**SAT 2 Biology Discussion Thread Oct 2015**

@darkcrescendo if the SAT II books does not explain the material how am i suppose to not fail the test not to mention scoring an 800. i mean i feel pretty comfortable with all the material the does occur in the Barron’s but i feel like even if i have the book in front of me during the test i will still not be able to answer all the questions… :’(

@goldy1121 I know what you are trying to say, that was me for my first time taking the test and you should try to aim for 700+, don’t always make 800 your priority because these tests are only used for admissions and maybe for a class but otherwise it doesn’t get counted. Try reviewing your notes that you got either in bio or ap bio and know that you shouldn’t answer EVERY single question. (That was me lol) Because that makes you more vulnerable to getting a lower score (my friend skipped 8 and got 730).

Another thing, if you have a biology textbook or if you need one, you still have time to review things that seem difficult to you. It’s all about common sense and eliminating unnecessary information. I think of it as taking a statewide exam and read the questions like 2 times so I know what is the main thing they are asking. You don’t need to know every single thing but you should know some specific details. Last year, the plant and punnett squares section screwed me up and I’m going to learn that first before I know the other thing.

It barely talked about body systems and mostly focused on ecology (in my opinion was really annoying as I studied for molecular) and I blanked out in diagram questions.

Thanks so much for those questions! @darkcrescendo, I know the material well but it has occurred to me that I am weak with experimentation questions

@1618dz No problem! I also understand why you don’t get them, PR and Barron’s don’t really focus on them but it’s like soooooooo annoying because they’re random.

It’s just so hard to find any. I guess relying on knowledge and facts could only help.

Are there any tough experiment questions in the Blue Book? If so, @darkcrescendo

@darkcrescendo is that true that in order to get an 800 u cant have more than two mistakes? thats insane compared with other subject tests

@goldy1121 I don’t want to give you the wrong information but most of my friends in Stuyvesant HS (in NYC) took this test and a lot of them got 800. They told me they skipped 4 questions but I don’t know if they got the rest right.

@1618dz, most of the questions are diagram based and it’s really annoying because when the answer you think is wrong is right while the answer you think is right is wrong.

Love how they have a “panic plan” if you don’t have 9 weeks to study lol

When is the better time to take the SAT II Biology, at the end of the normal (non-honors) HS Biology in 8th grade, i.e. June of 2016, or wait until junior year, at the end of the first year of IB Biology HL?

@darkcrescendo It seems like they took bio E. E’s curve is more generous.

@cmsjmt Are you still in Middle School? I mean I don’t know how or what is your state’s curriculum but I know NYC’s and the SAT II are very similar and my teacher taught SAT II for around 7 years. And @MichaelW97 I think so, one of my friend took E and got 700.

Oh man…The impending exam…All I’m doing is reviewing the tests that I took and some of the book material… ^:)^

Where are you guys taking the exam?

Any studying tips for the days before the exam?

Centrifugation is a laboratory technique used to separate materials by their relative masses. More massive substances will sink to the bottom of a test tube while those with less mass will float to the top. A cell culture is centrifuged. Which cellular organelle would be concentrated at the top of the centrifuged mixture?
A. Nuclei
B. Endoplasmic reticulum
C. Mitochondria
D. Ribosomes
E. Membrane-bound protein

On cracksat the correct answer is C but im pretty sure it’s D. Am i right?

Does anyone knows either echinoderms have an exoskeleton or an endoskeleton? For some reason i cant find a clear answer for that.