Well, here I am, worrying over the AP Biology test, which is rapidly approaching (May…) Why am I worrying? I am extremely unprepared. I’ve purchased the Princeton Review book for it, and all that good stuff… I’m even taking a one-day-a-week course, but I’m still having major anxiety issues.
Anyway. The question. Have any of you dopers taken this test? Were you having the same worries? How did you do? What should I expect? AUGH! If you could offer any advice or help, please let me know.
(Mods: I wasn’t quite sure what forum this should be in, so if I’m wrong, go right ahead and correct me:D )
Well, I am a junior right now in AP Bio, and I have taken two AP Exams so far. The best advice that I can give you, if your HS has a strong AP Program, is ask your teacher for help. They should have copies of old exams as well as examples of strong responses to these questions. Also, your class should start a review session pretty quickly, after all of the material was covered both of my AP class simply reviewed and polished off our skills for the AP for about a month.
And the fact that you KNOW that you’re unprepared speakes volumes to your preparedness.
Also, the fact that you asked the SDMB implies that you take it seriously.
Look, It’s been years and years, but I can tell you you’re not going to cram too much in at the last moment. You didn’t get to AP by accident. You either know how to think, study , and test or you don’t.
How did you do on your last serious bio. test?
Okay, yes, being in AP bio in the first place does make me qualified, and I have been studying, for quite some time (my teacher is the one giving the review), but I suppose I am just worried that there is going to be SOMETHING on there that I haven’t prepared myself for… Biology is such a vast subject, and our class doesn’t follow the exact AP curriculum, so I am mostly nervous that there is something that I haven’t gone over before…
I’m sort of looking for what the majority of the test is comprised of, and if those practice tests I’ve been taking are a true comparison to the real test.
In my humble opinion, it was the easiest of the AP tests I took three years ago (the other three being Calculus AB, English Lit, and Physics C).
First off, nobody is expected to get a perfect score. Biology is a huge field, and topics will come from everywhere-- anatomy, evolution, biochemistry, genetics, microbiology-- the College Board is well aware of this, and provides a lot of leeway to teachers in setting the curriculum, as well as to students who take the exam. The multiple choice section is very objective; it’s a measure of what you know, rather than your analytical capabilities. It is true that you lose points for guessing wrong on questions, but it’s only a 1/4 point penalty designed to eliminate score inflation due to blind guessing; if you can rule out one or two choices as clearly being wrong, you’ll come out ahead if you don’t leave the answer blank.
Free response was a bit more analytical; more if a split between analyzing data and justifying a position, depending on the question. Keep in mind that many of the points in this section are gained by hitting specific keywords in your arguments; verbosity and deep analyses will hurt you, as the exams are time limited.
To be honest, you’ve probably already discovered this as you’ve worked through your study materials. They tend to be a fair representation of what you’re going to encounter on the exam.
You might also want to look at the exam’s home page, it has the free response section from the last two exams, as well as ten sample multiple choice questions.
Finally the exam is highly curved, and 60% of people who took the exam last year scored a 3 or higher. Relax, go with what you know, and you’ll do great!
-KeithT, who scored a 5 in 1999
This is probably better off in IMHO, so I’ll shoot it there.
But here’s some free advice from a B- student who earned 30 credits through AP exams (including getting a 5 on APUSH and a 4 on AP physics in the same day, despite earning a D in the physics course).
Be relaxed on test day. You are far better off learning 80% of the stuff and knowing 100% of it on exam day than learning 100% of the stuff and only knowing 80% of it on exam day. If your recall is up to snuff, if you are relaxed, if you can skip a question or two and not stress out, you will be much, much better off than if you are beating yourself up halfway through the exam.
I also scheduled a pleasurable activity (date, pool party, auto race, etc) for the night following each exam day. Being resolved to being in a good mood for those was also a help.
I’m serious. In my experience, going into a test worried meant that I would probably get flustered, which didn’t exactly help things. Basically, I slept the night before, spent most of the night doing something relaxing (as well as going over a few of the concepts I knew I had a shaky grasp on), and going in with a clear mind and many pencils.
As for the test–they ask some specifics, and a lot of generals. You’ll be really surprised at what you already know.
The review from your teacher will probably be your best preparation, btw–don’t stop doing it.
And if you’re wondering as to my credentials:
5 in Bio, Chem, Lit/Comp, Lang/Comp
4 in Physics C–M, Physics C–E/M, Government, Euro, American Hist, Stats, Microecon.
Chickened out on–Calc A/B, which was stupid, because I would have done fine. Incidentally–don’t chicken out. You’ll regret it later, I guarantee it.
Wow, thatnk you guys. I didn’t really expect much a response on this thread. I checked out the site Handy gave me… That was pretty good, considering it hones on on specific areas.
I was thinking of taking the A/B Calc test, but I did chicken out, unfortunately… ah, well, I’m only a junior, i got next year too.
I was going to echo what Angel of the Lord said: they ask some specifics, but from what I remember it was mostly general stuff. It helped if you could draw conclusions from the information they provided…I don’t remember the details but there was one question about a biological system where (among other things) there was C02 being released into water. One of the questions asked what the pH of the water would be. You would have had to remember the piece of information about the CO2, and also known that that would make the water acidic.
If you are doing well in your AP Bio class, you will do well on your test. Prepare, but don’t go nuts.
I got a 5 on the AP Bio exam, but it was way back in 1982! I majored in Bio in college, and have been working in the field ever since.
I took AP Bio back in 98, so I’m not sure if I’m gonna be too much help. On the other hand, I just barely got a C in the class, struggled the whole year, and ended up with a decent 3 on the exam. For me, it was all in finessing those essays. Write down as much information as possible that even remotely pertains to the question.
I got a 5 back in 1996 (which was good for 9 hours of 4.0’s at UTexas, saving my ass when I discovered just how bad I was at calculus…)
My “strategy” : relax
I was told, long ago by a wise counselor that the best preparation for the SAT, SAT II, and AP tests was a revolutionary long-term study plan called “attending high school”
I did a few practice tests, worked out my strategy for multiple choice (you can go far in life knowing very little about anything if only you develop an instinct for multipe choice…) and got plenty of sleep.
I took that one 5 years ago. It was my first AP. I freaked. Everybody else got a review book and studied those - I spent the twelve days going through all 927 pages of my textbook, distilling it down to 37 pages of notes of things I didn’t know, and then memorized the notes. During those twelve days, I ate, I slept, I went to school, and I studied. It remains the one shining example in my life of a time when I actually behaved responsibly about studying for something, rather than leaving it for the last minute.
It was total overkill. I also walked out of the exam knowing I got a 5, which I did.
You have to judge for yourself - do you really want to sacrifice two weeks of your life, like I did? Don’t go through your textbook - that’s really too much detail. If you’re in a class, and you have a review book, just go over that, and make sure you know it pretty well. And remember that you don’t actually have to get that much of it right to get a 5.
Talk to your teacher about the essays - my teacher had taught AP for about a million years, and had a good sense of what they would ask - she predicted the subjects on two of the four questions.
Basically, are you like me - do you need fear to study? If so, don’t relax. If you’re more sensible, then do calm down, since it really isn’t that bad.