How to efficiently study for Biology?

[RedDevil202013]

Hey all!
So I am currently studying for the DAT and everything seems to fine material wise except for Biology. I am still in the Material review phase so I'm not practicing much of what I'm going over but it just takes too much of my study time. I'm taking notes as I am going through Cliffs AP book (I like active studying and not just reading) and it just seems like its taking forever, almost 5-6 hours per chapter alone (especially plants, evolution, bio diversity chapters). I don't know if I'm studying incorrectly but I would like to spend more time on other subjects than Bio. Also, it seems like there's so much material and so many details in the Cliffs book. What were some of your guys strategies when studying for bio, also do you have any advice for myself? Thanks in advance!

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[Bingwen]

Biology like many on here will say is breadth over depth. Core topics will, usually, constitute more of your questions than fine details.... That being said most of the chapters for me took 2-3 hours, taking notes. It's important to learn the material but understand how they are going to test on that material...

How much more time do you have before you take?

 

[Michael_Scott]

you have to study just like Ari mentions in his guide. Also using qvault biology to supplement your weekly study will really help. I scored high using that and making my own notes, like Ari mentions.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

I definitely spent more time on bio than the other subjects (even though I was much worse at gen chem and orgo starting out) because there's substantially more material to cover, so I wouldn't worry about that. The first pass through Cliff's can be really slow, but once you've gone through it once the review phase is much much quicker as you're going to be remembering most of it rather than trying to understand it for the first time. As for remembering all the details, for me the process of taking notes and regularly reviewing those notes was critical. Otherwise, it's incredibly easy for most of that detail to fall out of memory when it isn't being reinforced.

 

[RedDevil202013]

Biology like many on here will say is breadth over depth. Core topics will, usually, constitute more of your questions than fine details.... That being said most of the chapters for me took 2-3 hours, taking notes. It's important to learn the material but understand how they are going to test on that material...

How much more time do you have before you take?

I have about 6 more weeks before my exam. Bio for me just seems like a grind. I get the feeling that I have to take notes on every detail on the book which is forcing me to be behind on my bio study schedule

 

[RedDevil202013]

I definitely spent more time on bio than the other subjects (even though I was much worse at gen chem and orgo starting out) because there's substantially more material to cover, so I wouldn't worry about that. The first pass through Cliff's can be really slow, but once you've gone through it once the review phase is much much quicker as you're going to be remembering most of it rather than trying to understand it for the first time. As for remembering all the details, for me the process of taking notes and regularly reviewing those notes was critical. Otherwise, it's incredibly easy for most of that detail to fall out of memory when it isn't being reinforced.

Thanks for the reply. And It is true. Im planning to finish taking notes on the remaining chapters and then start going over them in the next 5 weeks or so

 

[Bingwen]

I have about 6 more weeks before my exam. Bio for me just seems like a grind. I get the feeling that I have to take notes on every detail on the book which is forcing me to be behind on my bio study schedule

Yeah I would say you are doing fine. If you feel like hitting the details is what you want then spend the time getting a real solid base now. I was worried you were running really low on time. You are doing fine and as Feralis said once you get the knowledge down reviewing it will be a piece of cake. I averaged 7-8 per 10 questions on destroyer after taking really good notes on Cliffs.

The grind definitely sucks but keep at it and it will pay dividends.

 

[tyjacobs]

Hey all!
So I am currently studying for the DAT and everything seems to fine material wise except for Biology. I am still in the Material review phase so I'm not practicing much of what I'm going over but it just takes too much of my study time. I'm taking notes as I am going through Cliffs AP book (I like active studying and not just reading) and it just seems like its taking forever, almost 5-6 hours per chapter alone (especially plants, evolution, bio diversity chapters). I don't know if I'm studying incorrectly but I would like to spend more time on other subjects than Bio. Also, it seems like there's so much material and so many details in the Cliffs book. What were some of your guys strategies when studying for bio, also do you have any advice for myself? Thanks in advance!

bio will the most time you spend on DAT studies just because it is such a large subject as you have pointed out. honestly, if you feel like you are going slow, move the DAT back and study at the pace you want so you are comfortable and dont feel stressed