Barron's How to Prepare for the Sat II: Biology and Biology E/M (Barrons' How to Prepare for the Sat II. Biology E/M, 12th ed)

Rating:
Summary: you might want to reconsider
Review: After using the Barron's Ap biology book I found that Barrons is goos because they have plent of practice tests. Although I found the real AP test much harder it was still all right. The SAT II on the other hand was the total opposite. After a short week of studying from the barrons I found that the real SAT II was very similar. The review is also excellent. If you have time study with more than one, but if you short on time stick with the barrons because hell I got a 730 and 87th percentile with just one week.

Rating:
Summary: Good for the practice tests....
Review: as a highschool student, and having not so much time to study, this book is straight foward and easy to understand. It has many tests to choose from, with helpful test taking tips. Not for those that have no experience in biology.

Rating:
Summary: This book was average
Review: I am not a great studier but i did not find this book covered all the topics on the Sat2. The tests were way too easy. I scored nearly 70 points lower on the actual Sats. Decent book but i think you could find better books out there. There was a ton of information but it was too much for me to cram with yet it didn't cover all the questions on the real tests. The answers were well explained to their practice tests but maybe that was because they were so easy.

Rating:
Summary: The best of the review books
Review: I got this book after buying the Kaplan book on the same subject. I find it to be superior, although not as asthetically pleasing, as the Kaplan book. The summaries are very consise, the organization is decent, and overall this book is money well spent if you plan to take the Bio SAT II. One note, though, many of the tests included are rather easy. I for one am not a great student and didn't study diligently at all, yet when I took practice test 1 I got a 680. Not bad; hopefully the publishers at Barron's don't do this to boost one's morale and thus improve the image of the book. If you want hard practice tests, look at the Kaplan book. How realistic they are I don't know, but it seems that one would be prepared for anything the College Board could make up after taking the Kaplan tests sucessfully. Good luck to all.

Rating:
Summary: Good book, not enough detail
Review: I was quite pleased with this book in that it covered everything and more that was on the SATII, but it alone will not do. I had a great teacher for Honors Biology, and that I belive is what earned me my 720. This book did help the nights before the test with little miscellaneous buts of information, but the book really does not teach.
The book just throws information at you without trying to get you to understand the pricess or the concept. That is was the teacher is for.
If you had a bad teacher or were not even taking Bio., this book would only help you if you were an insane memorizer like those weird kids in Japan that stay up until 2am studying for quizzes.

Rating:
Summary: good coverage, A LOT of good coverage
Review: This book is really good and covers all of the bases of biology, but I only have a week to prepare for the test, and all of this material is, well, quite overwhelming. I would definitely reccomend this book if you have two weeks or more to prepare for this test. If you have the test really soon like me I would reccomend going with the Kaplan book.

Rating:
Summary: If you want a 'just average' score
Review: This book was ok if u only want an average score. I just took the SAT II Biology E the other day and the questions on the test were BARELY covered in the book. The does have some detailed summaries, but only about 1/4 of the material on the test could be found in the book. and the practice tests were SOOO incredibly easy. Perhpas this was to boost morale so it made the book look like it was a good book......but I dunno. When I take the test again after i take AP bio, i'll use the Princton or the Kaplan.

Rating:
Summary: If you want a 'just average' score
Review: This book was ok if u only want an average score. I just took the SAT II Biology E the other day and the questions on the test were BARELY covered in the book. The does have some detailed summaries, but only about 1/4 of the material on the test could be found in the book. and the practice tests were SOOO incredibly easy. Perhpas this was to boost morale so it made the book look like it was a good book......but I dunno. When I take the test again after i take AP bio, i'll use the Princton or the Kaplan.

Rating:
Summary: Maybe if you have over a year...
Review: When I decided to take the SAT II Biology, I also ordered the Barron's and Kaplan test preps. I had already taken the AP Biology test and recieved a 5, and I had the Cliff's AP Biology book as well. I had about a month and a half left before the Dec. exam and opened up the Barrons book to get started. MISTAKE MISTAKE MISTAKE!!! This book is very intimidating, there is way more information that you need to know, for example, the whole section on cancer and other diseases is completely unnecessary. TRUST ME...YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW THOSE DISEASES!!! The practice tests reflect the information provided in this book and is more like a "final exam" for those that read the book instead of an accurate model. I shut the book up within two days, thinking yeah right, and I picked up the Kaplan book instead. The Barron's book is also very visually unappealing and goes into too much detail. I would only use it if I had over a year to study and needed to make sure I knew every possible thing. The Kaplan book was a better at giving you the right material, but sometimes the paragraph format of the book takes too much time to read through. At this point, it would be smartest to use the Cliff's AP Biology book to get a quicker easier grasp of the information necessary. Neither the Kaplan nor the Barrons had very good practice tests, so I'd just take both to get a feel for what I need to know.