cmh_580

I'll be taking the following AP classes next year:
Spanish
English Lit
Calc BC
Physics C
Psychology

I'm wondering what books are the best for each of those subjects. I also plan on taking the SAT Physics and perhaps the Spanish one too. Would it be necessary to buy two different books or could I just use the same one?

brahms91

Physics C is the only one of those where I used a prep book because I self studied. I would suggest barron's, I did a comparison of Barron's vs. PR on another thread (Best Ap review books, started by xxsteelxx) Also for SAT II physics, you might want to get another prep book, because that covers stuff not covered on physics C (waves, thermodynamics and modern physics) although with taking physics C, you will be very very well prepared for Mechanics and E&M.

I don't know about Spanish, sorry.

cmh_580

Anyone know about Spanish? Because that's the one I'm most worried about because my teacher isnt too good so I think I'm going to have to teach myself a lot.

sd6

i have the same question for spanish

but for psych, i know barron's is actually the best.

gaginang

It is unfortunate that your most worrisome subject would be AP Spanish, because the language study guides for Advanced Placement are probably the least efficient [if not least accurate, besides Kaplan which enjoys a reputation of giving wrong info/answers rather often].

On the other hand, I have found ONE workbook-like study guide which is probably the only one that has received positive reviews. It is called: Ap Spanish: Preparing for the Language Examination. I personally will have use of this in my AP Spanish Language class as a common-day workbook [but of course, being in a public school, it won't be for me to write in lol].

so: Ap Spanish: Preparing for the Language Examination
search for it on Amazon, I suppose.

cmh_580

Ok does anyone know about Calc BC? Or should I not even bother buying a book for it?

brahms91

I've heard Peterson's is good for Calc BC. I didn't use a prep book for it, If you don't have any problems with Calc, then there really isn't any need for a prep book, unless you self study, because there's not a whole lot of information, just a couple of formulas. When I took Calc BC, My teacher made our class make flash cards of all the important rules and derivatives and antiderivatives and formulas. It didn't help me too much, because calculus comes very easy to me, but I used that technique for Chem last year and Physics C this year, and it really helped, especially for chem. So, if you have trouble remembering different formulas, then I recommend making flash cards.

cmh_580

Yeah I wasn't really sure if it's worth buying a book for BC. I'm sure I'll learn everything I need in class.