<p>First of all, congrats to everyone who got a 5 this year. It definitely wasn't easy considering that only 5.4% of all testers were able to score that high. </p>
<p>But to the rest of you (especially prospective Biology majors), what are your thoughts about the test? Personally I was mortified, since Bio was my strongest subject this year and my favorite class, yet my my only 4 out of all my APs. I actually studied the most for this exam, but I guess I just wasn't ready for this new test format.</p>
<p>I liked the format; I think I know the concepts and big ideas way better than I know the intricate details. I.e. I still couldn’t tell you all the steps of the Citric Acid Cycle, but I know the purpose. My teacher was prepared and taught to the new style and emphasized how to do all the math and get points on the free responses.</p>
<p>I got a 5 and was really not surprised. I finished each section early and knew how to answer all the FRs and get the majority of points offered. I would advise next year students to not stress details as much and approach the test with logic and reason. The new test is more generalities and less specifics BUT you still gotta know your bio.</p>
<p>I am a prospective Econ major who will take premed reqs.</p>
<p>IMO I thought it was alright. It wasn’t too hard, but it can take a while to answer the questions. I thought the test pretty accurately tests critical thinking skills and applying biology to real-world situations. Now, it may not test biology directly through facts, like people are used to, but I thought the test now upholds to college standards. Sure it was easy, sure they basically spoon-fed the information/answers for part of the multiple choices, but there are reasons for that, reasons important in the sciences.</p>
<p>:Like ^^ said, you have to know the general aspects of biology (although I know a lot of details because of the class…), but you need to know some details that pertains to their functions and effects. Think to yourself “what would happen if this didn’t exist?”</p>
<p>I got a 5 on the exam, going to be a Math and Chemistry major.</p>
<p>For non-biology/science majors like myself, I think it is much better. CB essentially went from one end of the spectrum, a lot of fact memorization, to the other end, almost no fact memorization. For someone like myself who will likely never take another science class again, it was great. It provided me with a great fundamental understanding of and appreciation for many basic biology concepts. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I do not believe for a second that it is equal to a real college class. In the college class, I suspect, BOTH fact recall and critical thinking abilities are tested. I strongly encourage anyone with a 4 or 5 from this year who is majoring in biology to retake the class next year.</p>
<p>This new test allows for people with good critical thinking skills, test taking skills, and a basic knowledge of biology to get a good score? (Anecdotal) proof? I did it. I got a 4 with absolutely no studying.</p>
<p>Hated it. I took practice exams in the old format considering we barely had ANYTHING from this year’s format and I’d constantly pull 5’s, including the FRQ’s. I’m so good at fact recall.
I got a 3 on the revised exam. I highly doubt Bio 101 tests are like that in college. Maybe I would have done better if they didn’t give you 90 minutes to read 63 paragraphs.</p>
<p>@Rivington - I agree. When we took the practice tests in the old format, I easily 5’d them. However, I also agree with Syoung2. I wish they had incorporated both factual recall and critical thinking because anyone with a solid biology background could have scored well on this test. In fact, I felt like it was more of a biology-emphasized version of the ACT. Overall, though, I am happy with my 4 (UW gives credit for 4’s and 5’s, so at least I’m getting something out of it.)</p>
<p>@Mad4School: My only “background” in Bio was 7th grade Life Science lol. AP Bio was my first Bio course in high school and I took it as a sophomore. I guess having a little background would have helped more instead of just going straight to AP.</p>
<p>I see the merits behind redesigning the test, but the finished product could be much better.</p>
<p>My only problem with the actual test was how little biological content their was. They could have struck a much better balance between critical thinking and fact vomiting. The old test was fact vomiting, the new test is all critical thinking. Somewhere in the middle would be preferable.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken the new one, but the exam I took last year seemed to be quite a bit more than straight fact vomiting and took an understanding of how everything in life works and is intertwined. thats just me though. fact vomitings for history tests</p>
<p>I completely agree with Syoung2. I don’t consider myself to be good at science (My B in AP Bio agrees with that assessment), and personally prefer the humanities. I didn’t study at all, and I did not feel prepared at all either - in fact, I nearly decided to not take the test (the fact I already paid for it pushed me to take it). But I did end up getting a 4, and I have no idea how. Admittedly, the details of the test are a little fuzzy by now - perhaps I simply caught a break. I also find myself agreeing with Debater1996, although the fact that there wasn’t much biological content probably resulted in my score being as high as it was.</p>
<p>^^ are you taking the class in a traditional classroom? That will prepare you enough. Cliff Notes is good if you think you need a book. Read Campbell’s cover to cover over the course of the year, taking notes of the main ideas with a couple important details.</p>
<p>Got a 4, even though i forgot to do the last two free responses. I’ll forever wonder if it was the deciding difference between a 4 and a 5 (I knew the answers), but i’m happy. I feel that the test was less Bio-oriented than i expected. It was more similar to the Science ACT. Maybe a little more content next exam, AP?</p>
<p>Awk…
I did every free response (not perfectly of course) and got a 3.
I knew what I was doing for FRQ’s #2-#8 for sure. They were so easy.
I only left out 3 grid-ins because of time, yet once again, I pulled a 3.
Hate being one of those annoying “shud i re$cor3?” people but, after hearing your guys’ comments, I feel like I should have gotten a 4 at least lol</p>
<p>Anyone else think the score distributions were also a little unfair? According to totalregistration, only 5.4% of testers got a 5. That means that if you were in the top 10 percent or even the top 5.5%, you were put into the same pool as some people who did significantly worse than you.</p>