Modifying SN2ED bio to best prepare for MCAT

[MedicineMan94]

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Hey guys,

From what I've read there seems to be somewhat of a quarrel with what to do in regards to studying the bio sections for SN2ED's schedule. What do you guys think of using TPR Bio for content review (as opposed to EK) and supplementing the practice problems with the TPRH science workbook? Also due to the fact that EK 1001 may not be an accurate reflection of the critical thinking emphasis in todays MCAT how would TPRH science workbook fair in replacing the 1001 portions of SN2ED's schedule?

Thanks for the help

 

[petyr_baelish]

I am doing exactly that. Make sure to use the TBR Bio passages as well.

 

[MedicineMan94]

The only problem I have with TPRH SW is that the passages aren't labeled by topic. It seems like it'll take just as long to find related questions as it will to answer them. What are the thoughts on using EK and supplementing it with BR?

 

[petyr_baelish]

Right, they aren't labeled by topic. So I find relevent passages and once I complete them, I put a tick in pencil mark so that later in my review I will know which ones are complete.

 

[Karasu]

Right, they aren't labeled by topic. So I find relevent passages and once I complete them, I put a tick in pencil mark so that later in my review I will know which ones are complete.

I have the 2010 HW Syllabus, it probably hasn't changed. The passages and discretes are listed below pertaining to the topics they cover.

Biochemistry (Chap 1-2) Passages 1-6, Discretes 1-8.

Biological Macromolecules Molecular Biology (Chap 3) Passages 7-12, Discretes 9-20

Microbiology (Chap 4) Passages 13-22, Discretes 21-30

Cell Biology (Chap 5) Passages 23-29, Discretes 31-39

Genetics (Chaps 6) Passages 30-36, Discretes 40-55

The Nervous System (Chap 7) Passages 37-46, Discretes 56-64

The Endocrine, Circulatory, Lymphatic, and Immune Systems (Chap 7-8) Passages 47-64, Discretes 65-88

The excretory and Digestive Systems (Chap 9) Passages 65-69, Discretes 89-102

The muscular, Skeletal, and Respiratory Systems (Chap 10-11) Passages 70-80, Discretes 103-131

The Reproductive System and Development (Chap 12) Passages 81-87 + remaining ICC passages, Discretes 132-146

 

[chemhead123]

That is really useful. Thanks so much!

 

[inasensegone]

me have the 2010 HW Syllabus, it probably hasn't changed. The passages and discretes are listed below pertaining to the topics they cover.

Biochemistry (Chap 1-2) Passages 1-6, Discretes 1-8.

Biological Macromolecules Molecular Biology (Chap 3) Passages 7-12, Discretes 9-20

Microbiology (Chap 4) Passages 13-22, Discretes 21-30

Cell Biology (Chap 5) Passages 23-29, Discretes 31-39

Genetics (Chaps 6) Passages 30-36, Discretes 40-55

The Nervous System (Chap 7) Passages 37-46, Discretes 56-64

The Endocrine, Circulatory, Lymphatic, and Immune Systems (Chap 7-8) Passages 47-64, Discretes 65-88

The excretory and Digestive Systems (Chap 9) Passages 65-69, Discretes 89-102

The muscular, Skeletal, and Respiratory Systems (Chap 10-11) Passages 70-80, Discretes 103-131

The Reproductive System and Development (Chap 12) Passages 81-87 + remaining ICC passages, Discretes 132-146

That is really useful. Thanks so much!

In that same vein, I found this on some thread on here - I bookmarked it. q = questions, p = passages.

