Cliff's AP Bio 3rd vs 4th exact difference?

[ladsonct]

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Hi, I've already gone through more than half of the Cliff's AP Bio 4th edition. So far I've covered the following topics: chemistry, cells, cellular respiration, photosynthesis, cell communication, cell division, heredity, molecular bio, and evolution.

But I just read that the 3rd edition is a more appropriate study material for the DAT. So I plan on switching to the 3rd edition for the rest of the chapters, but I'm wondering how drastic (and what exactly) the difference is between the two books. Will I need to reread the 3rd edition for the topics that I've already covered from the 4th? Or are those topics outlined pretty similarly in both editions and I will be fine as long as I use the 3rd edition from now on?

Also, after I finish Cliff's, I plan on studying from destroyer and bootcamp. Will that be enough?

 

[sjv]

Hi, I've already gone through more than half of the Cliff's AP Bio 4th edition. So far I've covered the following topics: chemistry, cells, cellular respiration, photosynthesis, cell communication, cell division, heredity, molecular bio, and evolution.

But I just read that the 3rd edition is a more appropriate study material for the DAT. So I plan on switching to the 3rd edition for the rest of the chapters, but I'm wondering how drastic (and what exactly) the difference is between the two books. Will I need to reread the 3rd edition for the topics that I've already covered from the 4th? Or are those topics outlined pretty similarly in both editions and I will be fine as long as I use the 3rd edition from now on?

Also, after I finish Cliff's, I plan on studying from destroyer and bootcamp. Will that be enough?

The 4th was adjusted according to the AP exam changes. Free copy of the 3rd so you can take a look yourself: http://www.bths.edu/ourpages/auto/2007/1/29/1170088457797/CliffsAP Biology.pdf

Yeah, that sounds good, should be enough.

 

[ladsonct]

Thank you for the resource, sjv 🙂 !

I'm aware that changes have been made to adjust to the new AP exam, but I'm wondering if anyone has actually gone through both books and made comparison to see which topic from the 4th edition is particularly inadequate compared to the 3rd. Anyone?

 

[keewee981]

i actually ordered the fourth edition because i didn't know until recently that we were supposed to use the third one... so what i did was that i would use both and compare it. i found that the fourth had a lot more information in it(mostly stupid stuff). it was also organized differently, certain paragraphs were shifted within the same chapter(dont know the purpose of that). The third edition has better graphs and tables in my opinion. I feel like the third edition is more organized and concise.

 

[stuntdragon]

Thank you for the resource, sjv 🙂 !

I'm aware that changes have been made to adjust to the new AP exam, but I'm wondering if anyone has actually gone through both books and made comparison to see which topic from the 4th edition is particularly inadequate compared to the 3rd. Anyone?

I ordered the 4th edition paperback and found out because of this forum that they were different. I have actually used the pdf and book to compare side by side and there are additional sections in the 4th edition that we don't need to know. To answer your question, the 4th edition is missing an entire portion of plants and biological diversity, which are quite important topics.