<p>I’ve only taken one year of biology and I didn’t learn anything.</p>
<p>If I want to self-study for biology, would it be really difficult? Or can I read prep books and be able to score a 750+? I don’t know whether I should even try to study for this subject test.</p>
<p>I read the SparkNotes prep book and then took a practice test and scored a 640 
I want to score a 750+ too! But the last time I took bio was freshman yr(I’m going to be a sr next yr). I think it’s mostly memorization- but there’s A LOT to memorize! And the curve is not as great as Math II. Only concept stuff is like photosynthesis and cell respiration.</p>
<p>There is a lot of memorization involved in the bio test - everything from functions of cellular organelles to the evolutionary significance of major animal phyla. BUT that’s not everything - u also have to be able to apply what u memorize in different situations, especially in the last 1/3 or so of the test. For example, u may be asked to look at some data from an bacteria experiment and interpret what had happened to different bacteria populations, etc. So the bio test is more than just memorization.</p>
<p>It may or may not be difficult for u to self-study. If u have the basic background knowledge, the apply/interpret part wouldn’t be a huge problem. But then again, bio test has the harshest curve of the three science subject tests. Take a practice test, see how u do and how much u need to study, and then determine if u really want to take the test.</p>
<p>I self studied bio for 2 months before the June test, using Barron’s and Sparknotes, and I took 720. In some practice tests I even scored an 800, and the real test seemed to me a little harder even comparing to Barron’s, but I guess it was only for June, you can be lucky and get an easier one. I have never payed attention in bio classes at school either. I am really satisfied, especially since it was the last of 3 tests and I was starting loosing my concentration. It is true that there are lot of things that have to be memorized, but it’s a kind of logical memorization: if you understand the previous concepts, you’ll learn better and faster. The moral: It’s not impossible to self study it, but do it for 3 months or more to score over 750.</p>
<p>Biology SAT II is NOT just memorization. Almost half of the test consists of application questions about experiments. I self studied for the bio SAT II. I had a decent base for bio. If you consider that I at all didn’t know anything about the chemical processes of cellular respiration and photosynthesis, retroviruses, gel electrophoresis,nerve impulse, and absolutely NOTHING about evolution and ecology. =X… and all that stuff. It’s definitely possible to self study for it. I got a 730 self studying it a week before, even though I had plenty of time before. I just say, devote a good week and take the exam. Before that week, I just read some of it… wrote some notes. Tried to do some stuff, but not as much as I had done that week.</p>
<p>I vote take AP BIO, but if you’re a rising senior then I guess you could self study but thatd be an excessive amt of work… and memorization is large but theres also application. make sure you understand hardy weinberg and genetics as those are always on there. self studying plus school plus applications… have fun im glad i don’t have to do it at least, 770 bio- e yay!</p>
<p>You gotta know stuff.</p>
<p>I’m going to disagree with a lot of people that say bio is only memorization. Yes, it does require a lot of it, and you need to know certain terms. But to be truly successful at bio, you need to understand concepts and be able to link things together. Of course, biological concepts might be a bit harder to identify than concepts from more quantifiable things like chemistry or physics.
If you’re not good at such concepts, you’ll have to rely mostly on memorization.</p>