MCAT Bio: How Much To Memorize?

[AequitasEquitas]

Hey all,

I know this has been asked before but the previous answers still left me wondering...(sorry!) If you guys can weigh in, it'd help out a lot...

So. I started EK Bio today and right off the bat starting with Lecture 1, there is a ton of detail on here and I'm not sure which to memorize and which I need to gloss over? For ex. the book talks about Lipids and the six major groups of lipids, should I memorize the information it gave about the major groups of lipids? Are details about unsaturated fatty acids vs. saturated fatty acids all that important? Need some help here...thanks!

-AE

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Nandrolone]

Hey all,

I know this has been asked before but the previous answers still left me wondering...(sorry!) If you guys can weigh in, it'd help out a lot...

So. I started EK Bio today and right off the bat starting with Lecture 1, there is a ton of detail on here and I'm not sure which to memorize and which I need to gloss over? For ex. the book talks about Lipids and the six major groups of lipids, should I memorize the information it gave about the major groups of lipids? Are details about unsaturated fatty acids vs. saturated fatty acids all that important? Need some help here...thanks!

-AE

during my prep...i read that EK book about 6 times...by the sixth time, i pretty much had 90%+ of everything in the book memorized.

 

[SixStringPsych]

Personally I think that the EK bio book does a good job of giving you all the details needed in a very concise way. I think if you memorize that book and know how to work through MCAT Bio questions, you are gold.

Also, in my opinion, the EK1001 book for Bio gives you amazing practice after reading the book once, it helps to solidify concepts but also gives you some good passage practice as well.

 

[AequitasEquitas]

Thanks guys! Guess I know the work I have ahead of me, appreciate the help!

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Hey all,

I know this has been asked before but the previous answers still left me wondering...(sorry!) If you guys can weigh in, it'd help out a lot...

So. I started EK Bio today and right off the bat starting with Lecture 1, there is a ton of detail on here and I'm not sure which to memorize and which I need to gloss over? For ex. the book talks about Lipids and the six major groups of lipids, should I memorize the information it gave about the major groups of lipids? Are details about unsaturated fatty acids vs. saturated fatty acids all that important? Need some help here...thanks!

-AE

There is a 99.99% chance you will never see that on a discrete. If you do see it, the information you need will be given in the passage. Outside of OChem, the biology you need to memorize is very little and is mostly regarding physiology (hormones, important organ systems, etc).

These books are meant to familiarize you with every little detail so passages don't catch you off guard. You aren't meant to memorize everything in them.

 

[bored]

Memorize as much as you can. You don't wanna go to the exam and not be able to answer a question because you didn't memorize that specific part.

 

[Lunasly]

Too many mixed opinions!

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Too many mixed opinions!

iono. I took all the official practice tests and the real one last week, so I'm just speaking from what I've experienced.

It's easy to say "be safe and memorize everything." It's another thing to actually memorize every single little detail in bio, physics, g chem and o chem in under 3 months while making sure you have enough time left over to actually learn how to deal with passage style questioning (the most important part of preparing for the MCAT!).

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Here, let me put it another way. On the MCAT website it says:

"The Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) is a standardized, multiple-choice examination designed to assess the examinee's problem solving, critical thinking, writing skills, and knowledge of science concepts and principles prerequisite to the study of medicine. Scores are reported in Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences."

It also says:

"You should know those equations and constants commonly used in introductory courses as well as those listed specifically in the content outline. Other necessary constants and conversion factors are provided with the test questions. In addition, a periodic table of the elements, including atomic numbers and atomic weights, is provided in the exam."

You know how throughout your tests for undergrad you're always going "why would we need to memorize THAT. That's such a specific equation for a specific case. In real life I'd just look it up!" Well the MCAT IS that test where you don't need to memorize every little detail that no one in the real world memorizes.

Velocity = Wavelength * Frequency.

