What Are the Best AP Statistics Textbooks and Prep Books?

The Main Event - The AP Exam

• Individual questions and sets of questions based on a shared prompt

• 1 multipart question with a primary focus on collecting data
• 1 multipart question with a primary focus on exploring data
• 1 multipart question with a primary focus on probability and sampling distributions
• 1 question with a primary focus on inference
• 1 question that combines 2 or more skill categories

• 1 investigative task that assesses multiple skill categories and content areas, focusing on the application of skills and content in new contexts or in non-routine ways

Reviewing AP Stats Prep Books

1) 5 Steps to a 5 Elite Edition

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Pros

• This book is great for students who want to review the content for the exam in-depth and have a very structured review plan well before or very close to the exam.
• This book is also great to use on the go because it has a Cross-Platform Program where you can access calculator tips, special lessons, and practice questions on an app/website that works with the information in the book!
• With the elite edition, which is <$5 more than the regular edition on Amazon, you get the 5 Minutes to a 5 Section.
• This section helps to reinforce the concepts of the course with 180 extra practice questions and activities that can be used in conjunction with the day-by-day structured lesson plans that this book is awesome for!

Cons

• At times, the book is not easy to read.
• The writing style is often wordy and almost as dry as reading through a textbook.
• 3 of the 6 practice tests are online and not on paper, while, in general, most AP exams are not taken digitally
• The 3 practice exams in the book do, however, have good questions
• Book is on the more expensive side at about $18 currently on Amazon

2) Barron's AP Statistic Prep Book

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Pros

• This book is great for all of its practice problems and its mini-quizzes at the end of every chapter.
• Barron’s practice tests contain harder questions than, in general, the difficulty of questions that are on the AP Exam.
• This book also has the most practice tests of any prep book.
• The content review in this book is very thorough and is very good for people to review for the AP Exam who have a month or two to review all of the concepts.
• It is currently about $16.50 on Amazon for the 10th Edition.
• Good for people aiming for a high score or with lots of time to prepare

Cons

• This book does have some upper level statistics concepts and should not be used if you do not have a good base in AP Statistics.
• If you are self-studying, we highly recommend not solely using this book

3) Princeton Review for AP Statistics

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Pros

• This book is great for its well written and easy to read content review.
• Also a nice guide for using the calculator on the exam
• Princeton Review’s content review has tons of graphs and diagrams which is great for visual learners and self studiers who have never been exposed to the material before.
• At the end of any chapter (not just content review), the are Mini-Quizzes to test your understanding of the concepts that you just learned and really reinforce the things that you are learning.

Cons

• This book does not have many practice tests (only two), so we recommend also using this book along with another that has a greater number of practice tests.
• Also, the practice questions in the exam also tend to be a lot easier with fewer stimuli based questions than on the actual exam.
• This book is moderately priced along with the rest in this review at $14.00 on Amazon currently.

4) REA Crash Course AP Statistics Prep

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Pros

• This book is pretty small but is very mighty for its size! It gives a very precise and mighty review of content and ways to answer different types of questions.
• This book is best for people who need a cram review that helps with laying a foundation for getting a great score on the exam.
• This book is currently the cheapest on the list at less than $10.00 currently on Amazon.

Cons

• Since this review is brief, it has no pencil and paper practice tests.
• When studying, we recommend supplementing this book with a Barron’s or 5 Steps to a 5 book to practice with AP Style questions for the exam.
• This book does connect to an online portal, but it is not as extensive as the one that comes with the 5 Steps to a 5.

Prep Book AWARDS TIME!!

Reviewing AP Stats Textbooks

1) The Practice of Statistics

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Pros

• The book links to an online "applet" 📲 where you can play with models and labs ⚗️ to demonstrate the concepts!
• The book also has great explanations and descriptions of content
• This is great for self studiers 🤳 who have no previous stats exposure
• Has a great reference sheet 📋 and strategy section for Inference problem FRQs on the exam
• The Book teaches to the actual content 📚 that you need for the exam

Cons

• More expensive 🤑 than a prep book or free online textbook
• Doesn't follow the College Board's Unit Structure for the Inference Units (6-9)
• Not all practice questions 🧐 have answers in the book

2) Intro to Statistics and Data Analysis

Image Courtesy of Amazon

Pros

• In-depth explanation of all the topics 📓 you need to know for AP Statistics
• Includes a lot of practice problems with step-by-step ↕️ explanations

Cons

• Expensive 💰 (However it is less expensive than The Practice of Statistics)
• Somewhat dense and dry writing style ✍️
• Some reviewers found the organization of the book 😕 confusing

Textbook AWARDS TIME!!

Final Thoughts