What AP prep books do you recommend?

<p>I'm planning to buy AP prep books for my upcoming senior ap classes. What AP books got you a good score on the AP test? (I'm planning to take AP Lit, AP Biology, AP Macro/AP US Govt & Politics, AP Calc BC, AP Stats). Thanks</p>

<p>I took AP Stat this year, and would recommend Barron’s! (Although the only other review book I’ve looked at is PR.)</p>

<p>For AP U.S Gov, I used Crash Course and got a 5. It gives you the info you need to know without going into too much detail. Also watch this to review near the test date: <a href=“http://www.c-span.org/video/?319222-7/washington-journal-high-school-us-government-exam”>http://www.c-span.org/video/?319222-7/washington-journal-high-school-us-government-exam&lt;/a&gt;. </p>

<p>Lit - barron’s maybe but really just show up to class and be half way intelligent and a decent writer and you should have no problem
Bio - Cliff Notes or Barron’s, also check out bozeman’s AP bio series on youtube
AP Macro - Kaplan (very short but hits all the critical points)
AP Gov - Barron’s and CitizenU channel on youtube
BC - Barron’s or princeton review during the year, Ifyou’ve already learned AB do the practice tests for AB over summer. Khanacademy and patrickjmt are good supplements
Stats - Barron’s and I never found any good online resources for this exam (albeit I never honestly tried that hard looking for them.</p>

<p>P.S. Got fours and fives on all exams and this is what I have used or have heard other people recommend. </p>

<p>P.S,S. If you really want to get a 5 on every exam, then you might want to use educator.com two months before the exams are given and review with their video lectures. They are very high quality and will guarantee you a five, but it would cost $80 for two months and they aren’t necessary to get a five. If you want the guarantee that you’re getting the best review possible, then it would benefit you greatly to check them out and see what they have to offer.</p>

<p>Don’t bother with getting one for lit, it’s pointless.
I like PR, but that’s because its less dense and the language is easier than Barron’s. If you’re realistically aiming for a 5, use the latter</p>

<p>I liked Kaplan for Stats. The practice questions resembled AP questions better than Barron’s did, and the explanations were more focused.</p>

<p>I had REA (not crash course) for AP Macro and I didn’t like it at all. No practice questions, just very dense text. PR or Barron’s would probably be a better choice. </p>

<p>I didn’t have my own book for AP Gov - I just looked through all the books my teacher had. None really jumped out at me as being the best - any will suffice. However, make sure you get a newer version! My teachers were all from 2003-2008 so all the campaign finance information was out of date. Make sure you get something from 2011 or later because campaign finance is pretty important. I also recommend the CSPAN review linked above. That was probably the resource that pushed me into “5” range, as I was getting high 4’s on practice tests but watched that the night before the test and ended up with a 5. Very much worth an hour of your time! </p>

<p>AP Lit doesn’t really require a book. Flashcards would probably be very beneficial, though. Other than that, printing off old FRQ’s and practicing will help you much more. I also recommend reading sparknotes of every book you’ve ever read in the weeks before the test to refresh your memory (not the chapter summaries, just the main plot summary, themes, characters summaries, etc). I wrote my free essay on Their Eyes Were Watching God, and had to say “Janie’s first husband” “Janie’s second husband” and “Janie’s third husband” because I couldn’t remember their names. Reading sparknotes right before the test will help with that. </p>

<p>I don’t have experience with the other classes, so no suggestions for those. </p>

<p>I used both Crash Course and Barron’s for AP Gov. I read Crash Course twice, and Barrons 1.5 times. It was by far the most time-effective studying I did. </p>