AP Bio Thread

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futuredoc44

futuredoc44

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I feel like we should suffer together. Anyone else taking this? And if you already have, any advice? The summer work I have is pretty crazy right now, amount wise. I'm also taking this as a VAP course so it's 10% face to face and 90% virtual. I'm also taking government and microeconomics in the same way. Has anyone else experienced this?
 
I've taken AP Bio, albeit not virtually like you're going to. I enjoyed it the most out of the all of the AP's I took, which made it way easier to study for. Yes, it can be challenging, but it's also fun! My advice would be to focus more on understanding entire concepts (for example, Krebs Cycle, respiratory system, etc.) rather than simply trying to memorize facts. Good luck and have fun!
 
no as in i'm not taking it. 😉
 
I'm taking AP Bio this year! I'm doing some self-studying on my own and I'm kind of looking forward to it. We haven't had any assigned summer reading or anything, though.
 
aspiringdoc123 said:
any tips for SAT Bio?
Click to expand...
SAT Bio is kind of a joke compared to the AP haha. If you do well on the AP, you'll be fine. I seem to remember that there are two different times you can take it in April/May, and I suggest picking the one that's closest to your AP test date. That way, the information is still fresh. You don't want to have to take the AP on May 5th or something and then take the SAT on May 31st. 😛
 
Taking chem and bio simultaneously this year... No summer assignment for chem but in bio we have to read the first 5 chapters.... Which interestingly enough is all chemistry. So I'm hoping it will help me to brush up on my chem.
What's your summer assignment?
 
As someone who has taken the course my advice would be not to take it seriously.

The new exam is awful and doesn't represent a college level bio class well at all. You barely even need to know bio to do well on the exam. It only helps to know specific facts on the FRQ. The MC is like a bio-focused ACT science section. The grid-ins are like basically free points though. So easy.

I got a 4 on the exam without studying which is supposedly "well qualified" or whatever but I don't feel like this course/exam gave me a good mastery of college level bio at all.
 
SAT Bio after honors Bio or AP Bio? I know a few people who got 760+ after Honors Bio, because they went through the Bio prep books throughout the year.. What do you say? And YankeesMD, I don't need your advice.
 
aspiringdoc123 said:
And YankeesMD, I don't need your advice.
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Who said I was giving you advice? You didn't even make this thread.

Stop acting like a little brat just because I called you out for studying for the SAT as a freshman.
 
YankeesMD said:
Who said I was giving you advice? You didn't even make this thread.

Stop acting like a little brat just because I called you out for studying for the SAT as a freshman.
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:laugh::laugh:👍

If I were you aspiringdoc123, I'd come back to SDN maybe later in your HS career. You honestly don't need to worry about anything right now. Not even about the SAT. Just go have fun, join clubs, and go make tons of friends. That will help you more your freshman/sophomore year than SDNing.
 
Hisaam said:
Taking chem and bio simultaneously this year... No summer assignment for chem but in bio we have to read the first 5 chapters.... Which interestingly enough is all chemistry. So I'm hoping it will help me to brush up on my chem.
What's your summer assignment?
Click to expand...

I'm taking physics and bio simultaneously this year.
I took chem last year and loved it. But not everyone did.
I have the first 5 chapters as well. Along with two labs, and we're supposed to begin a project due later in the semester.
 
YankeesMD said:
As someone who has taken the course my advice would be not to take it seriously.

The new exam is awful and doesn't represent a college level bio class well at all. You barely even need to know bio to do well on the exam. It only helps to know specific facts on the FRQ. The MC is like a bio-focused ACT science section. The grid-ins are like basically free points though. So easy.

I got a 4 on the exam without studying which is supposedly "well qualified" or whatever but I don't feel like this course/exam gave me a good mastery of college level bio at all.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the tips! I don't know what to expect really.. I just know the workload right now is crazy. Thank you for the great advice.
 
oh no
watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here.gif


nysegop is back
 
You're calling me a brat? Who told you to comment on the fact that I was around 1900 in 9th grade? and I know tons of people who started studying for the SAT in 7th grade when the talent search started. I haven't even started studying for it now; I just took 2 practice tests in June.
 
and with that, I'm off for a lil while. I apologize for my wrongdoings, YankeesMD. You're way smarter than me, and I'm just an immature freshman brat, with no social life. I am an idiot for taking a practice SAT in 9th grade and studying for it by taking 2 tests.
 
aspiringdoc123 said:
and with that, I'm off for a lil while. I apologize for my wrongdoings, YankeesMD. You're way smarter than me, and I'm just an immature freshman brat, with no social life. I am an idiot for taking a practice SAT in 9th grade and studying for it by taking 2 tests.
Click to expand...

Hey, chill little man. This isn't a place to try to 'one-up' somebody.
 
aspiringdoc123 said:
You're calling me a brat? Who told you to comment on the fact that I was around 1900 in 9th grade? and I know tons of people who started studying for the SAT in 7th grade when the talent search started. I haven't even started studying for it now; I just took 2 practice tests in June.
Click to expand...

