Bassir

Our unit tests seem to be very hard. I always study for the chapter tests but the class tests are just so hard. It's so in detail and completely new.

It's not that I have trouble memorizing the stuff, it's that I don't really know WHAT to study, because it seems like reading just what's in the corresponding chapters isn't sufficient enough—no matter how much I do.

Where does my teacher get these questions? I need more exposure to them, because the self-quizes at the end of each chapter are way easier than what my teacher gives, and so is the Campbells study guide.

How do you guys study for your AP Biology class tests?

Harambee

My teacher gets a good chunk of her questions from the Campbell's Test Bank.

I'm not doing well in AP Biology either. Our teacher creates her own tests which are very hard. Memorizing doesn't help, it's better to understand the material. That's what she usually tells us.

silverturtle

I am taking the same Campbell tests, and they are indeed challenging. I have 135% in AP Calc right now (result of a curve that makes the average score 80%; rediculous, I know ), 100% in AP Chem, 98%+ in everything else (including three other weighted classes), and 92% in Bio; this is despite the fact that I'm spending by far the most time for Biology (twice as much, easily, as any for any other class).

Most of the questions seem to come from the diagrams in the textbook. Studying these has helped me quite a bit: I examined the chapters with extreme attention for our recent test on Cellular Respiration, Photosynthesis, Cell Communication, and Mitosis/Meiosis, and it helped. (Got all the questions right.) But it was a ton of information.

Harambee

^I understand what you mean. I have an A on all my other AP Classes, but I have my worst grade in AP Bio (~86), and that's despite the fact that I spend the most time studying for it.

Bassir

I always think I'll do horrible because most of my answers I feel are guesses, but I end up doing actually pretty well (80-95) but never do exceptionally well (95+).

sohaibshaikh

why would bio teachers give campbell questions, instead of actual ap questions. The entire point of the course is to prep you for the ap exam right. At least with actual ap questions you can get a fell for what the exam will be like.

JNE23

Wow, a 92 in AP Bio. Man, how can you even live with yourself...


So maybe you have a hard teacher, big deal. Pick up an accurate AP Bio review book, and if you do well on those questions, thats all that matters.

No college is going to care if you get an A- instead of an A+ in Ap Bio. All that matters is the 4 or 5 you get on the exam. Stop stressing.

MarieTudor

Flash cards help, a lot. I managed to get a 97 for the year and a 4 on the exam just by using flash cards to study. I hope you'll give it a try.

SimplySimple

So true, my teacher uses some of the questions from the reece book too, and ap bio is indeed a very hard course. It's like if you don't score exceptionally well solid A up, your grade would be on borderline. I noticed every time I got an A- on a test, my grade would drop to borderline, but if I got a one hundred and six percent, my grade wouldn't go up to an A+ :\. but that's life. (: Just study harder, review every little detail and example the book gives you because sometimes those are included in the questions.