Customer Reviews

Biology (Cliffs AP) 2nd Edition

5 star:		(68)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For students taking AP biology, I highly recommend Cliff's AP Biology prep book. The book covers the most important aspects of biology that students are responsible for knowing on the AP exam. It also serves as a useful supplement to their textbook as it explains difficult material clearly. The diagrams included in the book are easy to understand and help students with important concepts such as metabolism. Because it it often difficult to cover the entire AP curriculum, I was pleased to that Cliff's had included an additional chapter on labs. Each chapter includes multiple choice and free response questions which are important for practice. A full length practice test can be found at the end of the book. It is a good idea to take this test but be sure you take it timed. The questions in this book more closely match the types of questions that students are likely to see on the AP test as compared to other biology prep books. This is important because it gives students a reasonable idea of how they might score on the actual test. In addition to Cliff's, I also have REA and Princeton's Review. As an AP biology teacher, I find those useful as a source of questions, however, I would suggest that students first purchase Cliff's and if they can purchase only one prep book, Cliff's is the one to buy. The book will not magically get you a 5 on the exam; you will have to study. I do not recommend substituting this book for your textbook; instead use it as a supplement. For students who are motivated to do well in AP biology, there is no doubt that Cliff's is an excellent resource.

This book is both a wonderful resource for the AP Biology exam AND as a class supplement to both High School and Introductory College Biology classes! As a senior in high school I found this book while hunting for AP Bio Test Prep Supplies and bought it right away! It had everything I wanted:

-Easy to understand overviews of test subjects
-Practice tests
-AP Bio Experiment outlines and results
-Essay questions
-Tips for taking exams
and more!

Using it as a study supplement I was able to get a 5 on my AP Biology exam, and, surprisingly, an A on my Biology final exam as well! I liked it so much that I brought it with me to college and used it to study for all of my Introductory Biology classes as well!

As a Biology Major I have found this book to be an invaluable tool. I've gotten so much use out of this one book and feel that I have definitely more than gotten my money's worth. I would recommend it highly as not only an AP Test Prep book, but to anyone who wants to get a clearer understanding of General Biology at either the High School or College level.

This is by far the best AP Biology study guide I have ever seen. Barron's goes into WAY too much detail to be much use as a reviewing tool, the Princeton Review gives just a glance over the basics and leaves out important detail. Cliff's goes over EXACTLY what is on the College Board's topic outline. It does and excellent job of modeling questions and lab topics that are like those on the AP test. Year after year, students tell me that this book was their salvation. Because of that I am making this book a requirement for my class. This book gives plenty of emphasis on the lab requirement and reviews every lab that is in the "Acorn" book from the College Board. If you are a first year AP teacher, use this book to determine what to teach and how to structure your curriculum and you will leave nothing out and you won't waste any time teaching something that won't be tested on the exam. In fact, teach in the order of the book, structure you lectures around it. The students' scores will amaze you!

With the help of this amazing book, I got a 5 on the AP Biology test- no problem at all. This book was a lifesaver. The textbook we used for the class was horrible (Keeton and Gould's Biological Science), I read like one chapter the whole year. I stuck to my awesome teacher's lectures/notes (I love you Mr. Van Loo!) and this book. It provides such a great review of everything you need to know for the test and for your class. The mini-quizzes are a great help, and they come with explanations for every question. EVERYONE in my class had the Cliff's, and for good reason. Near AP cram time, all you would see is big, bright yellow books! The only other book people had was Princeton Review, and there were many complaints that it expects you to know everything already and that there were some MAJOR errors. I think almost EVERYONE in my class passed the AP test, most of them with 5's! I highly suggest getting the Cliff's over any others- you'll be on your way to that 4 or 5!

Cliff's AP Biology (2nd Edition) is comprehensive and informative--covering everything you will need for the AP test and for use throughout the year in your AP Biology class (it makes a great review before class tests!). I would highly recommend this book, as it helped me achieve a 5 on my AP Biology test this past year. The book includes:

~Detailed sections focusing on varying concepts with review questions after each section--very useful!

~Two complete practice tests at the end of the book to make sure you are thoroughly prepared for the AP test.

~Finally, the book covers the details regarding all 12 labs that may appear on the AP test.

During study sessions with my friends, who had Barron's, Princeton Review, or simply a text book to review from, we all agreed that Cliff's was a necessity; Barron's (6th Edition) was too detailed with obscure information, lacked "big picture concepts," and was ultimately frustrating with its typos and confusing diagrams. Princeton Review (2002-2003 Edition) lacked the information necessary for the AP test and missed important concepts.

