Diary: ExamKracker MCAT studying begins... Who is with me? Version 6 for May

[christian15213]

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Hey everyone!!!

Just wanted to invite anyone who owns the examkrackers examination books version 6 and is starting to study for the mcats this upcomming April / May. I can only afford to take this test one time because the application and entire process begins for me this summer.

I have started first with the Biology section and have a couple comments and things about the book that I like so far and some complaints so far. I have only done lecture one.

As well, I have audio osmosis and one of the things I really like is that is follows the book quite nicely. Please respond asap and we can work on things and go through things together.

 

[AK1kinase]

I'm told by EK that the new 7th edition version for the CBT format is in print and will be given as part of the course. Anyone else hear about of this or even have the 7th edition. Since they mail the material to you before the course begins I was wondering if people have received the new edition yet.

 

[rchappidi]

Hey - thanks for starting this thread! I am also interested in what others thought about the EK series, having just started myself.

I initially set up a schedule that closely resembled the 10-week EK home study schedule; however, I am finding that their time estimates are very unrealistic (or maybe I read slowly?). Is anyone else finding this the case? I don't know how anyone can be expected to do an entire lecture (taking notes), do the in-lecture questions, the 30-minute in-class exam, and analyze missed questions in 2-3 hours. It took me much longer - at least twice that. (This was also the Bio Lec 1, which was somewhat unfamiliar to me, as I only took basic biology.) Since I have to work full-time (with an hour commute), while studying for the MCAT, I am now thinking of changing my test date and doing 2 lectures a week instead of the four recommended by the EK schedule. Anybody else revising the schedule to make it longer?

The Audio Osmosis is great, supplements the lectures very well. The books are good, but I sometimes worry that I am not covering the material in-depth enough. (I have to fight the urge to read the Kaplan books - borrowed from a friend - for more in-depth information.)

I agree w/ you IU grad that Bio can take a long time. I took a lot of genetics and remembered the basic stuff so I flew through some of the earlier chapters. But my major (Molecular and Cellular Biology @ University of Illinois Urbana champaign) is much more focused on the cellular level of bio, so I didn't get as good of a background in physiology. For this reason, some of the later chapter were more difficult for me.

Also, is it me or does anyone else thing that the organic chem is really simple. (I haven't taken any practice tests but the book was pretty easy. Compared to the 60%'s I've been getting in my orgo class, this stuff is easy.)

In addition-- a lot of people were recommending the Nova physics book. I got both EK and Nova physics and I have to say that Nova is more comprehensive. The examples given are much more indepth and the explanations are much more through. Diagrams are present in the back of the book. With EK, I found minimal diagrams in the solutions section. Nova seems like it will be a good investment. The one problem with Nova is that the questions on the post lecture are very easy. Some of them even involve simply reading stuff directly off of a chart. (Ie at t=0 v=-1.8ms. One questions then asked what is the initial velocity). The above example is somewhat of an extreme case, but you get the point.

Also to other people using only EK/Nova... Do you guys feel as if you are missing out by not taking TPR or Kaplan. It seems that all my friends are taking it and I feel left out. It's not that I can't afford the class, I've just been told by people that it is a waste of time. What do you guys think? (Last thing I want to do is drop $1500+ on a babysitter).

 

[dr.kicia]

I agree w/ you IU grad that Bio can take a long time. I took a lot of genetics and remembered the basic stuff so I flew through some of the earlier chapters. But my major (Molecular and Cellular Biology @ University of Illinois Urbana champaign) is much more focused on the cellular level of bio, so I didn't get as good of a background in physiology. For this reason, some of the later chapter were more difficult for me.

Also, is it me or does anyone else thing that the organic chem is really simple. (I haven't taken any practice tests but the book was pretty easy. Compared to the 60%'s I've been getting in my orgo class, this stuff is easy.)

In addition-- a lot of people were recommending the Nova physics book. I got both EK and Nova physics and I have to say that Nova is more comprehensive. The examples given are much more indepth and the explanations are much more through. Diagrams are present in the back of the book. With EK, I found minimal diagrams in the solutions section. Nova seems like it will be a good investment. The one problem with Nova is that the questions on the post lecture are very easy. Some of them even involve simply reading stuff directly off of a chart. (Ie at t=0 v=-1.8ms. One questions then asked what is the initial velocity). The above example is somewhat of an extreme case, but you get the point.

Also to other people using only EK/Nova... Do you guys feel as if you are missing out by not taking TPR or Kaplan. It seems that all my friends are taking it and I feel left out. It's not that I can't afford the class, I've just been told by people that it is a waste of time. What do you guys think? (Last thing I want to do is drop $1500+ on a babysitter).

at first i wanted to register for the class. Then i realized that learning stuff by myself was always efficient (i do not go to lecture that often and like to study by myself) and for sure much cheaper.
Especially now that proctored exams are so easy to arrange in your own room since they are CBT.
I'd say buy all EK books, AO, Nova physics and all of the e-mcat.com exams, adjust 10 week EK schedule to your own needs (all that material will cost less then 500 bucks if you go on ebay).
I had all the books from Kaplan course and they sucked! After one page i was bored out of my mind....and i don't feel like paying 1500 so somebody will read it to me out loud in the class🙄
Besides i am taking some of the pre-reqs now and the rest are pretty fresh in my head. I do not feel like i need a lot of review for the material. I'd probobly need max 3 weeks to review everything. But i do need practice and instead of wasting 8 hours a week in a class while someone is reading the material to me is just a sin
Save 1000 for the cruise after the MCAT😀

 

[IUgrad]

I agree w/ you IU grad that Bio can take a long time. I took a lot of genetics and remembered the basic stuff so I flew through some of the earlier chapters. But my major (Molecular and Cellular Biology @ University of Illinois Urbana champaign) is much more focused on the cellular level of bio, so I didn't get as good of a background in physiology. For this reason, some of the later chapter were more difficult for me.

