Prep Books

Resource Four – Prep Books – $$$

Prep books are often used by many students in order to help

guide their review when studying for AP exams. However, prep books can often be inaccessible to some students due to their price tag. Although many students do use prep books, the old FRQs and Course Overviews paired with the videos are resources that are not only cheaper but of higher quality, as they come directly from CollegeBoard. Additionally, the practice tests in the back of most prep books are not representative of what AP exams will look like. For most AP exams, there are a certain number of released exams that can give an accurate representation of what the Multiple Choice Section will look like.

If you would like to use a Prep Book, there are often many students at schools or graduated students who are willing to give away their prep books for a much cheaper price or for free. Unless the course has undergone an extreme makeover (AP World History), the most recent edition of the prep book is not required, and these second-hand resources are sufficient to help in your prep.

From my personal experience and friends’ experiences, I’ve found that different companies emphasize different topics and have varying amounts of effectiveness. I’ve listed below commentary for different companies based on what is available online and my own personal experience preparing for the AP Chemistry exam. This advice will be useful for STEM exams.

Barron’s will often teach students far more than is actually within the scope of the exam and the course, which may mislead students into thinking they must study more content than is actually tested. However, it may be useful for students who want to develop an understanding past the AP course or who are interested in the subject matter.

5 Steps to a 5 is the company that I personally think has the best prep books as they teach within the scope of the exam and have questions that are similar to the ones you will see on the AP exam.

Crash Course is similar to 5 Steps to a 5, but has a sparser amount of practice material.

Princeton still uses the Big Ideas concepts that were replaced by Unit Breakdowns starting from last year. The explanations may not be as detailed as the content on the exam is.

Tip: Only buy prep books that you absolutely need. Many students often feel that they must buy prep books for every subject that they are studying, but this will often result in many books lying around that were never touched or open.