In all, I highly recommend Cliff's AP Biology book for AP class tests and/or for the AP test.

I took the exam on May 16, 2001 using this review book and Campbell's fifth edition of Biology and got a score of a five on the AP. This book does not teach you the details you need to do very well on the AP, however what it does do is that it shows what concepts are needed to do well on the AP. It helped tremendously on the essays in part 2 of the exam. My advice, is to buy both Campbell's fifth edition and this review book. By first reading this review book you get an idea of what's important on the exam and then using the textbook you can gain a greater understanding of the biological concepts behind it and the detailed information often only available in textbooks.

Cliffs AP Biology is BY FAR the best AP Biology book on the market. No other book comes close!
This book is concise, effective and comprehensive at the same time. While other books use 4-10 pages to go over one topic (like photosynthesis), Cliffs AP covers the same material in 2-3 pages! The material is written in a simple and easy to understand fashion and comes complete with diagrams, pictures, charts and bolding, which make it simple to learn.
Not only that, the book covers lab and has a FULL practice exam.
The one thing i loved about this book was that after each section, there were 10-20 "review quiz" problems over the section which came complete with essay topics.
I bought this book approximatly 1 week before the AP Biology exam. In class we were using the Cambells Biology book (wonderful), and i read the Cliffs AP book, did the practice problems, and got a 5 EASILY!

Simply put, Cliffs AP Biology is the ONLY AP BIO book you will need.

This has to do be one of the best review books, if not the best, for the AP Biology Exam. Although I worked very hard throughout the entire year, I needed a good review a couple weeks before the AP. All of my classmates had this book, and they loved it? Well, it is an excellent summary of all of the things learned in AP Bio. It presents only the most important terms, concepts, people, and experiments. It follows the structure of the Campbell Biology books. In essence, its information matches exactly what is in all of these books. It condenses and simplifies all topics and makes them comprehensible to even the lay reader. Its summaries last for around 200 pages. After that, it moves onto the twelve required AP experiments and explains them in short yet precise paragraphs. This really helps, especially if you have not done all of the experiments throughout the year. In the end, it provides practice test questions and their answers and explains the answers thoroughly. I forgot: there are practice questions at the end of each chapter to check-up on your comprehension. In the end, I read the Cliffs AP from beginning to end, looked over our handouts, read all my class notes, took practice APs, went over all of the experiments, and looked over key areas in my textbook. It paid off in the end: I got a 5. Because of this book, I had no doubt in my mind what I would get on the AP exam. Go in peace, my brothers and sisters.

This is the best review book for any subject that I have ever seen. Philip Pack keeps the information simple, clear, and concise.

This book is not only good to study for the AP, but it is also a great class supliment. I found that I hardly ever had to read my textbook (Campbell's Biology), and I kept on getting a 95 or over on most of my tests. In addition to that, with this book, I got an A for the course, and 800 on the Biology SAT IIs, and a 5 (that's right, a 5) on my 2002 Biology AP! If you read through this book, there is no way that you can get below a 4 on the AP.

Also, if you are looking at this book in september, I strongly urge you to add this book to your shopping cart, because this book is great for the entire year.

Finally, the best part of the book is that after each chapter, there are reinforcing multipe choice questions and practice essays, which help you prepare fore exams and the AP. Simply put...this book is THE BEST.

I am a studying machine and decided to take the ap bio test in 10th grade without taking the ap bio class. I got a five on the test and I studied solely with this book. Don't get me wrong--this book isn't flippin fantastic. But its the best ap bio book you can get. I ended up memorizing most of this book before the test, and the book really lives up to the hype with its clear, organized information and class notes style that knocks you out. If you structured your review on this book and studied how to apply the knowledge in the book, especially with the great essay models and practice they give, you will own the ap test. The one thing that i will not give credit to the book for is the fact that it makes the ap test seem like a complete fact/relationship based test. Therefore, the multiple choice practice given is way too straightforward and there is too much extraneous information in the book. On the other hand, the sample essay questions, which are ABUNDANT, are right on the mark. I did superbly on the essay portion and I owe it all to this book. If I read any of this book, I WOULD USE USE USE THE LAB REVIEWS CONSCIENTIOUSLY!!! THE AP BIO TEST IS 50% LABS!! SO with this book, a few tips on how to use the info, and some application and practice, you will ace this test. And cliffs ap bio is definitely my key to success.