<p>What are the best prep books for:</p>
<p>1) ACT
2) SAT II: Chemistry
3) SAT II: Biology</p>
<p>Tell me your opinion: I took honors Chemistry as a sophomore and got high A's both semesters. Many of my friends took the SAT II after that and did well, but I did not. This year, as a junior, I took honors Biology and got about the same grades, but the teacher said this course does not prepare for the SAT II. So, should i try and freshen up on my Chemistry or learn more Biology for the fall SAT IIs???</p>
<p>1) ACT: "The Real ACT Prep Guide" - The only guide made by the test-makers themselves.</p>
<p>1) "Real ACT Prep Guide", Barron's ACT
2) Barron's Chemistry
3) (Never taken Bio)</p>
<p>2) Sparknotes is great too (I could have sworn there was a thread like this one time, must have been my imagination...)</p>
<p>1) The Real ACT Test Prep guide. don't look anywhere else. Barron's is second best.
2) SAT II: Chemistry - don't know.
3) CliffsAP Biology - the single best review book for AP/SAT II biology. I'd read it in combination with Kaplan and if you have time, Barron's. For test questions I'd look to the Real SAT IIs Biology and/or the Real SAT IIs big book with all SAT IIs included. Kaplan's questions are harder than the real test I found, and it provides the best body systems review.</p>
<p>You don't think the AP book would be too intense/much for just an SAT II? I'm taking AP Bio next year...would I be confused if I studied from it now?</p>
<p>What about the second part of my postwhat do you all think? Which is easier to study for?</p>
<p>I've taken AP Bio and Bio SAT-II, and both tests seemed to cover almost the exact same information. In fact, I made a list of things I needed to know, and the same list worked perfectly for both tests.</p>
<p>I can't speak from experience (Chem is this year's project), but I think Bio would probably be easier. Less math--just intuition and memorization. Depends on your strengths, though.</p>
<p>Yeah, I took the SAT II Bio freshman year and then the AP Bio exam sophomore year (without the class, only one day of review). There may be like 5 questions on AP Bio that wouldn't be on the SAT II, but it wouldn't be enough to lower your score.</p>
<p>Well, I prepped like hell for the SAT II, and this year I just memorized a couple things (cell respiration, photosynthesis, and classification, mostly) the day before, and I got a 5. The concepts all stuck in my head, though.</p>
<p>Kaplan is the best book for the SAT II Bio.</p>
<p>not really it doesn't interest a lot of people </p>
<p>jk</p>
<p>idk about the other two prep books but for Chem I'd go for barrons. Detail and hardness if it is adequate enough and not to extreme doesn't hurt</p>
<p>So, should I take Biology? I bought: SparkNotes (my favorite, usually), Barron's, Kaplan, and the "For Dummies" onefor biology. I think I will take this onecan it be studied for in a month and a half? I took the course, but there is some more stuff I need to memorizeis this difficult?</p>
<p>No, it's not difficult. Just memorize everything. If you memorize everything in Kaplan and understand basic concepts and trends, you'll do very well.</p>
<p>Beware of Barron's. Look at the preface. It's meant to prepare students for more than just the SAT II. It has material for tests such as the New York Regents exams. Ignore sections 6.1, 7.5, 8.3, 10.5, 11.1, 11.4, 12.2, and 12.3.</p>
<p>Also, why would you buy SparkNotes? Their book is available for free online (<a href="http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/sat2/biology)%5B/url%5D">http://www.sparknotes.com/testprep/books/sat2/biology)</a>.</p>
<p>Also, most bio practice tests are crappy indicators of how you'll do on the actual. And REA is the worst book in the world.</p>