Official Harvard Extension 2013 Thread

[mathnerd88]

Just looked up my grades...
A Orgo
A physics
A- Bio

As much as I cringe at that A-, I'm still grateful as I had no idea what to expect in that class grading wise!

Anyone with an A in bio want to give some suggestions? I spent most my study time on Bio and it was still lower than the others!

Oh, and I know this is from the 2012 thread but in case there are any lurkers wondering, I wanted to join in on the conversation about working full time... it CAN be done if you are smart about it... I work 40 hours a week but 4 10's so I have one weekday to study as well as weekends and NO social life. My work is not very hard and I have some downtime... it's also very enjoyable. I was a math major in undergrad and phys and ochem were not that difficult for me, so I didn't need as much time to study. I think if you are honest with yourself, you can figure out how much you can handle. Hopefully this semester I can pull it off with all A's and no minuses!

Being a math major really helps you, especially for physics. Many people were struggling with physics, and having a very strong math background could almost be called a prerequisite for the class.

Congratulations on getting A in Physics. Probably one of the hardest exams I have taken, and I also took a lot of math in college. Those exams truly made you think and apply things you've never seen before.

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[Sciengee]

Anyone with an A in bio want to give some suggestions? I spent most my study time on Bio and it was still lower than the others!

I took Bio with Anderson last spring, so if he still teaches it this spring, this might be helpful to you: memorize everything he says. Haha. No, really.
The second semester doesn't involve as much problem solving and we didn't have problem sets. But we were expected to know every single detail from the lecture slides. The exam questions were taken directly from the slides, so I never really read the textbook. I did use the study guide that came with the text (I guess the textbook is different this year, so this might not be helpful) which basically summarized each chapter in a few pages, and this helped somewhat with the lecture material since his lectures weren't all that exciting or clear.
I don't know if anything is going to change this year, but basically if you make sure that you remember every obscure detail from the lecture slides, you should be fine. I remember there was a question on the second midterm that I thought was completely new to me and had to leave blank; then went over the slides trying to find the information it referenced (and I thought I had him figured out by then!) and recognized it on a slide as additional info that he had briefly mentioned in class that I had never even wrote down because I thought it was so minor.
So yeah, that class doesn't really require any analytic skills or high IQ. If you have a good memory, you should be able to get an A. I know it helped me. Just make sure you don't try to cram it all in a few days before the exam. It's easy to fall behind when you have no homework assignments. I used to go over each lecture weekly and started studying lecture notes in-depth 1-2 weeks before each exam.
Good luck!

 

[smiley27]

I took Bio with Anderson last spring, so if he still teaches it this spring, this might be helpful to you: memorize everything he says. Haha. No, really.
The second semester doesn't involve as much problem solving and we didn't have problem sets. But we were expected to know every single detail from the lecture slides. The exam questions were taken directly from the slides, so I never really read the textbook. I did use the study guide that came with the text (I guess the textbook is different this year, so this might not be helpful) which basically summarized each chapter in a few pages, and this helped somewhat with the lecture material since his lectures weren't all that exciting or clear.
I don't know if anything is going to change this year, but basically if you make sure that you remember every obscure detail from the lecture slides, you should be fine. I remember there was a question on the second midterm that I thought was completely new to me and had to leave blank; then went over the slides trying to find the information it referenced (and I thought I had him figured out by then!) and recognized it on a slide as additional info that he had briefly mentioned in class that I had never even wrote down because I thought it was so minor.
So yeah, that class doesn't really require any analytic skills or high IQ. If you have a good memory, you should be able to get an A. I know it helped me. Just make sure you don't try to cram it all in a few days before the exam. It's easy to fall behind when you have no homework assignments. I used to go over each lecture weekly and started studying lecture notes in-depth 1-2 weeks before each exam.
Good luck!

I supposed we'll find out soon enough but does he record his lectures and put it online? And does he post up his annotated lecture slides? I usually don't take notes in class and prefer to print out the annotated notes (tough luck in physics).

 

[Magilacutty]

I took Bio with Anderson last spring, so if he still teaches it this spring, this might be helpful to you: memorize everything he says. Haha. No, really.
The second semester doesn't involve as much problem solving and we didn't have problem sets. But we were expected to know every single detail from the lecture slides. The exam questions were taken directly from the slides, so I never really read the textbook. I did use the study guide that came with the text (I guess the textbook is different this year, so this might not be helpful) which basically summarized each chapter in a few pages, and this helped somewhat with the lecture material since his lectures weren't all that exciting or clear.
I don't know if anything is going to change this year, but basically if you make sure that you remember every obscure detail from the lecture slides, you should be fine. I remember there was a question on the second midterm that I thought was completely new to me and had to leave blank; then went over the slides trying to find the information it referenced (and I thought I had him figured out by then!) and recognized it on a slide as additional info that he had briefly mentioned in class that I had never even wrote down because I thought it was so minor.
So yeah, that class doesn't really require any analytic skills or high IQ. If you have a good memory, you should be able to get an A. I know it helped me. Just make sure you don't try to cram it all in a few days before the exam. It's easy to fall behind when you have no homework assignments. I used to go over each lecture weekly and started studying lecture notes in-depth 1-2 weeks before each exam.
Good luck!

Thanks for sharing. To be brutally honest, I think IQ played a strong role in Casey's exams or at least having a knack for reading extremely tricky, often poorly-worded problem solving questions under a timed, high pressure situation. My good memory carried me through undergrad with a 3.85, but I was never a good standardized test taker or IQ test taker, and I ended up with a B in her class, for what it's worth. Hearing this about Anderson's class gives me some hope. I wonder if his class will change at all with the new textbook, and how much of a role Casey will play as the head TF, now with teaching experience.

 

[Sciengee]

I supposed we'll find out soon enough but does he record his lectures and put it online? And does he post up his annotated lecture slides? I usually don't take notes in class and prefer to print out the annotated notes (tough luck in physics).

He didn't record his lectures last spring, but did annotate the slides and post them online. However, they were more like random notes here and there. Nothing like what the chemistry department does here, or even Casey (she covered a couple of lectures last spring). I ended up taking notes on my own during lectures as his annotations weren't that helpful even if I could decipher his handwriting, but his slides were also pretty detailed on their own.

 

[smiley27]

Thanks for sharing. To be brutally honest, I think IQ played a role in Casey's exams or at least having a knack for reading extremely tricky, often poorly-worded problem solving questions under a timed, high pressure situation. My good memory carried me through undergrad with a 3.85, but I was never a good standardized test taker or IQ test taker, and I ended up with a B in her class, for what it's worth. Hearing this about Anderson's class gives me some hope. I wonder if his class will change at all with the new textbook, and how much of a role Casey will play as the head TF, now with teaching experience.

In my experience the problem solving on bio exams wasn't any more involved/tricker than the problem solving in physics/gchem/ochem exams though, no?

I maintain that physics exams required the most problem solving for me. When I read the water rising above the paper towel question on the bio final (which I chose the cellulose in the plant wall favorably interacting with water as my choice, epic fail or merely shrewd answer choice?) it drew flashbacks of Rueckner's cotton shirt in the clothes drier question. Pretty much all of the exams I've taken at HES have curveball make-you-think kind of questions.

 

[Sciengee]

Thanks for sharing. To be brutally honest, I think IQ played a strong role in Casey's exams or at least having a knack for reading extremely tricky, often poorly-worded problem solving questions under a timed, high pressure situation. My good memory carried me through undergrad with a 3.85, but I was never a good standardized test taker or IQ test taker, and I ended up with a B in her class, for what it's worth. Hearing this about Anderson's class gives me some hope. I wonder if his class will change at all with the new textbook, and how much of a role Casey will play as the head TF, now with teaching experience.

I guess on the bright side, this will serve as good preparation for the MCAT.
Casey was the head TF last spring also, not sure if she was the one responsible for the exams or not.

 

[Magilacutty]

In my experience the problem solving on bio exams wasn't any more involved/tricker than the problem solving in physics/gchem/ochem exams though, no?

I maintain that physics exams required the most problem solving for me. When I read the water rising above the paper towel question on the bio final (which I chose the cellulose in the plant wall favorably interacting with water as my choice, epic fail or merely shrewd answer choice?) it drew flashbacks of Rueckner's cotton shirt in the clothes drier question. Pretty much all of the exams I've taken at HES have curveball make-you-think kind of questions.

The difference with Bio was I felt extremely rushed during the exams, the first midterm not so much. And in Gen Chem, there was partial credit given if you just wrote down equations you remembered. In Bio, it was often all or nothing.

 

[smiley27]

The difference with Bio was I felt extremely rushed during the exams, the first midterm not so much. And in Gen Chem, there was partial credit given if you just wrote down equations you remembered. In Bio, it was often all or nothing.

Completely agree with you on that front. For every single physics/gchem exam I had ample time to re-check my answers and submit my best answer to really demonstrate my knowledge after I've had time to think. For bio exams I literally had a few seconds to come up with an answer and write it down as fast as I could with the constant fear of running out of time looming. Same goes for the one hour ochem exams.

 

[SpagoBMS]

Do you know what the standard deviation for the lab practical was?

The avg for the practical was 216/238. I'm guessing based on first two midterms one standard deviation was about 20 points from that.

I took gen. chem in undergrad and haven't taken orgo yet but it seems likes physics has the most generous curve which I appreciate bc it was my hardest class conceptually. Ruekner challenges you for sure, but he genuinely wants you to do well and understand physics.

 

[mathnerd88]

The avg for the practical was 216/238. I'm guessing based on first two midterms one standard deviation was about 20 points from that.

I took gen. chem in undergrad and haven't taken orgo yet but it seems likes physics has the most generous curve which I appreciate bc it was my hardest class conceptually. Ruekner challenges you for sure, but he genuinely wants you to do well and understand physics.

I was surprised by how well the class did, by looking at the histogram for the first and second exams. In my state school, an 87% or above was an A. The average on the exams at my state school were a bit higher than the ones Rueckner gave, but the exams were by far easier. The level of intelligence of the class at Harvard Extension seems to be a lot higher than students at my state school.

The final for Physics was pretty difficult for Rueckner's class. Some multiple choice questions and the last open ended question really made you think outside the box.

 

[johnnyscans]

Completely agree with you on that front. For every single physics/gchem exam I had ample time to re-check my answers and submit my best answer to really demonstrate my knowledge after I've had time to think. For bio exams I literally had a few seconds to come up with an answer and write it down as fast as I could with the constant fear of running out of time looming. Same goes for the one hour ochem exams.

Nothing shocked me quite like the first orgo exam. I have NEVER had time management issues with exams; even with practice MCAT passages I finish way ahead of time. I started working on the exam, finished the last problem, looked up and realized I had 5 minutes left to double-check answers.

 

[Sciengee]

Nothing shocked me quite like the first orgo exam. I have NEVER had time management issues with exams; even with practice MCAT passages I finish way ahead of time. I started working on the exam, finished the last problem, looked up and realized I had 5 minutes left to double-check answers.

The first orgo exam will haunt me forever.

 

[doodooyumyum]

The first orgo exam will haunt me forever.

Same here! It is relieving to know someone else felt this way too- as it seemed that most of my friends did manage to finish (albeit with no time to check their answers). Fortunately, timing was FAR more generous in all the exams that followed

 

[oldcrumb]

I took Bio with Anderson last spring, so if he still teaches it this spring, this might be helpful to you: memorize everything he says. Haha. No, really.
The second semester doesn't involve as much problem solving and we didn't have problem sets. But we were expected to know every single detail from the lecture slides. The exam questions were taken directly from the slides, so I never really read the textbook. I did use the study guide that came with the text (I guess the textbook is different this year, so this might not be helpful) which basically summarized each chapter in a few pages, and this helped somewhat with the lecture material since his lectures weren't all that exciting or clear.
I don't know if anything is going to change this year, but basically if you make sure that you remember every obscure detail from the lecture slides, you should be fine. I remember there was a question on the second midterm that I thought was completely new to me and had to leave blank; then went over the slides trying to find the information it referenced (and I thought I had him figured out by then!) and recognized it on a slide as additional info that he had briefly mentioned in class that I had never even wrote down because I thought it was so minor.
So yeah, that class doesn't really require any analytic skills or high IQ. If you have a good memory, you should be able to get an A. I know it helped me. Just make sure you don't try to cram it all in a few days before the exam. It's easy to fall behind when you have no homework assignments. I used to go over each lecture weekly and started studying lecture notes in-depth 1-2 weeks before each exam.
Good luck!

Agreed! The way to get an A is to print out the lecture slides and bring them to class, write down every additional thing he says on them, and then the next day, go through each slide and make flashcards for everything. It's tedious as hell, but then after that all you have to do to study is run through your flashcards a bunch of time before the exam, and you'll get an A. If there is anything tricky, obscure, or confusing in any of the lectures, you're essentially guaranteed to see it on the exams.

 

[doodooyumyum]

Has anyone tried to use the BioPortal site as a study aid? I believe it is our new bio textbook's web portal. I took a look at the site, and you have to register for full access- but they use Chapter 6 as an example to show all the features/support that exists per chapter.

I wanted to know if anyone has tried this out and if so, did it add any value? If so, would it be a sufficient replacement to reading the text, or do you feel it only has supplemental value?

 

[SomedaySoonMM]

Agreed! The way to get an A is to print out the lecture slides and bring them to class, write down every additional thing he says on them, and then the next day, go through each slide and make flashcards for everything. It's tedious as hell, but then after that all you have to do to study is run through your flashcards a bunch of time before the exam, and you'll get an A. If there is anything tricky, obscure, or confusing in any of the lectures, you're essentially guaranteed to see it on the exams.

Wow thank you Sciengee and OldCrumb for the suggestions. I've only ever used flash cards effectively in foreign language classes but I think I'll give it a go as its pure memorization it seems. Thanks again!

 

[PlumbLine]

Has anyone tried to use the BioPortal site as a study aid? I believe it is our new bio textbook's web portal. I took a look at the site, and you have to register for full access- but they use Chapter 6 as an example to show all the features/support that exists per chapter.

I wanted to know if anyone has tried this out and if so, did it add any value? If so, would it be a sufficient replacement to reading the text, or do you feel it only has supplemental value?

I tried to use it briefly during first semester. Unfortunately I had bought a used copy of the textbook so I didn't have access. I didn't look very hard for an option to purchase access. But I would like to give it a try at least, so I'll have to look at chapter 6.

Sounds like 2nd semester of bio won't rely much on the textbook anyway, with all the talk about how everything that's tested is from the lecture.

 

[cannella88]

Hi everyone! I've been on SDN for a while now and the post bacc forums have been super helpful, but I was wondering if I could get some insight on my personal situation.

I graduated in May 2010 from American University with a degree in international relations and went on directly to Johns Hopkins for my masters in government and security, which I just finished last semester. My undergrad GPA is around a 3.5 and my grad school GPA is a 3.4. The only science classes I took (2 of them) in undergrad were Psychology classes and had A's in both.

I always wanted to be in a health care field but wasn't sure I was cut out for it. My family and I moved abroad when I was in high school and I was always naturally better at history and english, thus why I did international relations in college. Over the last year talking to a lot of my friends and family who are in the medical field, I knew that the path I was on wasn't for me.

I've been volunteering at Georgetown Hospital in DC since July and my time there has only reinforced my decision to do a post bacc and eventually go to med school. The program at HES is very attractive to me (cost, change of city, matriculation rate, positive feedback on forums) and I was wondering what your opinion is on whether I'd get in or not. Some posters have said it's pretty easy to get in (minimum GPA of 3.0) but others with great credentials have been rejected. Would love your thoughts! Thanks!

 

[johnnyscans]

Hi everyone! I've been on SDN for a while now and the post bacc forums have been super helpful, but I was wondering if I could get some insight on my personal situation.

I graduated in May 2010 from American University with a degree in international relations and went on directly to Johns Hopkins for my masters in government and security, which I just finished last semester. My undergrad GPA is around a 3.5 and my grad school GPA is a 3.4. The only science classes I took (2 of them) in undergrad were Psychology classes and had A's in both.

