BR Bio Passages

[whoknows87]

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I just want to make sure i got this right , according to the 3 months study plan, I'm supposed to use BR EK for content review and to practice use the BR Passages, for chapter 1 the corresponding passages are about 33 passages do 1/3? so for one day you do 11 BR Bio Passages? am I right or wrong I figured on each day you usually do 3-5 passages a day but 11 😱😱😱

 

[azntonyking]

SN2ed is referring to the passages that are at the END of each section (each section has anywhere from 12-15 passages and you only have to do 1/3 of them, which is 3-5 passages like you said). You only do ~11 passages when he says to do the SECOND 1/3 of passages for ALL of the chapters that you've read in that week.

Unless, you are talking about the end portion of the schedule. The end portion of the schedule states that you do 1/3 of chapter 1, this means that you do 1/3 of Gchem, Ochem, Physics, and Bio. If that's what you're talking about, then yes you do have that many passages to work on

 

[whoknows87]

that holds true for Gchem.Ochem and Physics but not for Bio BR passages if I am getting it wrong then what passages correspond to EK Bio Lecture 1?

 

[azntonyking]

For chapter I, I just used TBR section VIII (Metabolic pathways), which covered the majority of EK Bio ch.1. Idk, if the section number are the same since my book is a little bit older.

 

[breeniee]

I just want to make sure i got this right , according to the 3 months study plan, I'm supposed to use BR EK for content review and to practice use the BR Passages, for chapter 1 the corresponding passages are about 33 passages do 1/3? so for one day you do 11 BR Bio Passages? am I right or wrong I figured on each day you usually do 3-5 passages a day but 11 😱😱😱

That's how it's going to be for some days with doing TBR Bio if you're using EK for content because chapter 1 in EK corresponds to I believe chapter 6 and 7 of TBR. So if you do 1/3 of those it winds up being almost 11 passages. But there will be days where you have to do less than 5 TBR Bio passages. If you think it's too much in one day, then you can always break it up into 2 days but just make sure you adjust your overall schedule.

 

[aburnet2]

Is it just me or do the EK lectures in no way at all prepare someone to do BR bio?

I feel like the BR bio passages are pretty intense and a lot more involved than the EK material.

Am I alone in this or do others feel this way?

 

[swokDR13]

I just started my schedule, but I feel exactly the same about the correspondence between the BR and EK. I was scratching my head raw on a couple of the passages that were supposed to correspond to the EK lecture.

On the bio, that is.

 

[jHustle]

Guys, It would probably be more beneficial if you just read the entire EK Bio book straight through first.

I think the BIO part should be done on it's own. If you're going to use BR passages, I think it would be a lot better to read the EK Bio book at least twice before starting the passages. The EK Bio can be read in a day, easily 2, and most definitely 3 days. Then the 2nd time going through it, that's when you see the material again, it makes more sense, and you can answer some of the BR passages a lot better (though obviously some answers will still be impossible from EK alone)

 

[RetailBoy]

Is it just me or do the EK lectures in no way at all prepare someone to do BR bio?

I feel like the BR bio passages are pretty intense and a lot more involved than the EK material.

Am I only in this or do others feel this way?

This is how the real thing feels like. But replace the words EK with 'any book.' But the passages in BR teach you how to deal with it.

 

[V5RED]

Is it just me or do the EK lectures in no way at all prepare someone to do BR bio?

I feel like the BR bio passages are pretty intense and a lot more involved than the EK material.

Am I alone in this or do others feel this way?

I feel the same way. In fact, the EK book literally says in bold print that certain things will not be tested that appear in the BR passages.

Also, some of the trickiest stuff in the BR passages is pretty much a copy and paste of the in chapter stuff for the BR bio.

I will probably not continue to use EK since it is like studying 5th grade bio for a college exam.

 

[jHustle]

I feel the same way. In fact, the EK book literally says in bold print that certain things will not be tested that appear in the BR passages.

Also, some of the trickiest stuff in the BR passages is pretty much a copy and paste of the in chapter stuff for the BR bio.

I will probably not continue to use EK since it is like studying 5th grade bio for a college exam.

I don't know about that for Bio man. According to the most recent posts in the official mcat threads, the new bio on the MCAT is totally different from most of what the review books teach (TPR, TBR, EK, etc.). With that in mind, it seems that using EK Bio would be best since it's so concise. Is there really a need for so much background info (ie TPR/TBR) if the new bio section is mainly passage based? I just ask this because so many posters, after their mcat, said that it felt almost pointless to have studied for bio so much.

Any more insight from previous test takers?

 

[docelh]

Got the newest version of BR Bio. They are effing hard, esp. the second book on molecular/genetics.

 

[member232]

I don't know about that for Bio man. According to the most recent posts in the official mcat threads, the new bio on the MCAT is totally different from most of what the review books teach (TPR, TBR, EK, etc.). With that in mind, it seems that using EK Bio would be best since it's so concise. Is there really a need for so much background info (ie TPR/TBR) if the new bio section is mainly passage based? I just ask this because so many posters, after their mcat, said that it felt almost pointless to have studied for bio so much.

Any more insight from previous test takers?

The bio on the actual test is very hard to be completely prepared for. The discrete questions are either surprisingly/mockingly easy or some minute detail in a MCAT prep book that says "you probably won't need to know this much detail for the MCAT."

As for the passages, they are geared a lot more towards graphs/tables and experiments, which TBR does a pretty good job on incorporating such devices into the majority of their passages. Or another experimental approach the actual MCAT has turned to is comparing two scientists work and seeing the similarities/differences.

That's my experience from two sittings of the exam (one voided, one actual).

 

[jHustle]

The bio on the actual test is very hard to be completely prepared for. The discrete questions are either surprisingly/mockingly easy or some minute detail in a MCAT prep book that says "you probably won't need to know this much detail for the MCAT."

As for the passages, they are geared a lot more towards graphs/tables and experiments, which TBR does a pretty good job on incorporating such devices into the majority of their passages. Or another experimental approach the actual MCAT has turned to is comparing two scientists work and seeing the similarities/differences.

That's my experience from two sittings of the exam (one voided, one actual).

But even though the Bio has been changing in the last years, so many people have said that TBR Bio is way too dense/not useful. I mean, don't you personally think your studying time can be better used rather than reading through TBR? Was it that helpful?

How did you do?

 

[wasabee]

Got the newest version of BR Bio. They are effing hard, esp. the second book on molecular/genetics.

May I please ask when you ordered your BR bio? Just to check whether the one I got is the newest, most up-to-date version.

Thanks.

 

[member232]

Oh, sorry if I gave the wrong impression... that's completely correct. TBR Bio content is absolutely way too dense. I read Kaplan Bio the first time and EK Bio the second time. Personally, I thought Kaplan was more straightforward and easy to read, but EK had more info in less pages. TBR Bio passages at the end of the chapter were the best resource, because they foreshadowed the harder passages on the actual exam. I even agree that TBR bio passages are much harder than AAMC, but if you can get the hang of them you'll be golden for the test.

 

[docelh]

May I please ask when you ordered your BR bio? Just to check whether the one I got is the newest, most up-to-date version.

Thanks.

I ordered it in April.