Is that equation important/common enough in its respective field where it is expected that anyone with any understanding of physics has it memorized by heart? Yup.

How about that? Do you really think they would expect you to do deal with that kind of equation (equation for deviations from the ideal gas law) for a 1 minute question, or do you think they just expect you to know the general concept behind what the equation means?

Whenever you want to know if you need to memorize something or not (like structures of sphingolipids), ask if that information is a "prerequisite to the study of medicine."

 

[Temperature101]

I think you should memorize about 70% of EK biology.

 

[angldrps]

just use/memorize EK Bio book. it is the shortest bio content review book you will find and gives you everything you need to know w/o unnecessary details.

 

[angldrps]

Hey all,

I know this has been asked before but the previous answers still left me wondering...(sorry!) If you guys can weigh in, it'd help out a lot...

So. I started EK Bio today and right off the bat starting with Lecture 1, there is a ton of detail on here and I'm not sure which to memorize and which I need to gloss over? For ex. the book talks about Lipids and the six major groups of lipids, should I memorize the information it gave about the major groups of lipids? Are details about unsaturated fatty acids vs. saturated fatty acids all that important? Need some help here...thanks!

-AE

I don't know what you are talking about. The stuff you mentioned is not AT ALL "a ton of detail". If you have taken an intro bio class, this stuff shouldn't be new anyways. Even if you forgot most of it, it really isn't that hard to memorize the difference between staturated vs. unsaturated fatty acids. Good thing, you aren't using bio books from TBR/Kaplan as you would have had a panic attack looking at how much more details are in those books.

 

[Wakadaka]

my intro bio classes were awful and i had to teach myselft most of the review information for the mcat. read once through the kaplan book, then reskimmed the stuff i didn't know.

i honestly don't have much of it memorized and i am losing some pts on discrete questions because of that, BUT i am still getting 10s or so on the BS section. the passages don't require much outside knowledge and i own the orgo questions.

basically if its going to take you forever to learn all of the bio info, then i would just recommend drilling questions and passages instead of reading from a book.

(taking the test on saturday so no expert)

 

[Ochempwnsme]

iono. I took all the official practice tests and the real one last week, so I'm just speaking from what I've experienced.

It's easy to say "be safe and memorize everything." It's another thing to actually memorize every single little detail in bio, physics, g chem and o chem in under 3 months while making sure you have enough time left over to actually learn how to deal with passage style questioning (the most important part of preparing for the MCAT!).

What if you're strong in reading comp and critical thinking, good at answering passage-style questions ,and the type of passage-based questions you miss in bio on AAMC exams are basically free-standing ones that have nothing to do with the passage, along with the portion of the 13 free-standing questions that are testing biology? How would you spend the two weeks before your MCAT? I keep hearing that the test doesn't test much content and that it's more critical thinking and using basic knowledge to apply to novel situations, but how do I prioritize my time? I get hard bio questions correct that require making inferences and I consistently miss easy ones that ask you things like, "what area of the heart does your blood enter first if it's coming from the lung?" It's impossible to answer that question without knowing the path that blood takes through the heart, even if it's in a passage-based question. The only way I could answer it without content knowledge would be if the passage told me it, but if the passage told me it, I'd get it right. So frustrated.

The AAMC content outlin for biology topics is massive and I'm just wondering how into detail I need to go. Should I just spend two weeks making sure that I can say a sentence or two about each bullet point on the outline? Obviously hormones should be memorized, but I don't need to worry about all of the little nerves in the heart, for example, right? Just the vagus nerve? Any other detail should be given to me in a passage, right?