Also, is it me or does anyone else thing that the organic chem is really simple. (I haven't taken any practice tests but the book was pretty easy. Compared to the 60%'s I've been getting in my orgo class, this stuff is easy.)

I completely agree. It seems, at least from the EK books, that the MCAT will cover much less organic than we needed for class. Even from practicing a couple of full-length tests, I thought the organic was somewhat basic, which is good - one less thing to worry about, giving me more time to concentrate on bio and phys. 🙂

In addition-- a lot of people were recommending the Nova physics book. I got both EK and Nova physics and I have to say that Nova is more comprehensive. The examples given are much more indepth and the explanations are much more through. Diagrams are present in the back of the book. With EK, I found minimal diagrams in the solutions section. Nova seems like it will be a good investment. The one problem with Nova is that the questions on the post lecture are very easy. Some of them even involve simply reading stuff directly off of a chart. (Ie at t=0 v=-1.8ms. One questions then asked what is the initial velocity). The above example is somewhat of an extreme case, but you get the point.

Also to other people using only EK/Nova... Do you guys feel as if you are missing out by not taking TPR or Kaplan. It seems that all my friends are taking it and I feel left out. It's not that I can't afford the class, I've just been told by people that it is a waste of time. What do you guys think? (Last thing I want to do is drop $1500+ on a babysitter).

I know what you mean...I felt the same way, like I was missing out by doing it on my own. However, talking to three friends who took Kaplan, they all said that the most helpful things were the access to practice exams and the class books, and we can get and do those on our own (actually EK books are probably better). 😉 Two friends told me that Kaplan didn't help at all for VR, that their VR scores didn't approve over the class. Only one of my three friends recommended it and only as a "babysitter," like you said, because it does force you to work and keep on schedule. She said if I could keep myself on schedule and motivated that I would be better off doing that.

I know that Kaplan has helped many people be successful, and I'm not trying to knock them, but I really think that you can be just as successful with studying on your own, as long as you put in the time.

 

[IUgrad]

Save 1000 for the cruise after the MCAT😀

Good idea 🙂

 

[Beau Geste]

Oooooooooookay -

First full-length dx (3R): 10P 9B 8V = 27
I was on the phone during verbal, so I think that would have been higher had I not had to take a few phone calls.
1/2 way through EK bio, still have Physics, Orgo, and chem to go.
My next FL will be when i finish them, hopefully next weekend!

 

[dr.kicia]

Oooooooooookay -

First full-length dx (3R): 10P 9B 8V = 27
I was on the phone during verbal, so I think that would have been higher had I not had to take a few phone calls.
1/2 way through EK bio, still have Physics, Orgo, and chem to go.
My next FL will be when i finish them, hopefully next weekend!

good job, meg!!!👍

 

[Beau Geste]

thanks! I was freaking myself out a little by reading some threads where people were scoring 30+ on diagnostics. Then I had to remind myself that's not typical! 😉

 

[cabrillo]

Oooooooooookay -

First full-length dx (3R): 10P 9B 8V = 27
I was on the phone during verbal, so I think that would have been higher had I not had to take a few phone calls.
1/2 way through EK bio, still have Physics, Orgo, and chem to go.
My next FL will be when i finish them, hopefully next weekend!

so are you doing/completing first biology? the what? I am doing first bio, then chem, then ochem and last physics 😀

 

[Beau Geste]

so are you doing/completing first biology? the what? I am doing first bio, then chem, then ochem and last physics 😀

I'm doing bio first, then prob. Chem, ochem, and physics.

The order might change, but the main thing I want to do is just finish reading over the material and work some problems before I take another FL.

 

[midn]

I started up EK Inorganic Chemistry and I thought it really sucked. The last time I had Gen Chem was almost three and a half years ago and it's been about a year since I've done Physical Chemistry (PChem doesn't really go over the basics of Gen Chem either). EK is just way too skimpy on details and it kind of has an illogical flow (it explains Z(eff) without going into orbitals and stuff first, etc.). I pulled out my Kaplan book that was collecting dust and found that it does a much better job with Gen Chem.

What did you all think?

 

[cgzca]

Could anyone tell me how to buy Exam Krackers?
I want to buy this material.
But there are many version there.
I found this one , but I am not sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Study...e=UTF8&s=books

Thank you

 

[christian15213]

Could anyone tell me how to buy Exam Krackers?
I want to buy this material.
But there are many version there.
I found this one , but I am not sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Study...e=UTF8&s=books

Thank you

Just be careful when buying the book, sometimes they run out and people go on Amazon sellin the book for rediculous prices. like 440 dollars I saw one time... you should pay between 104 and 140 for the books no more... IMO

 

[christian15213]

Ok, here is an update on where I have been... first let me say this...

some of you have been complaining on how "skimpy" the EK books are. You are correct, but what I have found is that it isn't really the books fault is sadly a representation of (ones school, ones studying habbits from taking the class or the fact you never covered the material in the first place, which could again be a fault of the schools'.) so, when that happens I would suggest pulling out old texts or alternative sources to get you past your weekpoints...

