How to study sociology

[ieatshrimp24]

How would you guys recommend to someone who hasnt taken sociology classes to study for the psych/soc section on the MCAT?

I've only taken one sociology class and I dont think it really went over a lot of the basic concepts of sociology. Basically we read a bunch of articles and papers but didn't go over definitions to an extensive degree.

This question is mainly for those who've already taken the current MCAT and has been exposed to the types of questions, material, and difficulty of the sociology part of the test. Thanks!

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[deleted407021]

The sociology on the exam is really quite limited from what I see in my content review and practice exams. You should be fine to use review manuals like Exam Krackers. The most important concepts are community and group dynamics/development and inequality.

 

[FutureDrB]

How would you guys recommend to someone who hasnt taken sociology classes to study for the psych/soc section on the MCAT?

I've only taken one sociology class and I dont think it really went over a lot of the basic concepts of sociology. Basically we read a bunch of articles and papers but didn't go over definitions to an extensive degree.

This question is mainly for those who've already taken the current MCAT and has been exposed to the types of questions, material, and difficulty of the sociology part of the test. Thanks!

I haven't taken the MCAT yet, but I do have an undergraduate degree in Sociology and have reviewed quite a few MCAT practice problems.

You'll be fine as long as you can identify which sociologists came up with what theories. Same goes for psychology. There are only about six major sociologists and each have roughly three theories.

 

[daftypatty]

Would you guys say Psych/Sociology requires the least amount of devoted for this mcat? (relative to the other subjects)

 

[panda16]

Would you guys say Psych/Sociology requires the least amount of devoted for this mcat? (relative to the other subjects)

No no no no no. If you don't put in the effort to memorize the names and the theories and paradigms then you will NOT do well on the test.

 

[Avicenna]

Would you guys say Psych/Sociology requires the least amount of devoted for this mcat? (relative to the other subjects)

Yes, i got through that in a week of memorizing long lists of vocab

 

[daftypatty]

No no no no no. If you don't put in the effort to memorize the names and the theories and paradigms then you will NOT do well on the test.

Thanks, well I'm not expecting to not put time into it at all. It is just that I am a month into my mcat prep (my date is in sept) and I've only read a couple of chapters of TPR psych book, while I have finished the majority of the content review for bio/chem/physics/orgo/biochem.

Since it is more of a "memorization" heavy subject, I decided to leave this subject toward the end b/c I want to just hammer out the content in a short period of time.

With that being said, others, like the user above me, have said that they put in less time into the psych/sociology compared to the other subjects... Like I'm hearing a lot of people only spent a couple of weeks before the test to go hard at psych/sociology, which is why I thought it would require less time than the other subjects

 

[ieatshrimp24]

Thanks, well I'm not expecting to not put time into it at all. It is just that I am a month into my mcat prep (my date is in sept) and I've only read a couple of chapters of TPR psych book, while I have finished the majority of the content review for bio/chem/physics/orgo/biochem.

Since it is more of a "memorization" heavy subject, I decided to leave this subject toward the end b/c I want to just hammer out the content in a short period of time.

With that being said, others, like the user above me, have said that they put in less time into the psych/sociology compared to the other subjects... Like I'm hearing a lot of people only spent a couple of weeks before the test to go hard at psych/sociology, which is why I thought it would require less time than the other subjects

I guess my plan so far is to read the sociology sections of the TPR Psych/soc review book, watch Khan Academy videos on sociology, make flashcards, and study those flashcards every other day. And of course do passages. I also don't see sociology as more than straight memorization, unlike the other subjects. I just wanted to know if my notion that sociology isn't as integrative as other subjects, like biochemistry, is right or wrong.

 

[panda16]

Thanks, well I'm not expecting to not put time into it at all. It is just that I am a month into my mcat prep (my date is in sept) and I've only read a couple of chapters of TPR psych book, while I have finished the majority of the content review for bio/chem/physics/orgo/biochem.

Since it is more of a "memorization" heavy subject, I decided to leave this subject toward the end b/c I want to just hammer out the content in a short period of time.

With that being said, others, like the user above me, have said that they put in less time into the psych/sociology compared to the other subjects... Like I'm hearing a lot of people only spent a couple of weeks before the test to go hard at psych/sociology, which is why I thought it would require less time than the other subjects

Well I spent about as much time on Psych as the other sections and ended up with a 131 on the section at the end of the day, so I would say that it still pays to put the effort in!

 

[Alkaidius]

Don't forget this is content you'll be tested on after 5+ hours, too. It's something you want to understand cold, not something you want to search through your brain for because you will be tired. Psych/Soc was always my best section on FLs, but with my brain working in overdrive during the real thing I must've messed up pacing myself. It was my worst section by a large margin.

 

[EEtoPre-Med]

How did you all get better at the Psych/Soc section? My test date is August 6th. I feel as though all of the theories and concepts were pretty simple but the exams have been tougher. The critical analysis parts are difficult. Obviously more practice will help, but do I go back and review content heavy that I missed afterwards? I have the Kaplan set. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[TheAnonymous]

I understand it varies significantly from test-to-test and that this question has been addressed before, but I was hoping if anyone would like to comment here:

I was reading Princeton's Addendum for Sociology and it's bombarded with new terminologies. Are we expected to be able to know the definitions (i.e. recall the exact definitions) or being able to recognize the terms in the context will suffice?

 

[DanniD]

I understand it varies significantly from test-to-test and that this question has been addressed before, but I was hoping if anyone would like to comment here:

I was reading Princeton's Addendum for Sociology and it's bombarded with new terminologies. Are we expected to be able to know the definitions (i.e. recall the exact definitions) or being able to recognize the terms in the context will suffice?

I've done 50 passages from Khan, and there are a lot of times that you are required to know the terminologies to be able to eliminate answer choices.

 

[ieatshrimp24]

Are the psych/soc passages on Khan Academy well worth the time? TPR only has 60 psych/soc problems while KA currently has 92. I've only done 2 passages from KA and I've noticed there aren't any answer explanations.

 

[El-Rami]

You get hints when you do the questions. Once you answer a question right/wrong, you can still view the hints before moving on. If you exhaust all your hints for that question, you will have a full explanation for why a certain answer is correct.

 

[ElectricNoogie]

Too early to tell how detailed this new MCAT will be, but all feedback points to this section being among the more recall oriented on the new MCAT. Names, theories, paradigms and details are often referenced or asked for outright.

As with psych, when learning a sociology concept, learn a real-world example of the concept to help it stick. This is what helped me get through psych/neuro in MS II and crush it on my Step 1. Turn those abstract ideas into concrete examples and you will recall and recognize them better.

Good luck!

 

[mirablefreckles]

No no no no no. If you don't put in the effort to memorize the names and the theories and paradigms then you will NOT do well on the test.

how did you study for this section? what books did you use?

 

[ElectricNoogie]

how did you study for this section? what books did you use?

NextStep has a really good pair of books (1 content, 1 strategy & practice) dealing with the new psych/soc section. I would also recommend a nice, 101 level pysch textbook you can use as a reference as you study as this section is so new and it is unclear how deep into each area the AAMC will delve. I would also print out the AAMC content outline (available HERE )that lists all the topics in psych/soc that are fair game on test day.

Hope this helps. Good luck!