 

[LuciusVorenus]

What if you're strong in reading comp and critical thinking, good at answering passage-style questions ,and the type of passage-based questions you miss in bio on AAMC exams are basically free-standing ones that have nothing to do with the passage, along with the portion of the 13 free-standing questions that are testing biology? How would you spend the two weeks before your MCAT? I keep hearing that the test doesn't test much content and that it's more critical thinking and using basic knowledge to apply to novel situations, but how do I prioritize my time? I get hard bio questions correct that require making inferences and I consistently miss easy ones that ask you things like, "what area of the heart does your blood enter first if it's coming from the lung?" It's impossible to answer that question without knowing the path that blood takes through the heart, even if it's in a passage-based question. The only way I could answer it without content knowledge would be if the passage told me it, but if the passage told me it, I'd get it right. So frustrated.

The AAMC content outlin for biology topics is massive and I'm just wondering how into detail I need to go. Should I just spend two weeks making sure that I can say a sentence or two about each bullet point on the outline? Obviously hormones should be memorized, but I don't need to worry about all of the little nerves in the heart, for example, right? Just the vagus nerve? Any other detail should be given to me in a passage, right?

👍 Sounds like you already know! Things like individual nerves will never be asked, but nerves like the vagus nerve will be. The reason is because that one nerve allows them to tie the cardiovascular, digestive, and parasympathetic nervous system all together in just one question.

Similarly, all the various kinds of hormones and their organs of origin will not be asked, nor will all the various different functions of all the tiny divisions of the brain. However, you should know that epinephrine is used by the sympathetic nervous system, while muscles and the parasympathetic nervous system use acetylcholine. Similarly, you should know the occipital lobe is for vision.

Study as if you're studying for a physiology exam, not an anatomy exam. It's actually mostly just the physiology that has anything to memorize in. If you've taken the prerequisite bio the cell bio on the mcat (at least the parts you need to memorize) is REALLY simple stuff.

 

[Ochempwnsme]

👍 Sounds like you already know! Things like individual nerves will never be asked, but nerves like the vagus nerve will be. The reason is because that one nerve allows them to tie the cardiovascular, digestive, and parasympathetic nervous system all together in just one question.

Similarly, all the various kinds of hormones and their organs of origin will not be asked, nor will all the various different functions of all the tiny divisions of the brain. However, you should know that epinephrine is used by the sympathetic nervous system, while muscles and the parasympathetic nervous system use acetylcholine. Similarly, you should know the occipital lobe is for vision.

Study as if you're studying for a physiology exam, not an anatomy exam. It's actually mostly just the physiology that has anything to memorize in. If you've taken the prerequisite bio the cell bio on the mcat (at least the parts you need to memorize) is REALLY simple stuff.

Thanks so much for your great response, that's what I've been doing for the past half an hour! I'm working through EK bio and I've got a printout AAMC content outline for biological sciences next to me, and I'm putting checkmarks next to concepts I know cold, and I'm not putting a check next to it unless I can explain its biological relevance in a sentence or two. This method of studying biology two weeks before the MCAT obviously seems unorthodox, and I was a bit wary of trying this, just because it seems like everyone else I know is busy doing old AAMCs and working furiously through additional practice problems. I'm working practice problems for gchem and physics (and occasionally ochem) because I only have targeted weak areas in those subjects I think, whereas with bio my physiology knowledge is completely weak, and I definitely have a few weaknesses in the non-physio topics (genetics, cell structure, bacteria/viruses as well). So for bio at least, it seemed like a much better use of my time to spend my bio time over the next two weeks just going through the outline to make sure I can say SOMETHING about each topic and tie it into biology as a whole. I'll do problems once I finish doing this early next week, but I've just hated working bio problems, especially in physio, because I'm getting most wrong. I gotta get the content up to par, and basically have to learn to crawl and walk before I can run in biology. I'll take an AAMC in a week and see if my bio score has improved a couple of points. Thanks so much, and if you have any any other tips you'd like to add for the general strategy I'm pursuing, they'd obviously be much appreciated,