After doing two lectures. I have found this much out and will share...

first, the audio osmosis is excellent for accompanying along the book. In fact, like some other posters said, when reading the chapter once I like to turn on my Cingular 8525/ipod and que up the lectures for that section. and I listen to the osmosis while going back through the book and get just a different or more meaningful perspective on certain parts. However, the one limitation is they rather quickly go through the lecture so be careful.

then once I have noted <<<is that a word notaded...>>> anyways, I go back through the books practice questions. Lastly the questions I missed and the weak areas I feel are comming through I go back and review and if that isn't good enough I then go to other sources to get a better understanding of the material. On the very first bio lecture I scored an equivalent 11 and I am finishing the 30 minute genetics test today... yea I have been slacking a little bit...

Which brings me to my next subject. I am going to set a schedule for myself so I can be super organized. For every morning of everyday... i am going to awake at 5 or 6 and begin studying for the mcat... I am going to blast through as much material as I possibly can to finish these books and get on with practice questions and test banks. Some of you gather the EK books or other material is "too simple or again skimpy" I have a hunch IMO, please others who have taken it comment, the test isn't going to be complicated per se but rather a reflection of the command one has on a vast aray of knowledge regarding the tested sciences. meaning, yea Organic Chem class was hard but what we might see on the MCAT shouldn't be that in detail. agian Just MO but I have a feeling. So as much as we can cover and as thorough is probably going to be the best way to study... getting into every inane detail is going to be silly and a waiste of time. With that said I hope getting through the lectures is going to be easier for me and all of you.

That is all I got for now,... my updated entries are going to be from a content sense... studying is in full force now. Good luck to all..


oh and p.s. where are the question answer updates on ek... could someone post that link... I will update my first thread.

 

[midn]

Ok, here is an update on where I have been... first let me say this...

some of you have been complaining on how "skimpy" the EK books are. You are correct, but what I have found is that it isn't really the books fault is sadly a representation of (ones school, ones studying habbits from taking the class or the fact you never covered the material in the first place, which could again be a fault of the schools'.) so, when that happens I would suggest pulling out old texts or alternative sources to get you past your weekpoints...

After doing two lectures. I have found this much out and will share...

first, the audio osmosis is excellent for accompanying along the book. In fact, like some other posters said, when reading the chapter once I like to turn on my Cingular 8525/ipod and que up the lectures for that section. and I listen to the osmosis while going back through the book and get just a different or more meaningful perspective on certain parts. However, the one limitation is they rather quickly go through the lecture so be careful.

then once I have noted <<<is that a word notaded...>>> anyways, I go back through the books practice questions. Lastly the questions I missed and the weak areas I feel are comming through I go back and review and if that isn't good enough I then go to other sources to get a better understanding of the material. On the very first bio lecture I scored an equivalent 11 and I am finishing the 30 minute genetics test today... yea I have been slacking a little bit...

Which brings me to my next subject. I am going to set a schedule for myself so I can be super organized. For every morning of everyday... i am going to awake at 5 or 6 and begin studying for the mcat... I am going to blast through as much material as I possibly can to finish these books and get on with practice questions and test banks. Some of you gather the EK books or other material is "too simple or again skimpy" I have a hunch IMO, please others who have taken it comment, the test isn't going to be complicated per se but rather a reflection of the command one has on a vast aray of knowledge regarding the tested sciences. meaning, yea Organic Chem class was hard but what we might see on the MCAT shouldn't be that in detail. agian Just MO but I have a feeling. So as much as we can cover and as thorough is probably going to be the best way to study... getting into every inane detail is going to be silly and a waiste of time. With that said I hope getting through the lectures is going to be easier for me and all of you.

That is all I got for now,... my updated entries are going to be from a content sense... studying is in full force now. Good luck to all..


oh and p.s. where are the question answer updates on ek... could someone post that link... I will update my first thread.

When are you taking the MCAT?

I ask because if you have more than a few months left, "blasting" through the material doesn't sound like a good idea. I "blasted" through the verbal book and found that I wasn't improving. It maybe just me, but I have found it helpful to wait for the material to soak a bit before moving on to more lectures.

Also, on your criticism of my criticism of the EK books suggesting that I have a weak background or my school did not teach me very well, I would be careful in making such assumptions. For example, I could assume that you barely passed your rhetoric classes based on how devoid your posts are of simple grammar, but I doubt that would be a very fair assumption, no? Don't be foolish.

I started listening to the Audio Osmosis stuff and I have to agree that it does help a lot. On the more basic subjects, it seemed like they were just repeating what the book said, but on the more difficult topics they emphasized what was important to make understanding things easier. The reason I felt the EK books were skimpy is because they did not provide enough context for me to recall what I already had learned. After reviewing from a few textbooks, I felt a little more at ease.

Also, other topics like Chemistry and Physics allow alternative methods to approach problems and EK usually only provides one. Sometimes, the way they explain it is far more complex than need be and knowing the material more in depth allows you to come to the same answer in way that is more time efficient for you.

