BattlePope

Hi guys and girls, So, I've got the GRE Biology Subject test this Saturday and I'm cramming away. Everything's going good so far. I've taken the practice test provided by ETS and was wondering if anyone knew of any other practice tests that I could take. I'd like to take at least another one if I can. Finally, any last minute tips for the test? Thank you!

Another quick question (for anyone), how well do you need to know specific clades/species of organisms? For example, the protist chapter in Campbell-Reece is extremely dense with specific characteristics about each clade. Is this something I will need to know? Or should I just be more familiar with the general biology/structure/life cycles of bryophytes? I'm going to try to learn all the generalities of the main clades but think trying to learn some of the super nitty-gritty stuff is just unrealistic.

Thanks for the reply. Thanks for the advice rexzeppelin. Thankfully, ecology is one of my stronger points. With that said, are there any other areas/topics that you recommend I focus on? It sounds like plant biology and paleobiology are two popular topics. Another quick question (for anyone), how well do you need to know specific clades/species of organisms? For example, the protist chapter in Campbell-Reece is extremely dense with specific characteristics about each clade. Is this something I will need to know? Or should I just be more familiar with the general biology/structure/life cycles of bryophytes? I'm going to try to learn all the generalities of the main clades but think trying to learn some of the super nitty-gritty stuff is just unrealistic. Edit: The fungi chapter is another section that is fairly in-depth about all of the different phylums/species. Do I really need to know every characteristic that defines each phylum?

Thanks. I am currently going through the Campbell-Reece book. Pretty much everything I have read online has said that the Campbell book is the best way to prepare for the test. I'm planning on reading through all of it but since I am a bit limited on time I was looking to see what I should focus on. I will be sure to know plant biology and paleobiology. Thanks so much for the tips. Any other help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi guys, I'm going to be taking the GRE Biology Subject test this coming April and was wondering if anyone had any tips for taking it. Any particular strategies that worked well for you? I've heard that if you can narrow it down to 3 answers to make an educated guess, otherwise just skip the question. Thoughts? Any material I should focus on? Any material that I can gloss over? One specific question that I did have is how well should I know cellular respiration? I'm terrible at this particular subject and learning all the individual steps is taking me forever, time I feel that could be better spent studying other material. I'm thinking about just learning the main points and moving on. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Hi, I'm going to be taking the GRE Biology Subject test this coming April and was wondering if anyone had any tips for taking it. Any particular strategies that worked well for you? I've heard that if you can narrow it down to 3 answers to make an educated guess, otherwise just skip the question. Thoughts? Any material I should focus on? Any material that I can gloss over? One specific question that I did have is how well should I know cellular respiration? I'm terrible at this particular subject and learning all the individual steps is taking me forever, time I feel that could be better spent studying other material. I'm thinking about just learning the main points and moving on. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

Thanks for the advice. I apologize for my ignorance but what practice booklet might you be talking about? Is it the same as this one? https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/practice_book_biology.pdf I haven't received any practice booklet (that I know of) yet so I'm hoping the one above is the same.

Thanks for the responses. I already took the general GRE and did quite well on it actually (Magoosh was a life saver). I am applying for a biology program and unfortunately I was not a biology major in undergrad. Because of this, I need to take the biology subject GRE. I've heard it's a doozy as well and would have skipped it otherwise but two of the programs I'm applying to require it. Thanks for the help, going to go through the Campbell book as best I can. Pretty much everything I've read has said that it's the best way to prepare.

