BERKELEY REVIEW scores/discussion

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Just like the EK Verbal 101 thread, this is a thread to talk about how you're doing with the TBR passages. I don't know how people are generally going through these, but I'm doing Phase I and II after reading the chapter, and saving Phase III for after I finish all content review.

I'm currently working on Gen Chem.

Chapter 1:
Phase I: 27/41 = 66% = 10
Phase II: 10/20 = 50% = 8 (ouch!)

Chapter 2:
Phase I: 29/37 = 78% = 11
Phase II: 28/33 = 85% = 13

So far I LOVE the book. I hated Gen Chem and I'm enjoying reading this and I really feel like it's helping me grasp the topics. Hopefully future chapters will continue this trend...

Now it's up to you guys! Keep this thread alive!
 
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The Berkley Review for PS is amazing, do it in conjunction iwth TPR hyperlearning and you will deff. make a 13+.

While reading you will come across shortcuts and likely test topics, the last MCAT I took had a ridiculously hard PS section but one passage was straight out from TBR. It helps you understand the overall picture much better and taking the practice questions at the end only helps you even if you do bad. Don't worry about the score, just make sure you read the explanations thoroughly after.
 
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Bomikepa said:
how do you know which passages are phase 1 2 and 3 for the bio books? its not listed as far as i can tell?
Click to expand...

I believe there's a document floating around that has them divided. If memory serves me right, it's called 'General Homework List' or something similar

O Grady said:
Scored 80% on Physics chapter 4, feeling pretty good right now, although some of those passages seemed far easier than the real MCAT would have.
Click to expand...

Wow, you're really far already. I've been slacking and I'm starting to regret it already, finishing up my first read of physics chapter 2 now, will update with first third scores when I finish.

ETA: Finished
Physics
1 - 91% (14)
2 - 88% (14)

General Chem
1 - 88% (13)

Orgo Chem
1 - 54% (8)

Biology
1 - 60% (9) (Questions in BR corresponding to EK Chapter 1)

Considering circular motion has always been one of my weakest points in physics (apart from waves), I'm very happy with that performance.
Heading into the 2nd 1/3 of these passages on Wednesday, it would be nice to improve in all chapters showing me that my analysis actually has an effect.
 
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just got owned by one of the passages of gchm chp 2 (the one involving LCD). i mean dannnggg... are we really expected to be able to figure out complicated electronic figurations like that? i feel that just doing that would take me all 70 min lol...
 
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Sarvish said:
I believe there's a document floating around that has them divided. If memory serves me right, it's called 'General Homework List' or something similar



Wow, you're really far already. I've been slacking and I'm starting to regret it already, finishing up my first read of physics chapter 2 now, will update with first third scores when I finish.

ETA: Finished
Physics
1 - 91% (14)
2 - 88% (14)

General Chem
1 - 88% (13)

Orgo Chem
1 - 54% (8)

Biology
1 - 60% (9) (Questions in BR corresponding to EK Chapter 1)

Considering circular motion has always been one of my weakest points in physics (apart from waves), I'm very happy with that performance.
Heading into the 2nd 1/3 of these passages on Wednesday, it would be nice to improve in all chapters showing me that my analysis actually has an effect.
Click to expand...

Your scores are amazing in Physics/Gen Chem and ok in Biology so far. However, you definitely need to pick up your Orgo score considering that BR Orgo has the easiest passages of all the BR books.
 
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Temperature101 said:
Your scores are amazing in Physics/Gen Chem and ok in Biology so far. However, you definitely need to pick up your Orgo score considering that BR Orgo has the easiest passages of all the BR books.
Click to expand...

I think I can definitely improve on bio, physio is one of my majors and I'm hoping that'll help. Orgo is definitely going to be tricky, reviewing the questions definitely helped and I think I can pull that score up a little with the next 1/3 of chapter 1.
 
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I need to ask a favor - if anyone has BR's Practice Exam #2, if there's any way to send me the questions for #143-146. I don't know what happened, but for some reason, my exam packet is missing just that page. I bought it used too so I didn't think it would be appropriate to try calling Berkeley Review about it either. Anyone? Would be very much appreciated!
 
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Does anyone know how much the 8 BR books plus BR verbal weigh?

It's something like 4,000 pages, and I'm trying to estimate a shipping cost.
 
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MCATMountain said:
What is this Phase stuff you guys are talking about? At the end of each section in TBR books, there's a 25 question review, and a 52 question test. Are those Phase I, Phase 2?
Click to expand...

Bomikepa said:
how do you know which passages are phase 1 2 and 3 for the bio books? its not listed as far as i can tell?
Click to expand...

The term "phase" is the general word the folks used to communicate. Actually, it is 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3 of the assigned passages in either that chapter or book if you look at the "daily detailed description" in the 3 month SN2ed plan. You need to actually get on the calendar and click on the event and the screen will show it in the description box.

To make it simple, what it means is that the plan divided the "approximate" amount of passages (may include discrete questions if your BR version has it) into 3 parts and he refers it as 1/3, 2/3, 3/3.

The 1/3 refers to passages 1, 4, 7 etc.
The 2/3 refers to passages 2, 5, 8 etc.
The 3/3 refers to passages 3, 6, 9 etc.

Say, you do 1/3 of chapter X this Tuesday.
Then, you do 2/3 of chapter Y next Wednesday.
Finally, you do last 1/3 of chaper Z in O-chem on week 12 etc.

I am not very good at describing all the details and you really have to get to the calendar to feel what I am talking about. Well, I hope you at least get the idea.

I believe, what SN2ed was thinking, and I can be wrong and I don't want to put words in his mouth, is that this strategy can maximize the learning outcome without predictably doing the same "type" of content(s) in any given day and is more simulating the actual test environment.

That is my two cents......and other senior SDN veterans can comment. 😛
 
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Question regarding BK verbal...are most of you using TPR/EK for verbal because BK is passages seem easy? I have all 3 books and little time so I'm trying to figure out how to split the verbal study (should I do a passage in each for 3 daily?). Thanks!
 
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kayak30 said:
Question regarding BK verbal...are most of you using TPR/EK for verbal because BK is passages seem easy? I have all 3 books and little time so I'm trying to figure out how to split the verbal study (should I do a passage in each for 3 daily?). Thanks!
Click to expand...

The general feeling in this forum is that the BR VB book is not "impressive" and you can do without it (not their FL which is written by different person). If you already have it and if you have "time", by all means use it. Otherwise, if I am the one, I will just stay with TPRH workbook and EK101.

You can pick up the AAMC VB Assessment package if you want more practice. There are more than 100 passages in that package.
 
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Just discovered this thread!

Physics:
1 - 53%
2 - Will grade in an hour

GChem:
1- 87%

Orgo
1- 89%

Bio
1- 50% Meh

A little bit lopsided there lol. Today's my reread day so I'll really be hammering physics. I wanna be as strong as possible in the typical first semester physics because it's harder for me than second semester. I made a mistake and did the wrong bio set. I did BR chapter 1 which is the nervous system and assumed it corresponded to EK Bio 1, which I just got in the mail today. Woops. Guess I'll be reading EK Bio 1 and doing those BR passages today too. Hooray for mistakes and sweaty days.
 
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Sarvish said:
I think I can definitely improve on bio, physio is one of my majors and I'm hoping that'll help. Orgo is definitely going to be tricky, reviewing the questions definitely helped and I think I can pull that score up a little with the next 1/3 of chapter 1.
Click to expand...
Your physics and chemistry scores are amazing 😀
 
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MedOldAge said:
The term "phase" is the general word the folks used to communicate. Actually, it is 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3 of the assigned passages in either that chapter or book if you look at the "daily detailed description" in the 3 month SN2ed plan. You need to actually get on the calendar and click on the event and the screen will show it in the description box.

To make it simple, what it means is that the plan divided the "approximate" amount of passages (may include discrete questions if your BR version has it) into 3 parts and he refers it as 1/3, 2/3, 3/3.

The 1/3 refers to passages 1, 4, 7 etc.
The 2/3 refers to passages 2, 5, 8 etc.
The 3/3 refers to passages 3, 6, 9 etc.

Say, you do 1/3 of chapter X this Tuesday.
Then, you do 2/3 of chapter Y next Wednesday.
Finally, you do last 1/3 of chaper Z in O-chem on week 12 etc.

I am not very good at describing all the details and you really have to get to the calendar to feel what I am talking about. Well, I hope you at least get the idea.

I believe, what SN2ed was thinking, and I can be wrong and I don't want to put words in his mouth, is that this strategy can maximize the learning outcome without predictably doing the same "type" of content(s) in any given day and is more simulating the actual test environment.

That is my two cents......and other senior SDN veterans can comment. 😛
Click to expand...

Ah, ok. Thank you. I'll have a look at the schedule to see what the details are.
 
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Finally reviewed my scores for the first week of SN2ed. Everything increased on the second third if only marginally with the exception of biology. 👎
My concern is that my review of the first third is only marginally benefiting my scores. I'd really like to see all of my scores about 80%. Any advice on taking it to the next level?

Code: 
	A	B	C
P1	66.7%	71.4%	
P2	56.5%	66.7%	
C1	73.3%	75.9%	
O1	71.9%	75.9%	
B1	70.7%	60.3%
Key: P2B = Physics Section #2, Second Third
 
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Graded my Physics Ch.2 problems for a 67% average. I notice I struggle more on passages at the beginning. Maybe it's the initial shock that I always get hit with right when I start anything timed.

Also got my first 7/7 on a verbal passage (it was a PR one). It was on basketball so it was a slightly easier read for me. Hopefully I can translate that skill into the oh-so-dense philosophy passages...

enervate said:
Finally reviewed my scores for the first week of SN2ed. Everything increased on the second third if only marginally with the exception of biology. 👎
My concern is my review of the first third is only marginally benefiting my scores. I'd really like to see all of my scores about 80%. Any advice on taking it to the next level?

Code: 
	A	B	C
P1	66.7%	71.4%	
P2	56.5%	66.7%	
C1	73.3%	75.9%	
O1	71.9%	75.9%	
B1	70.7%	60.3%
Key: P2B = Physics Section #2, Second Third
Click to expand...

I always read my notes before and after, and redo the problems that I got wrong or got right but wasn't completely sure of untimed. That might help you?
 
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So yeah, any one of you have that scale? Because I see people here posting 60% = 10 and stuff like that and it's way off from what the scale on the book says.
 
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Raw % .......scaled score ( 15 being perfect)
84-100% = 13-15
66-83=. 10-12
47-65=. 7-9
34-46=. 4-6
1-33=. 1-3

This is the scoring for G chem it may be slightly different for other subjects but not by much!
 
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Volunteering training took a lot longer than expected so everything got pushed back a little. :/ Finished up EK1001 for OChem and I'm definitely understanding everything a lot better than when I went through the first 1/3, hoping to hit at least a 70% on the second 1/3.

My G-Chem and physics scores are pretty good so far and I'm hoping they stay there. I've always been very strong in the two, physics is one of my majors and I just got my first mark below an A in physics this semester because of an A- in second year quantum physics. My goal is still to improve by at least a couple percent on the second 1/3 of questions.

Enervate, mind if I steal your formatting idea? I feel like mine's going to get super messy/ugly when I have multiple columns.
 
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Phase II day. I'm sure my Bio score will fly up since I did TBR Ch.1 (which focuses on the nervous system) instead of EK Bio 1. No worries, because I'm really strong in Biochem (my first major), which is essentially what Ch.1 is. Went back and did it over yesterday anyway just to make sure. The extra practice couldn't hurt!

Hoping to keep the chemistry scores up, and really doing my best to hammer this physics. Such a weak spot for me.
 
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Oganic Chemistry:
1: 79%, 83%

Physics:
1: 67%, 59%
2: 69%, 82%

General Chemistry:
1: 87%, 79%
2: 86%,

Biology:
6: 55%, 54%

I am really worried about those bio scores
 
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lcollier7 said:
Raw % .......scaled score ( 15 being perfect)
84-100% = 13-15
66-83=. 10-12
47-65=. 7-9
34-46=. 4-6
1-33=. 1-3

This is the scoring for G chem it may be slightly different for other subjects but not by much!
Click to expand...
I see where my problem is. The physics is out of 70 questions, so it requires a different percentage scale. Does anyone have the modified one?
 
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sd227 said:
Biology:
6: 55%, 54%

I am really worried about those bio scores
Click to expand...
I'm also getting punched in the face with bio. I think the bio from BR is way harder than the MCAT. I'd say about 2x as hard from when I took the real deal.
 
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Why don't you just take the raw percentage and compare it? That's what I've been doing- say I got 18 right out of 25 that's 72% then choose the appropriate scaled score
 
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Hey guys,

I haven't read through this entire thread because it's pretty long, so hopefully this question hasn't been asked yet. I'm an EK fan, it made the material more interesting to me and bumped my score up 5 points. I've also been hearing a lot about TBR, especially TBR being compared to EK though I haven't found any specific reasons why people like it more other than the practice questions are more "thought provoking". Anyone want to weigh in on this? I am considering buying some TBR if I take the MCAT again but am hesitant because I liked EK so much. Should I buy the whole set or just certain sections?

Thanks!
 
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RockDoc28 said:
Hey guys,

I haven't read through this entire thread because it's pretty long, so hopefully this question hasn't been asked yet. I'm an EK fan, it made the material more interesting to me and bumped my score up 5 points. I've also been hearing a lot about TBR, especially TBR being compared to EK though I haven't found any specific reasons why people like it more other than the practice questions are more "thought provoking". Anyone want to weigh in on this? I am considering buying some TBR if I take the MCAT again but am hesitant because I liked EK so much. Should I buy the whole set or just certain sections?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I like it more because, even though it's heavier in the content you read, it also explains things much better as to the twists and turns of something compared to EK that only gives you the superficial knowledge and leaves you to fend for yourself.

I have the entire BR except for verbal. I think the orgo might be too much though and could be replaced with TPR. I don't think EK bio does it well for BR bio passages.
 
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So far:

Physics Ch. 1: 88% Ch2. 83%
Gen Chem Ch. 1: 82%
Organic Chem Ch1. 69%
Biology Ch1. 55%



Yeah.... Reading EK for bio might not be that great? TBR Orgo/Bio was asking about specific amino acids when EK bio said that wasn't necessary?

Definitely need to improve 🙁

TriagePreMed said:
I'm also getting punched in the face with bio. I think the bio from BR is way harder than the MCAT. I'd say about 2x as hard from when I took the real deal.
Click to expand...
I really hope so.. I knew I had a weak bio background but damn, getting wrecked by those TBR bio passages.


Glad I found this thread though, it will be an added embarrassment posting my bad scores so hopefully that will make me try harder? 😳
 
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Josh7 said:
So far:

Physics Ch. 1: 88% Ch2. 83%
Gen Chem Ch. 1: 82%
Organic Chem Ch1. 69%
Biology Ch1. 55%



Yeah.... Reading EK for bio might not be that great? TBR Orgo/Bio was asking about specific amino acids when EK bio said that wasn't necessary?

Definitely need to improve 🙁


I really hope so.. I knew I had a weak bio background but damn, getting wrecked by those TBR bio passages.
Click to expand...

Took the second 1/3 bio passages an hour ago. My god. They're already difficult and then you take into account that we're going 6-7 minutes (I use 7 right now).

But when I grade tomorrow, I'm really going to hone in on them. Even if it's harder than the MCAT then great. It's like running with weights on.
 
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Synapsis said:
Took the second 1/3 bio passages an hour ago. My god. They're already difficult and then you take into account that we're going 6-7 minutes (I use 7 right now).

But when I grade tomorrow, I'm really going to hone in on them. Even if it's harder than the MCAT then great. It's like running with weights on.
Click to expand...

I really hope it's harder than the MCAT, or (as of right now) I'm screwed lol

I really should stop checking how I did the same day...
 
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Josh7 said:
Yeah.... Reading EK for bio might not be that great?
Click to expand...
That seems to be a common sentiment. Since I'm a biology major with a strong background in research, I'm thinking about switching to the TPRH Science Workbook for biology practice based primarily on the posts in these two threads: one (especially this) and two. Unfortunately, TPRH SW isn't divided according to section so it wouldn't directly translate to SN2ed's schedule. Instead, I would finish EK biology in one stretch and do a few questions from TPRH SW biology and EK 1001 biology on later biology days.

Thoughts?
 
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Josh7 said:
I really hope it's harder than the MCAT, or (as of right now) I'm screwed lol

I really should stop checking how I did the same day...
Click to expand...

Me too, I just finished up the second 1/3 of the first chapter of bio, and got the exact same horrible score... I didn't expect to be this weak at bio but even my o-chem scores are higher at this point.

Just need to finish up the second 1/3 of general chem chapter 1 and I can do a full update for the day.
 
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Sarvish said:
Me too, I just finished up the second 1/3 of the first chapter of bio, and got the exact same horrible score... I didn't expect to be this weak at bio but even my o-chem scores are higher at this point.

Just need to finish up the second 1/3 of general chem chapter 1 and I can do a full update for the day.
Click to expand...

