As an 8th grader, I took the APES class and exam (got a 5). Now this year( 9th grade), I am taking AP Biology and they are vastly different. Yes, there are a FEW similarities but they are not really that intertwined. I heard that it is not really a good idea to self-study ap bio because it just one of the hardest ap classes. Furthermore, a lot of the curriculum is based on the labs one will do in class. They ask questions on the labs in the exam. Overall, I think just because you are doing APES doesn’t mean you will be able to be prepared for AP bio. Also, APES is 20x easier than ap bio.