Is BioChem good prep for the DAT?

[LittleMissFloss]

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I am in BioChem now and will be taking the DAT again in June. If you have taken BioChem, do you think it is a helpful class to have before the DAT? I'm also going to be doing studying with my Kaplan materials and DAT destroyer.
Thanks!

 

[476515678234896]

You're going to hear different things about this but I'd say that it's not really helpful. You're in bchem now so when you start preparing for the DAT you'll find out if it's helpful or not.

I don't think knowing that the Nitrogen on the Asparagine residue in Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase acts by shifting electron density to make Oxaloacetate*. You've seen most (if not all) of the content on the DAT before.

My biochem class went into an amazing amount of detail in stuff that can be covered in 5 minutes of DAT review (glycolysis/gluconeogenisis and TCA/Citric cycle come to mind).

Sure on the DAT you need to know what gylcolysis is and ATP/NADPH production. But in biochem, it's expected that you know the stupid stuff like that and you're learning about every enzyme and every conformation.

check out the DAT forum and you'll get more opinions.

*This mechanism is completely fictional and should not be used on an exam unless otherwise confirmed

 

[dentalWorks]

I am in BioChem now and will be taking the DAT again in June. If you have taken BioChem, do you think it is a helpful class to have before the DAT? I'm also going to be doing studying with my Kaplan materials and DAT destroyer.
Thanks!

biochem will not help raise your score (thats for sure)... but it will help your DAT-review process go smoother.... because alot of the general chem calculations you did in biochem (i.e henderson hasselbalch, pHs, etc) you need to know them for GC, so this is kind of a review.... Plus the extra knowledge you'll gain about glycolysis is cool, most of it won't be tested on in the DAT, but when you review biochemistry for DAT and how basic it is, you'll fly right through it

 

[Odontos2015]

biochem will not help raise your score (thats for sure)... but it will help your DAT-review process go smoother.... because alot of the general chem calculations you did in biochem (i.e henderson hasselbalch, pHs, etc) you need to know them for GC, so this is kind of a review.... Plus the extra knowledge you'll gain about glycolysis is cool, most of it won't be tested on in the DAT, but when you review biochemistry for DAT and how basic it is, you'll fly right through it

Agreed. The information is relevant and taking the class made studying a little less stressful for me. However, all the pertinent information from the class can be found in review books and was covered in your chem/bio/orgo lectures.