It's a personal preference of mine to have a lot of detail, but if you are just as confident without, more power to you.

 

[christian15213]

When are you taking the MCAT?

I ask because if you have more than a few months left, "blasting" through the material doesn't sound like a good idea. I "blasted" through the verbal book and found that I wasn't improving. It maybe just me, but I have found it helpful to wait for the material to soak a bit before moving on to more lectures.

Also, on your criticism of my criticism of the EK books suggesting that I have a weak background or my school did not teach me very well, I would be careful in making such assumptions. For example, I could assume that you barely passed your rhetoric classes based on how devoid your posts are of simple grammar, but I doubt that would be a very fair assumption, no? Don't be foolish.

I started listening to the Audio Osmosis stuff and I have to agree that it does help a lot. On the more basic subjects, it seemed like they were just repeating what the book said, but on the more difficult topics they emphasized what was important to make understanding things easier. The reason I felt the EK books were skimpy is because they did not provide enough context for me to recall what I already had learned. After reviewing from a few textbooks, I felt a little more at ease.

Also, other topics like Chemistry and Physics allow alternative methods to approach problems and EK usually only provides one. Sometimes, the way they explain it is far more complex than need be and knowing the material more in depth allows you to come to the same answer in way that is more time efficient for you.

It's a personal preference of mine to have a lot of detail, but if you are just as confident without, more power to you.

Wow, I think you totally misunderstood me. First off, my grammar on this forum is of no use to me. I write about 60 wpm and could care less of mistakes or other problems with it. LOL, believe it or not I actually wrote for my school newspaper and was the entertainment editor. Nevertheless, I probably do have some brushing up to do on my writing style.

However, that is not the point of my reply.... What I was trying to say is that some schools... AND believe You me. I MEAN my school in particular has a reputation for not covering some necessary material in subjects that are pre reqs such as Biology I and II, etc. I didn't mean your school I simply meant in general. My school, is a very good school, but they don't have a very good curicula for material on the mcat while one is attending only the pre-reg classes. I.e. to get genetics... You must take genetics... to get Micro or cell molec or bio chem you must take those actuall classes...

What I was trying to express is that when studying so far I immediatley saw the difference of me being extremly well versed in a subject vs. me not have taken that particular subject as of yet. Does that makes sense? My school is very guilty of this and I can't tell you why they do it. But alas that is what these books and reviews are for in a sense. Lastly, my school has a very bad reputation for students taking the MCAT's and getting bad scores... I personally think this is part of the problem.

LOL, I have to say this thought, I went through physics II with taking exams using no formula sheets. now, this might be common at your school but for my physics 1 we got the forumulas and I did worse<<<taking ORGO at same time>>> then II we were not allowed forumulas and I did a lot better. I think it forced us to better learn the material and think about what was actually happening rather than memorizing.

Either way sorry for the misunderstanding of how I put the other comment. GOOD LUCK

 

[midn]

Wow, I think you totally misunderstood me. First off, my grammar on this forum is of no use to me. I write about 60 wpm and could care less of mistakes or other problems with it. LOL, believe it or not I actually wrote for my school newspaper and was the entertainment editor. Nevertheless, I probably do have some brushing up to do on my writing style.

However, that is not the point of my reply.... What I was trying to say is that some schools... AND believe You me. I MEAN my school in particular has a reputation for not covering some necessary material in subjects that are pre reqs such as Biology I and II, etc. I didn't mean your school I simply meant in general. My school, is a very good school, but they don't have a very good curicula for material on the mcat while one is attending only the pre-reg classes. I.e. to get genetics... You must take genetics... to get Micro or cell molec or bio chem you must take those actuall classes...

What I was trying to express is that when studying so far I immediatley saw the difference of me being extremly well versed in a subject vs. me not have taken that particular subject as of yet. Does that makes sense? My school is very guilty of this and I can't tell you why they do it. But alas that is what these books and reviews are for in a sense. Lastly, my school has a very bad reputation for students taking the MCAT's and getting bad scores... I personally think this is part of the problem.

LOL, I have to say this thought, I went through physics II with taking exams using no formula sheets. now, this might be common at your school but for my physics 1 we got the forumulas and I did worse<<<taking ORGO at same time>>> then II we were not allowed forumulas and I did a lot better. I think it forced us to better learn the material and think about what was actually happening rather than memorizing.

Either way sorry for the misunderstanding of how I put the other comment. GOOD LUCK

Ok, I'm glad we cleared that up 👍

 

[phospho]

Ok, I'm glad we cleared that up 👍

chapter two in bio EK is a bitch... I've been sitting in my place for the last 6 hours, and I'm only half way through... i've always been weak in genetics🙄

 

[dr.kicia]

chapter two in bio EK is a bitch... I've been sitting in my place for the last 6 hours, and I'm only half way through... i've always been weak in genetics🙄

what really helps me sometimes is to just google whatever i do not understand.
I was so surprised what kind of great info (and free!) one can find on the internet.
And also if you have AO try to listen to the tracks related to ch2.

 

[dr.kicia]

Ok...my story:
I used EK about a year ago when i decided to take April 06 MCAT. I never took it though, because i decided that trying to take it without phys2 and both orgo's would be the stupidest and most compulsive idea i could have had .
But i went through the whole bio book and half of phys, and gen chem and i listened to everything on AudioOsmosis.
I will be starting on studying (hopefully to take May 31st test) as soon as i lay my hands on the 7th eddition. Though i have no idea how much different it will be from the 6th.
I just emailed EK asking when the 7th edition is comming out and their responce was---> "very soon"...whatever that means🙄 , they were not able to give me an exact date but Jordan himself said that content will not be changed so 6th edition is still good.

and here is my ipression of EK:
overall i loved it since i am a visual learner. I think AO totally helps with going through the material.
BIO book is deffinetly their strongest. For some other things it is good to have other materials or texts to relate to but googling saves me a lot as well.
I also recomend 1001 series. They are great for hummering stuff into your head so it will stay there

I will be coming back here a lot once i get the ball rollong for real.
I also used EK 10 week schedule to build my own and fit it into my busy days.
Good luck everyone.

 

[Anastasis]

chapter two in bio EK is a bitch... I've been sitting in my place for the last 6 hours, and I'm only half way through... i've always been weak in genetics🙄

Genetics is my strong suit. I tutor it at my post-bac school so feel free to PM me if you have a question...

Maybe I should go into the study question subforum more often?

 

[phospho]

Genetics is my strong suit. I tutor it at my post-bac school so feel free to PM me if you have a question...

Maybe I should go into the study question subforum more often?

thank you, will do🙂

 

[phospho]

what really helps me sometimes is to just google whatever i do not understand.
I was so surprised what kind of great info (and free!) one can find on the internet.
And also if you have AO try to listen to the tracks related to ch2.

yeah, you're right... i've been doing a little bit of googling, and it has helped out a lot.

This lac operon crap is like gibberish to me though, but I just realized that EK said it's not that important...lol

 

[dr.kicia]

yeah, you're right... i've been doing a little bit of googling, and it has helped out a lot.

This lac operon crap is like gibberish to me though, but I just realized that EK said it's not that important...lol

well...i guess it's not that important but i am so obsessive when i do not understand something that i need to check it anyways just incase LOL.
I became a master in researching stuff usung google. Whenever i find some good site i save it to my favs.
There is so much tutorials out there from university websites that sometimes you don't even need a textbook.
Another thing that helps me is Berkeley review books i got on ebay...they are really good resource for the topics that are not trully covered in EK.

 

[Anastasis]

yeah, you're right... i've been doing a little bit of googling, and it has helped out a lot.

This lac operon crap is like gibberish to me though, but I just realized that EK said it's not that important...lol

lol - yeah at most you *might* get a passage about it so you might want to understand it qualitatively but don't worry about memorizing the details. There's no way they'll expect you to recall that stuff. It'll be in the passage.

To sum up, there is a gene that codes for a repressor protein. That repressor protein can bind to the beginning of the lac operon which stops the transcription machinery from binding and making the mRNA. The only thing that removes that repressor is lactose. Which makes sense when you think about it... the only time the bacteria will need to produce the products of that gene is when lactose is present right? So the only time the repressor needs to be removed is when lactose is present.

As far as the presence/non presence of glucose... think of it this way:
If there is already glucose in the environment, which the bacteria loves to use for fuel then even if there is lactose the bacteria doesn't really need those products because it's got glucose for fuel. But lactose IS present, so the repressor is removed. Therefore the operon is transcribed but not very quickly.

However if there is NO glucose then the bacteria is depended on the lactose for fuel. So the gene needs to be transcribed rapidly to break down that lactose.

In summary:

No lactose, Yes Glucose: No products.
No lactose, No Glucose: No products (no lactose so you still have the repressor)
Lactose and Glucose: Some product
Lactose and No glucose: Lots of product.

 

[phospho]

lol - yeah at most you *might* get a passage about it so you might want to understand it qualitatively but don't worry about memorizing the details. There's no way they'll expect you to recall that stuff. It'll be in the passage.

To sum up, there is a gene that codes for a repressor protein. That repressor protein can bind to the beginning of the lac operon which stops the transcription machinery from binding and making the mRNA. The only thing that removes that repressor is lactose. Which makes sense when you think about it... the only time the bacteria will need to produce the products of that gene is when lactose is present right? So the only time the repressor needs to be removed is when lactose is present.

As far as the presence/non presence of glucose... think of it this way:
If there is already glucose in the environment, which the bacteria loves to use for fuel then even if there is lactose the bacteria doesn't really need those products because it's got glucose for fuel. But lactose IS present, so the repressor is removed. Therefore the operon is transcribed but not very quickly.

However if there is NO glucose then the bacteria is depended on the lactose for fuel. So the gene needs to be transcribed rapidly to break down that lactose.

In summary:

No lactose, Yes Glucose: No products.
No lactose, No Glucose: No products (no lactose so you still have the repressor)
Lactose and Glucose: Some product
Lactose and No glucose: Lots of product.

Thank you so much🙂 you freakin’ rock. I definitely understand it now. I was fishing for my Campbell bio book till I read your post. Thank You.

Do you, by any chance, have any tips on how to keep everything in my head though? I will not pass one page without fully understanding it if I have to; however, I have been sort of starting to forget some little details. Till now, I’ve been able to remedy that by revising all my notes every day, before I go on further. I take small notes of little things I might forget – or simply little tips that I might want to remember. The thing though is that I’m still in the second chapter of the EK bio book, and I haven’t even started chem., ochem, or phy.

