How to Prepare for the SAT II Biology E/M

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.