Best Book for Bio Review?

[WaterCLurker]

I'm trying to figure out which MCAT prep book is best for a very comprehensive review of biology. Any suggestions?

It's been six years since I took intro bio and I haven't taken any other bio courses like genetics or physiology so I need a very complete review. I've got about half a year and I'm aiming for a really high score so I'd like to master all the material that's liable to come up on the exam.

I'm fairly sure that EK won't be enough for me and I've read that people don't seem to like TBR for some reason. Are the TBR explanations not well done or is it too detailed? I've heard a few people like TPR Bio. Any opinions on that?

Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

TPR+ TPRH are good IMO... TBR is overkill and EK is not detailed enough and might not be good for you since you took intro bio six years ago

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

TBR Bio is actually pretty good if you took Bio 6 years ago.

 

[frosted_flake]

For those of you who used The Berkeley Review books, did you actually read through all of the information before completing the practice questions? Or did you just do the practice questions/exams. I feel as if I am reading some of the topics in there for the millionth time and I feel as if it is a serious waste of my time (but I am afraid the one thing I do not read over will be important.)
What did you do? Read+questions or just questions?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The biochemistry sections can come across as overkill (typical comment I've heard for years), but the physiology section is right on the mark in terms of what you need (in particular kidneys and heart/lung). The MCAT hits hard on molecular biology, so that section (which is a thorough one) is also on mark.

There's no way that one biology book can be perfect for every MCAT (they vary in difficulty and topics) and every student (novice to genius), so you should ask yourself what you need and then ask "which book would be best for my needs?".

For anyone who wants a cursory review, it's not a good fit. If you want to be ready for a medium to high difficulty MCAT BS section, then it's a good choice.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I actually did TPRH Bio, but skimmed through some in TBR that wasn't covered in TPRH. Don't worry too much about the TBR percentages if you are using TPRH for prep because TBRs bio is a fair amount of recall (acceptable) from their own chapters, even though the later chapters are pretty good and similar to experimental passages. I've got to say though, despite the negative opinions on TBRs bio passages, I think they were phenomenal in helping me. I've been scoring no less that 87% for every 4 of the TPRH Bio passages and I'd attribute it to TBRs passages getting the concepts down hard.

 

[frosted_flake]

Thanks for the feedback guys/gals. Just trying to save time where I can in this crazy process 🙂

 

[WaterCLurker]

Hey all, thanks for all your help! I think I'm going to go with TBR then, with TPRH Science Workbook for extra passages. I'm shooting for a pretty high score so I think I want to err on the side of overdoing it.

 

[daleader]

Hey all, thanks for all your help! I think I'm going to go with TBR then, with TPRH Science Workbook for extra passages. I'm shooting for a pretty high score so I think I want to err on the side of overdoing it.

Overdoing it with TBR doesn't necessary mean getting a higher score ! That's whats different between the MCAT and university exams!

As people pointed out, TBR has really good passages, definitely take advantage of them. But reading TBR is inefficient in my opinion. Princeton does a really good job + EK has really good figures and diagrams... It varies from person to person but to be honest I've few years out of my university courses (bio, chem, physic, etc) and I only can recall like 15% of the material from university and I still think TBR is not good for reviewing concepts...

 

[Uafl112]

TPRH cleared up all of my misconceptions. But thats just me

 

[WaterCLurker]

Overdoing it with TBR doesn't necessary mean getting a higher score ! That's whats different between the MCAT and university exams!

As people pointed out, TBR has really good passages, definitely take advantage of them. But reading TBR is inefficient in my opinion. Princeton does a really good job + EK has really good figures and diagrams... It varies from person to person but to be honest I've few years out of my university courses (bio, chem, physic, etc) and I only can recall like 15% of the material from university and I still think TBR is not good for reviewing concepts...

When you say inefficient, do you mean that it goes into minutiae and that's a waste of time? Also, which Princeton book do you mean? The TPR Biology review book with the red blood cells on the cover?

Sorry for the interrogation, I ... need details. As a very bookish engineer who doesn't memorize and regurgitate well, the biology section frightens me the most.

 

[daleader]

When you say inefficient, do you mean that it goes into minutiae and that's a waste of time? Also, which Princeton book do you mean? The TPR Biology review book with the red blood cells on the cover?

Sorry for the interrogation, I ... need details. As a very bookish engineer who doesn't memorize and regurgitate well, the biology section frightens me the most.

Yes, that's the book I'm referring to..

Again, I discourage you to start with TBR first. I suggest starting from TPR for the first time, get some physiology books online and refer to the diagrams every now and then and utilize youtube!