I always wanted to be in a health care field but wasn't sure I was cut out for it. My family and I moved abroad when I was in high school and I was always naturally better at history and english, thus why I did international relations in college. Over the last year talking to a lot of my friends and family who are in the medical field, I knew that the path I was on wasn't for me.

I've been volunteering at Georgetown Hospital in DC since July and my time there has only reinforced my decision to do a post bacc and eventually go to med school. The program at HES is very attractive to me (cost, change of city, matriculation rate, positive feedback on forums) and I was wondering what your opinion is on whether I'd get in or not. Some posters have said it's pretty easy to get in (minimum GPA of 3.0) but others with great credentials have been rejected. Would love your thoughts! Thanks!

You'll get in, no doubt there.

A warning though. I went to a top-ranked undergraduate business school. The difficulty and pacing of classes here BLOWS my undergrad out of the water. Be prepared to work and study hard. That said, I love this program. Boston is an amazing city, especially if you get out and get involved.

 

[Magilacutty]

Hi everyone! I've been on SDN for a while now and the post bacc forums have been super helpful, but I was wondering if I could get some insight on my personal situation.

I graduated in May 2010 from American University with a degree in international relations and went on directly to Johns Hopkins for my masters in government and security, which I just finished last semester. My undergrad GPA is around a 3.5 and my grad school GPA is a 3.4. The only science classes I took (2 of them) in undergrad were Psychology classes and had A's in both.

I always wanted to be in a health care field but wasn't sure I was cut out for it. My family and I moved abroad when I was in high school and I was always naturally better at history and english, thus why I did international relations in college. Over the last year talking to a lot of my friends and family who are in the medical field, I knew that the path I was on wasn't for me.

I've been volunteering at Georgetown Hospital in DC since July and my time there has only reinforced my decision to do a post bacc and eventually go to med school. The program at HES is very attractive to me (cost, change of city, matriculation rate, positive feedback on forums) and I was wondering what your opinion is on whether I'd get in or not. Some posters have said it's pretty easy to get in (minimum GPA of 3.0) but others with great credentials have been rejected. Would love your thoughts! Thanks!

I agree that you'll get in. Higher credential candidates likely took too many science courses, and the program was not deemed the best fit for them. As a side note, the psych classes might not count as science. Psych stats sometimes counts for BCPM, or in rarer cases, if the course is biology, or neuroscience heavy, and you can convince AMCAS. But a class like Abnormal, Personality, or Cognitive would almost never count.

 

[MedWonk]

Just a quick reminder: Class registration deadline is Jan 27th, so if you haven't registered for classes yet, get on it.

 

[johnnyscans]

Just a quick reminder: Class registration deadline is Jan 27th, so if you haven't registered for classes yet, get on it.

When's your MCAT date? Your FL scores are looking pretty nice.

 

[MedWonk]

When's your MCAT date? Your FL scores are looking pretty nice.

Thanks. The test date is Jan 26th. Hopefully the trend holds. The FLs have a habit of baiting you into a false sense of security with fairly straightforward passages, and then they spring something crazy on you. Especially in the BS section.

I highly recommend Berkeley Review and the TPRH Workbooks. EK 101 Verbal is also good. I used EK Bio for a day and quickly realized I don't know nearly enough about bio to do well on the test, so I switched over to TBR and got destroyed for the first month or so. Now, it's not so bad. Genetics is still really hard.

For verbal, TPRH > EK 101 >>> TBR, but I would still use all three.

When is your test date?

 

[johnnyscans]

Thanks. The test date is Jan 26th. Hopefully the trend holds. The FLs have a habit of baiting you into a false sense of security with fairly straightforward passages, and then they spring something crazy on you. Especially in the BS section.

I highly recommend Berkeley Review and the TPRH Workbooks. EK 101 Verbal is also good. I used EK Bio for a day and quickly realized I don't know nearly enough about bio to do well on the test, so I switched over to TBR and got destroyed for the first month or so. Now, it's not so bad. Genetics is still really hard.

For verbal, TPRH > EK 101 >>> TBR, but I would still use all three.

When is your test date?

