Eye and Ear

[ComicBookDude]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Question:

So I have about one more section to cover before Saturday and that is the eye and ear which I have been putting off for God knows how long. I have taken 5 AAMC tests and haven't even seen it mentioned. So I would like some opinions: Should I spend the 3-4 hours going over it tomorrow, or better use the time to review the endocrine/circulatory/digestive system?

Thanks

edit: And by review, I mean going over it for the 3rd time or so: seem like those three topics are HUGE on the BS section.

 

[SN2ed]

If you're that stressed for time I'd just glaze over the eye and ear, then hit the other sections. The eye and the ear usually come up in the PS section and not the BS section. In any case, you'd probably be given a passage explaining what you have to know. It is much more likely that you'll be tested on the other sections with passages and some stand alone questions.

 

[aliDO]

Once again, the MCAT is not about memorized facts. It really is a test about you ability to reason. Just glancing at something won't help. Just make sure you know BASIC biology, chemistry, and physics. The passages will give you everything else.

 

[PRodulous]

You're right. From what I've seen, the ear and the eye are low yield MCAT problems. The important aspects of the eye I can think of are as follows: 1. The eye consists of cones and rods, cones work with acuity and color while the rods are used for peripheral and low light vision 2. The sympathetic nervous system acts to relax the eye muscles. Why? It's so when you're startled you can see a predator from far away.

For the ear: 1. The majority of the structure has the function of amplification or transmit the signal from waves to electrical signals to the brain. 2. Correct me if i'm wrong, but cilia in the cochlea are composed of microtubules and dynein. A disease or mutation in this may prevent the transmission of sound.

The majority of the information will be given in the passage as well. Hope this helps.

 

[SN2ed]

aliDO: You're right about the test not being about memorizing facts, but the eye and ear are somewhat odd. You rarely see them in BS. If you had a discrete on them, it would probably be some insanely easy question (i.e. what does the symp do to your eye?). It takes something like 30 mins to know all there is about the eye and ear, well all that you need to know for the MCAT. Obviously, the eye and ear are much more complex. It just isn't worth your time to do anything more than briefly review those two subjects. I doubt you'd get a passage on them in BS, so actually briefly review could be helpful on those discretes. Nevertheless, you probably could solve a discrete about the eye and ear through reasoning based on what you know. However, on simple discrete questions, I'd rather know the random fact to plug in the answer quicker.