Please help! Biology

[Metswin677]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I know it has probably been answered somewhere in this forum, however I cant find it. Im fearing the biology portion of the exam. I want to know, if anyone knows/or has experience with what to study for the bio portion of the exam. I know microbiology is definetely on the exam. What else?

What exactly should I review? Biology is such a broad subject and anything can be asked...but lets be serious, its going to be unrealistic to know everything by the time the exam rolls around in august. Besides Microbiology, what are guaranteed topics we may see? Genetics, plants??? etc??

Thanks in advance

 

[luuluu4chem]

I'm taking the PCAT from on this weekend, but from what my friends have told me it's pretty much 60% general, 20% micro, 20% A&P. I heard most people over look the plant section. A good review book for general bio i thought was "Biology made simple" by Rita Mary King

 

[Metswin677]

does anyone know if the Cliffs AP Biology book is any good?

 

[edenstarlite]

I know it has probably been answered somewhere in this forum, however I cant find it. Im fearing the biology portion of the exam. I want to know, if anyone knows/or has experience with what to study for the bio portion of the exam. I know microbiology is definetely on the exam. What else?

What exactly should I review? Biology is such a broad subject and anything can be asked...but lets be serious, its going to be unrealistic to know everything by the time the exam rolls around in august. Besides Microbiology, what are guaranteed topics we may see? Genetics, plants??? etc??

Thanks in advance

You have a little over 2 months to study so I say you have a great chance of getting in as much info as possible before your PCAT exam in Aug. This is what you should expect to be studying:

Genetics (hardy-weinberg equilibrium, evolution theories, pedigree charts, know how to do test-cross basically Mendelian concepts, Symbiosis)--this is sort of combined with the general biology section: maybe like 2 or 3 questions on it

Microbiology ~20% (virus: its structure & components, bacteria: structure & components & its reproduction processes, differentiate between prokaryotes & eukaryotes, fungi, differentiate between types of bacteria (cocci, spirilla, etc.), some idea of common diseases associated with deficiency in nutrients like for ex: Iron deficiency causes anemia, etc.)

Gen. Biology ~60% (cellular respiration: Glycolysis, Kreb Cycle, , genes: DNA replication, transciption, translation, RNA & its function, mitosis, meiosis, diploid, haploid, different types of mutations, action potential, enzymes, general knowledge of taxonomy (there will probably be only 1 question on that), major structure of plants & its functions, cell biology: major structure & functions, types of diffusion, general knowledge of vertebrae embrylogy, photosynthesis

Human A&P ~20% (Nervous system: neurotransmitters, Na+/K+ pump & its function dealing with action potentials , endocrine system: where specific hormones produced, functions, major components of Digestive system, major components of excretory system and what it does, where & how the heart pumps oxygenated/deoxygenated blood to/away from the body, blood types (also references to genetics), different types of muscles and where it can be found, also anatomy & physiology of eyes & ear

I hope this is not too overwhelming for you but my suggestion is to not dwell on the subjects too much. The PCAT test your general knowledge of these subjects and does not go into too much detail. The more info that you can come across the better the chance of recognizing that you did go over something like it when taking the PCAT. Even if you have to guess, you will give the best educated guess.

I definately recommend Kaplan PCAT book for only Biology, I scored really high in that section and it's quite rather inexpensive. Also do lots of practice question.

GoodLuck to you!

 

[Trankuil]

There was a lot more general Bio on the pcat than i was ready for, i still think its dumb how many plant bio questions i had but thats life, and fortunately i did well enough haha.Be ready for plant bio.

 

[Metswin677]

You have a little over 2 months to study so I say you have a great chance of getting in as much info as possible before your PCAT exam in Aug. This is what you should expect to be studying:

Genetics (hardy-weinberg equilibrium, evolution theories, pedigree charts, know how to do test-cross basically Mendelian concepts, Symbiosis)--this is sort of combined with the general biology section: maybe like 2 or 3 questions on it

Microbiology ~20% (virus: its structure & components, bacteria: structure & components & its reproduction processes, differentiate between prokaryotes & eukaryotes, fungi, differentiate between types of bacteria (cocci, spirilla, etc.), some idea of common diseases associated with deficiency in nutrients like for ex: Iron deficiency causes anemia, etc.)

Gen. Biology ~60% (cellular respiration: Glycolysis, Kreb Cycle, , genes: DNA replication, transciption, translation, RNA & its function, mitosis, meiosis, diploid, haploid, different types of mutations, action potential, enzymes, general knowledge of taxonomy (there will probably be only 1 question on that), major structure of plants & its functions, cell biology: major structure & functions, types of diffusion, general knowledge of vertebrae embrylogy, photosynthesis

Human A&P ~20% (Nervous system: neurotransmitters, Na+/K+ pump & its function dealing with action potentials , endocrine system: where specific hormones produced, functions, major components of Digestive system, major components of excretory system and what it does, where & how the heart pumps oxygenated/deoxygenated blood to/away from the body, blood types (also references to genetics), different types of muscles and where it can be found, also anatomy & physiology of eyes & ear

I hope this is not too overwhelming for you but my suggestion is to not dwell on the subjects too much. The PCAT test your general knowledge of these subjects and does not go into too much detail. The more info that you can come across the better the chance of recognizing that you did go over something like it when taking the PCAT. Even if you have to guess, you will give the best educated guess.

I definately recommend Kaplan PCAT book for only Biology, I scored really high in that section and it's quite rather inexpensive. Also do lots of practice question.

GoodLuck to you!

Thank You for the very detailed post. Very much appreciated. Should get banging away soon huh? lol

 

[SarahLorraine]

I have used the PCAT Kaplan book for Biology section too and I feel very prepared. I recommend it. And I've also been using Dr. Collins for the other subjects and the practice tests in the Dr. Collins set, plus the 3 Pearson practice exams.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

It's kind of funny...

On this forum, it seems like most people dread the bio or verbal sections. That's where I stand a chance. The chem and math sections are my nemesis in life with the chem only being bad because it's mathy.

 

[NaOH]

It's kind of funny...

On this forum, it seems like most people dread the bio or verbal sections. That's where I stand a chance. The chem and math sections are my nemesis in life with the chem only being bad because it's mathy.

+1

I doubt I'll even study for the verbal section.

 

[pinksparkly]

It's kind of funny...

On this forum, it seems like most people dread the bio or verbal sections. That's where I stand a chance. The chem and math sections are my nemesis in life with the chem only being bad because it's mathy.

Yep.

Some of the obscure disease questions in bio throw me, too. Last time I checked, med school wasn't a prereq for pharmacy school.

 

[FarmGurl]

I would also like to suggest that you review chapters in your general biology book about ecology/classification and evolution. (like fungi, plantae, animalia, ect) There will be a few questions from those topics as well.

Know all the systems in the body in detail! they will be tested too. Kaplan's biology is good, but you should go back to your textbooks and review the topics in depth from there.

Good luck!🙂 You can do it!

 

[diastole]

It's kind of funny...

On this forum, it seems like most people dread the bio or verbal sections. That's where I stand a chance. The chem and math sections are my nemesis in life with the chem only being bad because it's mathy.

But the math in the chem section is easy. You do have to know how to set up the problem but once you do, it is really easy to calculate. I studied for that chapter by going through the chapters in my general chem book without a pencil. I'd just mentally set up problems because I didn't want to waste time with calculations that were far harder than what you would ever see on the PCAT.