Advice For Biological Sciences

[Mission Medical]

Would the following classes be enough to get a perfect score in the biology portion of the biological sciences section?

-Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
-Human Physiology
-Molecular Biochemistry I

I'll also obviously be going through a review book when the time for the MCAT approaches (I'm not taking it any time soon). I'm assuming the review book and maybe my old textbook from AP Biology would be sufficient to cover genetics and microbiology thoroughly enough for the MCAT.

My friend got a 40 on the MCAT and, in addition to these courses, took a Molecular Biology course and a Genetics course, but I'm not sure those courses would actually be necessary or as important.

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[QrtrLifeCrisis]

A perfect score is never guaranteed no matter how much content you've learned as the exam is approximately half reasoning . A full year of comprehensive introductory Bio should be sufficient to get a good score. Nevertheless, those seem like good courses. If you have the time and energy, definitely take them. Also, don't neglect the macrobiology stuff...evolution, ecology, population genetics. There's always one or two discrete questions related to those topics.

 

[mcgst9]

Would the following classes be enough to get a perfect score in the biology portion of the biological sciences section?

-Introduction to Cellular and Molecular Biology
-Human Physiology
-Molecular Biochemistry I

I'll also obviously be going through a review book when the time for the MCAT approaches (I'm not taking it any time soon). I'm assuming the review book and maybe my old textbook from AP Biology would be sufficient to cover genetics and microbiology thoroughly enough for the MCAT.

My friend got a 40 on the MCAT and, in addition to these courses, took a Molecular Biology course and a Genetics course, but I'm not sure those courses would actually be necessary or as important.

Those classes are not entirely necessary for the MCAT, but they do help. It's also worth noting that some medical schools require those classes for admission, so if you want to be able to apply anywhere, I'd take them at some point.

That being said, I would pick up one of the biology summary books and not read entire text books. There is too much garbage information in school textbooks.

 

[Mission Medical]

A perfect score is never guaranteed no matter how much content you've learned as the exam is approximately half reasoning . A full year of comprehensive introductory Bio should be sufficient to get a good score. Nevertheless, those seem like good courses. If you have the time and energy, definitely take them. Also, don't neglect the macrobiology stuff...evolution, ecology, population genetics. There's always one or two discrete questions related to those topics.

I actually did take a one semester Introduction to Biology course. The only problem is, I go to an engineering school, and every science major has to take the Introduction to Biology course, so the course wasn't very useful. In fact, the Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology professor is trying to get rid of the course since he thinks it's so useless.

 

[QrtrLifeCrisis]

I actually did take a one semester Introduction to Biology course. The only problem is, I go to an engineering school, and every science major has to take the Introduction to Biology course, so the course wasn't very useful. In fact, the Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology professor is trying to get rid of the course since he thinks it's so useless.

Well, that's unfortunate. In that case, it would probably be beneficial to take the classes you mentioned. Keep in mind, though, that unless you have eidetic memory, you probably won't remember a lot of the minutiae that is going to be taught in your classes. The majority of the studying for the MCAT bio section will be done when you crack open those content review books the months before your exam. Also, when do you actually plan on taking it? Keep in mind that the content will change slightly for 2015 and later. Plan your other courses accordingly.

 

[kmp0410]

They will all help...

Technically everything is at a basic bio level, but thats if you understood everything well enough to write a book on the course. Upper level classes definitely help you see how things fit together and make concepts clearer, and mine helped me alot when it came to deciphering the passages.