I guess my question would be is that how would you go about trying to study for the next few months, without losing any of the material you learned a few months back?

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to get the stuff through to me🙂

 

[Anastasis]

Thank you so much🙂 you freakin’ rock. I definitely understand it now. I was fishing for my Campbell bio book till I read your post. Thank You.

Do you, by any chance, have any tips on how to keep everything in my head though? I will not pass one page without fully understanding it if I have to; however, I have been sort of starting to forget some little details. Till now, I’ve been able to remedy that by revising all my notes every day, before I go on further. I take small notes of little things I might forget – or simply little tips that I might want to remember. The thing though is that I’m still in the second chapter of the EK bio book, and I haven’t even started chem., ochem, or phy.

I guess my question would be is that how would you go about trying to study for the next few months, without losing any of the material you learned a few months back?

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to get the stuff through to me🙂

I would suggest you make sure you understand everything conceptually first. At least for me, it's easier if I have some kind of framework to put the information into. As far as the minute details go, I just used Audio Osmosis and listened to the lectures over and over again. (I have a volunteer position with lots of downtime/scut work time plus a long commute so maybe this isn't practical advice for you).

Right now I think you should concentrate on getting through all the material once understanding it all conceptually and getting the major details. If need be, go back later to cement things that might have fallen though.

 

[phospho]

I would suggest you make sure you understand everything conceptually first. At least for me, it's easier if I have some kind of framework to put the information into. As far as the minute details go, I just used Audio Osmosis and listened to the lectures over and over again. (I have a volunteer position with lots of downtime/scut work time plus a long commute so maybe this isn't practical advice for you).

Right now I think you should concentrate on getting through all the material once understanding it all conceptually and getting the major details. If need be, go back later to cement things that might have fallen though.

yeah, i know what you mean about audio osmosis. I can't listen to them at work, but I do listen to them on the way to work, on the way back, and even on my 30 second trip to the laundry mat...lol I've been keeping them in my car hoping these 3 or 4 minute opportunities will add up at the end...

I guess you're right; I'm definitely going to make sure I have the material down hard before I start worrying about remembering the minute details.

thank you🙂

 

[christian15213]

I would suggest you make sure you understand everything conceptually first. At least for me, it's easier if I have some kind of framework to put the information into. As far as the minute details go, I just used Audio Osmosis and listened to the lectures over and over again. (I have a volunteer position with lots of downtime/scut work time plus a long commute so maybe this isn't practical advice for you).

Right now I think you should concentrate on getting through all the material once understanding it all conceptually and getting the major details. If need be, go back later to cement things that might have fallen though.

awsome respones... i couldn't have said it better myself... My genetics prof gave us a butt whoppin so my G-Unit material is way strong... Anyways... i will be finishing up lecture two tonight and starting on the microbio tommorrow... Good stuff everyone... keep it coming.

 

[Phoenix.]

I'm studying for the April MCAT with the EK books but am a little worried that people have been saying that the recent MCATs have had a lot more genetics than expected and that they weren't really prepared for it. Anyone know if we should be supplementing the genetics covered in the EK bio book with anything else? I am not taking (nor have I taken) a class in Genetics. Thank!

 

[Beau Geste]

The EK book pretty much sums up the genetic class I took (300-level at a university). Of course the class went much deeper, however the concepts are all in the EK book, but simplified.

IMO EK does a good job, but I haven't taken the real deal yet, only practice tests.

 

[phospho]

would someone be so kind enough to explain this sentence to me from lecture 4 in the EK bio book?

"Mitochondria have their own ribosomes with a sediment coefficient of 55-60S in humans".

I tried googling the concepts out, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for😕

Thank you in advance🙂

 

[Anastasis]

would someone be so kind enough to explain this sentence to me from lecture 4 in the EK bio book?

"Mitochondria have their own ribosomes with a sediment coefficient of 55-60S in humans".

I tried googling the concepts out, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for😕

Thank you in advance🙂

Is it the sediment coefficient that's throwing you off? It's just referring to how far down they sink in a test tube when centrifuged. It has to do with both size and shape.

Basically that is saying that Mitochondria has their own ribosomes (own equipment for making proteins) and that they are closer in size/shape to bacterial ribosomes than eukaryotic ribosomes.

Does that help?

 

[christian15213]

awsome respones... i couldn't have said it better myself... My genetics prof gave us a butt whoppin so my G-Unit material is way strong... Anyways... i will be finishing up lecture two tonight and starting on the microbio tommorrow... Good stuff everyone... keep it coming.

Ok, I had to quote myself because whoa. I have started the semester and just finished the 30 minute exam for lecture 2 of bio which took me 40 minutes. I got a ton wrong and was wondering WTH... some of the question I missed were pure carelessness but others where seemingly the way the passage was wording the question. However, tough cookies and this is going to be the test.

my question is this. Should I slave over trying to rememorize and ingrain what concepts I was lacking on ORRRR... take the explanations they give me... relearn the concept that I was missing keep it moving and perhaps come back to the test later.

like I said my overall knowledge of genetics is strong thought some of these questions were a little tricky not to straight foward. The practice ones along the lecture were fine and made total sense...

