Hello! I’m going into my junior year this year, taking the following courses:
AP US History and Constitution
AP Language and Composition
AP Psychology
AP Biology
Astronomy
Honors Chemistry
CP (advanced but one step below honors) Pre-calc
I’ve purchased Princeton Review guides for AP US History and AP Bio already. I’ve noticed and been told that APUSH is a pretty challenging course and it definitely helps to have the review guide to make reference to throughout the year, and I’ve read that PR guides are some of the best. Is this true? I also might purchase the REA Crash Course for it toward the end of the year, in say, March-April since it’s what I used for AP World History and it helped me keep my thoughts together. I got a PR guide for Bio as well, since I have my mind set on getting a 5 in that class. I’m aiming for 4-5’s in all of my APs. I don’t plan on buying a review guide for psych, since it’s been told to be one of the easiest classes you can take, and I’m not too sure about purchasing one for Lang (I might later in the year, though, if I find it necessary.) Is this a good course of action, do you think? Are Princeton Review guides also as good as I’ve read them to be?
I’ve also decided to take the ACT this year, and maybe take the SAT for the sake of seeing what I get. I’ve purchased the official ACT review guide, and I’m going to begin studying that to perhaps take the test in October or November. I’m also planning on taking the ACT again in March or April, to see how I can improve on my score. I will also add that I took the ACT in 7th-8th grade for the Duke TIP program and scored what I think was a 24, although I didn’t study or really prepare for it. My poorest section on the PSAT was the reading / grammar portion, and because I’ve heard that the SAT puts more emphasis on it, I’m going for the ACT. Do I have a good plan of action for tackling the ACT? Do I need to spread out the time spent between the two planned times of taking the test?
Finally, I’d like to ask for any tips you can give me to help the year flow smoothly and as stress-free as possible. Thank you for reading my thread!