Need advice from anyone who has self taught physics for MCAT

[phixius12345]

Hi all, I am planning to take my MCAT in Jan of 2015 before the new one comes out, but I have not taken physics yet and I have been teaching myself so far. I was wondering if anyone has self taught themselves physics and can provide some advice on the best methods for doing so. I currently have NOVAS physics book TBR and EK and I have been learning my content from there. I would really appreciate some advice on how you self taught physics and did well on the MCAT. For those who are going to offer the advice to take the class before the MCAT, I would, but I really want to take the old one, because of all the uncertainty with the new MCAT coming out. I would really appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[theparty]

it had been about 2 years since i took physics during my undergrad (having been a B+ student in them then), and i highly suggest TBR book and Chad's videos at coursesaver. i averaged an 11 on the AAMC FLs and got an 11 on the real thing via them.

 

[Gauss44]

Can you afford a tutor? If so, I would recommend having a tutor help you learn Examkrackers asap. Nova is an excellent book if time permits, but EK should come first. Try to find an EFFICIENT tutor and work hard.

 

[The Brown Knight]

Hi all, I am planning to take my MCAT in Jan of 2015 before the new one comes out, but I have not taken physics yet and I have been teaching myself so far. I was wondering if anyone has self taught themselves physics and can provide some advice on the best methods for doing so. I currently have NOVAS physics book TBR and EK and I have been learning my content from there. I would really appreciate some advice on how you self taught physics and did well on the MCAT. For those who are going to offer the advice to take the class before the MCAT, I would, but I really want to take the old one, because of all the uncertainty with the new MCAT coming out. I would really appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you!

You have a LOT of time for the Jan. test. I would actually recommend using the intro physics textbook they use at your school and the AAMC physics outline; it will give you more detailed explanations of main phenomena than any prep book (except TBR) ever could. A strong physics intuition goes a REALLY long way on the PS section. A good idea would pairing the chapter(s) you read in the textbook with the corresponding passages on TBR.

 

[deleted439911]

Heck even a good HS level physics textbook would do. Just make sure to really understand the concepts, calculations problems should be relatively straightforward. But you will have to invest some time into learning how to set some equations properly.

 

[Ironale]

I'm doing it right now and having success using educator.com's high school AP physics lecture and question course - it's more in depth than what I'm seeing in practice problems and passages. I will be supplementing with a tutor from my university as well. Khan academy also has a strong emphasis on intuition, though it's really lacking in any kind of application.

 

[phixius12345]

Thank you guys for all your input! So should I focus on learning from a physics school textbook? Or do you think I could learn from the EK TBR and NOVA books? Also, would anyone have any recommendations on how to self teach this while studying for the other sections of the MCAT? Should I put more focus on the physics? As in more days spent? Or just stick to a schedule and learn it while I study for the rest of the sections. Thanks a bunch guys!

 

[Ironale]

Thank you guys for all your input! So should I focus on learning from a physics school textbook? Or do you think I could learn from the EK TBR and NOVA books? Also, would anyone have any recommendations on how to self teach this while studying for the other sections of the MCAT? Should I put more focus on the physics? As in more days spent? Or just stick to a schedule and learn it while I study for the rest of the sections. Thanks a bunch guys!

I think textbook for extra problems and explanations - you can always find a worn to hell physics textbook somewhere for free - and the formal MCAT study books (I like Krackers personally....) for practice.

As far as time distribution.......a very wise friend of mine, after looking back on his own MCAT prep, advised me to not waste exorbitant amounts of time with Physics content and to just improve my score to good enough. Instead, spend more time and focus on the other two sections and make my money there.

 

[The Brown Knight]

Thank you guys for all your input! So should I focus on learning from a physics school textbook? Or do you think I could learn from the EK TBR and NOVA books? Also, would anyone have any recommendations on how to self teach this while studying for the other sections of the MCAT? Should I put more focus on the physics? As in more days spent? Or just stick to a schedule and learn it while I study for the rest of the sections. Thanks a bunch guys!

