Hi all.
I am a non-trad and would like to take the MCAT eventually for admission into a GMS. My training is in the humanities, and though I have studied Physics and Chemistry in high school, I have not attended any science courses in college.
Would anyone has any suggestions on how I could start preparing for MCAT on my own, given that I am currently working and cannot attend college, and that there are possibly no MCAT prep-courses where I live.

1) Would anyone strongly suggest that I defer taking MCAT until I have done a course in Chem,Phy,Bio,OChem in college before preparing for MCAT?

2) Is 35+ too difficult for someone without a science background, and if not so, are there special strategies for getting the almost impossibly high score?

3) I have looked at the syllabus on the mcat interpretativie manual PDF found at the AMMC official website. Am I looking at the right place for the latest syallabus covered in MCAT? Does anyone know if the syllabus is covered in Cambridge's GCSE 'A' levels syllabus?

4) Are there any reputed material for learning the syllabus covered in MCAT, for people like me who have no training in any of the 4 sciences in college.
I.e. any good textbooks with coverage and depth geared for specifically for MCAT?

5) Is it correct to consider Kplan, PR, and most other popular material -- MCAT practice material, to be used only after I have studied the 4 sciences?

Thank You

Hi all.
I am a non-trad and would like to take the MCAT eventually for admission into a GMS. My training is in the humanities, and though I have studied Physics and Chemistry in high school, I have not attended any science courses in college.
Would anyone has any suggestions on how I could start preparing for MCAT on my own, given that I am currently working and cannot attend college, and that there are possibly no MCAT prep-courses where I live.

1) Would anyone strongly suggest that I defer taking MCAT until I have done a course in Chem,Phy,Bio,OChem in college before preparing for MCAT?

2) Is 35+ too difficult for someone without a science background, and if not so, are there special strategies for getting the almost impossibly high score?

3) I have looked at the syllabus on the mcat interpretativie manual PDF found at the AMMC official website. Am I looking at the right place for the latest syallabus covered in MCAT? Does anyone know if the syllabus is covered in Cambridge's GCSE 'A' levels syllabus?

4) Are there any reputed material for learning the syllabus covered in MCAT, for people like me who have no training in any of the 4 sciences in college.
I.e. any good textbooks with coverage and depth geared for specifically for MCAT?

5) Is it correct to consider Kplan, PR, and most other popular material -- MCAT practice material, to be used only after I have studied the 4 sciences?

Thank You

As a nonTrad myself, I would discourage you from taking the MCAT in your position.

MCAT prep courses are just that, prep courses, they do not provide the foundation you need in order to successfully understand the questions on the MCAT. In addition, you may want to contact the GMS program office to see if you can apply without the college level science that is required for the MCAT.

My suggestion to you is this:

1) Checkout oldpremeds.com. This is the National Society for NonTraditional PreMedical and Medical Students. You will find gobs of information specifically for you there. As a note, I am the Vice President elect of the group so I know what I am talking about.

2) Make a realistic plan. Taking the MCAT without the college level science courses is not realistic. High School science does not come close to covereing the basic material needed.

3) See if you can come to the conference in June, there will be representatives from kaplan, tpr, several medical schools, and Georgetown SMP that you can talk to.

http://www.oldpremeds.org/ubbthreads/userfiles/38027-Final%202006%20OPM.pdf

If you have anymore question, feel free to PM me.

Definitely wait on taking the MCAT!!

Not only would you be in a better position in terms of material if you take the MCAT after taking the prerequisite classes (it's not an easy test, in fact in recent years *no one* has gotten the top score), but many schools won't even consider an MCAT that is more than 2-3 years old and so your MCAT score would likely be invalid by the time you've done all the prereqs and are actually applying to med school! If you're starting from scratch, doing something like a postbacc can take up to two years full-time and you'd be pushing the time limit. Good luck!

Definitely wait on taking the MCAT!!

Couldn't have said it any better myself. OP, non-trads like us are statistically the LOWEST-performing MCAT-takers. (You can see the breakdown for yourself at www.aamc.org ) That being said, there are some age 30+ people here who pulled some amazing scores, but they are the exception that proves the rule. You should absolutely NOT even think of taking the MCAT before completing the pre-reqs and at a minimum taking several full-length practice exams. (In your case, these should be done on the computer, since you'll be taking the CBT.) Along with the other great suggestions that EMT2ER gave you, we also have a subforum for MCAT advice here on SDN. There are several threads with info and advice (the stickied explanations threads) as well as other threads for students to ask questions. If you don't find what you're looking for there, let us know and we'll try to help. :)

Thank you all for the prompt replies!

I forgot to mention that I do not live in the US, hence unfortunately I cannot attend any of the conferences though I would very much liked to. The GMS I mentioned is a co-operative between the local university and a medical school in the US.

Next, would it be realistic to think that my timeline for getting a MD is like about 6-8 years, i.e. 2-4years to prepare for MCAT from scratch, and 4 years GMS? What about students who apply to go into medical college straight after high school? They would not have sat for MCAT, right? Their course would be a 6 years course, which is 2 years shorter?

Finally, does anyone have any idea how relevant or adequate UK Cambridge 'A' levels sciences are for MCAT? We follow the UK system and do 'A' levels for high school in my country.

Best Regards and thanks in advance. :)

Thank you all for the prompt replies!

I forgot to mention that I do not live in the US, hence unfortunately I cannot attend any of the conferences though I would very much liked to. The GMS I mentioned is a co-operative between the local university and a medical school in the US.

Next, would it be realistic to think that my timeline for getting a MD is like about 6-8 years, i.e. 2-4years to prepare for MCAT from scratch, and 4 years GMS? What about students who apply to go into medical college straight after high school? They would not have sat for MCAT, right? Their course would be a 6 years course, which is 2 years shorter?

Finally, does anyone have any idea how relevant or adequate UK Cambridge 'A' levels sciences are for MCAT? We follow the UK system and do 'A' levels for high school in my country.

Best Regards and thanks in advance. :)


Students in the U.S. do not attend medical school straight out of high school. Most (~97%) have a 4-year bachelor's degree. The remainder are in special programs that they applied for in high school that allow them to reduce the amount of time spent in undergrad. Many of these special programs still require the students to take the MCAT.

Unfortunately I don't know much about the way things work in the UK... you might try asking in the international forums.

Good luck! :luck: