Attacking Dense Bio Passages

[phonyreal98]

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So I'm using EK Bio for my content review and TBR for bio passages...I'm doing fairly well, I'm getting about 70%-75% correct on TBR passages...but not as well as I'd like to be doing (I'd like to be scoring 80%+ on TBR passages). I think I've identified one of my trouble spots as being when I hit a really dense and unfamiliar passage, I tend to freak out a bit and stop using my common sense/thinking about questions/concentrate on reading the passage etc.

TBR bio content seems to be often criticized as being too dense and detailed for reviewing for the MCAT...but do you guys think it would be a waste of my time to read a few pages out of TBR every day to get used to the very dense passages, which seem to be becoming more frequent on the MCAT? It also seems like it might help me by familiarizing myself with a bit of the more obscure content...not memorizing every obscure pathway in those books familiar...but getting me familiar enough with some of the more obscure material that I don't freak out when I come across it in a passage.

Also, those of you who have had this problem, do you have any other suggestions as to how I might be able to fix this?

 

[Silverfalcon]

So I'm using EK Bio for my content review and TBR for bio passages...I'm doing fairly well, I'm getting about 70%-75% correct on TBR passages...but not as well as I'd like to be doing (I'd like to be scoring 80%+ on TBR passages). I think I've identified one of my trouble spots as being when I hit a really dense and unfamiliar passage, I tend to freak out a bit and stop using my common sense/thinking about questions/concentrate on reading the passage etc.

Solution: Don't freak out, treat it as a regular passage, and tell yourself that if you freak out, you are going to read question stems wrong, and end up smacking the back of your head. Do you want to smack back of your head? I don't think so. So, chill, read with high concentration, and focus on the questions.

TBR bio content seems to be often criticized as being too dense and detailed for reviewing for the MCAT...but do you guys think it would be a waste of my time to read a few pages out of TBR every day to get used to the very dense passages, which seem to be becoming more frequent on the MCAT? It also seems like it might help me by familiarizing myself with a bit of the more obscure content...not memorizing every obscure pathway in those books familiar...but getting me familiar enough with some of the more obscure material that I don't freak out when I come across it in a passage.

If you want to read dense materials, refer to the textbooks. They are much better if you are looking for denseness.

Also, those of you who have had this problem, do you have any other suggestions as to how I might be able to fix this?

There's a difference between reading a dense bio passage and a dense experimental bio passage (e.g. discussing certain experiments). There are ways to fix and prepare for both, but I don't know which is the case for you.

 

[phonyreal98]

There's a difference between reading a dense bio passage and a dense experimental bio passage (e.g. discussing certain experiments). There are ways to fix and prepare for both, but I don't know which is the case for you.

I have trouble with both. 🙁