I'm using TBR for physics, orgo, chem content review. EK bio for content review. Using TBR and EK 1001 for passages and discretes. TBR passages are killer, I love it.

I'm rotating between TPRH, EK and TPR for verbal.

Good luck.

 

[shulk]

Is it just me or is anyone else anxious for class to start up again? I think I'm having Tucci withdrawal symptoms.

 

[Sciengee]

Is it just me or is anyone else anxious for class to start up again? I think I'm having Tucci withdrawal symptoms.

I think it's just you...

I finally bit the bullet and registered for my MCAT. Don't know if scheduling it back to back with an orgo exam is the best idea, but looks like the options are pretty limited. They fill up so fast.

Thanks. The test date is Jan 26th. Hopefully the trend holds.

Good luck!

 

[PlumbLine]

For those studying for the MCAT or that already took it and went through HCP, have you found that any HES classes prepared you especially well or poorly? I have been doing a lot of practice questions in my spare time and so far I feel pretty confident in physics and chemistry questions. Unfortunately most of the biology questions I've seen that look like they relate to 1st semester biology have been very difficult. I'm worried all that time I put in first semester is not going to pay off for the MCAT as much as the other classes did.

 

[johnnyscans]

I think it's just you...

I finally bit the bullet and registered for my MCAT. Don't know if scheduling it back to back with an orgo exam is the best idea, but looks like the options are pretty limited. They fill up so fast.


Good luck!

Same here. Apr. 27th test date, Apr. 25th test in Orgo. Oh well, I just need to be smart about my orgo prep.

For those studying for the MCAT or that already took it and went through HCP, have you found that any HES classes prepared you especially well or poorly? I have been doing a lot of practice questions in my spare time and so far I feel pretty confident in physics and chemistry questions. Unfortunately most of the biology questions I've seen that look like they relate to 1st semester biology have been very difficult. I'm worried all that time I put in first semester is not going to pay off for the MCAT as much as the other classes did.

I'm a month into my prep. My opinions are as follows:
-I'm a physics TF, so it's unfair for me to give my opinion on this. I know I've covered many MCAT style questions in my sections. I'm using TBR for content and passages and for physics I'm scoring, on average, >90%.
-Chemistry: I took the first semester of chemistry somewhere else, but Tucci seemed to have prepared us well. No major gaps here.
-I've been annihilating the orgo we've covered thus far (probably 80-85% correct at all times). E-2a left me wonderfully prepared for what I've reviewed so far.
-Outside of Bio I've also taken molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular biology and anatomy and physiology (registered for the second semester of A&P). I am kicking ass on the EK passages and exams but TBR has been tough. I've been told however that TBR is, on average, more difficult than the MCAT, so you should not be expecting perfection on all of their passages.

Overall I feel like I'll be ready come test time. VR comes naturally to me and being a physics TF + working in a molecular biology/biochemistry lab has left me familiar with a wide range of experimental protocols.

 

[grt398]

For those studying for the MCAT or that already took it and went through HCP, have you found that any HES classes prepared you especially well or poorly? I have been doing a lot of practice questions in my spare time and so far I feel pretty confident in physics and chemistry questions. Unfortunately most of the biology questions I've seen that look like they relate to 1st semester biology have been very difficult. I'm worried all that time I put in first semester is not going to pay off for the MCAT as much as the other classes did.

While this is heavily test dependent, if you do well in orgo I & II you'll have zero problems with anything the MCAT throws at you b/c the HES classes are substantially more difficult. I actually got an unusually orgo heavy bio section that a lot of people weren't expecting and I definitely attribute the 14 I got in that section in part to my orgo classes. The rest I attribute to TBR.

 

[johnnyscans]

While this is heavily test dependent, if you do well in orgo I & II you'll have zero problems with anything the MCAT throws at you b/c the HES classes are substantially more difficult. I actually got an unusually orgo heavy bio section that a lot of people weren't expecting and I definitely attribute the 14 I got in that section in part to my orgo classes. The rest I attribute to TBR.

I'm loving TBR thus far. Passages actually make me think, which I assume is the key. Glad to hear they worked well for you.