As well, I guess I should note this question too which has equal importance. the "PASSAGES" duh duh duh duh... How should you approach them. Meaning, I kinda got cocky and said I know genetics so I won't worry about what the passages are saying to much because I already know the material. However it felt like when answering the questions I was getting a little lost and trying to scramble to read the passage and "SEE" if that would help. It is a loaded question but I think an important one. Does the passage help and or how much should I take care to read the passage and thus reffer to it for new or altered existing knowledge??? I hope that made sense but for someone who has done this or knows what I mean and has developed a good strategy your input would sure be appreciated and help everybody!!!!

 

[midn]

As well, I guess I should note this question too which has equal importance. the "PASSAGES" duh duh duh duh... How should you approach them. Meaning, I kinda got cocky and said I know genetics so I won't worry about what the passages are saying to much because I already know the material. However it felt like when answering the questions I was getting a little lost and trying to scramble to read the passage and "SEE" if that would help. It is a loaded question but I think an important one. Does the passage help and or how much should I take care to read the passage and thus reffer to it for new or altered existing knowledge??? I hope that made sense but for someone who has done this or knows what I mean and has developed a good strategy your input would sure be appreciated and help everybody!!!!

I would read the passage thoroughly and only once. I noticed that the answer choices will give you answers that are true but are not mentioned in the passage. Usually, I would go straight for these answers thinking that they wanted something really detailed, but it turns out they want you to interpret from the passage.


Have you read the EK verbal book yet? There are excellent strategies in there to handle every type of passage. It helped me a lot for passage-based questions even in the science sections.

 

[phospho]

Is it the sediment coefficient that's throwing you off? It's just referring to how far down they sink in a test tube when centrifuged. It has to do with both size and shape.

Basically that is saying that Mitochondria has their own ribosomes (own equipment for making proteins) and that they are closer in size/shape to bacterial ribosomes than eukaryotic ribosomes.

Does that help?

hey🙂
yeah, it was the sediment coefficient that was throwing me off. I had no idea it had something to do with centrifugation, but now it makes sense.

Anastasis, so if we centrifuged a tube of cell homogenate, from top layer to bottom layer we would get:

nuclei & cytoskeletons
mitochondria, lysosomes, and peroxisomes
microsomes
ribosomes and viruses

am I on the right track here, or am I looking too into this?

thank you🙂

 

[mvenus929]

I would read the passage thoroughly and only once. I noticed that the answer choices will give you answers that are true but are not mentioned in the passage. Usually, I would go straight for these answers thinking that they wanted something really detailed, but it turns out they want you to interpret from the passage.

There are some questions in the EK books that I thought I was answering them according to the passage, but they wanted more background information on it. The one that leaps to mind is what hormone prevents the shedding of the uterine lining during pregnancy, and the choices included estrogen, progesterone, and HCG. Well, the passage went into detail about how HCG causes progesterone to be made, so I chose that, even though progesterone is the actual hormone that prevents it.

 

[dr.kicia]

hey🙂
yeah, it was the sediment coefficient that was throwing me off. I had no idea it had something to do with centrifugation, but now it makes sense.

Anastasis, so if we centrifuged a tube of cell homogenate, from top layer to bottom layer we would get:

nuclei & cytoskeletons
mitochondria, lysosomes, and peroxisomes
microsomes
ribosomes and viruses

am I on the right track here, or am I looking too into this?

thank you🙂

this might be helpful :
http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/techinfo.asp?htmlfile=basic-centrifugation.htm&ID=30

 

[IUgrad]

This is kind of off topic, but is anyone finding this book difficult or is it just me and my lack of biochem/micro knowledge? I tried doing the first lecture "exam" and I got a little more than half right. I'm getting really discouraged....

I got a 25 (PS 8, VR 10, BS 7) on my first (only) AAMC FL back in Oct, and I know that's not great, but I felt pretty okay about the bio on the exam at that point. I just started studying a couple weeks ago, and it seems like the more I study the less confident I feel.

Do you think that the passage questions reflect the passage difficulty of the actual MCAT? They seem harder to me, based just on the one test I took...

 

[christian15213]

This is kind of off topic, but is anyone finding this book difficult or is it just me and my lack of biochem/micro knowledge? I tried doing the first lecture "exam" and I got a little more than half right. I'm getting really discouraged....

I got a 25 (PS 8, VR 10, BS 7) on my first (only) AAMC FL back in Oct, and I know that's not great, but I felt pretty okay about the bio on the exam at that point. I just started studying a couple weeks ago, and it seems like the more I study the less confident I feel.

Do you think that the passage questions reflect the passage difficulty of the actual MCAT? They seem harder to me, based just on the one test I took...

Yea, I know that it is going to require you to use your brain but I agree I thought some of the questions on part II for genetics were kinda out there. However, with that said... I like to see how the next section of Micro goes because I am currently taking that class and know absolutely nothing about it. So this should truly show me the strenght of the book... who know's perhaps a blank slate of knowledge will be good because that way I might not be clouding my brain... LOL, lets see... either way... I by no means would be discouraged... I want to push through these books and start with the practice test's from AAMCAS... or whatever...

I am probably going to do the verbal next too because like the other poster said it should help with passage reading and what have you.