Get a textbook at your college or local library (online versions might also be floating around). Read a chapter every 1-2 weeks corresponding to the AAMC outline and more importantly TAKE NOTES - in these notes, write everything you remember without looking back IN YOUR OWN WORDS and then fill back on whatever you missed out. The most important thing from my experience (I'm not self-taught btw!) is to build a true intuition via two ways: 1) Equations and 2) Explanations. UNDERSTAND how an equation is derived. Then understand why it makes sense = explanations. Try to relate them to your own life/experiences - this is harder to do for electromagnetics, but in that case imagine yourself as a charge, current, etc. in an electric/magnetic field and so on. Of course this is idealistic, so at the minimum have succinct but well-explained notes for each chapter.
Once read, refresh everything by watching corresponding Khan academy video (use his actual physics series; MCAT ones are not that good). Then do TBR passages for that section.
Also, how much do you need to study for the other sciences? If you are on a summer break and have done prereqs for the other 3 subjects, do this: in the next 2 weeks, don't touch the physics at all; spend it reviewing everything for bio, GC, and OC using TPR (TPR is the MCAT Goldilocks - not too detailed but still 110% of details needed for MCAT) or TBR with some daily passage practice. That way, during the school year you only need to learn physics on the side and can simply do practice questions for the other 3 subjects along the way.

 

[phixius12345]

.

 

[phixius12345]

Get a textbook at your college or local library (online versions might also be floating around). Read a chapter every 1-2 weeks corresponding to the AAMC outline and more importantly TAKE NOTES - in these notes, write everything you remember without looking back IN YOUR OWN WORDS and then fill back on whatever you missed out. The most important thing from my experience (I'm not self-taught btw!) is to build a true intuition via two ways: 1) Equations and 2) Explanations. UNDERSTAND how an equation is derived. Then understand why it makes sense = explanations. Try to relate them to your own life/experiences - this is harder to do for electromagnetics, but in that case imagine yourself as a charge, current, etc. in an electric/magnetic field and so on. Of course this is idealistic, so at the minimum have succinct but well-explained notes for each chapter.
Once read, refresh everything by watching corresponding Khan academy video (use his actual physics series; MCAT ones are not that good). Then do TBR passages for that section.
Also, how much do you need to study for the other sciences? If you are on a summer break and have done prereqs for the other 3 subjects, do this: in the next 2 weeks, don't touch the physics at all; spend it reviewing everything for bio, GC, and OC using TPR (TPR is the MCAT Goldilocks - not too detailed but still 110% of details needed for MCAT) or TBR with some daily passage practice. That way, during the school year you only need to learn physics on the side and can simply do practice questions for the other 3 subjects along the way.

Thanks so much that sounds like a great plan! To be honest, my other subjects besides Ochem are really weak just because I haven't taken the classes in awhile. I got A's in all of them but I feel like I'm going to have to review a lot to get the info back in my mind. That's why I'm really nervous about deciding how much time to put into learning physics and how much time to put into the other subjects. I wanted to follow a strict schedule like SN2 but I don't know how much extra time it would take to just learn the physics content. As far as bio goes, I'm pretty much going to be just learning everything again from TPRs books. But I've heard that section is very minimally based on what you know and more on critical thinking but I'm not sure lol I just really hope I'll be ready by January for all of it XD

 

[karlat]

I took the MCAT in July without taking Physics II. The best way is to use prep books and textbooks. Once you've learned a chapter from the textbook, go to the prep book and see if you understand the MCAT questions.
I did this for many months. There were a few concepts no videos thoroughly taught me, but that's because I'm not so good at math. I made sure to memorize the formulas and how to manipulate them- so that's a must.
However, my PS score was terrible....which might have been bc of the chem section. This will be a tough thing to do, but just keep working till you get the harder concepts down!

 

[Ailleurs]

I recommend the physics text by giancoli. The chapters and topics are excellent. I know that it'ts a calculus-based textbook, but to be honest, that didn't affect my studying much. I used it in lieu of the physics text they used in both semesters of physics. It explains concepts really well. But I never used it for the end of the chapter problems. Having taken notes on the chapters themselves and working through the example problems, I ended up having a good grasp on most concepts. For those concepts I was still stuck on, I would do endless amount of problems from Schaum's Outlines (Physics). If I was really stuck on a topic, I'd go to Khan Academy.

My professor talked to us like we were grad students so I basically had to self-teach myself physics for the whole year. I'd say it was worth it as I got my As I find that my method helped me a lot when it came to studying for MCAT physics, which I am doing now.

 

[type12]

I recommend a top-down approach: try to learn broad strokes first, and then dive down into equations and details. If you approach it this way, the material becomes more digestible and less overwhelming.

You can learn Physics on your own, but to learn just the Physics on the MCAT is impossible. You need an instructor to guide you through and teach you what you need.

Introductory physics books are actually really good, but you don't have the time for them, frankly.