I remember nothing from my previous science classes...am i screwed?

[AestheticGod]

Yep, ALMOST nothing.
It's been almost 2 years since my last chemistry class. I took organic chemistry last year, and i'm 100% fine in that course seeing i have made A's in both 1 and 2. But chemistry 1 &2 i did NOT do well in (B and a C), and it was taken almost 2 years ago, so i literally don't remember a single formula.

Should i go on course saver and just buy their video series and watch them all or grab a chemistry textbook and go through them?


Please tell me that the Mcat exam prep books are created in a 'We know you don't remember anything, so we're gonna teach you how to do this problem again" type fashion.

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[OneDayDoctor]

I felt the EXACT same way before starting my MCAT prep. Everything looked so vaguely familiar yet alien at the same time. But seriously, once you dive in and get refreshed even just a tad, you'll feel right where you left off (or better, sometimes!). Now, I'm not sure if this is the case in the courses you didn't do so well in. Just wanted to tell you that the feeling goes away quickly, and you'll be agonizing over problems for the right reason like good ol' times in no time at all

 

[yanks26dmb]

Yep, ALMOST nothing.
It's been almost 2 years since my last chemistry class. I took organic chemistry last year, and i'm 100% fine in that course seeing i have made A's in both 1 and 2. But chemistry 1 &2 i did NOT do well in (B and a C), and it was taken almost 2 years ago, so i literally don't remember a single formula.

Should i go on course saver and just buy their video series and watch them all or grab a chemistry textbook and go through them?


Please tell me that the Mcat exam prep books are created in a 'We know you don't remember anything, so we're gonna teach you how to do this problem again" type fashion.

I had taken my pre-reqs recently, so it was more fresh, but nonetheless, there were still things I didn't remember that I had just learned a year or so ago.

I bought course saver and honestly, it's been making such a difference. I think the combination of reading it and seeing/hearing it from someone who is actually a good teacher is making a big difference. I literally was lost on equilbrium and acid/base chemistry until I got course saver. I'm now doing significantly better with these type of questions...

 

[mrh125]

That's the way I started too. Don't worry and just hit the material hard, some of it will come back to you and there will also be a lot of it that wasn't covered in your courses and will be semi-new to you that you are expected to know on the mcat (for example my gen chem course barely touched on solubility and the mcat expects you to know a couple things about that. same goes for organic chemistry lab techniques which I didn't think of at all.)

 

[kk123]

Yep, ALMOST nothing.
It's been almost 2 years since my last chemistry class. I took organic chemistry last year, and i'm 100% fine in that course seeing i have made A's in both 1 and 2. But chemistry 1 &2 i did NOT do well in (B and a C), and it was taken almost 2 years ago, so i literally don't remember a single formula.

Should i go on course saver and just buy their video series and watch them all or grab a chemistry textbook and go through them?


Please tell me that the Mcat exam prep books are created in a 'We know you don't remember anything, so we're gonna teach you how to do this problem again" type fashion.

I'm in pretty much the same boat as you. I took my gen-chems 3 years ago and my ochems and physics about 1-2 years ago (didn't learn ANYTHING in my physics1 and ochem2 classes due to professors). I started out studying for the MCAT reading through content review in prep books, but nothing was sticking. Then, I subscribed to coursesaver and it made a HUGE difference! I feel like I was actually learning the concepts instead of just trying to memorize facts. The videos are very engaging, and I'm able to answer a lot more physics/chemistry questions correctly since watching the videos. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! The cost isn't bad either...much cheaper than Kaplan prep.

 

[Qester]

I'm a big fan of course saver, I hadn't taken a chemistry or physics in something like 7 or 8 years. Course saver was a great resource (although I also used many others) that helped me achieve a good score on the test

 

[yanks26dmb]

I'm a big fan of course saver, I hadn't taken a chemistry or physics in something like 7 or 8 years. Course saver was a great resource (although I also used many others) that helped me achieve a good score on the test

Mind sharing what other video resources you particularly liked?

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

You've got a bunch of folks recommending Chad's videos and I largely agree - the quality is good and the price-to-performance ratio is a hell of a lot better than many other prep options. I'd recommend, though, that you just check it out yourself. They make the first two or three videos available for free out of each set. So invest 3-4 hours watching all the free videos and then decide.

You should also take advantage of all the free resources out there: SDN itself has tons of good review, mcat-review.org, wikipedia, wikipremed, coursera, Khan Academy, etc. There's so much free content review out there these days that it's a wonder that the big national companies can still get away with charging thousands of dollars for their video review courses.

As others have said, the stuff will come back - slowly at first and then it'll get easier and easier. Just keep plugging away!

Good luck!

-Bryan

 

[AestheticGod]

Thanks for the recommendations and kind words everyone! I will definitely buy the coursesaver series than.
I HAVE used chads videos in the past and absolutly loved them, but i didn't think his MCAT prep videos would be good since it's just selected videos from his past videos from Chem, physics, and orgo. But than again, the mcat is just problems from those courses that we've taken in the past and nothing really new.

 

[AticusHolmes]

I had a very similar experience, but as you go into studying, I found a lot of the rust came off. I guess this is a word to those young people out there taking these courses now to pay attention and strive not just for the "A" on the transcript, but to really engage the material.