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05-10-2007, 08:59 PM
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#301 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006 Gender: Female
Threads: 20
Posts: 1,395
| Oh and another thing...
Everyone seems to give Kaplan a bad rep...but I used it alongside my US Government class, and I really liked it! It is definitely not a book for self-studiers, but as a supplement for a class, I thought it was perfect!
It gives simple overviews and charts and definitions, so if you have already learned it, it's just a simple reminder. It provides a nice glossary of common terms and all of the amendments and articles. After every chapter, there is about 8 MC questions, and 2 FR questions that REALLY prepared me. A lot of the practice questions I had done (both MC and FR) actually showed up on the real exam. And then there is also the full practice tests.
So, all in all, I think Kaplan isn't that bad!
Last edited by christalena2 : 05-10-2007 at 09:14 PM.
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05-10-2007, 09:12 PM
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#302 | | Member
Join Date: May 2006 Location: Here. Gender: Female
Threads: 60
Posts: 736
| Does anyone have a textbook/useful books (other than those on the reading list -.-) to suggest for AP French Literature? | |
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05-10-2007, 10:35 PM
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#303 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Threads: 15
Posts: 132
| For some reason I bought the CliffsAP US History Review. Completely useless. Not only is the review like five pages long (it basically just tells you to reread your textbook, which I wound up doing), but the tests are completely insane and in some cases the "answers" are blatantly wrong (one seems to overlook the fact that the 13th amendment uses the word "slavery" in a question about slavery and the Constitution).
Don't get Princeton Review's Psychology either. It contains test material over things that the review section doesn't even go over.
I actually threw the above two books against the wall in frustration. I wish I had this list a month ago. | |
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05-10-2007, 10:50 PM
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#304 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007 Gender: Female
Threads: 166
Posts: 2,078
| so, for self-studying psychology, the best book to buy is barrons, right?
(sorry if it says so earlier in the thread .. i'm too lazy to read through every page) | |
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05-11-2007, 05:45 PM
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#305 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Threads: 75
Posts: 475
| hey im confused about something:
Next year I'm taking physics at my school but I want to review in the summer for it. What book should i get for THAT. not necessarily for AP exam but to LEARN physics.
2nd question if I do take the AP exam what would i take? the Physics A one or the B and C one?
Right now i'm gonna do:
SAT: big blue book
AP English Lang: Cliffnotes
AP US: REA
Physics: PR
How are those books? | |
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05-12-2007, 04:52 PM
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#306 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2006
Threads: 10
Posts: 68
| I live by princeton review, with good results so far. Sometimes I can find minor errors in them but nothing that major. (EX physics PR put a lowercase bold t in an equation when solving it instead of a tau symbol).
Oh yeah, REA is a nightmare, tried studying it for AP EURO, and omg what a waste of time. SPent from 3:00pm to 12:00pm every night (not an exaggeration, I did my other hwk in the morning at school) for two weeks before I realized that it was a peice of ----. WAAAAAAAAy to detailed, didn't help at all. I took an AP practice after getting 3/4 through and got a 3. THen I went with princeton review, read it twice, and remembered most of it because it was funny. Some of the practice questions in it were word for word questions on the exam  Ever since then PR is my savior for APs =) | |
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05-12-2007, 08:36 PM
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#307 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Threads: 5
Posts: 44
| i bought practically all Barrons this year & i def. regret it for AP Spanish because some of it that they go over is useless & they got part of the test wrong. i miss princeton review, it was awesome for APUSH and kind of funny. and it helped me get a 5 definitely. | |
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05-13-2007, 05:13 PM
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#308 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Threads: 75
Posts: 475
| hey im confused about something:
Next year I'm taking physics at my school but I want to review in the summer for it. What book should i get for THAT. not necessarily for AP exam but to LEARN physics.
2nd question if I do take the AP exam what would i take? the Physics A one or the B and C one?
Right now i'm gonna do:
SAT: big blue book
AP English Lang: Cliffnotes
AP US: REA
Physics: PR
How are those books? | |
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05-13-2007, 06:34 PM
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#309 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Threads: 15
Posts: 132
| Can anybody who has taken AP Psych and got their grade back speak as to the validity of the Barron's practice tests? I just took it and got a 130 but it seemed way too easy and the scale way too lenient (It said 93-150 is a 5, but I would have been 1.75 points away from a 5 on that if I didn't even do the free response). | |
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05-15-2007, 08:52 PM
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#310 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Rhode Island
Threads: 3
Posts: 198
| Use 5 steps for psych, it's better than Barron's. | |
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05-16-2007, 09:46 PM
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#311 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Threads: 47
Posts: 435
| AP English Lang/Lit
Suppose you wanted to self study one of those, which would you pick and why?
