Another EK bio question -- is it good for filling in content gaps?

[Ochempwnsme]

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I always see warnings on here from people not to use EK bio unless you are very strong in bio knowledge already and using it as a review. But I want to reinforce major bio content gaps (especially in physio) before my mcat on 9/11 and I've been using TPR bio but I feel like it's just too detailed. I started reading EK bio yesterday and am already into lecture 2 out of the 9 lectures and each lecture reads so nicely and easily compared to TPR. I love how the important text is in brown and the salty the cracker figure tells you what you need to take from each lecture unit in order to do well. The lectures take less time to read than TPR but I just wonder if I need a stronger conceptual base in order to really get anything out of switching from TPR bio to EK bio for content review. I appreciate the extra detail TPR gaves me but I feel it serves to confuse me more than anything because I'm very good at getting the information from the AAMC bio passages. I really just get brutalized on the discrete bio questions on AAMCs as well as the questions that cannot be answered from the passage.

My most recent AAMC bio score is an 8. It has gone from a 6 to a 7 to an 8 on subsequent AAMC practice tests. I started with a 5 on TPR practice test 2. For reference, on AAMC #11, I got approx 90% of the ochem questions right but about 50% of the bio questions correct. I am planning on doing content review until next Wednesday (9/5) and then taking AAMC #7 next on Wednesday, 9/5 and AAMC #8 on Saturday (9/8) or Sunday (9/9), then taking the day off before my exam on 9/11. I will take the AAMC self-assessments for bio, gchem and physics next Monday and along with taking the AAMCs next week, I will use the self-assessments to target my weak areas of content knowledge in bio and physics. I am desperate to plug my bio content knowledge gaps in the last two weeks before the exam and I feel like ek bio might be my saving grace. Will reading through EK bio a couple times before the exam and doing the 9 in-class lecture exams, along with doing some questions from EK 1001 help me fill in my bio content knowledge gaps? I would also continue doing both free-standing and passage-based bio questions from the TPRH Science Workbook.

 

[dropper]

Hey dude, for your purposes EK bio will be just fine, given that there's only two weeks til our test.

The only sections in BR that I would absolutely suggest you to hit, since EK is incomplete/lacking, in order of importance, are:

Chapters 9 and 10 (<<<<most necessary)

Enzyme Kinetics (first few pages of chapter 7) (focusing on the GRAPHS and graph changes)

Respiratory system (2nd half of chapter 2) (focusing on the partial pressures of gases, and conditions of acidosis/alkalosis)

Reproduction and Development (chapter 4) (focusing on hormone changes during reprod)

Immunology (last few pages of chapter 5)

 

[Ochempwnsme]

Hey dude, for your purposes EK bio will be just fine, given that there's only two weeks til our test.

The only sections in BR that I would absolutely suggest you to hit, since EK is incomplete/lacking, in order of importance, are:

Chapters 9 and 10 (<<<<most necessary)

Enzyme Kinetics (first few pages of chapter 7) (focusing on the GRAPHS and graph changes)

Respiratory system (2nd half of chapter 2) (focusing on the partial pressures of gases, and conditions of acidosis/alkalosis)

Reproduction and Development (chapter 4) (focusing on hormone changes during reprod)

Immunology (last few pages of chapter 5)

Hey bro, thanks! Looking forward to our sesh. I actually understand enzyme kinetics quite well if you're talking about competitive vs noncompetitive, Vmax vs Km and how you can interpret given graphs to figure out what type of inhibition is occurring, and whether it is enzyme concentration (Vmax) or substrate concentration () that will be affected, and how to overcome competitive by adding more thereby increasing your Km. I can also pick out the correct graph for a given type of inhibition based on the information given about what's occurring (ie if its noncompetitive then you're gonna have a lower Vmax so your won't be affected but you'll never reach the same Vmax), so would you say I'm probably good on that? Please correct me if I'm completely barking up the wrong tree here and talking about something irrelevant to the topic. TPR bio chapter 2 in bio covered it in detail but you're right that EK gives it short shrift.

The other stuff you mentioned, is it okay if I use TPRH bio textbook to review the other topics? They do a good job reviewing the reproductive cycle especially as it relates to LH and the pictures are really awesome.

I'd prefer to stay as far away from TBR as possible because I know the level of detail is gonna freak me out. 🙂

Edit: And would you advise making flash cards for every brown/bolded term in EK bio that I didn't already know (which is a bunch), and just making sure that I know them, or just focus on being able to say a couple words about them when I quiz myself? Thanks bro. Just wanna prioritize my time in the next 2 weeks and learn as much relevant biology as possible to fill in content gaps while not worrying about information that I can distill from the MCAT passages. I hope it's possible.

About to go back to reading lecture 2 in EK bio and by our session tomorrow I will have finished the in-class lecture exams for EK bio chapters 1 and 2, and most likely 3 as well. Goal is to finish EK bio by next Monday at the latest then hit weaknesses HARD in the last 7 days before exam.