<p>Getting a 750+ is completely doable for a HS freshman who’s taking an Honors Bio course. Before signing up for the SAT II Bio though, I’d recommend doing these things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Go to a library/bookstore and look through Barron’s book. You need to be willing to read and memorize all of the stuff in there by the time you plan to take the test (probably June 1st). This shouldn’t be too much since there should be a lot of stuff you’ve covered already.</p></li>
<li><p>Be aware that your HS course may not completely overlap with the SAT II Bio. For example, my class did not go over plants at all, so this meant I had to self-study the plants section from Barron’s. </p></li>
<li><p>Be aware that there’s no rush to take the test now. If you don’t feel ready for the test, and need to do other things besides study (finals!), don’t waste your money. You can take the exam after a higher level Bio course; colleges don’t see or care whether you’ve taken the exam in freshmen year vs junior year. The only advantages you get from taking it now are a little less stress later on in HS and getting the feel for how Subject Tests work. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Once you’ve committed to taking the SAT Bio, I recommend reading through Barron’s and taking notes. Not just highlighting, but actual note-taking. I also recommend taking practice tests from a variety of sources, especially the one in the big blue book! I heard Princeton’s tests are also very good. By taking a lot of tests from different sources, you can check up on the info you missed from Barron’s and get a feel for how the questions are formatted. Keep in mind a lot of them are harder than the actual test, especially Barron’s. Don’t forget your HS Textbook either! These practice tests, Barron’s, and your high school bio textbook should be all you need. </p>
<p>On deciding for E or M, I like M simply because the questions were more straight-forward memorization, and I also paid more attention during the first semester of my Bio class when a lot of M was covered 
. M is also more relevant to a career in medicine. If you don’t know which to pick, try taking a variety of practice tests and seeing whether you are performing better on the E or M sections. Don’t plan on deciding on test day, because chances are you won’t have enough time.</p>
<p>@mnstrviola, that was a really thorough response. I have found that doing the things you said have helped me memorize the material. Also, think of studying for the test as a Critical Reading passage. You also have to LIKE the material to remember it and do well on the real deal.</p>
<p>^^agreed good input^</p>
<p>preciate the input.</p>
<p>My son took Honors Bio this past year. Based on his results on the Barron’s book practice test, he decided to take the E even though his HS course was much more oriented towards the M. A lot of the E stuff wasn’t even covered in his course, and he learned it exclusively from the review books (Barron’s and Princeton).</p>
<p>He basically covered all of the Barron’s book’s chapters and the most relevant (information intensive) chapters of the Princeton book in the three weeks before the test. Didn’t even look at the books before that. His Bio grades were a B first semester and an A second semester. He got an 800 on the Bio-E subject test.</p>
<p>There were a couple of things that we’d seen repeated here on CC in multiple threads that turned out to be true regarding the Barron’s book – that the practice tests get your attention by being difficult (with resulting low scores), but that you’ll do better on the real test. Also, if you know everything in the Barron’s book you’ll do extremely well.</p>
<p>I think it’s a bit crazy to be studying this far in advance for the test. However, my son said that the his studying for the subject test was the reason he got a high A on the second semester Bio final – his highest test grade of the year in that course. So studying now will probably help you with the course.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Thanks once again. I’ve ordered a PR for now, and I’ll see how I do with that.</p>
<p>I am going to grade 10 next year and am planning to study for an external exam during the summer. My school’s math is pretty intense so you could presume I had finished grade 10 material (Enough material for the SAT Reasoning Math test, which I have not answered yet). I was wondering whether to self-study SAT Math level 2 with the Barron’s book only. I have not taken a precalculus course and I am able to devote 1 hour per day during the summer. I am really good at Math and have already self-studied and sat for 3 AP exams Psychology, Macroeconomics and Human Geography (5,4 and 3 were my respective scores). Thank you</p>
<p>You studied 3 aps freshmen year? What the… How? Which classes did you take at school?</p>
<p>But I can’t PM back so sure ill take a look.</p>
<p>I’m taking the SAT II Biology Test this year and I’m going to be a sophomore. I looked online and researched the books a bit and this is what I found. The best books are Princeton Review, Barron’s, and Kaplan. I personally am going to use the Princeton Review and Barron’s. Many people say that Kaplan is just like a textbook so it doesn’t really help unless you are planning to self study. So since I already took Biology Honors I’m going to use the Princeton Review for their tests and use the Barron’s for heir review since Barron’s tests aren’t realistic. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>And to those saying that it is too early for freshman to prepare, I received advice from many seniors telling me to take the SAT II Bio Test after taking the Bio Honors course.</p>
<p>Ya, it seems like people who tell freshmen to get off this website or shouldn’t start preparing are usually jealous. Anyways, I’m probably going to use PR, too. If I don’t feel comfortable taking it after Honors Bio, I can always take it later.</p>
<p>Since PR has accurate practice tests, and we’re both taking the Bio exam at the same time, I would save the practice ones for later. I’m doing one PR test in March and one in April.</p>
<p>hahaha yea. I’m only on like chapter 5, so i have a while</p>
<p>[Practice</a> SAT II Bio Tests](<a href=“http://projects.ecfs.org/pchurch/TutoringLinks/Tutoring%20links.htm]Practice”>http://projects.ecfs.org/pchurch/TutoringLinks/Tutoring%20links.htm)</p>
<p>Here are some practice Bio tests if anyone is interested. There are 17 in total: 4 Barron’s tests, 3 Peterson’s tests, 4 McGraw-Hills tests, 3 unknown test names (I think they’re sparknotes tests), 2 Kaplan tests, and 1 College Board test.</p>