Could I ask you a general physics q as well? Gchem and ochem are my strongest subjects if AAMCs are any indication, and bio and physics are my weakest. Continuing with your theme about how I should be able to say a sentence or two about each bullet point on the content outline and tie it into the relevant subtopic as a whole, how would you approach physics with two weeks left? I saw your post about how introductory formulas are far more important to know and work with than the more complex ones. For physics, do you think the formulas actually listed on the 5 page AAMC content outline for physics are pretty much the ones to worry about knowing? Basically, the equations dealing with three variables. Here are the formulas mentioned on the AAMC content outline for physics, just for reference:

F = ma, F = –Gm1m2/r^2, F = –mv^2/r, Momentum = mv, Impulse = Ft, KE= 1/2mv^2, PE=mgh, PE=kx^2/2, PE = –GmM/r, F = –kx, P = ρgh, F = kq1q2/r^2, I = ΔQ/Δt, I = V/R, ρ = RA/L, P = VI, P = I^2R, n1sinθ 1 = n2sinθ 2, (1/p) + (1/q) = (1/f).

19 formulas total. If I practice working these then do you think most of the rest of any formulas for physics I may need would be given in the passage? I feel like I've just wasted so much time trying to memorize all the various fluid equations, as an example. The only equations I feel like the physics content outline really leaves off is velocity = wavelength X frequency (although the outline does tell you to be able to relate them so there's a hint)., and perhaps 2 or 3 of the so-called big 5 kinematic equations.

 

[LuciusVorenus]

Thanks so much for your great response, that's what I've been doing for the past half an hour! I'm working through EK bio and I've got a printout AAMC content outline for biological sciences next to me, and I'm putting checkmarks next to concepts I know cold, and I'm not putting a check next to it unless I can explain its biological relevance in a sentence or two. This method of studying biology two weeks before the MCAT obviously seems unorthodox, and I was a bit wary of trying this, just because it seems like everyone else I know is busy doing old AAMCs and working furiously through additional practice problems. I'm working practice problems for gchem and physics (and occasionally ochem) because I only have targeted weak areas in those subjects I think, whereas with bio my physiology knowledge is completely weak, and I definitely have a few weaknesses in the non-physio topics (genetics, cell structure, bacteria/viruses as well). So for bio at least, it seemed like a much better use of my time to spend my bio time over the next two weeks just going through the outline to make sure I can say SOMETHING about each topic and tie it into biology as a whole. I'll do problems once I finish doing this early next week, but I've just hated working bio problems, especially in physio, because I'm getting most wrong. I gotta get the content up to par, and basically have to learn to crawl and walk before I can run in biology. I'll take an AAMC in a week and see if my bio score has improved a couple of points. Thanks so much, and if you have any any other tips you'd like to add for the general strategy I'm pursuing, they'd obviously be much appreciated,

Could I ask you a general physics q as well? Gchem and ochem are my strongest subjects if AAMCs are any indication, and bio and physics are my weakest. Continuing with your theme about how I should be able to say a sentence or two about each bullet point on the content outline and tie it into the relevant subtopic as a whole, how would you approach physics with two weeks left? I saw your post about how introductory formulas are far more important to know and work with than the more complex ones. For physics, do you think the formulas actually listed on the 5 page AAMC content outline for physics are pretty much the ones to worry about knowing? Basically, the equations dealing with three variables. Here are the formulas mentioned on the AAMC content outline for physics, just for reference:

F = ma, F = –Gm1m2/r^2, F = –mv^2/r, Momentum = mv, Impulse = Ft, KE= 1/2mv^2, PE=mgh, PE=kx^2/2, PE = –GmM/r, F = –kx, P = ρgh, F = kq1q2/r^2, I = ΔQ/Δt, I = V/R, ρ = RA/L, P = VI, P = I^2R, n1sinθ 1 = n2sinθ 2, (1/p) + (1/q) = (1/f).

19 formulas total. If I practice working these then do you think most of the rest of any formulas for physics I may need would be given in the passage? I feel like I've just wasted so much time trying to memorize all the various fluid equations, as an example. The only equations I feel like the physics content outline really leaves off is velocity = wavelength X frequency (although the outline does tell you to be able to relate them so there's a hint)., and perhaps 2 or 3 of the so-called big 5 kinematic equations.