It seems like we have somewhat similar scores. Are you also an engineering major?

enervate said:
That seems to be a common sentiment. Since I'm a biology major with a strong background in research, I'm thinking about switching to the TPRH Science Workbook for biology practice based primarily on the posts in these two threads: one (especially this) and two. Unfortunately, TPRH SW isn't divided according to section so it wouldn't directly translate to SN2ed's schedule. Instead, I would finish EK biology in one stretch and do a few questions from TPRH SW biology and EK 1001 biology on later biology days.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

That might be a better choice for a biology major. I'm an engineering major and I've only taken one biology course (lol). I'm reading a bit of The Economist and a few journal articles to work on my reading focus. As long as I'm focused while reading I can do well on verbal/bio but I am seldom that focused it would seem.
 
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Sarvish said:
Double major in physiology and physics but I definitely have more math and physics courses than biology-related ones.
Click to expand...

I consider physics to be an engineering major... My school has the physics department located within the college of engineering.

I'm trying to get more natural at bio vocab so I'm listening to EK audio osmosis as much as possible
 
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Josh7 said:
I consider physics to be an engineering major... My school has the physics department located within the college of engineering
Click to expand...

Ahh ok, here it falls under the umbrella of "Arts and Science" along with pretty much everything except engineering and business which are their own faculties.

I have a very weak orgo background, our first year chem was a full-year course that was 1/3 organic, 1/3 physical, 1/3 inorganic. I failed the organic section on the midterm exam but had 90s in the other 2 sections so I ended up with an ok mark despite learning no organic whatsoever. Whoops.
 
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Sarvish said:
Ahh ok, here it falls under the umbrella of "Arts and Science" along with pretty much everything except engineering and business which are their own faculties.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, my school has physics in both LAS and Engineering but almost all engineering majors choose to be i the college of engineering. I'm actually finding going back through all this basic physics stuff is kind of interesting, especially without a calculator :laugh:
 
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Josh7 said:
I really hope it's harder than the MCAT, or (as of right now) I'm screwed lol

I really should stop checking how I did the same day...
Click to expand...

I think there's advantages and disadvantages to both. I did the EK 1001s yesterday and reviewed them today. Took me nearly four hours to review everything (including what I got right). Because of that I'm just now finishing my last TBR physics phase 2 for Ch.2. What a day...sheesh.
 
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Vaseline said:
just got owned by one of the passages of gchm chp 2 (the one involving LCD). i mean dannnggg... are we really expected to be able to figure out complicated electronic figurations like that? i feel that just doing that would take me all 70 min lol...
Click to expand...

I just did that passage and got all of them right. The only reason why I think I got all of them right was because I took upper level Inorgo this semester (basically gen chem on steroids).

Personally I felt like passage wasn't helpful at all. If I didn't have the background knowledge I would've bombed it.

And also I feel like the more upper level classes you taken the better off you are doing the Berkeley passages because if you don't understand the passages atleast you have general idea of what the hell the question is asking.
 
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Temperature101 said:
Your scores are amazing in Physics/Gen Chem and ok in Biology so far. However, you definitely need to pick up your Orgo score considering that BR Orgo has the easiest passages of all the BR books.
Click to expand...

Amen to that... I thought I sucked at the orgo but TBR is making me look smart lol. 🙂
 
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loveanswers said:
Amen to that... I thought I sucked at the orgo but TBR is making me look smart lol. 🙂
Click to expand...

Are they really that easy? I improved but I'm still not doing too well. So many times I get confused by acidity. I swear half the time you want EN atoms nearby to pull the electrons in the bond away from hydrogen and other times you don't want EN atoms nearby because a negative site is less acidic. I'd like to think I'm a pretty logical person but I can't wrap my head around it.
 
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Josh7 said:
So far:

Physics Ch. 1: 88% Ch2. 83%
Gen Chem Ch. 1: 82%
Organic Chem Ch1. 69%
Biology Ch1. 55%



Yeah.... Reading EK for bio might not be that great? TBR Orgo/Bio was asking about specific amino acids when EK bio said that wasn't necessary?

Definitely need to improve 🙁


I really hope so.. I knew I had a weak bio background but damn, getting wrecked by those TBR bio passages.


Glad I found this thread though, it will be an added embarrassment posting my bad scores so hopefully that will make me try harder? 😳
Click to expand...

I hear you.. I think EK works great for people who have taken upper level bio classes and had previous exposure to stuff. . I took biochem last semester and my prof made us memorize all 20 amino acids...
 
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