 

[Randommemb]

For those studying for the MCAT or that already took it and went through HCP, have you found that any HES classes prepared you especially well or poorly? I have been doing a lot of practice questions in my spare time and so far I feel pretty confident in physics and chemistry questions. Unfortunately most of the biology questions I've seen that look like they relate to 1st semester biology have been very difficult. I'm worried all that time I put in first semester is not going to pay off for the MCAT as much as the other classes did.

Agree with above posters regarding classes preparing you well. I used EK and think that basically as long as you do well in class and spend the time with any given mcat materials, you will be fine.

 

[mdanitka]

Quick qs to all. Has anyone taken Neurobiology of Drug Addiction? I'm highly interested in it and am currently in the chem/phys 2 part of the program? Anyone maybe hear anything about it? There's only 30 people as of right now registered for it. Any info would be great. Thanks!

 

[MedWonk]

I think it's just you...




Good luck!

Well, that was a challenging test. But, I think TBR and the AAMC practice tests did a good job preparing me, so I probably did fine.

For those studying for the MCAT or that already took it and went through HCP, have you found that any HES classes prepared you especially well or poorly? I have been doing a lot of practice questions in my spare time and so far I feel pretty confident in physics and chemistry questions. Unfortunately most of the biology questions I've seen that look like they relate to 1st semester biology have been very difficult. I'm worried all that time I put in first semester is not going to pay off for the MCAT as much as the other classes did.

Yes, the HES classes do a good job. Orgo will overprepare you, which is a good thing. Bio gives you a solid foundation, but I felt that there was quite a bit I needed to learn while studying for the test, particularly biochem and molecular bio. Physics and Gen Chem both leave you prepped. If you work hard in your classes, it will carry over when you prep for the MCAT. Even though I didn't do all that well in Physics, I busted my ass in that class and the result of that was apparent as I went through TBR and AAMC.

As far as upper bio classes, I think biochem and molecular bio would probably be the most useful. Maybe genetics, but that's a big maybe. Anything else is icing on the cake, and probably not as high-yield unless you're particularly weak in those areas.

The most important thing you could probably do to prep for the test might be zen meditation. If you panic on the real thing, you're going to have a tough go of it.

 

[johnnyscans]

Well, that was a challenging test. But, I think TBR and the AAMC practice tests did a good job preparing me, so I probably did fine.




Yes, the HES classes do a good job. Orgo will overprepare you, which is a good thing. Bio gives you a solid foundation, but I felt that there was quite a bit I needed to learn while studying for the test, particularly biochem and molecular bio. Physics and Gen Chem both leave you prepped. If you work hard in your classes, it will carry over when you prep for the MCAT. Even though I didn't do all that well in Physics, I busted my ass in that class and the result of that was apparent as I went through TBR and AAMC.

As far as upper bio classes, I think biochem and molecular bio would probably be the most useful. Maybe genetics, but that's a big maybe. Anything else is icing on the cake, and probably not as high-yield unless you're particularly weak in those areas.

The most important thing you could probably do to prep for the test might be zen meditation. If you panic on the real thing, you're going to have a tough go of it.

I've noticed that biochemistry and molecular bio have shown up a lot in my review. Congrats on finishing!

 

[MedWonk]

I've noticed that biochemistry and molecular bio have shown up a lot in my review. Congrats on finishing!

Thanks! I just cracked open my first beer in four months. It tastes. So. Good.

 

[MedWonk]

Same here. Apr. 27th test date, Apr. 25th test in Orgo. Oh well, I just need to be smart about my orgo prep.



I'm a month into my prep. My opinions are as follows:
-I'm a physics TF, so it's unfair for me to give my opinion on this. I know I've covered many MCAT style questions in my sections. I'm using TBR for content and passages and for physics I'm scoring, on average, >90%.
-Chemistry: I took the first semester of chemistry somewhere else, but Tucci seemed to have prepared us well. No major gaps here.
-I've been annihilating the orgo we've covered thus far (probably 80-85% correct at all times). E-2a left me wonderfully prepared for what I've reviewed so far.
-Outside of Bio I've also taken molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular biology and anatomy and physiology (registered for the second semester of A&P). I am kicking ass on the EK passages and exams but TBR has been tough. I've been told however that TBR is, on average, more difficult than the MCAT, so you should not be expecting perfection on all of their passages.

