For those of you who got 12+ in biology

[magnanti1]

For those of you who used Princeton Review Hyperlearning workbook and scored above 12on the biology section, how many errors were you making, roughly, on each TPRH passage for Biology?
Thanks in advance.

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[Person0715]

IIRC, I was making 1 or no errors per passage. Sometimes, I would get 2 wrong in a passage. Just keep practicing. TPRH is great for practicing those experiment-based bio passages.

 

[txlonghorn2314]

IIRC, I was making 1 or no errors per passage. Sometimes, I would get 2 wrong in a passage. Just keep practicing. TPRH is great for practicing those experiment-based bio passages.

I'm not sure if you used kaplans bio topical/section tests/fls But if you had would you recommend those? Or is TPRH way better because I too suck at following some of the experiments

 

[magnanti1]

IIRC, I was making 1 or no errors per passage. Sometimes, I would get 2 wrong in a passage. Just keep practicing. TPRH is great for practicing those experiment-based bio passages.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Person0715]

I'm not sure if you used kaplans bio topical/section tests/fls But if you had would you recommend those? Or is TPRH way better because I too suck at following some of the experiments

I also used Kaplan's bio materials, but overall I think TPRH's passages are closer to the real MCAT passages. That isn't to say that Kaplan stuff isn't good for practice. Any material you can get your hands on is great, but I would prioritize TPRH over Kaplan.

 

[ronnicus]

I also used Kaplan's bio materials, but overall I think TPRH's passages are closer to the real MCAT passages. That isn't to say that Kaplan stuff isn't good for practice. Any material you can get your hands on is great, but I would prioritize TPRH over Kaplan.

And the TBR passages? Have you tried those out? Are they good practice even if you have to waste time studying material that won't be on the exam?

 

[Person0715]

TBR is good because it prepares you for those obscure discretes that seem to come out from left field, but I would not really focus too much on the TBR content unless you were aiming for a 13+.

 

[Redpancreas]

For those of you who used Princeton Review Hyperlearning workbook and scored above 12on the biology section, how many errors were you making, roughly, on each TPRH passage for Biology?
Thanks in advance.

I scored a 12 on my second attempt.
I was making anywhere from 0-4. It seriously varied. The biggest thing is to not have this mindset of assessing yourself based on TPRH practice passages. I feel a lot of questions are more inclined to trick than to assess actual ability. The only thing you should use to assess yourself is the AAMC Exams. If you get in a habit of trying to assess what your score using TPRH stuff, you're going to dread taking any questions which is counterproductive. Think of it more as a workout in that you'll have good performances and bad performances and it's usually the case that the bad performances are more useful.

Here are what I think are the contributing factors to my score:

1. Berkeley Biology/Reading EK (see Sn2).

2. High volume of biology classes made me get used to tricks used in genetics questions and one passage about an organ system was a breeze because I took a whole course on that organ system (disclaimer: careful while applying outside in-depth biology information on the MCAT though).

3. TPRH passages.

 

[user12]

focus on studying biochemistry and hardcore molecular biology/genetics. that's a big deal right now, you're pretty much guaranteed to have at least one passage of it on there. (and it will be HARD). i think princeton covers many more of those types of passages than kaplan, which seems to be overly focused on physiology.

 

[ronnicus]

focus on studying biochemistry and hardcore molecular biology/genetics. that's a big deal right now, you're pretty much guaranteed to have at least one passage of it on there. (and it will be HARD). i think princeton covers many more of those types of passages than kaplan, which seems to be overly focused on physiology.

On the current MCAT you mean? I've always heard that physiology was terribly important because many of the passages dealt with that stuff

 

[user12]

yes. trust me, focus on molecular bio and genetics for the current mcat. i took it two times 3 years ago (my scores expire so im studying to take it again in case i have to reapply). i got a 10 the first time and a 12 the second. it was HARD. there was molecular bio both times. the first time one of the passages was so complicated i spent like 12 minutes on it and i didnt know WHAT was going on, which explains the 10. it's true you need to know about SOME physiology... like when kaplan says you need to know the menstrual cycle, they aren't kidding. but focus on molecular/cell bio over everything else. make sure you know about cancer. make sure you know what a telomere is.