Microbiology

[chemguy79]

I'm studying for the PCAT and while I'm confident with the Chemistry, Math, Verbal and Reading Comprehension sections, I'm concerned about the Biology section, specifically the Microbiology questions. I was wondering if anyone on the board knows of a good text to study for the Microbiology questions, specifically.

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[volleychica]

I took the PCAT in October 2006 and scored a 92. My highest was on the biology section (95). I studied a lot for anatomy and physiology, etc, but as far as micro was concerned, this is what I did... I went to the library two days before I took the PCAT and found the skinniest book on microbiology that they had. I read the first few chapters and reviewed the types of bacteria (what they look like) and differences between them the night before I took it, and I was surprised the next day of how basic the questions were on the test. I think i got all of the micro questions right because they were pretty easy. I had taken the online practice test on the Harcourt website and found that the micro questions were a lot more difficult compared to the actual test. My advice: don't stress over the micro too much, but review the basics from an introductory book. I hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[fmbzp5]

I wouldn't stress on it. One of the questions on the test I took would be impossible to know if you just look over micro stuff just a little ahead of time while the rest were very basic concepts probably covered in other classes.


If you know nothing I guess knowing the differences between aerobic and anaerobic, gram positive/ gram negative and the shapes (cocci, bacilli, vibrio, spiral, and coccobacilli) would be helpful at least.

 

[Bonbon2007]

I'm studying for the PCAT and while I'm confident with the Chemistry, Math, Verbal and Reading Comprehension sections, I'm concerned about the Biology section, specifically the Microbiology questions. I was wondering if anyone on the board knows of a good text to study for the Microbiology questions, specifically.

One absolutely free tip: If you want to learn the hardest possible microbio questions you will probably get on the PCAT is to go to the GRE subject test for Biology and look over their micro bio questions....these are hard (IMHO).