Hi guys and gals, So, I'm going to be taking the GRE Biology Subject test in April. I know everyone says not to take it if you don't have to but unfortunately, I need to. It seems that pretty much everyone recommends reading the Campbell Reece Biology textbook in preparation. My question is: which edition is best? Should I just try to get the most recent one? Or are they all pretty similar and should I just go for the cheapest? Some of the used one's can be had for under $5. Finally, any topics I should focus more heavily on? So far, I've just been reading through this outline/study guide of the Campbell Reece Biology book: http://www.course-notes.org/Biology/Outlines Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi guys and gals, What is the best way to study for the GRE Biology Subject test? Going to be taking it in April and would love to hear your thoughts/opinions. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi guys, Another post by me, last one I swear. So, one of the programs that I am applying to is located in an area that has a fairly high density of research and education institutions. When asked why I would like to apply to this particular program, one reason that I have given is that I am excited to collaborate with researchers in the surrounding area. Could this be misconstrued as offensive and something that I should leave out? The paragraph in question is below: "______ location in _____ has been another factor that has weighed heavily in my decision to apply. The program’s proximity to so many fantastic marine science research and education institutions provides numerous opportunities to advance my career in addition to the program at _____. If accepted, I look forward to collaborating with a broad range of people and developing some beneficial contacts throughout the research community in the _______ area." Do you think I should just drop this paragraph? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thanks for the input guys and gals, I agree with everything you have said. I decided to drop the statement and instead focused on the comprehensiveness of the thesis program/process at this school. Thanks for all the help!

I guess that the point I'm trying to get across is that since I would be one of the first students in Professor A's lab, he would be much more involved with my work when compared to a professor who is advising 8 different students already. Another one of my potential advisors (Professor C), for example, has specifically told me that he is very hands-off. He let's his students really do their own thing and only steps in if they need an extra push in the right direction. While I know that I would still do fine with Professor C, I would like the more individualized attention afforded by Professor A. Edit: Professor B kept making a smiley face, haha.

I completely agree that "lack of previous students" has a negative connotation. With that said, I would still like to try to incorporate that sentiment into my statement somehow. I feel that it lets the admissions committee know that I am familiar with Dr. Johnson and have a specific reason for picking him. I also feel that a statement along the lines of what you laid out is fairly generic and doesn't have that same specific "I know this professor well and know why he would be good for ME" feel to it. I do like the use of "accessibility" though. Maybe instead of "lack of previous students", I could say something like "fledgling lab"? I feel that that statement has less of a negative connotation. Or maybe you're right and I should just go with something similar to what you mentioned. Thoughts? Edit: Thanks for the help by the way! I really appreciate it.

I suppose what I meant was individualized attention. Thank you for helping me clarify that.

Hi guys, I was thinking about putting this excerpt in my statement, in the paragraph describing why I chose the professor that I did: "Additionally, I believe that Dr. _____'s lack of previous students along with his mentoring style will allow him to be much more involved with my work than the average advisor. This hands-on style of mentoring will compliment my learning style very well." Do you think I hurt myself by saying that I am more of a hands-on learner? I hope that this isn't misconstrued as me being "slow" and was wondering what you guys thought. Also, for whatever reason, saying a "lack of previous students" (I would be one of the first students in his lab) sounds a bit off to me. Thoughts? Any suggestions? Thanks guys.

Hi guys, I'm going to be submitting my applications tomorrow and was wondering if anyone would be willing to look over my personal statement. It's for a master's program in biology with an emphasis on marine biology. I would really, really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Hi guys, How important is the length of the personal statement? From what I've read, most guides have said to keep it to about a page. I talked to my prospective advisor though and he mentioned that I should talk about what I have done and what I hope to do. This makes me feel that this personal statement is more of a statement of purpose, which (from what I've read) are generally longer in length. What do you guys think? I think I'll try to keep it to at most 1,000 words but was curious what you guys thought. Is that still too long for a personal statement (that actually seems more like a SOP)? Thanks for the help!

It didn't really affect my grade. I dropped one of the courses before the drop deadline and the other two were hardship withdrawals (for personal problems). I ended up re-taking the courses and actually doing quite well in them. I thought that I should just mention it because if the admissions committee is looking at my transcript they're going to see symbols (W6 and HW) where my grades would normally be. I figured that might raise some questions so thought I should address it. If they don't look at my individual grades though, they'll never know (although I find this pretty unlikely).