So you just enjoy taking practice tests for fun? Since you're not studying...

aspiringdoc123 said:
and with that, I'm off for a lil while. I apologize for my wrongdoings, YankeesMD. You're way smarter than me, and I'm just an immature freshman brat, with no social life. I am an idiot for taking a practice SAT in 9th grade and studying for it by taking 2 tests.
Click to expand...

Glad you agree. 😉
 
I took it last year; it's a lot of work but not that hard to learn. Hopefully the curve is easier next year. I got a 5 on the exam and only 5% got 5s.
 
MarylandMatt said:
I took it last year; it's a lot of work but not that hard to learn. Hopefully the curve is easier next year. I got a 5 on the exam and only 5% got 5s.
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Oh wow. Alright, thanks for the insight! 🙂
 
Just finished my first AP Bio class! Sounds like it's gonna be a blast, I think we do around 14 labs total, one involving nanotechnology and another over oncology (observing cancer cells or something like that). My class has about 12 people in it, we're all the hardcore science junkies, so I think that will also make it more bearable.

We're using "Inquiry into Life" or something like that by McGraw-Hill as our textbook. Already been assigned to read and take notes on the first chapter lol! Welcome to Bio!
 
Been a while since I took AP Bio but I got a 4.

Had a great teacher - did terribly in class (more from lack of effort than anything... I was a senior). Bought a $20 Kaplan book and loosely studied for a month. The test was, IMHO, easy.

Got to college, got As in intro Bio without any effort (after intro though... 😱).

----
Edit: Oops. Didn't realize the test has changed... shows how old I am.
 
grumpyboots said:
Been a while since I took AP Bio but I got a 4.

Had a great teacher - did terribly in class (more from lack of effort than anything... I was a senior). Bought a $20 Kaplan book and loosely studied for a month. The test was, IMHO, easy.

Got to college, got As in intro Bio without any effort (after intro though... 😱).

----
Edit: Oops. Didn't realize the test has changed... shows how old I am.
Click to expand...

Haha that's okay, I still appreciate the input!

Did your college accept the credit as a four?
 
futuredoc44 said:
Haha that's okay, I still appreciate the input!

Did your college accept the credit as a four?
Click to expand...

I took the last year of the old test and I got a 5 just by doing my class work and studying from a Princeton review book for about a month before the test (which was also part of our homework). My college only accepts 5s for AP credit for all subjects except math, but it only accepts the credits to place you out of general education requirements and not so you can skip intro courses (which is super dumb in my opinion and kind of defeats the purpose of ap tests, but whatever). Most schools I know of accept 3s and above and almost all except mine usually accept 4s and above, but some are like mine and don't let you skip intro courses and some people even if they do place out still like to take the intro course.
 
puppyloomp said:
I took the last year of the old test and I got a 5 just by doing my class work and studying from a Princeton review book for about a month before the test (which was also part of our homework). My college only accepts 5s for AP credit for all subjects except math, but it only accepts the credits to place you out of general education requirements and not so you can skip intro courses (which is super dumb in my opinion and kind of defeats the purpose of ap tests, but whatever). Most schools I know of accept 3s and above and almost all except mine usually accept 4s and above, but some are like mine and don't let you skip intro courses and some people even if they do place out still like to take the intro course.
Click to expand...

Thank you! And that is kind of dumb, especially with needing a five. I'm planning on Hopkins, and they accept 4s and 5s, but I'm debating on still taking it as an intro course. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I will. Do you feel that it prepared you well for the college course?
 
futuredoc44 said:
Thank you! And that is kind of dumb, especially with needing a five. I'm planning on Hopkins, and they accept 4s and 5s, but I'm debating on still taking it as an intro course. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I will. Do you feel that it prepared you well for the college course?
Click to expand...

My school is super weird and changed our into bio curriculum so none of the intro bio courses are standardized and each have a "theme" (ie marine bio, ecology, human anatomy), so it didn't prepare me very well for a lot of the parts of the course that were very in depth but it did for the more standard parts that every bio section was supposed to learn. For all my friends going to UCs and big universities who took into bio and ap bio they've all said they had a really easy time and a lot was review!
 
I got a 5 last year and am still gonna take Intro Bio in college. Medical schools don't accept AP scores for prerequisites, so I might as well get 1 semester of basic bio out of the way. If you skip Intro Bio you'll just have to take a harder class for the same prerequisite and likely get a worse gpa. It would be a good idea to take intro and review and then take a harder class next semester.

Should be a pretty easy A if the class/test prepared me well for college bio.
 
Have any of you guys done the Potato Lab?

I understand basic Diffusion and Osmosis pretty darn well I think, but we have a pre-lab quiz beforehand and of course a lab grade. Any advice or extra information I should know?
 
