Which advanced Bio course will prep me for the MCATs the most?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I am a sophomore about to start my second semester of the school year. I plan on taking Orgo 1 and a advanced Bio class as my main courses of the semester. I want to take a bio course that helps me learn info that will be useful for me when I take the MCAT. Based on the courses I list below, which one do you guys think I should take. </p>

<p>220 Mendelian and Molecular Genetics
3 hours. Principles of heredity and variation in phage, bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Basic molecular genetics, gene regulation, recombination, DNA replication, transcription, translation. </p>

<p>222 Cell Biology
3 hours. Rationale of experiments that led to the current understanding of organelle biogenesis, cell transport, cell signaling, and the relation of cell structure to cell function</p>

<p>230 Ecology and Evolution
3 hours. Concepts and models of population growth, species interactions, community ecology, and energy and nutrient flow in ecosystems. Genetic basis of evolutionary change through adaptation, natural selection, and other mechanisms</p>

<p>286 The Biology of the Brain
3 hours. Survey of basic neurobiology. Brain structure, chemistry, development and control of behavior (sensation, movement, emotions, memory, cognition, sex)</p>

<p>325 Vertebrate Embryology
5 hours. Study of the anatomical changes occurring during vertebrate development and their underlying control mechanisms. A comparative approach is taken, examining the similarities and differences in embryonic development between amphibians, birds and mammals.</p>

<p>350 General Microbiology
3 hours. Ultrastructure, genetics, molecular biology, physiology and metabolism of microorganisms; role of microorganisms in food, water, agriculture, biotechnology, infectious diseases, and immunobiology.</p>

<p>443 Animal Physiological Systems
4 hours. Basic function of renal, respiratory and digestive systems. Integrative role of endocrine systems. Animals used in instruction.</p>

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<p>443 > 220=222 > 325 > 286 > 230, in my opinion. I took animal phys, genetics, cell bio, and dev bio and had completed all but dev bio before the 2010 MCAT. If you’re taking the “new MCAT” in 2015 or later, then I’m not so sure.</p>

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<p>I haven’t actually taken the MCAT yet, but from what I’ve heard, I would say the Genetics course, the Cell Biology course, or the Animal Physiological Systems course would be most applicable.</p>

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<p>@ kristin </p>

<p>did taking these courses make the biology section of the MCAT a breeze for you? I plan on taking the MCAT’s this summer and will have taken Cell Biology but not genetics or animal physiology. Will I have to do a ton of self studying to catch up or will the material i learned about genetics and physiology from my AP Bio days be applicable? I have taken another advanced bio course call homeostasis: physiology of plants and animals though.</p>

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<p>Nothing will make the biology section a breeze. The MCAT is purposely designed to be difficult to do well on. (Kinda the point of the whole test.)</p>

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<p>443 followed by 220 followed by 222</p>

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<p>I am really out of touch with what the 2015 MCAT will be like but for me taking the MCAT in 2008 I would rank them in terms of usefulness in the following order</p>

<p>443
222/220 (tie, maybe 222 better)
The rest are all a big step down from the 3 above
286 is maybe the most useful of the remainder but honestly none of them are even close to the first 3.</p>

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<p>LOL that the 4 contributors said the same thing in the same order :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the perspectives guys! I have another question: do questions related to plant biology (plant anatomy, genetics, physiology, etc.) show up in the MCAT? Also I am taking the MCAT before 2015. The 2015 one will have questions about biochem and psychology right?</p>

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<p>Re: plants. Unlikely to have stuff specifically about plants, but might use plants as an example (eg in a genetics problem). With all MCAT passages, the information you need to answer the question is contained in the passage, but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s your run-of-the-mill reading comprehension test. It requires more critical thinking than reading comprehension.</p>

<p>If the underlying question is “Should I take a plant bio class to gain an edge on the MCAT?” the answer is certainly no. I can’t think of any class that would give you an edge on the MCAT, which is mostly because the MCAT isn’t a test about knowledge. It’s a test about critical thinking that happens to use science as the subject matter, and the science corresponds with premed prereqs/things med school adcoms find valuable.</p>

<p>You’ll be much better off taking challenging classes from tough professors that require you to think hard and quickly on your feet than you would be taking a random conglomeration of classes with subject matter that might come up. Preparing for the MCAT is almost exclusively about learning how to take the test, learning how to beat the testmakers at their own game, and learning how to think about test passages efficiently. I’d imagine anyone who tells you otherwise has never personally taken the test.</p>

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<p>You don’t need to take an advanced bio course to prepare for the MCAT. There is only basic science on there. Just read a MCAT bio review book for the necessary info.</p>

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<p>Apples5 did you take a review course?</p>

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<p>Closing old thread.</p>