Hey guys, So during my undergraduate career I dropped 3 courses. Is this something I should mention in my personal statement? I was going to write this: "My college career has not been trouble-free, though. In the autumn and winter quarters of my 2010-2011 year at the ______________, I withdrew from three of my courses. After some introspection, I refocused my efforts and with my newfound enthusiasm finished the remaining three quarters with an average GPA of 3.51 in all upper-division level courses within my major." I wouldn't dwell on it too long and I try to spin it positively at the end. Do you guys think I should put it in? If so, where? I've heard some guides say to put it right at the end but it feels like an odd placement to me. If I do put it in I was planning on putting it immediately after the paragraph where I discuss my senior project (the only paragraph where I talk about my undergraduate career), which is right in the middle of my paper. Thoughts? Finally, I was thinking about putting in the reason why I dropped my classes (loss of a close family member) but decided not to. Do you think I should? Thank you!

Hi guys, So I have been applying to Master's programs (marine biology/population ecology) and have a quick question. One of my potential advisor's is new to the school and does not have any graduate students in his lab yet. If I choose to go to this school, I would be one of his first students (he's accepting 3 students total). How big of a deal is this? Obviously, I would love to go work for a professor that is a big name and has a ton of students in his/her lab but right now, this is what I've got. I like him and the work that he does but am a little bit worried that I would be one of his first students. Is this a legitimate concern? I don't think he's a huge name in the field (although I don't really know who is and who isn't so he might be) but he has worked at some great institutions in the past. I feel that as long as I work my hardest and get some stuff published it shouldn't be a problem but I was curious to see what you guys thought. Thanks!

Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone could take a look at my statement of purpose? It will be for a master's program in marine biology. It's still a very rough draft but I was hoping I could get some feedback on it to help steer me in the right direction. How does it flow? Does it have a logical progression? Am I on the right track? What should I add? What could I remove? If you'd be willing to take a look at it, let me know and I can message it to you. Thanks so much!

Hi guys, So, first of all, I apologize for the wall of text. Just wanted to give you guys as much information as possible. Anyways, I'm going to be applying for a master's program coming up in the next few months and had a few questions on who to ask for my letters of recommendation. I have a few potential candidates and was curious what you guys thought. So, I have 4 people that I'm currently thinking about asking. The first is a professor that I was close with and had a number of classes with. I know she'll write me a good review so she's the only one that I’m dead set on asking. The next 3 people I’m not so sure about: 1) My current boss (I’ve been out of undergrad for a year). He’s in the same field that I’m interested in (fisheries/marine biology) although unfortunately does not have a PhD (he has two masters though). I know he will write me a great letter of rec; him and I get along really well and he seemed very willing to write me a letter when I tentatively asked him. 2) A former professor. I didn’t know him super well but I got a 3.8 in his class and did go to office hours from time to time. Liked his class a lot and might be focusing on a specific field (fisheries management) in grad school because of his class. He doesn't know that but I'm sure he would be enthused if I told him. Not sure if that'd influence how good his letter would be. He does have a PhD (and a master's) but is unfortunately a post-doc. If I do ask him, I think I'll try to see if his PI can co-sign it. The thing is, I've never even met his PI. 3) The final person(s) that I’m thinking about asking is a professor (has PhD) from a study abroad (field research) trip. I was originally going to ask the TA for that trip (I was a bit closer with her) but she only has her MS (and I heard asking someone with a MS for a letter of rec is a no-no). I think the professor would give me a good letter of rec because we did get along well and I did work hard but I don’t know how strong it would be (I can be a bit of a goofball and I think he mistook my casual attitude for not caring sometimes). I got a 3.1 in the course. One thing that I was thinking about doing was having the TA write it and then seeing if the professor would be willing to endorse it. What do you think? Who would you choose for my second and third LOR? Also, I have a semi-related question that I haven't been able to find the answer too. I can understand why applicants applying for a PhD program would want to have all of their letters of recommendation from PhD-holders...but if I'm going the master's route first, are letters of rec held to the same rigorous standards that PhD applicants are (i.e. they all need to be from PhD holders)? Or since I'm only getting a master's, is a letter from a post-doc more acceptable? Sorry if I worded that question weird, tried my best to be as clear as possible. Hopefully that makes sense but if not let me know and I can try to clarify. Any input would be greatly appreciated!. Thank you so much and I look forward to your replies!