Dude we just started that today! Putting a sucrose solution in a dialysis bag and putting potatoes in a sucrose solution is what we started today!
 
Okay, lab was pretty darn easy today. 3 DAY WEEKEND Y'ALL :banana:
 
Alright, first test on Friday! Covers the first four chapters (General review, basic Ochem, cell structures + functions, and the plasma membrane). Time to get my study on, wish me luck!
 
BioBeaver said:
Alright, first test on Friday! Covers the first four chapters (General review, basic Ochem, cell structures + functions, and the plasma membrane). Time to get my study on, wish me luck!
Click to expand...

I just had my first test today! It was on 4 chapters of ecology. Not too bad. But I studied like... Ridiculous amounts haha.
 
Goodluck man! Mine is on Tuesday over the chemistry unit. Multiple choice, free response, and grid in. Hope I'm ready
 
futuredoc44 said:
I feel like we should suffer together. Anyone else taking this? And if you already have, any advice? The summer work I have is pretty crazy right now, amount wise. I'm also taking this as a VAP course so it's 10% face to face and 90% virtual. I'm also taking government and microeconomics in the same way. Has anyone else experienced this?
Click to expand...

Hi guys, I'm currently a MS1, and I just wanted to add in a little bit of insight about AP Biology and credit specifically with respect to med schools. I know that this is a "AP Bio Thread," but since this is SDN, I thought I'd warn you that some medical schools don't recognize AP credit for Biology, and some will recognize it only if you have more advanced biology courses in college, i.e. Biochemistry, Genetics, Cell Bio...etc.

On the other hand, Yes, AP Biology will look favorably on your college applications, however when applying to Med school, if you don't plan on taking more advanced Biology courses, you may still have to re-take General Biology I+II in college. (But of course, you'll be much better at it the second time around 😀)

Furthermore, different colleges will also award full/half credit depending on your score too, I know my undergrad wouldn't award full credit for Gen.Bio I+II unless you received a 5, and for a 4, you would only receive half credit (Gen Bio I only).

(The same also applies to AP Chemistry/Gen Chemistry I+II for most med schools/some colleges)

Feel free to PM me any random questions about any of the processes.
 
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Yeah I had planned to still take Gen Bio in college even if these credits do transfer over, I just wanted to take the college level now so I could be better prepared and maybe have a head start in college.

But you said med schools will accept the AP Bio credits as long as you take more upper level courses? Do they just automatically count the AP credits as A's when you're applying?
 
BioBeaver said:
Yeah I had planned to still take Gen Bio in college even if these credits do transfer over, I just wanted to take the college level now so I could be better prepared and maybe have a head start in college.

But you said med schools will accept the AP Bio credits as long as you take more upper level courses? Do they just automatically count the AP credits as A's when you're applying?
Click to expand...

No, AP courses are counted as non-graded credits that don't factor into your GPA. And some schools will accept AP Bio to satisfy pre-reqs, some will accept them only if you've taken higher level biology, and some straight up just won't accept AP Bio, so it depends on what school you're looking at.
 
BioBeaver said:
Yeah I had planned to still take Gen Bio in college even if these credits do transfer over, I just wanted to take the college level now so I could be better prepared and maybe have a head start in college.

But you said med schools will accept the AP Bio credits as long as you take more upper level courses? Do they just automatically count the AP credits as A's when you're applying?
Click to expand...
Check with the college you are applying to to confirm that if you submit your AP scores you can re take the class. A friend of mine actually had to go to the registar to have the AP scores removed where she could "repeat" the class. If you know 100% you are going to repeat you may not want to submit scores unless the college requires it. I know every school does it a little different.
 
Museum Nerd said:
Check with the college you are applying to to confirm that if you submit your AP scores you can re take the class. A friend of mine actually had to go to the registar to have the AP scores removed where she could "repeat" the class. If you know 100% you are going to repeat you may not want to submit scores unless the college requires it. I know every school does it a little different.
Click to expand...

Good point. I completely forgot about that. I know some colleges will allow you to retake the courses if you have AP credit, however they won't give you credit for the course, so you'll get something on the transcript like 0A, 0B, 0C, 0D...etc. Furthermore I believe the score you get won't even be calculated into your cumulative college GPA, but AMCAS will add it into your GPA for med apps.
 
If you are interested in medicine - learn the materials/subjects in AP Biology well, not just to do well for the AP test, and not for relevancy to medicine, but because you need to know this topic very well to do well on the Biological Section of MCAT. If you took it in high school, and the next time you are seeing the material is junior year (or senior year) of college as you prep for MCAT ... the material and subject matter won't be as fresh in your mind when compare to your peers who recently took college-level intro biology


While the subject covered in AP Biology and College Intro Biology classes are the same, the feel and speed may be different. Plus you don't have to deal with 3/4 of the class being premed and gunning for that A (with some trying to sabotage you)
 
No, but I will be taking this course next year, hopefully.
 
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