I actually did the same thing. I did most of my studying/passages/practice tests LAST year, and I was averaging around a 35. I ran into some personal issues and delayed my test for a year. The only thing I had forgotten in the meantime was my timing. Once I did a few more passages and got used to doing the passages in 6-7 minutes again I realized the MCAT is kind of like learning to ride a bicycle. You don't really forget how to take it. I took the last practice test I had after a year of basically no practice and got a 36! So I'm saying you don't need to worry about not practicing enough in the 2 weeks leading up to the MCAT if you already have it nailed down. I just focused on content review as well.

Which book are you using for passages? If you're using BR then it makes sense that you're getting a lot of physio questions wrong. The BR passages are wayyy too specific when it comes to physio compared to the real MCAT.

I would definitely wiki/read up a bit (in general) on the following systems: cardiovascular/lymphatic (most important is the path blood takes from the right heart to the lungs, back to the left heart, then out to systemic circulation, but also know the structure of arteries/veins/capillaries, the function of the lymphatic system in general), respiratory (specifically the partial pressures/relative pressure differences in the different regions of the lung), digestive (specifically the pancreas, liver, and kidneys), sarcomeres, sympathetic/parasympathetic/somatic nervous system, endocrinology (specifically really important hormones and the immune system), and reproduction/development (specifically development of sperm, the different hormone surges in females, fertilization, and development up to the end of gastrulation).

The equations I would add to your physics equation list is AV=AV (the most, and maybe only, important fluid equation), the five kinematic equations (including how to get max height and time at max height), capacitance/resistance in series/parallel as well as how voltage and current behave in series/parallel, the circular motion equations (w=v/r, alpha=a/r, Fc=m[v^2/r]), Work=force*distance, power=work/time, the doppler effect equation, buoyant force = density of fluid*volume displaced*g, Fmag = qvB, Ecap=Volt/Dist, and F=qE.

A lot of the concept equations can actually be answered with those equations as well!

 

[Ochempwnsme]

I actually did the same thing. I did most of my studying/passages/practice tests LAST year, and I was averaging around a 35. I ran into some personal issues and delayed my test for a year. The only thing I had forgotten in the meantime was my timing. Once I did a few more passages and got used to doing the passages in 6-7 minutes again I realized the MCAT is kind of like learning to ride a bicycle. You don't really forget how to take it. I took the last practice test I had after a year of basically no practice and got a 36! So I'm saying you don't need to worry about not practicing enough in the 2 weeks leading up to the MCAT if you already have it nailed down. I just focused on content review as well.

Which book are you using for passages? If you're using BR then it makes sense that you're getting a lot of physio questions wrong. The BR passages are wayyy too specific when it comes to physio compared to the real MCAT.

I would definitely wiki/read up a bit (in general) on the following systems: cardiovascular/lymphatic (most important is the path blood takes from the right heart to the lungs, back to the left heart, then out to systemic circulation, but also know the structure of arteries/veins/capillaries, the fact that fats enter the lymphatic system first, etc), respiratory (specifically the partial pressures/relative pressures in the different regions of the lung such as the interpleural space), digestive (specifically the pancreas, liver, and kidneys), sarcomeres, sympathetic/parasympathetic/somatic nervous system, endocrinology (specifically really important hormones and the immune system), and reproduction/development (specifically development of sperm, the different hormone surges in females, fertilization, and development up to the end of gastrulation).

The equations I would add to your physics equation list is AV=AV (the most, and maybe only, important fluid equation), the five kinematic equations (including how to get max height and time at max height), capacitance/resistance in series/parallel as well as how voltage and current behave in series/parallel, the circular motion equations (w=v/r, alpha=a/r, Fc=m[v^2/r]), Work=force*distance, power=work/time, the doppler effect equation, buoyant force = density of fluid*volume displaced*g, Fmag = qvB, Ecap=Volt/Dist, and F=qE.

