masterodisaster

princeton review > barron's > 0 > kaplan's

kaplan's WILL make u learn the wrong reasoning/answers (experience from their sample act/sat tests) oh, and they underprep

barron's is good if you want to scare yourself into studying in that they overprep you for the social sciences (u.s. gov for example)

princeton review is best

computergeek173

Barron's is good for select things: Comp Sci, for example. I think it's equal to princeton for physics. Barron's and Princeton are both great, but Kaplan underpreps a lot and just has errors a lot.

imgoing2college

I'm using 5step for Psychology self-study. It seems pretty good.

AeroEngineer3141

My personal recommendations, updated (textbooks not included):

Computer Science
Barrons; Be Prepared for the Computer Science Exam in Java (Litvin). Barrons is very comprehensive, and Litvin is good for practice exams.

Calculus
Peterson's; Multiple-Choice & Free Response Questions in Preparation for the AP Calculus (AB or BC) Examination. Peterson's is extremely comprehensive, and you won't need it if you're a strong calc student. The latter is also good for practice exams.

Statistics
Barrons. I don't have any legitimate reason for choosing Barrons over any other book here. Brush up on your Greek though, because they use the standard variables, and if your teacher made up his own variables, then you'll get pretty confused.

US History
AMSCO; REA: Crash Course. AMSCO is good for semester-long studying, Crash Course is very concise but gives more pertinent information per page.

Economics
PR. Just the general consensus at my school.

US Gov
CliffsAP. Good enough for me, the exam wasn't too hard.

Physics
5 Steps to a 5; past AP exams. 5 Steps is very easy to understand, and will help if you don't fully understand the concept. I've heard Barrons is difficult to use as a review tool if you're not a strong Physics student.

Environmental Science
Smartypants' Guide; Barrons. Smartypants' isn't universally available, so Barrons is the next best thing (I think).

Chemistry
5 Steps to a 5 or PR. 5 Steps seems to work well for the sciences for me.

Biology
5 Steps to a 5 or Cliffs. Cliffs is good, but I've developed an affinity for 5 Steps

English Language
CliffsAP. Lots of practice, not much else to say.

English Literature
CliffsAP or Barrons. Though your grade really depends on how much you've done over the year.

Psychology
Barrons. Comprehensive - perfect for self-studying.

Spanish Language
N/A. You're beyond help, don't bother. You've got x amount of years of language to fall back on.

Shizzle

I know there's a master list in the middle of the thread. But I will ask anyway... So I had a semester of Micro, which was enough. I haven't learned any Macro, but apparently I'm good at Econ. I read through the Princeton Review, (still working on Macro) I also have the 5 steps book, is it worth reading after the Princeton Review?

Also, I'm taking Environmental Science, it's pretty easy. Is the Princeton Review enough for that, or should I also read parts of a textbook? I just got one from a teacher the other day.

PBailey

I've seen the book "Modern European History" pop up a lot as a good book for AP Euro, but I'm confused...is this the right one?

Amazon.com: Modern European History: Birdsall S. Viault: Books

The author is Birdsall S. Viualt?

kivanovasweet

That's the right Modern European History: BEST euro book EVER!

jzhang722

Personally I DO NOT like 5 steps to a 5
AP ____ for dummies is good for bio and chem.
PR is GREAT for physics

Shizzle

Here are my suggestions:

PR!! All of them are great. Except for English ones... lol, but who studies for those anyway?
Barrons for Human Geography though.

Pumplemousse

Okay, I just want to confirm before I decide which to buy for me AP classes next year:

Psychology: Barrons?

English Literature: Barrons?

Spanish Language: Barrons/PR/kaplan?

Biology: Cliff?


Is this correct?

motivated_101

Yeah, I would like to confirm some books as well

Calc BC: Arco?
AP Chem: PR+Barron?
Euro: Modern European History? or should i go with PR?

brahms91

I've done all my AP tests except for Calc AB and BC self study, so I've bought a lot of review books.

AP Chem: Princeton Review (got 5)
AP US Gov: Princeton Review
Physics C: Barrons (I used PR on the side, and it was useful for further explaination)
Economics: 5 steps to a 5
Euro: AP Achiever by Chris Freiler (or something like that)
Stats: I don't know, I used Princeton review, but only got a 3 (but that could've been due to other factors, like not knowing the material)

Shizzle

Motiviated101, Go with PR for Euro and just the PR for Chem if you actually go through stuff in class somewhat decently.

motivated_101

^ im self studying so... i should probably still get barrons as well.

Shizzle

Self studying both?

For Euro you might want an actual textbook type of thing, and for Chem get the Barron's if you don't have a teacher and use the PR for review before the test.