Best Bio class for DAT preparation

[carlfusco]

Hey folks-

I'm a non-traditional student completing my pre-reqs, and I need to choose which bio class to take next semester. I've taken Bio I & II, and genetics. My school won't allow me to take Micro or Biochem without ORGO. So I have to choose between cell biology and comparative anatomy of chordates... my question is, in the opinion of those who've taken the DAT, which course will better prepare me for the material tested on the DAT?

Thanks!

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[Msmouth]

Hey folks-

I'm a non-traditional student completing my pre-reqs, and I need to choose which bio class to take next semester. I've taken Bio I & II, and genetics. My school won't allow me to take Micro or Biochem without ORGO. So I have to choose between cell biology and comparative anatomy of chordates... my question is, in the opinion of those who've taken the DAT, which course will better prepare me for the material tested on the DAT?

Thanks!

From what I hear, the Bio section is basic biology and will be represented with mostly your Bio 1 and 2. I've heard they touch on genetics and since Bio is such a broad subject the questions are as well. A lot recommend Cliffs AP biology. That's what I'm doing and just reviewing my notes.

 

[Stacker]

Introductory Biology I & II for the basics on ecology, cell structure, and plants. Use AP Biology preparation books.
Cell Biology for more deeper overview of mitosis, meiosis, CAM, Citric, Glycolysis, etc. Use "Campbell and Reece."

Take Cell Bio.

(I have not taken the DAT)

 

[phy241]

Definitely Cell Biology. I think there was one question related to morphology of an extinct vertebrate group on my DAT compared to at least 7-8 questions from Cell Bio. In my opinion, Cell Bio is a MUST along with introductory Animal Physiology, and Genetics. I don't think you need Micro or Biochem; the only questions that come from micro are usually basic bacterial cell wall structure and experimental techniques such as transformation (using plasmids as vectors), PCR, gel electrophoresis etc. But, you learn the basics of these techniques in Cell bio and genetics anyways, so should be fine. Biochem goes into details of Glycolysis, Krebs, ETC, fatty acid oxidation etc. to name a few. However, you only need to know basics of aerobic respiration for DAT and AP Bio does a very good job of summarizing whatever you need to know for that topic. I am taking Micro now and it's above and beyond what you need to know for DAT, and I have taken Biochem before and it's much more detailed as well.
Hope this helps, good luck!

Hey folks-

I'm a non-traditional student completing my pre-reqs, and I need to choose which bio class to take next semester. I've taken Bio I & II, and genetics. My school won't allow me to take Micro or Biochem without ORGO. So I have to choose between cell biology and comparative anatomy of chordates... my question is, in the opinion of those who've taken the DAT, which course will better prepare me for the material tested on the DAT?

Thanks!

 

[carlfusco]

Definitely Cell Biology. I think there was one question related to morphology of an extinct vertebrate group on my DAT compared to at least 7-8 questions from Cell Bio. In my opinion, Cell Bio is a MUST along with introductory Animal Physiology, and Genetics. I don't think you need Micro or Biochem; the only questions that come from micro are usually basic bacterial cell wall structure and experimental techniques such as transformation (using plasmids as vectors), PCR, gel electrophoresis etc. But, you learn the basics of these techniques in Cell bio and genetics anyways, so should be fine. Biochem goes into details of Glycolysis, Krebs, ETC, fatty acid oxidation etc. to name a few. However, you only need to know basics of aerobic respiration for DAT and AP Bio does a very good job of summarizing whatever you need to know for that topic. I am taking Micro now and it's above and beyond what you need to know for DAT, and I have taken Biochem before and it's much more detailed as well.
Hope this helps, good luck!

Thank you - great response, this is exactly what I was looking for. Physiology is unfortunately only offered in the Fall, but I think I'll manage preparing for that material on my own. Cell Bio it is!

 

[Demps]

I didn't find my upper division biology courses to be helpful for bio section on the DAT. They were really simple. AP biology book level at best. If I had to pick though, I will also recommend Cell Biology since it covered the most broad areas for all biology rather than focusing on a specific subfield i.e. cellular signaling, immunology, physiology, anatomy and etc..

 

[ushaseos]

Having taken a comparitive anatomy class, let me tell you you will not see much of the course on the DAT. From all the practice tests and such I have seen, there are VERY few truly nit-picky questions. Most are very superficial and easy provided you know where the questions are coming from. Also the only real anatomy questions on the DAT all pertain to Human anatomy (and even then they aren't a significant portion), so this will not be useful for the DAT. I thoroughly enjoyed the class when I took it though!

Cell bio won't necessarily help you either, but for me Biochem and cell bio kind of put concepts from introductory bio and Organic Chem into context. Cell Bio will be way more in depth than most DAT questions but at least this constitutes a higher percentage of questions on the DAT. From a purely course point, I thought Cell bio was more interesting than anatomy (more logical flow etc...just as much memorization though so no escape either way!)

 

[sprint2k]

cell bio might be more useful, but i would take the class that's easier for you to get an A.