<p>I'm self-studying AP Bio next year and I decided to get a head start in the summer. I was reading around looking for the best textbook, and everyone was recommending the Campbell and Reece biology textbook. I don't have $150 to spend, and wouldn't want to even if I did have it, so I was thinking of getting the 7th edition Campbell and Reece textbook ($8 on Amazon) and a prep book. I'm assuming that what we know about biology hasn't changed much in the past seven years, but I just want to make sure.</p>
<p>Yeah campell-reece is deff the best textbook, but you dont need the latest edition. I used the 5th edition this year to self study. more importantly, you need the Cliffs AP Bio review book.The material in here is more concentrated, so you dont have to waste time on a ginormous textbook. but if the book is only 48, you should definitely get it. Sometimes Cliffs has weird diagrams that are better explained in the textbook.
hope this helped, message if you have any questions :)</p>
<p>self studying with campbell, that dense book is over 1,000 pages. I think you can survive off memorizing cliffnotes and using coursenotes online, assuming you have already taken H bio.</p>
<p>I totally agree with the above two posters in using Cliffs. If there’s an AP Bio class at your school, I’d recommend trying to borrow a book for the year first. (That’s what I did). Otherwise, buy the 7th edition of Campbell. There aren’t that many changes from edition to edition. Honestly, I barely used Campbell and worked almost totally off Cliffs (as did my friends), but I know someone else that got a 5 and only used Campbell.</p>
<p>I took it this year and have no idea what score I got, but I’m pretty sure I did fine. I’d still try to avoid paying for Campbell if you don’t need to.</p>
<p>It’s a good book. I have it, too, and I like it for reference. But you do not need it for the AP test. It has A LOT of extra information that you do not need to know–at all. In my opinion, the best route is to self study a good prepbook (my preference: Cliffsnotes. Tried using Barrons–didn’t like it too much). My sophomore year I tried self studying for AP Bio only though the big text book. That failed, and I canceled my AP Bio score. I’m taking the make up AP Bio tomorrow, and I feel good about it, and the only text I’ve used is Cliffsnotes.</p>
<p>Well, I haven’t taken a bio class at all, so I think I need a textbook. By the way, my friend took the AP Bio exam this year and made a 3,000 term Quizlet, if anyone is interested. [All</a> APBIO Ch. 1-55 (Pretty EPIC) flashcards | Quizlet](<a href=“http://quizlet.com/5449127/all-apbio-ch-1-55-pretty-epic-flash-cards/]All”>http://quizlet.com/5449127/all-apbio-ch-1-55-pretty-epic-flash-cards/)</p>
<p>Oh… well… that changes things. I personally would try to read a more introductory textbook first or look up basics first and then go more in-depth. Some concepts (such as biochemistry, mendelian genetics and evolution/population genetics) are easier to understand in an honors textbook, and Campbell adds unnecessary detail. At least for those sections (and perhaps another that I just can’t remember right now), I learned a little more from the AP book (and sometimes not even that) and the rest was review.</p>
<p>I did not really like my textbook for my introductory biology class (technically honors and the best students are recommended to self-study for AP) because it was not something you could skim. However, it was extremely informative. It was BSCS Biology: A Molecular Approach. I’m not saying to necessarily get it, but just want you to have one option in mind.</p>
<p>I think you can totally self-study AP Biology, but I’d be careful to do a quick overview first, so you know the various categories, etc.</p>
<p>Re: Campbell</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend going back to the 5th edition, since they’ve apparently made some pretty large revisions. 6th-9th are all okay, I think. Campbell is a long, long textbook - it’ll take some time to study.</p>
<p>However, I would recommend going to your local uni library to see if they have copies of it. Failing that, I’m pretty sure that there’s quite a few barely-used copies being sold on Amazon/Craigslist right now (cough I’m trying to sell one cough)</p>
<p>Please tell your friend thanks for the flashcards as well.</p>
<p>is this book okay to use? its not Campbell. </p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Biology: The Unity and Diversity of Life (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac) (9780534388003): Cecie Starr, Ralph Taggart: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Unity-Diversity-CD-ROM-InfoTrac/dp/0534388000/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310267220&sr=8-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Biology-Unity-Diversity-CD-ROM-InfoTrac/dp/0534388000/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310267220&sr=8-2)</p>
<p>thank you.</p>
<p>^ I’m skeptical. I would recommend you get Campbell’s; it’s more reliable.</p>
<p>I love how that Amazon page has exactly one review for each possible number of stars.</p>
<p>Haha I didn’t even notice that. That’s kind of unique.</p>
<p>okay. but campbells have the same amount of chapters, in the exact same order? so should i still just go get campbells?</p>