For Lang, is it more like if ur like a great writer.. u get a 5 and if ur bad.. u get a 2 or 3..?
any help would be appreciated. | |
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05-16-2007, 11:51 PM
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#312 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Threads: 13
Posts: 203
| add barrons to biology
y not add rea to the few. | |
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05-17-2007, 05:09 PM
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#313 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Airstrip One Gender: Male
Threads: 55
Posts: 1,504
| Quote: |
Use 5 steps for psych, it's better than Barron's.
| I'm sorry, but it really isn't. Quote: |
Can anybody who has taken AP Psych and got their grade back speak as to the validity of the Barron's practice tests? I just took it and got a 130 but it seemed way too easy and the scale way too lenient (It said 93-150 is a 5, but I would have been 1.75 points away from a 5 on that if I didn't even do the free response).
| It's not that the Barron's exams are inaccurate, it's that AP Psych is freakishly easy. And, Barron's curve is kind of low. It should normally be somewhere around 100-110.. | |
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05-17-2007, 05:12 PM
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#314 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: New Jersey
Threads: 3
Posts: 74
| Master List - Updated
Best Practice Tests
Legend:
O - Overly difficult practice tests.
A - Accuracy (practice tests that are most similar to the real thing).
Art History -
Biology - Princeton Review (A)
Calculus AB -
Calculus BC -
Chemistry - Princeton Review (A)
Chinese Language and Culture -
Computer Science A -
Computer Science AB -
English Language and Composition -
English Literature -
Environmental Science - Princeton Review (A)
European History -
French Language -
French Literature -
German Language -
Government and Politics: Comparative -
Government and Politics: United States -
Human Geography - Barron's (O)
Italian Language and Culture -
Japanese Language and Culture -
Latin Literature -
Latin: Vergil -
Macroeconomics -
Microeconomics -
Music Theory -
Physics B -
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism -
Physics C: Mechanics -
Psychology - Barron's (A)
Spanish Language -
Spanish Literature -
Statistics - Princeton Review (A)
U.S. History -
World History - Princeton Review (A)
Best for Independent Study
Legend:
I - Good for use independently (without any other materials such as textbooks).
T - Could be used independently, but an in-depth knowledge requires a textbook.
Q - Questions throughout the book that help reinforce information (practice tests do not count).
E - Easy to read.
S - A lot of superfluous information.
P - Practice tests included.
Art History -
Biology - Princeton Review (T, Q, P)
Calculus AB -
Calculus BC -
Chemistry - Princeton Review (T, Q, E, P)
Chinese Language and Culture -
Computer Science A -
Computer Science AB -
English Language and Composition -
English Literature -
Environmental Science - Princeton Review (T, Q, E, P)
European History -
French Language -
French Literature -
German Language -
Government and Politics: Comparative -
Government and Politics: United States -
Human Geography - Barron's (I, Q, S, P)
Italian Language and Culture -
Japanese Language and Culture -
Latin Literature -
Latin: Vergil -
Macroeconomics -
Microeconomics -
Music Theory -
Physics B -
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism -
Physics C: Mechanics -
Psychology - Barron's (T, Q, E, S, P)
Spanish Language -
Spanish Literature -
Statistics - Princeton Review (T, E, P)
U.S. History -
World History - Princeton Review (T, E, P)
Best for Complementing Class
Legend:
H - Helpful in preparing for random tests throughout the year, apart from the actual exam.
N - Not strictly a review book (can be used to teach material, and not just to review it).
T - Teacher recommendation.
P - Practice tests included.
Art History -
Biology - Princeton Review (H, T, P)
Calculus AB -
Calculus BC -
Chemistry - Princeton Review (T, P)
Chinese Language and Culture -
Computer Science A -
Computer Science AB -
English Language and Composition -
English Literature -
Environmental Science - Princeton Review (T, P)
European History -
French Language -
French Literature -
German Language -
Government and Politics: Comparative -
Government and Politics: United States -
Human Geography - Barron's (H, T, P)
Italian Language and Culture -
Japanese Language and Culture -
Latin Literature -
Latin: Vergil -
Macroeconomics -
Microeconomics -
Music Theory -
Physics B -
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism -
Physics C: Mechanics -
Psychology - Barron's (H, N, T, P)
Spanish Language -
Spanish Literature -
Statistics - Princeton Review (T, P)
U.S. History -
World History - Princeton Review (P)
What NOT to use
Legend:
N - Not enough information.
T - Too much information (extra information is good, but not to the point where you can't differentiate between the useful stuff, and the filler).
H - Hard to understand.
P - No practice questions included in the review book.
U - Unhelpful practice questions.
O - Price of book much greater than actual value.
Art History -
Biology - Barron's (T)
Calculus AB -
Calculus BC -
Chemistry -
Chinese Language and Culture -
Computer Science A -
Computer Science AB -
English Language and Composition -
English Literature -
Environmental Science - Barron's (T)
European History -
French Language -
French Literature -
German Language -
Government and Politics: Comparative -
Government and Politics: United States -
Human Geography -
Italian Language and Culture -
Japanese Language and Culture -
Latin Literature -
Latin: Vergil -
Macroeconomics -
Microeconomics -
Music Theory -
Physics B -
Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism -
Physics C: Mechanics -
Psychology -
Spanish Language -
Spanish Literature -
Statistics - Barron's (H, U)
U.S. History -
World History - Barron's (T,H) | |
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05-25-2007, 03:08 PM
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#315 | | Member
Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Buffalo, New York
Threads: 92
Posts: 583
| ^^ Thread above is NICE!!!
Now this really can be a consolidated list! | |
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