34 on the ACT science, and I heard the bio exam is like ACT science on steroids, so I’m kind of scared now.</p>
<p>If you have Campbell, realize that there is a lot of irrelevant stuff in the book. You don’t need to know about plants, embryology (if I recall correctly), and a lot of human body systems. Check out the chapter summaries at the end of each chapter–those give nice overviews of information. Also, I found the diagrams in Campbell to be extremely helpful as well.</p>
<p>Barron’s was a great resource for me last year. I recommend it without hesitation.</p>
<p>I see…thanks for the info, guys! I’ll basically read through Barron’s/practice with it for the next couple of months, and in April, I’ll begin taking practice exams/ACT Science practice sections. I’ll also skim through the chapter summaries at the end of each chapter as a review two weeks before the exam.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses!</p>
<p>@TeamRocketGrunt: Sorry for the late reply, but I did get a 5. It was a miracle. I wrote 3 sentences for the 8th essay.</p>
<p>Yup.</p>
<p>My biggest advice is to FINISH THE TEST. Nobody was prepared for how long it took. I was lucky in that I decided to skim like crazy, and that’s the only way I finished. I regret not taking a fully practice test, so I definitely recommend you do that, essays and all. The timing is crucial in the new test, and since nobody was expecting that, a lot of people did terribly because of that. </p>
<p>If you have more questions, let me know. =)</p>
<p>Do you have any other practice strategies?</p>
<p>What types of calculation(s) did the last six MCQ’s involve?</p>
<p>Would doing ACT science practice help?</p>
<p>The last six questions with the calculations weren’t really that hard (as in like the calculations were basic math). It was really testing your logic, like I remember one of the questions you didn’t even need to do anything you could tell the answer was 100% by reading the question. The majority of the new test is like that I guess…</p>
<p>As someone that did AP Bio and the ACT, I can kinda see the correlation between the two that some people mentioned but not really. You had to think your way through both sets of problems but I found that, at least for me, my ACT Science section was dealing almost entirely with Physics. For AP Bio, you definitely want to be familiar with all the terms and stuff.</p>
<p>My advice is to have a very solid grasp of everything covered on the test but you don’t (imo) need to memorize all the details. My friends spent a lot of time cramming all the little details and I just kinda skimmed over the big ideas and they ended up pretty disappointed in their scores (but it’s not like they failed either). Our AP Bio teacher covered stuff that wasn’t on the AP test and while I think that helped, you don’t have the luxury. Just try to get as much breath as you can on the subject and don’t worry too much about every little detail.</p>
<p>Could you give an example of a calculator question @bluewizard97 ?</p>