How to get a 5 in AP Bio (self-studying)
AP scores recently came out and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I got a 5 in AP Biology. What made this so satisfying was the fact that I pretty much self-taught and coached myself since my school does not offer an AP Biology course, only an online option. Going into this class alone, it was hard to find other students in a similar situation online who shared their own experiences and useful resources. So, for everyone who is going into AP Bio alone, here is what I used and what helped me.
- Take any Biology and Chemistry class your school offers before attempting AP Biology.
- This is more for the freshmen/sophomores reading this. I took regular Biology as a freshman and Chemistry as a sophomore. This helped with some background knowledge. Obviously, the AP content is more in-depth, but, trust me, having that foundation is so helpful later on.
- Read your textbook.
- If you think you are going to do fine if you simply skim through, you are sorely mistaken. If you are self-teaching yourself, your main source of information is going to be your textbook. I used the ebook version of Campbell Biology in Focus textbook. The online course I took had a reading guide that told me what chapter and lessons to read in what order. If you are self-studying, you can ask your school if they have older versions of the Bio textbook or look for a pdf online (the info doesn't change that much with each edition).
- Use the resources available to you.
- I mainly used Quizlet, Khan Academy (bless you Sal Khan), and this one lady on youtube that went through the ppts of the Campbell chapters https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHVjs8MT-xhe5A0Fy-ll04A/videos (that lady saved my life). AP DAILY VIDEOS!!! These are so so useful and available in AP classroom. Lastly, past AP questions will give you a good idea of what to expect.
- Labs and graphs
- Know what they are, how they work, and if possible do them. Bozeman science has videos explaining the labs on youtube. As for the graphs, make sure you brush up on what types of data go with what graphs.
- Get a prep book.
- I used the Barron's AP Bio prep book. I did the full practice tests the days leading up to the exam. They give you possible answers for the frqs which is so useful when practicing especially if you don't have anyone to give you feedback like I did. I used the AP Bio grade calculator from Albert.io every time I finished a practice test to get an idea of where I was.
The main advice I can give is make a study plan and stay consistent. If you have a teacher available, take advantage of them. Ask them if they can take a look at your practice frqs or if you have concept-related questions. AP Bio has so much info, it is notoriously difficult for a reason. What you are doing, self-studying, is hard but not impossible. I hope this was helpful and best of luck to all of you brave souls.
