I’m currently taking honors biology as a summer school course, but my dad thinks I should try to take the AP test next spring. Do you think I could self study for it and get a 4 or 5? I understand most of the topics really well, but it is really condensed and I know that AP is a lot more in depth. What is/are the best books to study with? If I really dedicate myself to studying and doing well is it possible? Please be honest and realistic because I dont want to waste my time studying if the test will still be impossible.
If AP Bio is a class at your school, you’d be better off taking the class. AP Bio covers material in more depth than honors biology, plus it’s meant to be equated to a college-level class, not a HS class predominantly taken by 9th graders. Not saying it can’t be done, but I can think of a lot better uses of your time.
yes you could definitely get a 4 or 5 on the ap exam by just self-studying. i took ap bio my senior year and my teacher did not teach at all (and i mean at AT ALL). she literally just sat on her computer while all of us pretended to do work. also i never studied for any of the exams in the class or for the ap exam and i still got a 3. i also left like half of the part 2’s blank and all of the 5 math questions blank LOL. my advice is to just watch bozeman videos and you can easily pull at least a 3.
the ap bio exam is more of a reading comprehension exam. you just need a general knowledge about biology and you should be fine. i think the reason i got a 3 on the exam is because i took a lot of practice exams for the act science section and the ap biology exam is very similar to it. be prepared for A LOT of reading in a short amount of time, so endurance is key (i was brain dead after the exam and took a good 3 hour nap). also realize that the amount of time they give you for the part 2’s is not a lot so work fast.
the curve is huge for the ap exam so if anything you should get at least get a 3.
good luck!