Questions on Study Guide Books for Bio E/M

<p>Alrighty I know that there have been quite many threads on Bio E/M, but none of these threads receive satisfactory answers to my questions. And most of these threads are pretty old as well;hence, no one pays attention to them even with my shameless bump =3</p>

<p>I am international so AP classes are not available for me, and Bio is not heeded particularly in my country. Therefore, I wonder if any of you actually have tried self-study for Bio E/M without having taken any special classes on Bio before?</p>

<p>Secondly, what books do you recommend? Some recommend TPR, Kaplan and Barrons; most all of these books receive mixed reviews. TPR is not very in-depth (I have to admit this). Kaplan is generally easier than the real test (Not sure as I have not bought it yet) and Barrons is too overwhelming (again, I cannot be certain but this might be true as Barrons is typically more difficult than the real deal). Can anyone give me advice on this? Also, is College Board's guide good? I heard that CB's official guide for SAT 2 is not as good as its guide for SAT. </p>

<p>What is more, although Cliffs Ap is highly recommended by students taking AP as well as some taking Bio E/M, I wonder if it truly does help, as Bio E/M is not as hard as AP, is it? Therefore, is it actually helpful to buy Cliffs AP if the some of the information covered is not going to be in Bio E/M?</p>

<p><em>Another one, has anyone tried McGraw Hills? I personally think it is pretty much in-depth, but how does it compare to other prep books?</em></p>

<p>Please help me with these questions. Thank you in advance!!</p>