How to Prepare for the AP Biology

Rating:
Summary: Not the way to go
Review: I brought this book and it's terrible. I took the 2001 AP and I am 100% sure I got a 5, even though I didn't get the results yet. I just know bio cold. I could have written a much better book than this (now there's an idea...) The authors talk about topics that are not important at all and do a 7th grade level review of the important topics. I would go with the Cliff's book or Barron's College Review Series in Biology if you want a review book. The best advise I can give is to read the textbook, and DO NOT waste any money on this book. This book is very poorly written.

Rating:
Summary: All right, but not on its own
Review: I found that while this book did help in some aspects, it could have been a lot better. The reviews are, frankly, awful. They are dry and difficult to understand. Although the number of practice tests is great, the questions themselves were much harder than the ones on the actual test. (I usually got a three or a low four on the practice test, but I got a five on the actual test.) If you do use it, I would reccommend using it with a book that explains the concepts well, like the Cliff Notes version. I used Cliff's and this one, and they balanced each other out well, since the questions in Cliff's tended to be too easy.

Rating:
Summary: Preparation, try fright!
Review: I got this book because it looked/seemed to be an excellent resource. BOY WAS I WRONG! This book is unapproachable, unorganized, and unacessable. I am a very good biology student, and the questions posed in this book are far too difficult to answer reasonably and do not represent the test. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. YOU WILL THANK ME LATER!

Rating:
Summary: Not the way to go
Review: I looked at a lot of AP review books, and found that the CliffsAP Biology one was much better. Barron's had review questions that were way too picky, and a substantial amount of the information given in this review manual is not going to be on the test. The questions were way too picky. Most of the book consisted of practice tests, and that was not what I was looking for. CliffsAP Biology had more review and less tests. I actually bought this book and then returned it. I just took this test in May, and I am pretty sure that I got a 5 on it, thanks to Cliffs. Only buy this book if you want practice questions.

Rating:
Summary: There are better books than this!
Review: I looked at a lot of AP review books, and found that the CliffsAP Biology one was much better. Barron's had review questions that were way too picky, and a substantial amount of the information given in this review manual is not going to be on the test. The questions were way too picky. Most of the book consisted of practice tests, and that was not what I was looking for. CliffsAP Biology had more review and less tests. I actually bought this book and then returned it. I just took this test in May, and I am pretty sure that I got a 5 on it, thanks to Cliffs. Only buy this book if you want practice questions.

Rating:
Summary: The Best AP Biology Test Prep
Review: I used three AP Biology test prep books this year, and this one was by far the best. It not only helped me prepare for the AP test, but it was great for studying for tests during the year. It contained very detailed reviews of the various subject areas of AP Biology, many practice questions on each subject, and four full sample tests, which I thought were very helpful in preparing for the AP test. The book's greatest strength is the large number of practice questions. Plus, if your teacher skips over a certain section of the course, the summaries are detailed enough that a careful reading is nearly as good as learning the material in class. This book is probably best used as a resource throughout the year, and not for a last-minute cram aid. My only complaint is that some of the test questions were on topics that the AP test would never ask about (like "The only living monotremes are..."), and some of the reviews gave some unnecessary details. Still, this is the best AP Biology test prep book I have found.

Rating:
Summary: This is Test Preparation at its Finest
Review: My school offers a full-year course in AP Biology. I joined halfway through, in Feburary, and had only three months of class. With diligent study of this text, I was able to pull off a 5 on the AP test, without taking over half the class. This is an excellent resource and I would recommend it to anyone who will be taking the AP test this fall.

Rating:
Summary: Good but some very important material missing
Review: This book was basically all I used to prepare for the AP Biology exam--my school didn't offer the course, so I did an independant study, along with classes for six other APs. The book did a great job condensing all of the information and making it quite understandable. If that was all I was considering, I would have given the book five stars. However, when I took the AP Biology Exam in May 2003, one of the four free response questions dealt entirely with the chi-square statistical test--something not even MENTIONED in this book. Although I had done quite a few practice tests and used websites that had preparation for this exam, the chi-square test was never even remotedly mentioned in this book or elsewhere. While this book claims to list all of the possible topics covered on the test, be careful, as you could be in the same place as me, relying solely on this book to prepare for the exam. Just know that this book DOES NOT cover all testable material. On a better note, this book did help me pass this test, I just wasn't able to achieve that "5" I'd been hoping for--moral of this story, it's a great book, buy it, study it, prepare with it--just don't use it as your sole source of knowledge for the exam preparation.

Rating:
Summary: Good but some very important material missing
Review: This book was basically all I used to prepare for the AP Biology exam--my school didn't offer the course, so I did an independant study, along with classes for six other APs. The book did a great job condensing all of the information and making it quite understandable. If that was all I was considering, I would have given the book five stars. However, when I took the AP Biology Exam in May 2003, one of the four free response questions dealt entirely with the chi-square statistical test--something not even MENTIONED in this book. Although I had done quite a few practice tests and used websites that had preparation for this exam, the chi-square test was never even remotedly mentioned in this book or elsewhere. While this book claims to list all of the possible topics covered on the test, be careful, as you could be in the same place as me, relying solely on this book to prepare for the exam. Just know that this book DOES NOT cover all testable material. On a better note, this book did help me pass this test, I just wasn't able to achieve that "5" I'd been hoping for--moral of this story, it's a great book, buy it, study it, prepare with it--just don't use it as your sole source of knowledge for the exam preparation.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but there are better ones out there
Review: This book's not too bad..I used it to study for the AP Bio Test along with a careful read of the textbook (we used Campbell's textbook) and a few other textbooks like Purves and Orians.. and I pulled off a 5. However, I didn't think the material was written in a clear manner. I looked at the Cliffs version, too, and I think that one's much better, materialwise. The Barron's seem to be much more better at the hard test question-making.