Tips for a 129+ in Biology?

[remedy23]

Anyone have tips to do well on the Bio section of the MCAT? Is it down to luck when trying to attain a score of 129+?

One of the schools I'm aiming for requires a 129 in the Biology section of the MCAT, and I know it's tough to achieve (93rd percentile), so I'm not expecting it, but just wanted to hear some advice from those who did it. Thanks!

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[GrapesofRath]

Which school requires a 129 on bio?

 

[remedy23]

Which school requires a 129 on bio?

Ontario school - Western (based on their 12 cutoff for Bio on the old MCAT).

 

[tenblackalps]

Use KA videos so you can visualize more complex bio topics like muscles (myosin/tropomyosin/sarcoplasmic reticulum/etc), nerve action potentials, carbohydrate chemistry (they have some great visual mnemonics on that), etc, and draw out lots of diagrams so you know what things look like (I drew out tons of diagrams for the kidney, lungs, and other organ systems). I made notecards for the endocrine hormones and went over them a million times until I knew which gland produced them by word association without even having to think. I took a similar approach to biochem, especially seeking out videos (more so on youtube rather than KA though). Also, I would suggest doing a sampling of passages from Khan. They are generally harder than the mcat and will prepare you well. I did the first 41 passages. On the test, I scored a 131 on bio/biochem which was my strongest section.

 

[daftypatty]

Use KA videos so you can visualize more complex bio topics like muscles (myosin/tropomyosin/sarcoplasmic reticulum/etc), nerve action potentials, carbohydrate chemistry (they have some great visual mnemonics on that), etc, and draw out lots of diagrams so you know what things look like (I drew out tons of diagrams for the kidney, lungs, and other organ systems). I made notecards for the endocrine hormones and went over them a million times until I knew which gland produced them by word association without even having to think. I took a similar approach to biochem, especially seeking out videos (more so on youtube rather than KA though). Also, I would suggest doing a sampling of passages from Khan. They are generally harder than the mcat and will prepare you well. I did the first 41 passages. On the test, I scored a 131 on bio/biochem which was my strongest section.

Hey so you found the Khan passages good for bio/biochem? I only have time for them or the AAMC ones, which one do you think i should devote time to?

 

[bearintraining]

Memorize a.a. structures/functions/type/etc. Also make sure you know syntheses of a.a.s. The rest of bio is mainly knowing the background fairly well but understanding the concepts is much more important.

 

[daftypatty]

Memorize a.a. structures/functions/type/etc. Also make sure you know syntheses of a.a.s. The rest of bio is mainly knowing the background fairly well but understanding the concepts is much more important.

What do you mean the a.a syntheses? I havent encountered that yet i think

 

[bearintraining]

What do you mean the a.a syntheses? I havent encountered that yet i think

Strecker and Gabriel mechanisms. It's in the outlines.

 

[remedy23]

Use KA videos so you can visualize more complex bio topics like muscles (myosin/tropomyosin/sarcoplasmic reticulum/etc), nerve action potentials, carbohydrate chemistry (they have some great visual mnemonics on that), etc, and draw out lots of diagrams so you know what things look like (I drew out tons of diagrams for the kidney, lungs, and other organ systems). I made notecards for the endocrine hormones and went over them a million times until I knew which gland produced them by word association without even having to think. I took a similar approach to biochem, especially seeking out videos (more so on youtube rather than KA though). Also, I would suggest doing a sampling of passages from Khan. They are generally harder than the mcat and will prepare you well. I did the first 41 passages. On the test, I scored a 131 on bio/biochem which was my strongest section.

I've tried the Khan passages, and they are tougher than the AAMC passages, however, they don't seem that relevant either (except a few good passages). I'm going to do a handful of these (especially ones with figures/charts/graphs) to get exposed to some variety in research articles. Thanks for the awesome advice!