So, I’m a HS freshman who’s interested in doing the USABO next year. I have very basic biology knowledge but I didn’t take biology as I was able to get a low “5” (I believe it was 86th percentile) on the high school biology final exam as an 8th grader (kind of winged it based on my middle school science knowledge so I didn’t learn much and that’s why my score was so low, I’m trying to find a way to get the score off my transcript). I want to know what to study and when to start (I do know that reading Campbell’s Bio is good), along with how difficult it is to pass opens.
BUMP
B U M P
I just realized that some of my original post makes no sense, so let me rephrase the question:
Hi guys, I’m a current HS freshman who is interested in competing in the USABO next year. I have a basic knowledge of biology and I’m planning on spending my summer learning more biology to prepare for the USABO exams. I was just wondering if any of you that have competed and been successful in the USABO in the past could give me tips on how to effectively use that time to study for the USABO. I know the Campbell Biology textbook is really helpful, but I want to know how to effectively study from it. I’m aiming for being at least a semifinalist and I’m curious as to how much time needs to be put into preparing to achieve this. I’m also taking AP Biology next year, and I was just curious how much that would help in terms of preparation for the USABO. I would really appreciate any insight.
AP Biology doesn’t help that much. I was a semifinalist this year and my best advice is to not take notes unless you are just jotting down things you think you will forget. I wasted so much time writing notes and not even going back over them. You have plenty of time to get through Campbell - don’t bother memorizing all the biosystematics though, it only pops up for maybe one question on the open exam. Campbell is the ONLY book you need for the open exam, trust me :).
@AP%20Procrastination Thanks so much for the reply! Congratulations on being a semifinalist. I have another question: how much work did it take for you to read through Campbell Biology and become a semifinalist?
Also, one more thing: would getting the AP Edition for Campbell Biology work as well or is there a major difference between Campbell Biology and the AP Edition?
I know this is a late reply, but you still have quite a bit of time until February 
.The AP Edition is pretty much the same as the regular edition, so it won’t matter too much. AP Bio definitely helps a lot, mainly because it forces you to stay on schedule in terms of the reading. From what I’ve observed, if you study only for AP Bio and take do specific USABO studying, you would have 40%-50% chance of becoming a semifinalist, depending on how much you study for the class. Good luck!