Physics
Kinematics: q 1-62, p 1-2
Mechanics I: q 63-113, p 3
Mechanics II: q 114-140, p 4
Mechanics III: q 141-200, p 5-13
Fluids and elasticity of solis: q 201-247, p 14-23
Electrostatics: q 248-269, p 24-25
Electricity and magnetism: q 270-294, p 26-38
Oscillations and waves: q 295-327, p 39-51
Sound, light, and optics: q 328-425, p 52-62

Gen Chem
Stoichiometry and atomic structure: q 1-17, p 1-17
Periodic trends and bonding: q 18-26, p 18-32
Phases and gases: q 33-45, p 35-39, 41-43, & 46
Solutions, colligative properties, and kinetics: q 27-32, 46-55, p 33-34, 40, 44-45, 47-52
Equilibrium, acids and bases I: q 56-66, p 51-61
Acids and bases II: q 67-71, p 62-70
Thermodynamics: q 72-81, p 71-78
Redox/electrochemistry: q 82-92, p 79-93

O Chem
Structure, bonding, and stability: q 1-37, p 1-4
Substitution and elimination reactions: q 38-64, p 5-10
Electrophilic addition, reactions and aromaticity: q 65-88, p 11-18
Nucleophilic addition and carboxylic acid derivatives: q 89-110, p 19-30
Separation techniques and spectroscopy: q 111-129, 31-35
Biologically important organic chemistry: q 130-138, p 36-45

Biology
Biochemistry: q 1-8, p 1-6
Biological macromolecules, molecular biology: q 9-20, p 7-12
Microbiology: q 21-30, p 13-22
Cell biology: q 31-39, p 23-29
Genetics: q 40-55, p 30-36
The nervous system: q 56-64, p 37-46
The endocrine, circulatory, lymphatic, and immune systems: q 65-88, p 47-64
The excretory and digestive systems: q 89-102, p 65-69
The muscular, skeletal, and respiratory systems: q 103-131, p 70-80
The reproductive systems and development: q 132-146, p 81-87
credit: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=966720]

Edit: Am I having a stroke or does my post say "me" instead of "IIIII" ???

Double edit: Damnit... must be an April Fool's joke.

 

[chemhead123]

haha...I was really confused. Thanks for posting this!

 

[inasensegone]

LOL an admin actually changed my 2nd edit to say "an awesome thing". That's awesome.

 

[MedicineMan94]

Wow. This is great. Thank you so much.

 

[Karasu]

That is really useful. Thanks so much!

No problem. I would have posted it all, but it's a lot a typing and you guys were chatting about Biology specifically.

 

[swivelj]

My SN2Ed approach for bio has been read content from TBR without taking notes and then answer first third. Then on the review day read corresponding chapter in EK bio (shorter more concise) , take EK in class exam, followed by 2nd third out of TBR. I also have the TPRH SW and will do those passages along with the last 3rd of TBR in between AAMC FL's.

The thing I have noticed is that I am almost incapabale of taking concise notes for bio, However, I actually enjoy reading the material vs. physical science content. So without taking notes I can read through TBR even though it is dense, and ultimately if I forget/can't comprehend something I will more than likely consult the text rather than my notes anyways.

 

[MedicineMan94]

My SN2Ed approach for bio has been read content from TBR without taking notes and then answer first third. Then on the reveiw day read corresponding chapter in EK bio (shorter more concise) , take EK in class exam, followed by 2nd third out of TBR. me also have the TPRH SW and will do those passages along with the last 3rd of TBR in between AAMC FL's.

The thing me have noticed is that me are almost incapabale of taking concise notes for bio, However, me actually enjoy reading the material vs. physical sceince content. So without taking notes me can read through TBR even though it is dense, and ultimately if me forget/can't comprehend something me will more than likely consult the text rather than my notes anyways.

From what I understand BR bio is content dense to the point of obsurdity. Since the MCAT largely favors a critical analysis of passages it seems like time would be better spent doing practice passages. It's nice to have that strong knowledge base but it feels like the amount of time put into BR bio passages far outweights it's tangible benefit.

 

[swivelj]

I have to disagree with the school of thought that TBR is so dense it has little value. The passages from TBR have a nice mix of recall/detail and critical thinking/application/ integration of physical sciences from my experience so far. I feel that in order to navigate those practice passages reading their content is vital. Personally, if I were to just read EK for content (can't speak to TPR content) and then attempt TBR I would feel lost, and the passages would have little value in that case. I hope by doing SW passages along with my last 3rd of TBR will give me that "extra" exposure to passages.

