Biology II vs. Biochemistry II

[AKEMT]

Hello all,

I am planning on taking the MCAT next summer (2019) and am trying to decide whether I should take bio 2 or biochem 2 before I take the MCAT. I have already completed all of the classes that are suggested to take before the MCAT, except for biology 2.

The reason I am concerned about this is because I just got hired as an EMT with the city fire department. I'm not yet sure how the scheduling will work, and the biology class has a mandatory lab every week. I'm very good at studying class material on my own outside of class and both the biology department and chemistry department at my school have testing centers where students can make up exams if they are unable to take them in class. The only issue here is the lab.

As far as class content, bio 2 at my school covers evolution, biodiversity, anatomy/physiology, and ecology. Biochem 2 seems to focus mostly on metabolism. I also have some A&P knowledge from EMT school, though I'm not sure it's as extensive as I'd receive from the bio class.

I'm trying to find out how much content from these classes is going to be on the MCAT and which would be most difficult to teach myself with the knowledge I already have. I assume teaching myself the concepts from bio 2 would be a lot easier than teaching myself biochem but I'm not sure how much from biochem 2 will be on the MCAT.

Any input on this topic would be much appreciated. Thank you everyone!

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[PapaGuava]

Everything you need for the MCAT is covered in Biochemistry 1, although some of the metabolism information will be helpful. Anything you wouldn't have seen yet in Biochemistry 2 is sufficiently covered in a prep book. Bio 1 is more important for the MCAT than Bio 2 so really its kind of a toss up. I would say as a course that Biochemistry 2 would probably be more difficult, but in my opinion both are equal in terms of some content exposure that may help you for the MCAT.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Based on my test experience, Biology 2 was more important than Biochemistry 2. I was expecting more biochemistry than what I got on my exam. I took the test without taking any biochemistry classes and scored well. You'll need to work extra hard to learn the concepts on your own but you have plenty of time before your exam to do that.

 

[AKEMT]

Thanks for the input! What topics from bio 2 would you say were most common on the MCAT?

Also, rereading my original post, I kinda rambled a bit and so it wasn't clear at all lol, but the original intent of my question was to try and see if biology 2 could be sufficiently replaced by biochemistry 2 + studying all the bio topics in prep books. I may end up not being able to take bio 2 before I take the MCAT (because of the lab) and I want to make sure I'm sufficiently prepared.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

On my test, Biology 2 passages outnumbered biochemistry passages. I can't go into specifics, but my test emphasized material I saw in my second and third quarter biology classes. I was able to get everything I needed for biochemistry from my MCAT study books. Organic book 2 laid a great foundation for amino acids and sugars and pathways. The thicker biology book (2 I think) covered things like inhibition and kinetics. I felt 100% prepared for the biochemistry I saw on my exam from my prep books. I'm taking biochemistry this quarter and it's a breeze thanks to all the MCAT studying I did this past summer.

 

[AKEMT]

Which books did you use? I'll be getting the most recent Kaplan 7 book set soon and I'll be studying that until next July or August. I might get some of the stuff that AAMC puts out too if I think I need it.

 

[AKEMT]

@MCATKINGS
That seems to be the general consensus from everyone I've talked to about the MCAT. I'm definitely going to get all 3 of the FLs, I'm Just trying to decide what else I want to get. I guess I'll just see how much progress I can make with the Kaplan stuff by April-May and then see if I need any more study books. I just saw the test dates for next year and I'm planning on taking it in the beginning of August the week before school starts again. I figured starting now wouldn't hurt; with my GPA I need as high of a score as I can get on the MCAT.

I heard about the Fee Assistance Program for helping pay for the MCAT registration but I didn't know about the extra resources. I'll definitely check that out. Thank you!

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Which books did you use? I'll be getting the most recent Kaplan 7 book set soon and I'll be studying that until next July or August. I might get some of the stuff that AAMC puts out too if I think I need it.

I literally looked at every book I could before I started. Between my big sib and her friends and AMSA I was able to look at people's books from everywhere. I specifically looked at the chapters associated with what I was learning in school that quarter to see which taught me the best. In the end, there is no one company that does everything best. I ultimately did what Zenabi did to get his great score, which was a mixture of books from three difference companies. Just like MCATKings said, I used TBR for chemistry, organic, physics, and biology. I used TPR and EK for CARS. I used TPR for P/S along with the 300-page reddit document. I also used EK and KA for P/S questions. After that, I did every AAMC question they had.

I think using more than one source allows you to use the best material for each section and it gives you different perspectives, which helped me. This combination worked wonders for me, but maybe it won't be right for you. I liked TBR for the two science section because they taught me how to look at things more broadly and their tricks were pure gold. I loved the 300-page notes for the mnemonics and TPR for its thoroughness for P/S. I felt like KA questions for P/S were the closest to my actual exam. I didn't really like KA for the other subjects. For CARS, it was unanswered prayers. I did pretty much every resource I could find. I thought I did okay, nothing great but average at least, on my test. My score sucked for CARS, so I don't know what to suggest.