<p>Since there is a surprising lack of SAT II Biology progress threads, I decided to make one to make sure I’m studying and to help out future test takers. So here’s the first post, lol.</p>
<p>Test day: May 3, 2014 (subject to change)
Review Materials: Princeton Review & Barron’s
Course: Honors Biology (I’m a rising freshman)
Current progress: Read up to Chapter 11 in PR.
Practice test scores:
May 2013 - Barron’s diagnostic - 490 (lol)
July 2013 - Kaplan test (E) - 610
August 2013 - Sparknotes test (E/M) - 660 on both.</p>
<p>So yeah 660 isn’t a bad starting point, considering that I haven’t even taken the course yet. I still have 9 months to prepare, and I’ll take one practice test a month (Petersons, Barrons, McGraw-Hill, and Sparknotes) until February, and then I’ll do the Princeton Review tests and then finally the College Board test.</p>
<p>This thread isn’t just for me–anyone taking the Bio exam in the future can post their progress here. Good luck everyone :)</p>
<p>I took one in the June and only got 640 unfortunately.
I m a rising junior and have taken one-year bio class. When i was using barron testing at home, i could get 780or760, but in the real test it became terrible.
So my advice is to study text books. They provide more stuffs you want. Test prep books can’t hit that much.</p>
<p>Today was sneak peek day at my high school. I met my bio teacher today, and I inquired about the SAT Biology test. She had no idea what I was talking about.</p>
<p>NOTE: Ask your teacher for help, but don’t completely rely on the class to get you a good score. Chances are the class won’t adequately prepare you for the test unless it’s AP Biology.</p>
<p>Yakisoba! This is really cool actually! I would like to join in with you and sharing the progress of SAT 2 Biology
Current Grade: Junior
Test Date: May 3 2014
Course: AP Biology/IB HL1 Biology (no biology before)
Prep Books: Barrons SAT 2 Biology, Princeton Review, and Mcgrawhill.
Current Scores: N/A</p>
<p>“She had no idea what I was talking about.”
LOL. I really hope your teacher isn’t an honors teacher. </p>
<p>Anyway, has anybody been using studyisland’s online bio prep? It’s for ap bio, but it has a lot of similarities and you can study the work online and take the test right afterwards. Very helpful until my books get in.</p>
<p>^ It was a “gifted” honors bio class. It’s like Honors Bio but with a research project at the end. Oh well, due to a schedule change I had to move into regular Honors bio. Whatevs.</p>
<p>I just read a few pages of my Honors Biology book. It actually covers a lot of things on the SAT II, like recombinant DNA. Definitely read through your Bio textbook before you take the test.</p>
<p>@Yakisoba Nice nice. That isn’t actually bad. Because at our school our regular biology course is considered an AP biology course at other schools. And for you to achieve that score with an honors, it pretty good! </p>
<p>Btw I took it last year as a junior and I got 740 after taking biology and ap biology, nonconsecutively though!</p>
<p>Hey guys, I’m a rising sophomore (school still didn’t start yet) and I’m going to be in biology honors. From what I have heard from upperclassmen, my teacher is ridiculously hard lol My dream school doesn’t require any SAT II’s, but I feel like it’s a waste to take honors bio for nothing. Is taking the bio test (probably in may) really worth it? And just in case I end up taking it, I was planning on studying for the bio test while taking the bio class at school. But after reading that Yakisoba had already started studying even before taking the course, I’m not sure if I should study beforehand too. What do you guys think? Thanks!</p>
<p>@imhkim It’s kind of hard to study for the SAT Bio test if you’ve never taken Basic Bio before. I would actually start going over the basic bio (your honors bio syllabus), and then start on the SAT II books. Most people take the bio test concurrently with the AP test, as they are similar; so even if you don’t take the SAT II test, it’s not a waste taking honors bio. There’s a lot of stuff besides honors bio that’s included in the SAT II test, so if you’re willing to work for it then I’d start studying now. Just know that Subject Tests are taken into consideration through application process, and AP’s aren’t so if you want to major in the medical/science field then it’s probably a good idea to take the SAT II. Also, if you plan on taking AP bio later on in Highschool, then I’d wait to take the sat test until that year.</p>
<p>Next week my bio class is going to start ecology. Yesterday I took a 20 question pretest. Easy 100%. Here’s one of the questions: “What do you call all the trout living in a river?” (Population if you didn’t know)</p>
<p>I’m learning a little more from my bio class than what’s in the SAT Bio book, although I’m not certain whether this new info is extraneous or not. I learned today about keystone species, specialists, and generalists. </p>
<p>This is unrelated, but I got a 95% on a lab assignment I just got careless. Didn’t expect my 100 average to be wrecked so soon.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I hated labs actually. Except the egg one, where it showed osmosis and all that. It’s going to be even harder to keep up a high grade second quarter. People try getting a high grade starting off so when the finals come around, grade would drop but still be in the A’s region.</p>
<p>@ Yakisoba
You’re already doing AP Biology? Wow. I wanna get far, but I’m taking my time; there’s no need to rush if you know what to expect.
Biological Molecules (Lipids, Nucleic Acids, Proteins, etc…) functions are determined by the Directionality of the molecule: Nucleic acid gives it its order; followed by other factors determining the shape and ultimately, it’s function The shape and function of a protein are in correspondence to the directionality of the molecule.
Polymers are Monomers (or vice versa if I’m mistaken). Lipids don’t have monomers/building blocks.</p>
<p>So, rising senior, taking AP biology this year, last time I took biology was freshman year (just how honors science works at my school). I’m taking it in November, application circumstances considered, and I’m honestly still debating between SAT bio and SAT chem. I liked and was good at both, but I already have the bio prep book from my cousin and I’ve looked at it sporadically throughout the summer. Just got through some genetics last night, but I won’t take a practice test til I’m finished the book (three chapters left). I’m feeling good so far despite the weirdness of studying all this stuff after a few years. I’m probably crazy for it. I vaguely remember aspects of freshman biology, but I’m learning a lot now.</p>
<p>Codominance is when two pure alleles are both fully visible in heterozygous offspring (ex: parents with type A & B blood have a child with type AB blood)</p>
I just got careless. Didn’t expect my 100 average to be wrecked so soon.</p>