msliz
Drama Llama
The Procrastinator
Posts: 6,419
Jun 26, 2014 21:32:34 GMT
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Post by msliz on Aug 4, 2015 17:50:19 GMT
Have you seen both?
Which one did you choose and why?
(They're rated roughly the same on Amazon.)
Thanks Peas!
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Post by meridon on Aug 4, 2015 17:56:54 GMT
See which one the teacher recommends--they may have a preference. For instance, I teach AP Gov and I personally know the authors of one of the leading AP review books for my subject, so I trust that they know the course content and the exam.
If you're choosing for a student, s/he might need to look at both and see if there's a difference in how they are organized that might give more emphasis in a certain area. For instance, does one give more MC questions? Does the other emphasize key terms?
Good luck! That's a very rough exam!
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,970 
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Post by AnotherPea on Aug 4, 2015 17:58:46 GMT
Buy the newest version that the teacher recommends and then a used version of another one. IIRC, the standards changed recently.
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msliz
Drama Llama
The Procrastinator
Posts: 6,419
Jun 26, 2014 21:32:34 GMT
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Post by msliz on Aug 4, 2015 18:03:43 GMT
The teacher recommended either Barron's, Princeton Review, or Cliff's, as long as the pub date was post 2012. Cliff's was 2013, so I eliminated that one. The remaining two have 2015 pub dates.
I've only read the negative reviews for them so far, but reviewers for both are complaining that the test questions don't reflect the new format. They seem pretty equally matched as far as I can tell.
Maybe I need to drag DD to Barnes and Noble to see them side by side? I was hoping to avoid that. She can be a pill when I'm running errands.
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,107
Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Aug 4, 2015 18:41:27 GMT
Get the one she prefers. The format may be different. One may be more intuitive than the other. Or she prefers the print and spacing in one over the other. One may just make more sense to her. If they are so equal, let it come down to the one she will enjoy using.
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Post by littlemama on Aug 4, 2015 18:49:46 GMT
The only time DS needed one of those was to complete the AP Gov summer homework. He has never needed, nor used one since. For the record, I have bought him Princeton Review.
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Shel
Full Member
Posts: 408
Jul 16, 2014 0:32:12 GMT
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Post by Shel on Aug 4, 2015 19:03:27 GMT
Haven't done biology yet but my dd has used Barron's (teacher recommended) for 2 AP classes so far and has gotten 5s on both. She likes using them and has asked for the same company for her next 2 classes this year.
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msliz
Drama Llama
The Procrastinator
Posts: 6,419
Jun 26, 2014 21:32:34 GMT
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Post by msliz on Aug 4, 2015 19:48:48 GMT
Thanks everyone. I've been doing some more reading and trying to get a better picture of them. A few reviewers have said that the Barron's has a lot of extraneous information that might be a pain to sort through, and there were more complaints about typos and errors than in Princeton. Others said the Princeton was a little thin on information (just the basics) but good as a classroom guide because of how it's organized. Both were reported as bad for test prep because neither has made changes to reflect the new test format.
I'm going to look up reviews for Cliff's. It's older, 2013, but it sounds like there's really no advantage to having either of the newer 2015 books. I'll let you know what I find, but ultimately I think I'm going to bring the kid to the bookstore and let her decide.
Thanks for all the comments and advice! |
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 4, 2015 19:50:01 GMT
Is there a Bio book from the Five For Five series? DS used that when he missed 6 weeks of 11th grade from a concussion. The instructor had him get it to supplement DS staying after school, since DS went back 3 weeks before the AP exams. DS got a 4. The teachers get a breakdown of each student and what questions they missed. His teacher said that most of the questions DS missed were in the last unit and said DS was "very close" to having earned a 5.
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