Good Lord TBR Biology!!11!1!!

[ReggieD6868]

I am only in the first month of my study. I've finished several sections in TBR books as well as timed section tests in EK Verbal 101, but I started the first section in TBR-Biology, and it's kicking my buttocks!

These passages are annihilating me! I diligently read the review section, and biology is generally my best section of the four core topics, but this evening has been a bust!

Prior to investing in TBR books, I read a few times that TBR-Biology is tough, but good lord, these first passages whacked me! I only finished the first 10 passages, and I planned to take the last five timed, but I didn't gain an insight after my initial practice due to errors across the board.

I know that there is a learning curve and strategy adjustment for each section of the test, but I'm going to take a breather from TPR-Biology for now.

Any suggestions? Are there any other books that are reliable for the biology portion of the exam?

Thanks for the help in advance!

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[brood910]

TPRH

 

[ReggieD6868]

TPRH

Do you mean the hyper learning series, or the current TPR-Biology book? I don't think the hyper learning books are in print.

The Berkeley Review's Biology informational section is great, but the questions are nuts, and from my own initial experience and reviewing other posts, I don't know how helpful TBR-Biology questions are.

How are the examkracker 1001 Biology questions? I don't want EK-Biology for the content, I would want it for the questions.

Thanks!

 

[brood910]

Do you mean the hyper learning series, or the current TPR-Biology book? I don't think the hyper learning books are in print.

TPRH science workbook.
Its bio passages are the most similar to AAMC ones.

 

[ReggieD6868]

TPRH science workbook.
Its bio passages are the most similar to AAMC ones.

Sorry for the double post, but I just edited my response prior to your response, so I'm reposting in this reply.

"
How are the examkracker 1001 Biology questions? I don't want EK-Biology for the content, I would want it for the questions."

 

[brood910]

Sorry for the double post, but I just edited my response prior to your response, so I'm reposting in this reply.

"
How are the examkracker 1001 Biology questions? I don't want EK-Biology for the content, I would want it for the questions."

Bad. They require too much recalling.
Bio is all about analyzing passages these days.

 

[madmuttal]

I disagree....Use TBR bio!...use it as learning tool and don't focus on the score!! it's tough but it's worth doing all of them....do TPRH after you do TBR....yes tprh is representative of aamc but when you train for mcat, you wanna train with tougher material...after tbr, it felt easy doing aamc and tprh.....

again, i would totally ignore the score (focus on the score when you do their third phase)....

 

[Sean Lee]

The TPRH biology passages are quite good, but they are a bit harder than the AAMC ones.

 

[ReggieD6868]

I disagree....Use TBR bio!...use it as learning tool and don't focus on the score!! it's tough but it's worth doing all of them....do TPRH after you do TBR....yes tprh is representative of aamc but when you train for mcat, you wanna train with tougher material...after tbr, it felt easy doing aamc and tprh.....

again, i would totally ignore the score (focus on the score when you do their third phase)....

Difficulty is one thing, but getting wiped is another! If it only test on minutia, then it's not going to be helpful for strategy when the errors are across the board. It's possible that I'm interpreting the situation, but I rather have hard focused study than frusteration.

 

[Sammy1024]

I read through some of the 30+ forum and the ones who specified what they used to study used EK 1001 for Biology

 

[brood910]

I read through some of the 30+ forum and the ones who specified what they used to study used EK 1001 for Biology

I tried it myself. EK for CONTENT REVIEW is pretty good, but its 1001 series for BIO is terrible. Do you know that the passages + questions in that book are written by a MEDICAL STUDENT?

 

[SOOyC52H1Sof]

If you are not a bio major, i would definitely recommend TPR. they do a really good job covering everything

 

[pyrrion89]

MCAT Bio is almost like sciency verbal. Content review should not be too deep as the passage will provide much of the information you need to answer the questions on the real MCAT. Stick with EK 101 Bio since it has the shallowest content review. I got a 14 BS with this strategy.

 

[Willy38]

TBR bio is not good in my opinion. I looked at it some, got more wrong than I got right and went on to TPRH after. TPRH is much better in my opinion coupled with Kaplan.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I hate it when people say "this and that" bio passages are harder than the actual MCAT. Be prepared for anything and everything. Know your Bio in and out specifically from the AAMC outline. When I took the Jan 25th exam, the passages I encountered were around the difficulty (not style, which seems to be the consensus anyways) of the TBR passages. In other words, those passages were HARD. However, I prepped well (possibly overprepped lol) for that section which is why I did well. AAMC Bio is a slightly better predictor but still does not compare in difficulty to the real BS section. Don't take it lightly guys...

 

[ReggieD6868]

I took a few of the other posters' advice, and I kept plugging away at TBR Biology. I must say that after the first few passages that kicked my butt that fueled my original post, I started sticking it hard to TBR Biology! It may be over-prepping, but the content from the TBR is very good, and although the questions from TBR "may be more difficult than an AAMC biology question," preparing for the worst and really testing my wits shouldn't be a bad thing.

Another poster also said that the AAMC biology is "sciency [sic.] verbal," and I think that is great advice! I still need to target some content in biology, but attacking the biology passages in a logical/reasoning frame of mind instead of deep content approach is a very helpful concept for me. I need to keep asking myself "what are they saying?" and not "what do I want to say?"

Thank you for the encouragement!