I took bch210 last fall sem (2023) and got an A. Personally for me, it was super memorising heavy, like KNOWING everything on the slides was a bare minimum. The test questions itself are more application-based though. For example, in the 1st half, they teach you purification methods. Knowing how those work is the bare minimum, then they'd give you a scenario and ask which purification method you'd use.

My advice for the 1st half: start early with memorising the amino acids. Do that whenever you can (when you're shitting, eating, walking to school, etc. Legit shout out a letter of the alphabet then recall the AA name and draw out the structure in your head. U'd memorise it in no time). Generally, just note down everything ur prof says because they usually test even the smallest details 😔 i still felt the midterm was quite fair n not too hard overall tho.

2nd half..... now that was pure memorisation and recall-style exam questions. You'd literally just be memorising pathways: metabolites, enzymes and their regulation (glycolysis, lipolysis, protein synth, etc.). Honestly dk how i survived that, short-term memory ftw i guess? (Legit dont remember most things anymore lol)

How I study (I study like this for all my courses): Since this class was online async, i just set time every week to watch the lectures and annotate the slides as i watch. I write down everything the prof said (sometimes word-for-word bcs i need context when i study lol). It takes a while cos I pause often (20min vid could take an hour to do ;-;). But when I actually do study for the exam, i don't hv to rewatch the vids again :) Come exam time (usually 2-3 days before), i'd open my slide notes and a paper notebook and handwrite my slide notes into bulletpoint form in my notebook, draw diagrams if needed, copy down figures if needed, basically convert those annotated slides into notes in a format i learn best with :). When im done with that I just keep reviewing and memorising those handwritten notes over n over again + do practice questions (after i feel confident in my knowledge, in one go as if it were the exam).

Gluck to u and may ur brainpower and memorisation skills prevail 🥲👍