A lot of the concept equations can actually be answered with those equations as well!

Hey, thanks so much for the response. No, I haven't used TBR at all. I have the books but they scare the crap out of me, so they're in the corner of my bedroom collecting dust. I took a TPR course and I just use my lecture notes from class for gchem and ochem content review and that's working out well (getting most q's on the AAMCs right). I'm using EK 1001 for practice problems as well as the TPRH science workbook. For physics I'm using my lecture notes from the TPR course and I think I am getting better at it just from working problems in EK 1001 and discetes in the TPRH science workbook. For bio, I have great lecture notes, but I have no context to connect the concepts in them, especially for physio. I don't have the background knowledge that most premeds do because I'm a non-traditional older applicant with a business degree who went back to school to take the 8 prereqs. My gen bio I and II were taken at a school with a strong environmental focus so we spent scant time on physio and way too much time categorizing insects into their proper phyla and classes, etc, so I'm learning a LOT of this physio for the first time and it's freaking me out, haha. I started out just trying to learn from my TPR bio notes from class but that didn't work like it has for the other three sciences. Then I switched to reading the TPR bio book for a bit but it contains so many extraneous details that I end up remembering and confusing myself. Now I've been using EK Bio for the last day and a half and it seems to be working well. It seems to contain some extraneous details but the stuff is distilled down better and explained rather well how it fits together. Ek Bio seems to emphasize the big picture and understanding only important details and forgetting about the extraneous stuff better than either TPR or TBR do. I've been doing the lecture exams after each EK bio chapter and doing some accompanying problems from EK 1001 bio and it is starting to make more sense.

I can definitely read up on the bio concepts you mentioned in EK Bio if that sounds good. I'm almost done reviewing and solidifying the non-physio stuff I think. I just hope I can get the physio stuff to stick by 9/11.

I will definitely add those physics equations you mentioned to my equation list. You're definitely right about a lot of the physics questions not requiring calculations. Sure, they can be solved with formulas and math, but I'm really trying to answer them just by seeing the ratios in my head and how changing one thing will affect the other thing, like gravitational force for example. If it's a gravitational force problem, I tell myself what the answer should be (example: it should be smaller because the problem says I increased my radius, let's say, and radius is inversely proportional to the gravitational force because radius is in the denominator of the equation) before I look at the choices, then I eliminate answers and I only do math if I absolutely have to. I have heard that this is the best way to approach MCAT physics.

Fortunately my verbal is solid as can be and have been averaging 14-15 on the later AAMCs but I want to keep up my skills so I bought EK 101 and am doing my first EK verbal test tonight. I'm going to do one a day until the exam and hope that I can pull a 13+ on the real thing that will hopefully be accompanied by a couple of 10s in science. I have not taken an AAMC in a week and a half (last one I took was 11, and took 10, 9, 11 in that order), but my bio score increased each week, from 6-->7-->8. My PS score stayed the same at 8 on all three because I've been focusing on improving bio. Now I'm going to try to increase both two points by 9/11. I think I have a better shot at getting the PS score there but I'm really gonna try to get both in double digits.

I always score better on passages than on discretes (in all science subjects, although ochem is a small sample size on AAMCs) so I'm focusing on doing discretes in physics, gchm and ochem, just because I don't want my scores to be skewed by being able to get answers from the passage from reading comp skills. I want to see if I know the content or not, and the EK 1001 books and TPRH science workbook discretes seem to both be very good at that.

 

[maybemed2013]

I also have PR bio and was getting confused with all the details so I switched to Kaplan Bio.
Kaplan Bio is more detailed than EK but much less than PR and Kaplan Bio is written in plan English.
The only thing I worry about is that it is not testing my critical thinking like PR Bio.