<p>It's never to late to begin studying for these things. Here's a good list of books copied from the 2014 thread:
List of books, in descending order of importance:</p>
<p>Biology by Campbell and Reece: Campbell Biology Plus MasteringBiology with eText -- Access Card Package (9th Edition): Jane B. Reece, Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, Robert B. Jackson: 9780321558145: Amazon.com: Books . 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: Raven Biology of Plants: Ray F. Evert, Susan E. Eichhorn: 9781429219617: Amazon.com: Books . 6th-8th editions should be fine.</p>
<p>Molecular Biology of the Cell by Alberts: Amazon.com: Molecular Biology of the Cell (9780815341055): Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter: Books . 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>Can someone post more resources?</p>
<p>// im also prepping by taking IB Bio HL2 at my school, which is very easy but good review nonetheless. I took AP Bio (without the class) as a freshman (2013 test) and got a 5 too, even though the curve was weird.</p>
<p>I am thinking of starting a club for USABO that my school. I took AP bio last year and did very well, so I want to keep going with biology. Our school has a science olympiad club so I think it might be redundant to have both, but maybe not, who knows. Does anyone have any advice on how to start USABO at my school?</p>
<p>@2016bostonian I just started one for our school too. I got some of my friends who are also in science olympiad and we talked to our biology teacher together. I think most teachers will be pretty enthusiastic to help you set it up, just talk to him/her!</p>
<p>@dearestcurry What about the 10th edition of Campbell Biology?</p>
<p>Can anyone post a link for past USABO tests with their answer keys? Because Dr. T Biology’s page doesn’t have the 2013 or 2014 open or semifinal exams, and is missing some of the answer keys for other exams. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I’ll be doing the Biology Olympiads this year! This is my first time, and I’m not sure how the semifinal exam works. From the previous threads, I heard there’s a lab section; is it hard? Also, is it possible to finish Campbell in one summer? (I have summer research, volunteer, all that crap, and chem oly) Or am I just too ambitious?</p>
<p>I’m also going to take the open exam for the first time in 2015. I plan on reading Cambpell in July. I think 2 chapters a day should be good for summer reading at the most. I don’t believe the semis have a lab component , that may be at the national top 20 camp. These are the parts of the Semi-finals, a 120-minute exam containing three parts:
Part A is primarily multiple choice questions with one answer.
Part B has more complex, sequenced multiple choice questions that may have several correct answers (see comment regarding penalty for guessing below) and may require calculations or extensive interpretation of graphs (see posted example) and multiple true/false choice questions.
Part C may be short answer or essay.</p>
<p>I will be taking the open exam for the first time too!</p>
<p>@TheAnomalist I am trying to aim for camp too. I think you can certainly do it despite all that other work, depending on your motivation and study skills. I am also going to prep for USAMO (AMC12/AIME) while self-studying AP Chinese, AP Music Theory, and possibly AP Human Geography while being in a foreign country for the entire two months (China lol).</p>
<p>@boomvoom4000 I plan on only reading one chapter of Campbell a day beginning the day after the 4th of July. I think two chapters a day would be overkill, and I feel like I wouldn’t be able to retain as much information. There’s only about 50ish chapters in Campbell Biology, so you’d be finished with it in a month.</p>
<p>@Sajidur4 I was planning on taking notes while reading, but then I heard that taking notes while reading really slows down the reading. I’m trying to find a helpful study guide or notes by chapter, anybody have any recommendations?</p>
<p>Guys, its me again
So I made a google doc, so we could study together, if you want to be a part of it, you should pm me your gmail.
Let’s make it to the IBO.
Btw Can you be a do the IBO and the ICHO at the same time?</p>
<p>@2016bostnian TRy seeing if you can combine the two to have a general science club thta also competes in several competitions. It makes things easier when it’s all in one.</p>
<p>@boomvoom4000 So you couldn’t say, make it to both USAMO and USABO? You would have to choose between one or the other even if you qualified for both?</p>
<p>@alzhao If you made the Math Olympiad summer camp (top 30 students) then you would have to choose between the two camps. The USAMO exam (top 200) is not during the summer so you could do both olympiads then.</p>
From the previous threads, I heard there’s a lab section; is it hard? Also, is it possible to finish Campbell in one summer? (I have summer research, volunteer, all that crap, and chem oly) Or am I just too ambitious?</p>