Advanced Placement exams have been around for half a century. While the format and content have changed over the years, the basic goal of the AP program remains the same: to give high school students a chance to earn college credit or advanced placement. To do this, a student needs to do two things:

• Find a college that accepts AP scores
• Score well enough on the exam

The first part is easy, because most colleges accept AP scores in some form or another. The second part requires a little more effort. If you have worked diligently all year in your course work, you’ve laid the groundwork. The next step is familiarizing yourself with the test.
Two main goals of the College Board are (1) to help students develop a conceptual framework for modern biology, and (2) to help students gain an appreciation of science as a process. To this end, the AP Biology course is designed to expose the student to four main ideas.
Select a topic below to learn more about the AP Biology Exam and what to expect on Test Day.