<p>Hello fellow biology lovers! As recommend by NSQ from the previous 2012 USABO thread I decided I would start a new one. Please any recommendations for new comers and discussion of biology topics in general for the love of it are welcomed! </p>
<p>From my best understanding that Campbell's 8th edition should be excellent for the open exam preparation however, Raven's Biology of Plants, and Alberts Biochemistry all seem to aid in preparing. Also other authors and their texts have been thrown around. A list and possibly links to these books(through amazon or other websites) would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>List of books, in descending order of importance: </p>
<p>Biology by Campbell and Reece: [Amazon.com:</a> Campbell Biology with MasteringBiology (9th Edition) (9780321558145): Jane B. Reece, Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, Robert B. Jackson: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Biology-MasteringBiology-Jane-Reece/dp/0321558146]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Biology-MasteringBiology-Jane-Reece/dp/0321558146) . 7th, 8th, 9th editions are all good. The 6th might be fine, I don’t know. (9th is actually now Campbell Biology by Reece since Campbell died)</p>
<p>Biology of Plants by Raven: [Amazon.com:</a> Raven Biology of Plants (9781429219617): Ray F. Evert, Susan E. Eichhorn: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Raven-Biology-Plants-Ray-Evert/dp/1429219610/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340319669&sr=1-3&keywords=biology+of+plants+raven]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Raven-Biology-Plants-Ray-Evert/dp/1429219610/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340319669&sr=1-3&keywords=biology+of+plants+raven) . 6th-8th editions should be fine.</p>
<p>Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts: [Amazon.com:</a> Molecular Biology of the Cell (9780815341055): Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/dp/0815341059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340319738&sr=1-1&keywords=alberts+molecular+biology+of+the+cell]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/dp/0815341059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340319738&sr=1-1&keywords=alberts+molecular+biology+of+the+cell) . This book is a tad bit too detailed for USABO, but it has the tendency to make Campbell make sense. It’s an expensive book, though, and you want a fairly recent edition - 5th, maybe 4th because molebio’s been changing quite a bit nowadays.</p>
<p>Hey guys! </p>
<p>This coming school year I was going to work with my biology teacher to have the tests administered at my school. If I remember correctly, anyone can take the test and your score is the only deciding factor on whether or. It you continue on to the other competitions? </p>
<p>I have access to Campbell’s 8th edition because that’s what we used for AP Bio this year. Are the other books really helpful or are they just supplementary?</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure it’s “anyone in high school” is eligible to take the test.</p>
<p>And yes, it’s only your scores that matter.</p>
<p>Campbell’s the most important book, and Raven’s Plant is kind of important too, but the rest are supplemental.</p>
<p>Thank you so much Nightshade for all the help 
I’ll start saving up for Albert’s Biochem 
and is it okay if Campbell’s is soley used for the open exam and then for semi’s the later two texts?</p>
<p>Coolio. Let’s hope I remember most of what I read out of Campbell’s this year. That book is freaking huge.</p>
<p>@PolishMusician17</p>
<p>Do you live within reasonable distance of a public university? If so, you may be allowed to check books out, and they generally have textbooks. </p>
<p>I know MIT has like 10 copies of Alberts. </p>
<p>(Sometimes private unis will let you check stuff out too.)</p>
<p>It’s a lot cheaper than spending ~$80 on a textbook (that’s the 5e) and most uni libraries will let you have it for an entire semester.</p>
<p>And yeah, just focus on Campbell for Open.</p>
<p>Thanks NSQ.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that C & R looks like a lot of information at first glance, once you start reading sections you will realize that certain topics are not discussed in detail and therefore quite ambiguous. There were questions in New Jersey Science league this year that was not covered in C & R! However it is a judgement call to decide what topics to delve into deeper. No matter what, I think there will be a couple of questions that you could have never prepared for and the best thing to is to make an educated guess! BTW, is their negative scoring for incorrect answers?</p>
<p>I was able to get a lot of textbooks through inter library loans from the local university libraries. It definitely saves you a lot of money.</p>
<p>Is 4th edition good enough for Alberts? I picked it up last year for <$30 when I had the chance.</p>
<p>Yeah, probably, I’ve glanced over the 4e. </p>
<p>And it’s like $10 nowadays :D</p>
<p>$10 harcover w/ CD? That’s what mine is. If so, I probably should’ve waited.</p>
<p>No, without the CD, I think.</p>
<p>And all textbooks get ridiculously cheap over time 
Actually if you’re buying the book, 5e leaves out like five chapters grr.</p>
<p>That should be “hardcover.”</p>
<p>@NSQ: Yeah, I noticed that. Are they leaving the chapters out so that the book is lighter? Or to save paper? I know they include the chapters in a CD or online code of sorts. It’s pretty annoying.</p>
<p>I have heard different varying opinions about the difficulty of the opening exams from kids in my school. If you are in AP Bio, you will easily make Semis at my school. Mr friend was in honors bio last year and took it on whim without any studying, and he was 3 points from cutoff. I want to do well of course so I will be studying pretty hard. How well do your schools’ Honors/AP bio classes prepare for usabo without any extra studying? On an unrelated note, one of the IBO finalists this year is from my school so I luckily will be able to ask him any questions next year if I need help. :)</p>
<p>The difficulty of the Open depends highly on the year.</p>
<p>And apparently my archaea lipid question made it onto last year’s Open. Heh.</p>
<p>As a freshman I was off by 4 points this year. Considering I never completed C & R and was still in the honors Bio class in school, I don’t feel too bad! But only 2 students from our AP Bio class made it to semis this year. I don’t know what to make of it.</p>
<p>Is there any website or resource that has bio olympiad problem sets or equivalents?</p>
<p>Do you all have any suggests on how to study for the USABO Open/Semis? I have Campbell’s, and I’m hoping to get Raven’s book pretty soon. Other than simply reading the textbook, do you guys take notes/make flashcards/have an amazing photographic memory? How do you recall and apply information from a nearly 1300 page book? Thanks!</p>
<p>@Mansu</p>
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<p>CEE should be releasing all Opens and some of the Semis via the official USABO website.</p>
<p>Until then, attempt a 7.03 or a 7.01x pset.</p>
<p>@bereniceabbott</p>
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<p>CV made flashcards. I typed up 70+ pages of notes in 6 pt font and used virtual notecards (Anki). EL just has a photographic memory. (I’m incredibly envious of his memory)</p>
<p>Does anybody use Purves Biology or Raven Biology textbooks? WHat are their comparisons to Campbell Biology? And what does C&R stands for?</p>