Overall I feel like I'll be ready come test time. VR comes naturally to me and being a physics TF + working in a molecular biology/biochemistry lab has left me familiar with a wide range of experimental protocols.

Did you take cell bio during the year? If so, did you use the textbook?

 

[johnnyscans]

Did you take cell bio during the year? If so, did you use the textbook?

Yes. Never really touched the textbook (most things are presented straight-forward enough in lecture) and if you need more info you can use google. I ended up selling it back after barely touching it.

 

[kinship]

Just wondering if anyone self-recorded yesterday's lecture in Bio. I noticed a video recording hasn't post up yet .... perhaps it's too early right now?

But if anyone has an audio recording of it, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll wait until something changes later on the discussion forums. Thanks!

 

[johnnyscans]

Just wondering if anyone self-recorded yesterday's lecture in Bio. I noticed a video recording hasn't post up yet .... perhaps it's too early right now?

But if anyone has an audio recording of it, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll wait until something changes later on the discussion forums. Thanks!

Unless something changed Anderson doesn't record lectures. I had him last year though so who knows.

 

[bigbros2]

Just wondering if anyone self-recorded yesterday's lecture in Bio. I noticed a video recording hasn't post up yet .... perhaps it's too early right now?

But if anyone has an audio recording of it, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll wait until something changes later on the discussion forums. Thanks!

Think it's a bit early but he said in the lecture, recordings will be taken and posted. Also confirms this in the syllabus.

 

[johnnyscans]

Think it's a bit early but he said in the lecture, recordings will be taken and posted. Also confirms this in the syllabus.

I stand corrected. It's nice that he's making that change; it definitely makes the class more accessible to the traditional (working) post-bacc student.

 

[MedWonk]

Unless something changed Anderson doesn't record lectures. I had him last year though so who knows.

One class, he actually chewed us out for video recording his lectures without permission, and told us that he never gives permission to video record any lectures.

Unless he's changed, it might not be a good idea.

 

[MedWonk]

Think it's a bit early but he said in the lecture, recordings will be taken and posted. Also confirms this in the syllabus.

 

[akn8]

Does anyone know anything about medical microbiology and the professor? Sounds very interesting.

 

[bigbros2]

Do any of you guys taking BIOS E-1b want to form a study group? Might help actually test our understanding, if we explain things to each other.

Also looking back, think I would have got more out of the BIOS E-1a problem sets if I had a study group last semester.. especially trying to decode the answer keys..

 

[Sciengee]

Pretty cool:
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2013/01/boston_remains_top_life_scienc.html

 

[tenr2080]

.

 

[johnnyscans]

Hey Everyone,

Non-trad here researching programs to take all of my science pre-reqs. Withdrew from law school last semester (was miserable the whole time). I have been volunteering at my local clinic ever since and I love it. I currently live in Southern California and just started looking into Harvard Extension. I was initially planning on going through UCLA or UCB extension but due to the budget crisis out here, I've heard horror stories of students having to wait out a year because they could't get into the class they wanted, and students often complain about the quality of education through these extension programs. Also, classes are really expensive and UCB doesn't offer financial aid. I am now seriously considering Harvard extension even though this would mean moving to Boston. Is there a similar problem of students not being able to get the classes they need? Do you think it's worth it to move from California to Boston? I feel like Harvard Extension offers a higher quality of education at a lower cost and the possibility of financial aid. Any feedback would be appreciated.

A few things:

Boston is one of the most expensive cities in the US to live in.

Our winters are cold and long.

Boston is arguably the best (or second best) city for healthcare and the life sciences.

Our hospitals are unmatched.

Opportunities for clinical and research experience are endless.

Have you ever been to the east coast? I know there are a few CA-ers in the program; I'm hoping one of them catches wind of this post.

 

[oldcrumb]

Does anyone know if the orgo lectures are being recorded this semester? They were last semester, but now we have a different professor, so I realize this may not be the case. Thanks!