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deleted621740
I am going to be a sophomore in the fall, and decided to take micro in conjunction w/ my required sciences. I am taking a lot of credits and wanted to know how challenging micro is compared to other bio courses?
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It really depends on your school. It would probably be most helpful to ask someone who has already taken the class or an academic/premed advisor who is familiar with the course.
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deleted621740
That's what I figured! Thanks!
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Personally, I fell in love with microbiology. Wound up adding it as a major and spending almost 2 years in micro research. It was tough, but I put in about ~20 hours before a test, along with going to class and taking great notes, and did great. It's such an awesome subject, it was painless to study!
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deleted621740
20 hours? Did that yield an A? And that sounds reasonable... About what I spent studying for A&P this spring
For the most part, Micro is rote memorization. Depending on your school, it'll either be a lot of memorization or a LOT of memorization, but it's not horrible, and relatively interesting. At worst, you won't have much to study for a few sections of bio when you take the MCAT.
If there's an associated lab, take it, as it should be fun.
If there's an associated lab, take it, as it should be fun.
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Yes, got an A! 20 hours for an exam. I basically went to class, took good notes, then the week of the exam, buckled down and went over those notes a bunch. Looked up anything that wasn't clear to me. Went smoothly, learned more than any other class in college and enjoyed it the whole time.
I'd also like to mention something important: microbiology and/or biochemistry are invaluable for the BS section of the MCAT. Or at least mine. I don't know what everyone else's experience is.
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deleted621740
I know micro and bio chem info volume are minimal on MCAT, I just want to take them anyway because many school prefer the courses anyway. Yea?
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Most med schools won't "prefer" you take any med school courses other than what they list as prereqs or recommended. Learning something the "wrong way" in college puts you further behind the curve from those who never had the course in the first place. Micro isn't a hard course and there's no reason to try and "get a leg up" on something most do well in anyhow. (youll learn most of what you need from the "Riiculously simple" book, and anything else testable will be med school prof specific.) learning micro would have been a waste for the MCAT I took years ago -- there was none on there (strong offerings in the prereqs were all you needed).
In general, don't spend much time taking courses you are going to retake anyway in med school. You don't have many opportunities to expose yourself to other courses in college and it's just a waste to take the same subject twice instead. When you ultimately become a doctor with very little micro used in your day to day work you are going to kick yourself for not having used those credits to take a business or Spanish course.
In general, don't spend much time taking courses you are going to retake anyway in med school. You don't have many opportunities to expose yourself to other courses in college and it's just a waste to take the same subject twice instead. When you ultimately become a doctor with very little micro used in your day to day work you are going to kick yourself for not having used those credits to take a business or Spanish course.
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Medical schools prefer you to take the following courses as most of them are recommended or required.
Biochem>Genetics>Molecular Bio>Microbiology
These courses are helpful for the MCAT and are very helpful to have in the admissions process because they are almost universally recommended (especially Biochem, Genetics, and Molecular).
Biochem>Genetics>Molecular Bio>Microbiology
These courses are helpful for the MCAT and are very helpful to have in the admissions process because they are almost universally recommended (especially Biochem, Genetics, and Molecular).
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Hi everyone,
As a followup question to the OP's, which is generally more important for the MCAT BS section, cell biology or molecular biology? People generally say cell biology, but whenever I look at a practice MCAT test or the MCAT question of the day, I generally see many more questions about molecular biology topics (lac operator, e.coli, RNA polymerase and stuff like that) than cell biology topics. Which one would you guys recommend?
Thanks
As a followup question to the OP's, which is generally more important for the MCAT BS section, cell biology or molecular biology? People generally say cell biology, but whenever I look at a practice MCAT test or the MCAT question of the day, I generally see many more questions about molecular biology topics (lac operator, e.coli, RNA polymerase and stuff like that) than cell biology topics. Which one would you guys recommend?
Thanks
Wouldn't say they're minimal at all, and remember, every few questions wrong is a point off your score...
Akin to asking "which topic is more important for the PS section, gen chem or physics?" People will tell you different things, but the point is you really better know both of them well. You can skimp on reproduction and development a bit, for example, but you will be expected to know microbio/biochem sections entirely.
