question for bio majors

[thefifteenth]

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Do all of you (bio majors or anyone who has taken lots of bio classes) feel like the biological sciences section is easy? Did you even need to really study it? I haven't taken intro bio classes yet and I'm a humanities major so I feel like the bio section for me is semi-impossible. My test is in a week and I pretty much spent the last 3 months learning 60% of the bio material for the first time. I'm pretty much kicking myself for trying to learn so much in so little time. Do you all think I'm at a major disadvantage or do even bio majors have trouble? Someone please give me hope! or i guess you could be honest...

 

[Medmad]

Honestly my friend I won't recommend you taking the MCAT unless you have taken the following courses:

1 year of Intoductory Bio
1 year of University Physics
1 year of General Chem
1 Year of Organic Chem

And yes, people who have taken upper level bio courses are better able to understand whats written in the passage in the LEAST amount of time. Time is a big issue on the MCAT so those who have gone in depth with bio have a slight advantage in the BS section.

 

[capn jazz]

Why aren't you taking it after you complete bio?

 

[thefifteenth]

perhaps i should clarify. i've had a year of bio but it was more biochem then anything else so I didn't learn any anatomy or physiology...so i had to learn all the body systems on my own. I'm not doing horribly on the practice tests. i get anything from 10s to 13s (and rare random 14s). I was just curious if all this stuff was really easy for bio majors or is it difficult for everyone?

 

[JC2]

Hi,

My program is Biology. Yet I have yet to get anything above an 11 on three attempts in AAMC (and i average around 35-36 cumulative) (okay to be fair I have yet to get anything below an 11 as well)

so no. being a biology major doesn't mean anything. there is just so much material to cover that we gotta study hard just like the rest of 'em

 

[Snurping]

I'll second the above response. I am a Biology major as well and found that was the section I needed to work hardest on to get my score where I wanted it. I went from 9's at the beginning (in my MAJOR subject, and I'm good at chem, mind you) to 13s and 14s by the end of my practice tests (my real score isn't out yet). The anatomy and physiology is especially difficult because it's a lot of memorization.

If you're having trouble, I would STRONGLY recommend the ExamKrackers 1001 Questions in MCAT Biology. It's a book filled with subject-organized passages and questions, just like the MCAT. That's what I used to pump up my score.

So yes, even Bio majors have trouble with their own major. There's no way around it- the MCAT is hard.

 

[Box]

I guess my response will be counter to the last two. I'm a Bio and chem double major, and I personally find the Bio section to be a great relief after going through the other sections because I do find it easy. For me, I actually feel like it's the only section where I can derive most of the answers by analyzing the passage and applying certain acquired logic (don't know if this makes sense).

At no point did I have to review material for the section because the errors I was making were mainly interpretation related silly mistakes - so with practice I raised my score from 10s to 13s and I always finished the section with 20 minutes to spare. On practice tests I would simply submit with 20 mins left (mainly out of fatigue and wanting it to be over with), but on the real thing I was sure to go through all the questions again and use up all the time.

This is after taking 1 year general bio, 1 semester cell bio and 1 semester physiology.

I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble by saying this as my first post on the forums. As a side note, I definitely had to work to raise my scores in physical science and verbal. I still think verbal is a crap shoot for me though.

 

[StIGMA]

Do all of you (bio majors or anyone who has taken lots of bio classes) feel like the biological sciences section is easy? Did you even need to really study it? I haven't taken intro bio classes yet and I'm a humanities major so I feel like the bio section for me is semi-impossible. My test is in a week and I pretty much spent the last 3 months learning 60% of the bio material for the first time. I'm pretty much kicking myself for trying to learn so much in so little time. Do you all think I'm at a major disadvantage or do even bio majors have trouble? Someone please give me hope! or i guess you could be honest...

Even for bio majors it isnt necessarily easy. Most people I know who are bio majors at a major Ugrad make a least a 10 though. You should take at least intro bio. A few upper level classes will give you a greater fluency and ease while testing.

