Old bio textbooks for M1, first month - useful or not?

[mi1020]

I will be starting school this August and am in a bit of a quandary. For anyone who has already started, is it helpful to bring any of the pre-med biology textbooks along for the ride? (i.e. Molecular cell bio from Lodish, or Molecular bio of the cell from Alberts) Or, would they end up being on the whole fairly unapplicable and it's better to invest in something from the M1 recommended book list?

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[tchantel21]

I will be starting school this August and am in a bit of a quandary. For anyone who has already started, is it helpful to bring any of the pre-med biology textbooks along for the ride? (i.e. Molecular cell bio from Lodish, or Molecular bio of the cell from Alberts) Or, would they end up being on the whole fairly unapplicable and it's better to invest in something from the M1 recommended book list?

Second years at your school are probably your best resource since they can tell you which texts are followed very closely by profs. and are must haves.
The alberts is actually used in many schools for 1st yr. molecular bio. Some other texts I used in undergrad that actually turned out to be standard 1st yr. texts were Marks and Marks' biochem and Purve's Neuro.

As far as books not specifically recommmended at your school, I'd bring 'em...it can't hurt if you have room. I sometimes used them b/c although they sometimes have a more limited scope I found them really helpful for getting the "big picture" when studying for more challenging subjects (renal for example). This worked out great because I could sometimes get the same point the prof. is attemping to make with 5 pages of syllabus material in one paragraph written in laymen's terms.

That being said, 90% of what you read will probably be the whatever they forcefeed you in lecture as most subjects are not conceptually hard, and unlike undergrad you are likely to be rewarded more for regurgitating minutia than for mastering every angle of the material.

 

[OrbicularisOris]

I will be starting school this August and am in a bit of a quandary. For anyone who has already started, is it helpful to bring any of the pre-med biology textbooks along for the ride? (i.e. Molecular cell bio from Lodish, or Molecular bio of the cell from Alberts) Or, would they end up being on the whole fairly unapplicable and it's better to invest in something from the M1 recommended book list?

While I wouldn't recommend buying anything until you get to school and find out what 2nd years etc recommend, I would bring whatever you already have from relevant undergrad classes. UG classes you are likely to repeat include: molecular bio, cell bio, genetics, biochemistry, histology, biostats. For the classes I have taken before, I found my old textbooks really helpful. You have a lot less time to spend on each class in med school, and it is really nice to have a textbook you are familiar with to refer to.

Having said that...Before coming to med school, I sold my Alberts, which I had never used anyway in my undergrad MB class. Then I wound up buying another copy here, because it was a required book. Didn't wind up reading that one either.

 

[Law2Doc]

I will be starting school this August and am in a bit of a quandary. For anyone who has already started, is it helpful to bring any of the pre-med biology textbooks along for the ride? (i.e. Molecular cell bio from Lodish, or Molecular bio of the cell from Alberts) Or, would they end up being on the whole fairly unapplicable and it's better to invest in something from the M1 recommended book list?

These books are incredibly useful to put under a wobbly couch or perhaps prop a door or window open. But to actually help you in classes? I doubt it. Keep your biochem text if you had one, and ditch everything else. You will have more than enough materials to look at in med school.

 

[DrHuang]

You will have more than enough materials to look at in med school.

qft

 

[ForbiddenComma]

O-chem book was vaguely useful for its carbohydrate/protein/DNA chapters... which, by the way, we didn't even get to in O-Chem 2!... but beyond that, gotta agree with using your pre-med books as window props. Be sure and put them next to your MCAT books.

 

[Bubchik]

O-chem book was vaguely useful for its carbohydrate/protein/DNA chapters... which, by the way, we didn't even get to in O-Chem 2!... but beyond that, gotta agree with using your pre-med books as window props. Be sure and put them next to your MCAT books.

OP, bring Lodish (Mol and Cells) if u have it for sure. It is a good book to have. I sold it before 1st year, still survived but it would have been nice to have it around.
If you are moving far away and trying to cut down the stuff you are bringing then do not worry about books. There are plenty of them in the libraries or on-line in google books, plus each prof will give u a list of books he/she teaches from. In my school notes were enough and actually I did not have time to read books, except BRS.

 

[Don Pilch]

I will be starting school this August and am in a bit of a quandary. For anyone who has already started, is it helpful to bring any of the pre-med biology textbooks along for the ride? (i.e. Molecular cell bio from Lodish, or Molecular bio of the cell from Alberts) Or, would they end up being on the whole fairly unapplicable and it's better to invest in something from the M1 recommended book list?

Our molecular bio/bio chem/genetics course started off being a little over my head (I was not a science major), so I went back and read the first 300 pages or so of Campbells Biology because I'd forgotten a lot of basics. Then I could understand what was going on. Re Albert's MBOC, every day or two, figures from Albert's MBOC would show up because they were clear and concise; its a great reference to have and it will come in handy for more than one course during 1st year. Never used O-chem; used basic chem book a couple times for acid-base lookup.

Don, MS2