Customer Reviews

How to Prepare for the SAT II Biology E/M

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This book is a great study tool to use for the Biology SAT IIs. It does not deserve the bad reviews. It does go into more detail than the Kaplan and Princeton review books, but it also presents the information in a more interesting, applicable manner.

The SAT II Bio I took in October had 5 questions about diseases. Only 1 was covered in the Kaplan book, none were covered in the Princeton Review book, but all 5 were covered in this book.

If you plan to do well on the Bio SAT II then you should buy all three of the books. First reading the Princeton (easiest), then the Kaplan's, and then the Barron's for any information not included in the two previous.

The practices in this book are harder than the actual test, but better overprepared than under.

I got an 800 on the test studying from this book.

OK! Enough of these 1 star ratings and harsh criticisms. We all know those who got in the 600's using this book didn't really READ the book! sorry.. that is just the truth and you really can't blame this book. What I think is that all the main books (Princeton Review, Kaplans, and Barrons) are good books. The problem is your learning style. The Barron's book is more for the "hardcore" studiers who learn more than they need, making the road to 800 no problem. On the other hand, Princeton Review are for those who learn just enough to pull off at least a 750, possibly an 800. Barron's is a harder book than the other two major review books. It goes into more detail, and the practice tests are much harder than the real test (expect 50 pt gain on the real test). When i took a practice test on Barron's, I got a 710.. but when I took a real test (from the past) i got a 790, so i actually got 80 points higher. Stop the 1 star reviews.. you guys are the ones who don't study enough and blame it on a book that's been around for year's.

Kaplan SAT II Biology E/M (2003-2004) is excellent preparation for the SAT II test. This book, coupled with my Cliff's AP Biology (2nd Edition) helped me score a 770 on the SAT II M test. Every test topic is covered in this book, and it thoroughly prepares you for the SAT II test with three full-length practice tests (one diagnostic, one M-option, and one E-option) and a great glossary for vocabulary review. Similar books, such as the Princeton Review (2003-2004) or Barron's (13th Edition) do not provide a realistic preparation for the SAT II test--Princeton Review provides too little information to score well, and Barron's has numerous typos and a large amount of extraneous information. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in scoring well on the SAT II test.

contrary to what many people have stated above, this book was excellent. I used this as my sole study guide for the bio sat ii and i easily earned a score of 800. The review is comprehensive and to be honest, if you are planning on cramming the night before, this book is not good. I studied from this book for about month before the test, doing a little each day, and hence studying for me was not hard...since i did not cram. I took all the tests and the tests mirror the actual sat itself. It's test questions are extremely accurate and unless you totally don't get bio or you just procrastinate, use this book.

I only had a one-hour-per-week biology class this year, but scored a 780 on SAT2 Biology M, which I think is quite OK. First, I studied the Princeton book, then the Kaplan book, and it was not two weeks before the test that I actually got the Barron's.
[TOO DETAILED?]The Barron's book is quite detailed, and the details are NECESSARY for the test. For example, only the Barron's book introduced the enzyme lactase and the disease coronary thrombosis, which both showed up on my test. Then again, some of the details were quite useless; for instance, the book needlessly focuses on diseases. There are unnecessary parts concerning "The Conquest of Diseases" and so on. As for me, I only read "Types of heart diseases" (150) and "Other diseases not caused by germs" (152) and that was enough. I think the part about alcohol and tobacco is just too much detail
[LACK OF DETAIL] To my surprise, there were parts that completely lacked detail. On the part about kidneys, the book didn't even mention aldosterone or how the medulla of the kidney gets saltier--this was looked at with the most details in the Princeton book.
I studied only about two thirds or three fourths of the book: the rest, I just skimmed or only solved the problems at the end of each chapter(by the way, these problems are useful and point-by-point) I kinda ignored the alcohol-tobacco part and the disease part, but those parts, like I said above, don't matter that much. I'm sorry that I couldn't finish the book--I could've got a higher score.
So, what I'm saying is, BUY THE BOOK, BUT DON'T RELY ON IT ONLY.

I looked up this book to recommend to a cousin of mine who's thinking of taking the BioSATII test and I when I saw the one star reviews I was compelled to comment. I agree completely with all the 5 star ratings from high scorers. I scored a 790 on my SATII back in 2003 and used this book to prepare for the AP exam as well (for which I recieved a score of 5). In my opinion, this is the best bio test prep book on the market. It's organized and detailed and it doesn't skimp out on the information it provides. The practice test questions are more similar to real questions than most test books and are generally more difficult than the real thing - meaning that when you actually take the test you will happily score better than on your practice runs.

to be honest, unless you like to study a lot and memorize the book (perhaps will make you feel safer?), you probably shouldn't buy this book. too much information unless you want to get above a 750. basically the diagnostic tests are okay, not very accurate, but it helps you to learn. my advice is buy this book if you are a good biology student.

People say this book has too much needless information. Would you rather have a book with too little? Hey look at it like this- you're covered for the test and you come away with a little extra knowledge that will stay with you for your life. Is that so bad? If it is that bad then you should quit school. By far I thought this was the best bio prep book I bought.

This has been all-around the best and most helpful book I've ever used to prepare for a standardized test. It is extremely informative, well-organized, and easy to read. However, the most helpful features are the section reviews at the end of each chapter and the self-evaluation charts at the end of the practice tests. The former are great sets of practice questions to put your knowledge to the test, and the latter are excellent tools for pinpointing exactly where your problem spots are, fixing those weak areas, and thus greatly improving your scores. Biology is far from my best subject but after studying with this book for a while I feel completely confident for the exam. I tried using Kaplan's book on the same subject at first but found it to be quite dull. I think this is a much better alternative.

I bought this book because the store was out of the princeton review, but i realized that this book is great, especially if your biology class left out subjects covered in the Sat 2. It was easy to learn from, and a great review book of things i were already taught.