<p>I'm hoping that the students on this forum that have taken the Biology E or M SAT II subject test or perhaps the AP Biology exam, could elaborate on some of the stresses or challenges they faced in preparing for the exam. </p>
<p>I'm a biology tutor and education counselor. I have a PhD in Molecular Biology from UPenn (2005) and a BS from Yale University (1999). As you can see, it's been quite some time since I was in high school. I'm intersted in trying to understand what high school students struggle with the most. I typically tutor college and graduate students. Although I've been through the process myself, I feel removed from what it feels like to be at the high school stage.</p>
<p>Any feedback from the students on the forum would be most helpful. Thank you!</p>
<p>I took SAT II Biology M-540 score
I thought my AP bio class prepared me well enough for some parts but because that year I had school my school suffered from the SoCal Fires (in 07) I missed a month of school and I took the test anyways</p>
<p>I was not well prepared.</p>
<p>I took AP Biology test, I got a 2.
I knew a lot, yet the last 30 questions were all about subjects we didn’t even see in class. I think this is connected to the lack of time due to the fires (it took a month away of class)</p>
<p>For me, Biology was all about memorization.
I didn’t touch Biology since Freshman year, and I took it cold June after my Junior year with 2 weeks of focused reading</p>
<p>Basically, the only challenge is to learn and retain all the nit picky details.
After I passed that phase and learned my way of memorizing stuff, it was a breeze.</p>
<p>Make sure to be familiar with various diagrams. Around the beginning of the test, they always have some kind of diagram (cross-section of a plant – this is what screwed me over, cross section of an insect, etc). </p>
<p>Thus, make sure your your tutoree’s know what things are AND where they are. I got a 770 instead of an 790 or 800 because I didn’t know what was what when I was given a picture of the cross section of a plant.</p>
<p>5 on AP, 800 on Biology-E. I strong agree with anhtimmy. Memorization is key to doing well on biology tests; unlike other subjects, you can’t necessarily build on previous information and deduce answers. In biology, you either know something, or you don’t. Therefore, you really just need to sit down with a good prep book and work your way through the material.</p>
<p>If you’re doing Bio-M, make sure to memorize all of the important equations and processes (such as photosynthesis, respiration, etc.). Since I basically studied the night before, I did Bio-E, which to me was an easier prospect.</p>
<p>The AP test basically requires good BS skills on the written portion. If you can come up with something well-reasoned, you’re probably fine. For instance, one of the questions involved some plant adaptations; I spent some time thinking logical stuff up, and then that’s what I wrote down. You don’t necessarily need to have all of the “right” answers as long as you can reason well. (Though it’s certainly possible that my writing score was mediocre and the multiple choice section brought me up…who knows?)</p>