 

[RuSkaya]

I am a bio major, however I had to teach myself a good deal of information about body systems, for example. These topics were not covered in any of the biology classes I took, except maybe quickly in the second half of intro biology. The classes that helped me most were biochem and molecular genetics. But again, there was a lot of material I had to teach myself since it was not all covered by the time I completed the major.

And I also never reached a score above an 11 on bio on my practice exams

 

[thefifteenth]

some of the posts were nice and reassuring. thank you.

 

[TheBoondocks]

I guess my response will be counter to the last two. I'm a Bio and chem double major, and I personally find the Bio section to be a great relief after going through the other sections because I do find it easy. For me, I actually feel like it's the only section where I can derive most of the answers by analyzing the passage and applying certain acquired logic (don't know if this makes sense).

At no point did I have to review material for the section because the errors I was making were mainly interpretation related silly mistakes - so with practice I raised my score from 10s to 13s and I always finished the section with 20 minutes to spare. On practice tests I would simply submit with 20 mins left (mainly out of fatigue and wanting it to be over with), but on the real thing I was sure to go through all the questions again and use up all the time.

This is after taking 1 year general bio, 1 semester cell bio and 1 semester physiology.

I don't mean to burst anyone's bubble by saying this as my first post on the forums. As a side note, I definitely had to work to raise my scores in physical science and verbal. I still think verbal is a crap shoot for me though.

Yes, however' you took two upper level classes. Physiology is a great class. That's a big reason why you don't have to review. I'm in your situation. Someone who's only taken bio like the OP doesn't have this luxery.To OP, get Ek 1001 bio and that'll give you all you need to smoke the exam.

 

[XTasy]

uh.. not necessarily easy, but definitely my strongest section, i usually scored around 12 or 13 and once a 15 on my BS practice AAMC tests

 

[170559]

Do all of you (bio majors or anyone who has taken lots of bio classes) feel like the biological sciences section is easy? Did you even need to really study it? I haven't taken intro bio classes yet and I'm a humanities major so I feel like the bio section for me is semi-impossible. My test is in a week and I pretty much spent the last 3 months learning 60% of the bio material for the first time. I'm pretty much kicking myself for trying to learn so much in so little time. Do you all think I'm at a major disadvantage or do even bio majors have trouble? Someone please give me hope! or i guess you could be honest...

I'm pretty much your Bio twin. I did not take any Bio or Orgo classes and the first time i took the mcat(Jan), i scored a 8 on Bio (I was scoring 7/8's on the aamc's btw so no surprise). I would assume that if you are doing ok on practice exams, you are probably ok taking the exam. I am retaking and this time I pretty much memorized the kaplan book, so all the questions i miss are not because its new concepts but because i wasn't applying it right or reading it right.

 

[spyderracing32]

I'm sort of a bio major (neuroscience), and the neurobio classes have helped me to some degree but really nothing incredibly helpful. I still haven't taken gen bio since my junior year in HS with AP bio, so I did a lot of review (made ~1000 flash cards), but once through has been pretty much enough for me since a lot of my other classes are based on basic biological principals (as tested by the MCAT). That was my long answer. My short answer: yes it helps to be a bio major, just like a physics major will rock PS and a humanities major will destroy the verbal.

 

[capn jazz]

What do all of your intro bio courses actually consist of, then? At my school, they're split into 3 sections: cell/molecular, genetics, and physiology.

 

[Hyperstudyosis]

What do all of your intro bio courses actually consist of, then? At my school, they're split into 3 sections: cell/molecular, genetics, and physiology.

My intro bio courses had a lot of ecology and botany, but we did have some genetics, cell and physiology. Bio 1 was basically transcription, translation, basic genetics, photosynthesis, DNA replication, cell structure and organelles, plant cells, mitosis, meiosis, etc. Bio 2 was very basic anatomy and physiology, evolution, and tons of ecology...also some biotechnology.

 

[capn jazz]

Wow, I don't think we learned a thing about plants or ecology. However, our bio major requires an ecology course, so I'm taking it anyway.