In the end all of us come from very different academic backgrounds, and know what is ultimately better for our prep. Just from my anectdotal experience the hyperbole of TBR is just that.

 

[MedicineMan94]

Have you looked into supplementing EK with TBR content? There are threads that match weaker EK passages with TBR to settle for a nice in between.

 

[swivelj]

I haven't explored those threads....The cool thing about reading EK chapters after TBR is I think it helps me to develop a larger body of knowledge and then focus that down to what is important for the MCAT..... I don't want to come off as trying to educate/lecture you......I promise I am not trying to convince you to use TBR or even adopt my strategy, I just thought I would share and maybe give you another perspective.

 

[MedicineMan94]

That is a nice alternative perspective. I suppose if it works then more power to you.

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned that I always want to remind people, regardless of what arrangement you decide on for your books: AAMC SELF-ASSESSMENT! Remember to build these into your practice.

You might want to consider doing the entire bio self-assessment over the course of a weekend during the first 10% of your prep time, and then re-doing the whole thing again during the last 10%

 

[chemhead123]

@NextStep - I was thinking of getting through most of my practice material (Kaplan and EK) through mid May and then taking the AAMC Self-Assessment over a span of a day or two to find out how I want to spend my last month or two of studying. What do you think?

 

[swivelj]

The one thing that hasn't been mentioned that I always want to remind people, regardless of what arrangement you decide on for your books: AAMC SELF-ASSESSMENT! Remember to build these into your practice.

You might want to consider doing the entire bio self-assessment over the course of a weekend during the first 10% of your prep time, and then re-doing the whole thing again during the last 10%

I've never really understood the logic behind taking AAMC 3 or doing SA's before you have completed content review. Care to give me your take? What is the value in using your most precious prep material (AAMC) to tell you what you already know... That being you have content gaps, because you haven't finished content review... I get that it acclimates you to the the style and type of questions, but I would think that your prep company's questions have to be close enough? Thanks by the way for being so active on these boards!

 

[inasensegone]

I've never really understood the logic behind taking AAMC 3 or doing SA's before you have completed content review. Care to give me your take? What is the value in using your most precious prep material (AAMC) to tell you what you already know... That being you have content gaps, because you haven't finished content review... I get that it acclimates you to the the style and type of questions, but I would think that your prep company's questions have to be close enough? Thanks by the way for being so active on these boards!

^ This. I strongly agree with this. I feel like the most benefit from the SA's can be obtained by doing them after content review.

Even the AAMC advises that you do them before content review... but I feel like another problem with this, besides what swivelj mentioned, is that the SA's aren't some super extensive set of questions. Doing well in one particular section may discourage you from studying that section a lot during content review. This can really end up coming back to bite you in the butt.

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

You might want to consider doing the entire bio self-assessment over the course of a weekend during the first 10% of your prep time, and then re-doing the whole thing again during the last 10%

This advice really applies if you're going to be studying for 3+ months.

You can re-take almost any test/assessment/etc. with a 3.5 month gap between administrations and the practice effect will have faded. Meaning, the second re-assessment will once again be a fairly valid way to see how much has changed.

Usually I recommend people take AAMC #3 immediately before doing anything else. Before spending any money, before signing up for any classes, before making a study schedule. Just go take AAMC #3.

Then the prep process is going to take you 3-4 months. So the very last thing you can do is re-take AAMC #3 a few days before the test. You can see how much has changed.

@NextStep - I was thinking of getting through most of my practice material (Kaplan and EK) through mid May and then taking the AAMC Self-Assessment over a span of a day or two to find out how I want to spend my last month or two of studying. What do you think?

That's a good idea and by far the most common way to use them. I usually recommend my students do all the SAP's over the span of the two weeks leading up to the test.