What are good review books for these AP classes?

Question

I'm taking these AP classes in my senior year:
AP Biology
AP English Literature/Composition
AP Calculus BC
AP Human Geography

Should I get review books for all these classes, or are there some that I don't need a review book for?
I took AP Calc AB my junior year without a review book and I got a 4 on two mock exams we took in class (I haven't gotten my AP test results yet) so I'm not sure if I should get one for BC.

My school only has one teacher for AP Biology and EVERY single person I talked to who took AP Biology in the years past has told me that she is a horrendous teacher. In fact, I heard that this year not that many kids in AP Bio signed up for the AP test because they were so unprepared due to her less-than-stellar teaching skills :( Many people have told me that since the teacher is really bad, that I need to have a pretty good review book for AP Bio to be prepared for the exam.

Please list some good review books for these classes, and if possible, please say why they're good! Thank you :)

Answer 1

Anything by the Princeton Review. I have taken all of the above and they worked wonders. I have not take Calc, but my best friend did and she used the PR too.



Don't waste money on a Lit Book!!!! Just read, read, and read!!!!! Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are essential because the are the most occuring novels for the final essay question. (You get to pick a novel from a long list to apply to a question.)



http://drprestonsrhsenglitcomp12.blogspot.com/p/ap-reading-list.html





All History's rarely have exam content past the 80's so any year book will do.



I took AP Bio this year, 2013. I used three books: the Princeton Review, and Barrons 2013 (GET 2013 or Later because the exam was new this year.) I also bought 5 steps to a 5 AP Bio flashcards. This helped me to memorize terms to apply to the concepts in the book.

My teacher used Cliffs 3rd edition for all our practice exams.

My text book: Biology, Campbell Reece 8th edition (with a pink tinted flower). I loved this book, my baby named Jane Doe (she was abused by the last student to have her.) I read it cover to cover multiple times and did all the questions. It helps so much!



Lastly for labs and concepts use BozemanBiology on youtube. After each lab of the dirty dozen (the 12 labs you do throughout the year) we watch him do the lab. He goes through each lab and makes them work. This is help for when your stuck and when your lab fails, and 4 or 5 of them do. (Purposely, mind you.) We also watched him demonstrate each concept and apply it to the unit, a principle, or other concept.



I used this motto: Patience and No Tears: This is a Business Meeting (My AP Bio teacher said this to me and wrote on the board to help me, brilliant, with the highest AP passing score rate (by students) in the state of South Carolina.



The College Board also has free access to all AP past exams, like ten years back, with answers, for the actual test and for form B.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I know that there is a consolidated list sticky up on the yahoo answer.. However, I found it extremely difficult to flip through every page and find out which books each person liked... There were many mixed feelings about the matter... And I figured this would be the best time since the AP scores either came out or are coming out for CCers and they could share their experiences with the books they used recently!



The AP Classes that I will be taking next year are



AP Calculus BC

AP Physics B/C

AP Literature

AP Government

AP Spanish



I hear that people prefer Princeton Review for BC Calc, and my school will provide me with Arco's.

Answer 3

I like Schaum's outline books. Very concise and to the point.