Books for Prep | |
 - goodI received the product very quickly. It was tough to find a GRE book for the biochemistry subject test because there are few out there. Since there are no biochem test prep books to compare this to, I'd have to give this one a thumbs up for its straight to the point style. Rating:  - NOT very professionalI found many typos in this book - the carbon atom has 5 covalent bonds sticking out in the diagram, the math derivation seems not coherent, etc. I am a little disappointed since the book was written by two PhDs. Rating:  - Will waste your timeI have only read the first five pages and it has obvious critical errors. I will have to abandon it for fear of learning more mis-information. This book has probably never been edited by a scientist. <<< Rating: - Don't rely on this book alone for studying.About the only review book I could find for the BCMB GRE. I found the review book was ok to use as an outline but not reliable as a stand-alone to study for the test. PROS: - Useful as a general outline - Useful methodology review section, particularly if you have not taken a lab course recently, same goes for the related practice exam questions - Good starting point for in-depth review with the cell and molecular biology sections. CONS: - DOES NOT TEACH YOU HOW TO TAKE THE TEST. This review book does not provide test taking strategies. More than anything the BCMB GRE test is about time management and knowing when to move on to another problem rather than waste time trying to solve it. - As other reviewers have noted, too much emphasis on biosynthesis/biodegradation pathways in the biochem section. - Had errors with diagrams and answers in the practice test. - Multiple choice questions easier than the actual exam. OVERALL: Not a recommended buy unless your looking for an easy to carry outline of three textbooks. If you have the time (>1 month), I suggest going over the following books for reference & review: Biochemistry - Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, Fourth Edition. (Has many practice problems that help you understand the material) Cell Biology - MBOC by Alberts, 4th Edition. (Very comprehensive, available online thru NIH) Cell Biology - MCB by Lodish and Baltimore, any edition >3rd. (Has GRE style practice questions) Molecular Biology/Genetics - Modern Genetic Analysis: Integrating Genes and Genomes by Griffiths or Genetics by Weaver & Hedricks. The Weaver & Hedricks book is a very good source of practice problems. Rating: - Only one out there, but you don't need itLike others who have reviewed this book, I bought it because it's the only one out there. The other books are just practice tests. This book alone did not adequately prepare me for the biochem subject test. What it did do is provide a guideline to things I needed to review in depth using my own text books from college. Also, the practice test in the back of the books was far easier than the practice tests from the GRE website, which were more in line with the real test. I would not purchase it again. Rather, just use the info provided by the GRE website to guide you and rely on your text books and lecture notes for review. page 1 of 2
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