<p>Fanboying :P</p>
<p>I know this has probably been asked before, but I’m preparing for USABO next year, and I’m wondering how detailed one’s knowledge should be of complex chemical pathways like glycolysis. Should one know every step, name, and structure? On a related note, should one know the structure of all 20 amino acids? Thanks.</p>
<p>StudiousMaximus: The farthest I made it this year was Semis, but I knew glycolysis steps, names and structures, amino acids structures, and most of the Calvin cycle and Krebs cycle. I know for sure that I got a few questions based purely off amino acids, and from what I can tell, it is fairly typical for Opens and Semis to have at least a question or two of that sort. That’s a good expected return for memorizing 20 structures (draw them over and over, make your own mnemonics, and online flash cards are awesome), so I would recommend taking some time to know those and the major pathways. More experienced USABO participants can probably offer more specific advice.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I’ll start memorizing them now. How close were you to camp?</p>
<p>A follow up to StudiousMaximus question:</p>
<p>How much of taxonomy are you supposed to memorize? Plant Diversity, Vertebrates and Invertebrates chapters in C& R have a lot of factual information about different taxa and their characteristics. </p>
<p>USABO vetrerans, did you have any technique for assimilating this information.</p>
<p>@NSQ: Its great you are back and hope you will stay and help us through this.</p>
<p>Ok, so which area should I really concentrate on for preparation? Should I concentrate on anatomy and physiology and cell biology more than ecology and the other areas. Also is Molecular Biology of the Cell 5th Edition a good source to use for studying? Also people who have experience please give me some advice. Thank you for your help.</p>
<p>Which is better cell Biology textbook to use:Lodish: Molecular Cell Biology or Alberts - Molecular Biology of the cell?</p>
<p>For Biochemistry which is better: Lehninger: Principles of Biochemistry or Voet & Voet?</p>
<p>@bobjohnson
The first page of this thread has the answer to your question.</p>
<p>StudiousMaximus: Only 6 points from camp; I was quite pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>I’m also interested in tips for remembering important taxonomic groups, especially beyond the really big ones like “angiosperms”. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll compete next year, but if I do, taxonomy is a weak area I can definitely improve on.</p>
<p>Studious:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You should know that this year’s IBO has a new “room” in the practical - biochemistry.</p>
<p>For the rest - use your best judgement.</p>
<p>@Opinion: Taxonomy is fairly important.</p>
<p>And flashcards.</p>
<p>And you can probably find all those books at a local uni library (you should be able to check them out from a local public uni) so you can skim them for free. Different people like different things.</p>
<p>@bobjohnson:</p>
<p>Everything is fair game.</p>
<p>For the most part, for the sake of USABO, reading many textbooks outside of campbell is a bit overhyped. I think they’re great books and you can learn a lot from them, but Campbell is definitely all you really need to make Finals, and the practical section is the section that really matters to make IBO. Most people who make camp have a strong theoretical background, so the distribution of the scores on the theoretical is generally pretty tight compared to the spread on the practical.</p>
<p>Mastering Campbell and being able to do labs gives you a great chance at IBO.</p>
<p>Congratz to Team USA 2012: Jerry Ding; Kevin Ma; Raymond Liu; Nikhil Buduma!</p>
<p>Now go make China cry :P</p>
<p>@unimpossible</p>
<p>We did try to make most questions answerable if you knew Campbell very, very well. They’re easier if you have some knowledge out of Alberts/Lodish/Voets/Lehninger. I’m going to add another book to this list - Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology, 12th Edition is really excellent, if you love human A&P and have a lot of free time to burn.</p>
<p>^ Isn’t Raven Plant more important than those you mentioned? I saw earlier you said something about 90% Campbell + 50% Raven Plant is better than 100% Campbell.</p>
<p>I currently have Campbell (8th edition), Raven Plant, and Alberts. With a thorough knowledge of the first two and a limited knowledge of the latter, would I be good for camp? Or is it a good idea to pick up Lodish/Voets etc.?</p>
<p>Ah, yes, thanks for reminding me. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Raven’s Plants - you’re right, I’ve apparently been misattributing some info I got out of Raven to Campbell. Heh. Oops.</p>
<p>Campbell doesn’t cover plants well enough - go with Raven’s Plants for that. Campbell also doesn’t really cover biochem/molebio in much depth, but it’s unlikely you’ll need to know the exact structure of cytochrome C on any USABO test anytime soon.</p>
<p>tl;dr - past me is right:</p>
<p>90% Campbell 50% Raven is strictly preferably to 100% Campbell.
90% Campbell 50% Raven skimming (Lodish,Alberts)C1 and (Voets, Lehninger)C1 is slightly, slighty! more preferable.
A rough look through Guyton’s charts may be helpful.
Campbell can be potentially replaced with Raven’s Biology (the genbio book, not the plants book), if for some reason you just don’t click with Campbell. I’d not recommend this. If you do this, memorize Campbell’s charts anyways.</p>
<p>PS (X,Y)C1 => out of the set (X,Y), choose 1.</p>
<p>Biology of Plants by Raven: Is there a significant difference between seventh and eighth editions?</p>
<p>I very much doubt that there are significant differences.</p>
<p>That said, I’ve never read the 8th.</p>
<p>@NSQ: Thanks!! I doubt it too. Many times they just add more pictures, new examples, web additions and charge you a ton of money for the new edition. Even in C & R I don’t see any difference between 8th and 9th editions.</p>
<p>Any opinions on Voets vs. Lehninger? I think I’ll pick up one, but I’m not sure which one to get.</p>
<p>I have both Voet and Lehninger, I have skimmed through both and I like Lehninger slightly better. It is more lively and slightly smaller. It is easier to understand. Voet is good too, however.</p>
<p>@Studious</p>
<p>I’m just wondering, are you already finished with Campbell?</p>
<p>@ImSoAmbitious: No, I am not. I’m just planning ahead. I’ve been studying Campbell’s every day and want to be prepared for USABO next year. Thanks for your suggestion! Anyone else have thoughts on Voets vs. Lehninger? I’m now leaning toward the latter.</p>