Customer Reviews

5 Steps to a 5: AP Biology, Second Edition (5 Steps to a 5 on the Advanced Placement Examinations Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I simply looooove this book. The books I used for my AP bio was the Cliffs book and this book. The two go along so well together!

What I love most about this book is that it is really fun to study. While the Cliffs book presents facts point by point and summarizes well, this book actually makes you feel sort of like (a little hyperbole here hehe) reading a novel. The way the author writes is really cute. There are a lot of little jokes, and in the organic section, he actually makes you get on board a tour bus into the human body. Corny, yes, but cute and funny. At the end of the organics section, the bus gets eaten by a macrophage or something. And there was this :::Aplause::: in really big fonts that made me wonder what it was about. When I got to that section, I discovered that it was a standing ovation for the actin-myosin tango that explained how our muscle works. By the way, this was the ONLY book through which I could understand how the muscle worked.(Not even the cliffs book!)

The practice tests are good, but I think the Cliffs book does a better job in the essay part. But there were information not in the Cliffs book but in this book only that showed up in the AP exam! I don't quite remember but it was some kind of thing that controlled whether the cell was to grow or not. I remember being delighted to see the familiar word during the exam. (I thought something like, hey! This was the thing in the Mcgrawhill book! So cliffs wasn't the bible after all!) Oh and this book does a really good job of presenting the genetic disorders like the down syndrome and phenylketonuria and stuff like that.

I think studying with the cliffs first, reading this book next, doing the practice tests (I actually bought the cliffs 5 ap bio practice tests and it was pretty good, too.. although I only did two of its tests) would prepare you pretty well for the exam. I EASILY got a five out of those books. Yeah~~ I didn't give or throw away this book so that I could refer to it later, and maybe read it when I need help from the boring bio textbooks.

Someone suggested this review book for me last October, and I decided to get it to have it for Biology AP. The whole year I was basically lost or behind in class because of my other AP classes and extracurricular activities. About a month before the AP testing, I decided to "review" with the AP book. I read every single word and took few practice tests. This book is very comfortable read and I loved the side comments and jokes. My AP score has not come in yet, but I felt confident after the testing. I am hoping for a 5, but like I said, I studied a month before the actual test. I also used the Five Steps to a 5 for the World History AP test, and I got a 5 on it. If that isn't convincing, I don't know what else to tell you.

This book was amazing for me because my teacher was not very good and we skipped several important chapters (most notably ALL of plants). Thus, it was great that it went through a lot of information in a really friendly and quick manner that was SO fun to read. I really think I would've done abysmally on the AP test without this book because I enjoyed going through it.

However, I do think it is a little too brief sometimes and I noticed that on some detailed questions and especially the free response on the AP i felt a little underprepared because I didn't know that much detail about subjects, making for not so good essays. However, the night before, I had glanced through the Cliff's notes book and was really really impressed. There is A LOT of information in it but I think it's the best if you want to be assured a 5 and you need something throughout the year in your AP bio class. It covers a lot, yes, sometimes unnecessarily, but it covered all that information in an easy to read manner. (also, i thought the practice MC tests were a little too easy compared to the real thing)

In conclusion- 5 Steps to a 5 is the best AP book I have ever seen in any subject because I really enjoyed reading it and I don't think I would've remembered that much information if I had been just passively reading some other normal book in 2 weeks. Get it if you have less than 3 weeks to study.

If you have more than a month/need a book for your course, get Cliff's and work through it steadily. You will be ASSURED a 5.

This review is second only to Barron's AP Biology. This book was far less-complex than Barron's and far more enjoable to read, but has less accurate practice examples. Using 5 Steps to a 5 or Barron's AP as a SUPPLEMENT should guarentee you at least a 4. Personally, I think Barron's AP is a more appropriate purchase if you decide to study along with the course. However, if you are cramming a few weeks before the exam, BUY 5 Steps to a 5--Barron's is NOT meant for a quick-refresher.

If I can share some advice: bunker-down on the plants. College Board loves plants and are subject of around 10% of multiple choice on average, and compose at least part of one essay. The menstrual cycle, for some reason, and its associated hormones seems to pop up, too. MAKE SURE to start studying human systems more. I am predicting a slight deviation from the cellular/molecular aspects of biology because this year was a drastic drift to human systems (~40 mc and parts of the 4 essays). The AP test is difficult but not impossible--you always know something for the free response, so do not get intimidated and always write something!

okay i promised myself that if this book saved me, i'd actually write a review on amazon. i bought this book about a month before APs but i didn't actually start reviewing it 2 days before the AP. (yeah, "the week before" is not actually last minute). the author is corny, but in a good way. i was a little scared i had made the wrong choice of AP review book at first because it didn't include "nucleotides" at the beginning but it didn't end up mattering. also the rapid reviews at the end of each chapter really helped. the book outlines only the stuff you need--nothing too much. i still use the book sometimes if i need biology help (read: SAT 2s) i just got my scores back and got a 5 on the AP and a 770 on the SAT 2, if that's any testament.

After viewing several books, including PR and Barron's, this is by far the best one. It isn't too lengthy and explains evrything in a way you will understand it. It includes Chapter Key Points at the end which define everything you need to know and gives you questions with solutions after every chapter so that you can reveiw your materials. It helped me get through my AP Bio class. The sample tests are also excellent and extremely accurate.

This was a good book, much easier to understand than most. It throughly reviews for the chapter. It's also a very good review for tests in school--helped me so much more than my teacher did. Although this book is not as famous as the others, I would recommended everyone getting it.

Like the title says this book is clear and fun to read. I was surprised to see that all the major topics were covered and with enough depth for a study guide. I recommend buying this book and the questions on the back were nice too.

Very thorough book. Prepared me well for my AP exam. Author has a light style of writing making it an interesting and enjoyable way to study!

This book is very relaxed and the author speaks in a way that makes biology seem ten times more interesting. (He's got a couple corny jokes hear and there too) Most importantly, this book covors everything that is essential to the ap exam and gives just enough details for you to write a good free response, but not too much so that's its too hard to remember. This is a great book for those getting along perfectly with ap biology, but even better for those who are struggling a bit.