 

[cabrillo]

This is kind of off topic, but is anyone finding this book difficult or is it just me and my lack of biochem/micro knowledge? I tried doing the first lecture "exam" and I got a little more than half right. I'm getting really discouraged....

I got a 25 (PS 8, VR 10, BS 7) on my first (only) AAMC FL back in Oct, and I know that's not great, but I felt pretty okay about the bio on the exam at that point. I just started studying a couple weeks ago, and it seems like the more I study the less confident I feel.

Do you think that the passage questions reflect the passage difficulty of the actual MCAT? They seem harder to me, based just on the one test I took...

some of the 30 min test are just very difficult. I just took 30 min test for ch6 and I got creamed!!!! but at the same time I feel confident about the material. I just feel the test was just unrealistically difficult . I will finish ch7 tonight. It seems really simple and straight forward.

 

[mvenus929]

some of the 30 min test are just very difficult. I just took 30 min test for ch6 and I got creamed!!!! but at the same time I feel confident about the material. I just feel the test was just unrealistically difficult . I will finish ch7 tonight. It seems really simple and straight forward.

I got a 5 on lecture 4 🙁. That's my lowest yet, though I got a 7 on lecture 3, and a 8 on lecture 5. That's as far as I've gotten. I think it's just cause I wasn't paying too much attention while I was reading the lectures....

 

[CarolinaGirl]

so I just bombed the bio lect. 2 exam. I mean you can't really get any worse than a 4 😱 I did not even find the passage useful, in fact the more I tried to find answers the more confused I got. Oh, well, maybe ch. 3 is better. I am just looking forward to when I get to relate it all to the body, I feel like I should do great at that part...

As for VR, I got a 11 on the first lect. exam and really expect to do about the same on all others. I think this is where I will have the least amt. of problems. Let's wait and see what happens.

 

[dr.kicia]

guys a lot of you are saying that 30 minute exams are hard etc. Well don't worry....when i was studying last year i also wasn't doing so hot in the first few but then i got used to the format and was getting 9-11 on them. Just keep on practicing and try to understand the thought process in the answer keys.
I am going to start again with EK next week. I will be posting my progress as well.
stay motivated😀

 

[Funky]

i think the EK 30 minute exams are supposed to be high-yield questions so getting destroyed by a few exams is expected. Just be sure to learn from your mistakes and move on.

 

[cabrillo]

i think the EK 30 minute exams are supposed to be high-yield questions so getting destroyed by a few exams is expected. Just be sure to learn from your mistakes and move on.

they are freaking hard. I am moving on sicne I think I know what I need to know for that chapter. I also got a 5 on the test for ch6😡 but is all good since I believe the test is just way too hard and doesnt really represent the concepts that you need to know. The second passage was full of calculations and obscure crap that was very disappointing and discouraging since I really felt that I was just guessing on the test. The last two passages were ok and build up my confidence

 

[cabrillo]

I got a 5 on lecture 4 🙁. That's my lowest yet, though I got a 7 on lecture 3, and a 8 on lecture 5. That's as far as I've gotten. I think it's just cause I wasn't paying too much attention while I was reading the lectures....

I got a 5 on 30 min test form ch6 my lowest up to know😡 The other ones hav been in the range of 9-11 consistently.

 

[cabrillo]

i think the EK 30 minute exams are supposed to be high-yield questions so getting destroyed by a few exams is expected. Just be sure to learn from your mistakes and move on.

I really hope so. I truly believe that I am undertanding the material well. I will try to mix some Kaplan topical tests in here to see waht happens. I am just short of time since I am doing 1 chapter every 2 days. I ll keep you guys posted😀

 

[mvenus929]

guys a lot of you are saying that 30 minute exams are hard etc. Well don't worry....when i was studying last year i also wasn't doing so hot in the first few but then i got used to the format and was getting 9-11 on them. Just keep on practicing and try to understand the thought process in the answer keys.
I am going to start again with EK next week. I will be posting my progress as well.
stay motivated😀

Haha... I was doing well to start (12 and 10 on first two bio lectures), and then I just plummeted (7-5-8, respectively). I think on lecture 4, I missed every question on one of the passages.

 

[TerraMedicX]

Hang in there everyone!! Sounds like some people are getting pretty stressed out about the 30-min tests...like some other people are saying, just look at what you missed and try to be sure you understand why you missed it and be sure you've got a good grasp of the underlying concept. Then I would move on, but keep track of what you had trouble on and be sure to come back to it a bit more later!

Personally, I'm all the way through both Gen Chem and Physics (I'm going in a bit of a different order), I was consistantly scoring 10s throughout the PS exams, I'd like to get that up a bit, but I think that'll come when I start review and making flashcards next week. I'm working on Lecture 3 of bio now, but I'm blasting through Bio and O-chem 'cause I already took pretty detailed notes on those subject from the AAMC outline before I got the EK books. I got 12s on both of the first two Bio tests, which I'm pretty damn excited about, but we'll see if it keeps up. I'm a little worried about o-chem though 'cause I've never been great at it!

The plan is to finish Bio and O-chem by Saturday night. Then next week I'm gonna go back and make flashcards on all four areas and start studying those while I work on the VR book and practice tests. Then another week of hard-core flashcard/review and practice tests and a short break before the exam on Jan 29th for me!! GETTING SOOOOO CLOSE!!!

Nate.