<p>Hello. I really really need help. I'm not taking ap bio this junior year, as it would be too difficult for me with all my other classes, and i'd end up getting a B in that class even if I tried my hardest. I've gotten advanced in nationwide state bio testing and a B(85) in honors Bio, and have been looking over bio work on and off this summer</p>
<p>-Is the subject test as hard or really similar to the ap exam? Because if it is, than I can't self-study for it.</p>
<p>-Is it worth it to take the subject test if i'm never going to take ap bio? Meaning will the subject test have much effect on my college application, as i'm only taking 1 ap and first ap junior year (ap enviro)?</p>
<p>-Can I skip beginners biology in college if I do well on the subject test? How high of a grade would I need.</p>
<p>-How many months of studying would I be able to go over all the bio material, because I don't want to study concurrently with ap enviro.</p>
<p>Any answer helps, please. I really find bio interesting now. I learned more in two weeks of teaching myself for the state test then I ever did with my horrible bio teacher.</p>
<p>-I don’t know about before, but now the redone AP Biology exam is not like the subject tests at all (I don’t think). Don’t take my word for it though as I haven’t taken the Biology subject tests.</p>
<p>-Colleges I think perfer if you take AP classes, then AP tests, then Subject tests. In your case though, I’d consider doing both the AP exam and the subject tests, considering both are pretty different now.</p>
<p>-Skipping Introductory Biology with the subject test in Biology is COMPLETELY dependent on the colleges. However, it’s pretty unlikely and college will give credit or advanced placement based on the subject test score. It’s more likely with the AP exam score, but even then not all schools accept the score.</p>
<p>-How long it takes is completely up to how you learn and how much material there is. It’s typically around the time it takes you to read a biology textbook cover to cover and then some (for review). Typically, if you have the patience, you can learn all of biology in a summer (assuming you retain information pretty well). </p>
<p>These answers are probably not much because it’s a bit more skewed and based on opinons more than facts (especially since I’ve taken AP Biology and the exam, but not the subject test), but hopefully they were of some help.</p>
<p>SAT subject tests cover regular high school level material, not AP level or college level material. This means that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>In theory, you should be able to do well on the SAT subject test after doing well in the regular high school course of that subject. However, if your high school course is of low quality, the SAT subject test will expose deficiencies in what you learned in it.</p></li>
<li><p>SAT subject tests generally do not give any placement or credit in college, except out of remedial (high school level) courses.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I took honors biology in my school (which doesn’t offer APs at all) and got a 770 on the Bio M subject test. That being said, I did take the AP Bio exam (and got a 4), but I only studied a couple of extra hours for it. I got an A in my honors bio class. It is possible to do well on the subject test without an AP class, but if you are not naturally gifted extra study will be necessary.</p>
<p>I took the subject test after only taking Regular Biology (not honors). I self-studied for a couple of months and got around a 700, so it’s definitely doable. It’s easier than the AP test in my opinion (note: I did take AP Biology after taking the SAT II Bio, and got a 5 on the AP).</p>
<p>The truth is it depends on what you think is good. 5 on AP is harder than 750 SAT. But 800 SAT is harder than a 5. Then, there are 4’s and 600-750 SAT Subject. Some schools will take subject tests for credit, but not most. I would wait until after you take AP Bio if possible to take SAT Subject bc, although in theory it is hs bio, you are competing against AP Bio students in the curve. Again, it depends on the score you want, if you want to know how long you need to study. For example, it took me 1 month (starting X-mas break) to get 800 SAT Subject and top 200 USABO Semis. I really liked AP cliffsnotes. But I also got PR/Barrons SAT Bio to skim through and test myself. Also, I listened to college lectures, fastforwarding often once downloaded to iPhone. But it took me around 8 hours a day.</p>
<p>Damn, the only time i’d study for 8 hours a day is when finals are around. I don’t know why you’d do it on purpose, it seems like torture!
Haha, but your lecture idea sounds good, better then just staring at a book for hours straight. Where did you download the lectures from? And i’ll check those books out.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for answering, I wasn’t aiming for a 750+ range, just what would amount to a 4 in an AP test. I didn’t want to go to my counselor since he is really no help (he kind of blows off everything and it’s awkward speaking to him), but the higher selective uni’s require 2 subject tests so I thought I might as well get 1 over with junior year. I think i’ll have to talk to my counselor about it and see if I’m too busy this year to study for it. I know I should take the subject test after AP Bio, but I’m not taking AP Bio and I doubt I even will, since I have enough ap’s already for senior year. If I don’t take AP Bio, would it matter if I took the subject test or not? I guess it wouldn’t and my work would be in vain.</p>
<p>You find that it is much much easier to do it when you have already started. Starting is the worst, but I had the motivation, and enough of a social life at school to satisfy me. It was just really hard to basically dump your out-of-school life. I used different lectures but there are MIT OCW lectures that are literally organized to match the AP tests and samples from different lectures are put together in one area, if you google “MIT OCW AP” I think. If you don’t really need the SAT Bio just take another SAT for a class you like better and have taken? unless you can hit your goal that is.</p>