Taking MCAT Without Science Background

[Mark Duddridge]

Hey Everybody,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on taking the MCAT without a science background.

A bit about me...

I graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor's of Commerce honours degree in 2005. Non of the courses I took to earn my degree were science based. That said, my verbal and critical thinking skills are quite good, and I graduated with the highest GPA in the faculty.

I am now considering taking the MCAT, but I have no science background to build on in preparing for the test. So... two questions.

1. Is it possible to score high on the MCAT when the last science course you took was in high school?

2. What is the best way for a person in this situation (me!) to proceed in preparing for the MCAT?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark

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[bravesfan113]

don't you need to take the prereq's before you apply to med school?

 

[physics junkie]

Hey Everybody,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on taking the MCAT without a science background.

A bit about me...

I graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor's of Commerce honours degree in 2005. Non of the courses I took to earn my degree were science based. That said, my verbal and critical thinking skills are quite good, and I graduated with the highest GPA in the faculty.

I am now considering taking the MCAT, but I have no science background to build on in preparing for the test. So... two questions.

1. Is it possible to score high on the MCAT when the last science course you took was in high school?

2. What is the best way for a person in this situation (me!) to proceed in preparing for the MCAT?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark

1.) To put it bluntly, no.
2.) Why are you even thinking of taking the MCAT if you don't have your science prereqs done? Maybe you don't know that you need to have completed certain courses to prepare for medical school? You need 1.5 years of bio, 2.5 years of chem, and a year of physics just to fit the minimum requirements to apply.

 

[Decicco]

Hi Mark,
the MCAT is the Medical College Admissions Test (just making sure you're not lost).

 

[mterp45]

Hey Everybody,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on taking the MCAT without a science background.

A bit about me...

I graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor's of Commerce honours degree in 2005. Non of the courses I took to earn my degree were science based. That said, my verbal and critical thinking skills are quite good, and I graduated with the highest GPA in the faculty.

I am now considering taking the MCAT, but I have no science background to build on in preparing for the test. So... two questions.

1. Is it possible to score high on the MCAT when the last science course you took was in high school?

2. What is the best way for a person in this situation (me!) to proceed in preparing for the MCAT?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark

Pay your dues, there is no shortcut when it comes to this process.

 

[bioteach]

Have you done any research at all to see what is tested on the MCAT?

1. Is it possible to score high on the MCAT when the last science course you took was in high school?

No.

2. What is the best way for a person in this situation (me!) to proceed in preparing for the MCAT?

Take BIO I, BIO II, CHEM I, CHEM II, ORGANIC CHEM I, ORGANIC CHEM II, PHYSICS I and PHYSICS II.

 

[chilon09]

..........

 

[BloodySurgeon]

[deleted]

 

[ShanShan]

Hey Mark! I'm currently at the university of manitoba so maybe I can be more of a help to you. Assuming you're also interested in medicine at the U of M, they don't care what degree you have as long as you have a decent MCAT score, a fairly high aGPA, and the prerequisites. My friend is in the school of music right now and is planning to write the MCAT this summer.

I'll start with the prerequisites at U of M. You need Biochem 1 + 2, and a written course (which i assume you already possess because you already have an undergrad degree). There are courses you need before you can take biochem so I'll list them out to you right now:
BIOL 1020, BIOL 1030, CHEM 1300, CHEM 1310, and CHEM 2210. This will probably take two years as you can't take CHEM 2210 (which is organic chemistry) until you have taken CHEM 1310.
There are two types of biochemistry courses you can take. A service biochemistry course (which is the easier multiple choice one) and the actual biochemistry course the medicine faculty will recognize. That's CHEM/MBIO 2360 and CHEM/MBIO 2370. What I mean by CHEM/MBIO is that you can take it under the department of chemistry of the department of microbiology. It doesn't really matter which one you choose because it's still the same class, same lab, and same exam.

As for the MCAT itself, I think anyone can write the MCAT as long they put the work into it. I happen to stumble across this review when I was browsing for MCAT study materials.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R3224AEUC9X2VK/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R3224AEUC9X2VK

 

[Just Joshin]

I think you assume the science classes are only for the test when in fact, you can't get into medical school without taking them. They're pre-requisites to be a first-year med student. Actually, they're pre-requisites for the application because it's your grades in the sciences that med schools use to determine whether or not to accept you.

You have to take a year of bio, a year of inorganic chem, a year of organic chem, and a year of physics before you can apply for medical school. If you take these after you take the MCAT, your MCAT score might expire so why wouldn't you take them before you take the MCAT?

 

[phenomalove]

Dude, it's cool, you need absolutely no college-level science courses to prepare you for the MCAT! Good luck, and let me know how you do.

 

[DrPalindrome]

Hey Everybody,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on taking the MCAT without a science background.

A bit about me...

I graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor's of Commerce honours degree in 2005. Non of the courses I took to earn my degree were science based. That said, my verbal and critical thinking skills are quite good, and I graduated with the highest GPA in the faculty.

I am now considering taking the MCAT, but I have no science background to build on in preparing for the test. So... two questions.

1. Is it possible to score high on the MCAT when the last science course you took was in high school?

2. What is the best way for a person in this situation (me!) to proceed in preparing for the MCAT?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Mark

Having a science background is completely unnecessary for the mcat...that is only if you want to be D.O.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

don't forget the Caribbean

 

[bioteach]

Having a science background is completely unnecessary for the mcat...that is only if you want to be D.O.

Only an insecure jacka$$ would feel the need to make sure a stupid (and highly inappropriate) comment and think it was humor. If you ever get into medical school I hope you grow up before becoming one of my colleagues.

 

[physics junkie]

Only an insecure jacka$$ would feel the need to make sure a stupid (and highly inappropriate) comment and think it was humor. If you ever get into medical school I hope you grow up before becoming one of my colleagues.

I think you're reading a bit too much into this.

 

[Live4Life]

While most of the posters here said that if you don't care the pre-req courses first, you don't stand a shot at doing well, it is not necessarily true. I hadn't taken Organic Chem I & II nor Physics II and I took the MCAT and got a high enough score to be accepted. I did however self-teach myself enough physics and orgo over a two month period to be able to comprehend the concepts being tested on the MCAT. If you have discipline and are capable of learning sciences on your own, then you might want to give it a shot. However, don't blame me if you don't do well.

 

[mterp45]

Having a science background is completely unnecessary for the mcat...that is only if you want to be D.O.

completely inappropriate.

 

[bioteach]

I think you're reading a bit too much into this.

I'm supposed to just laugh off the fact that this guy is degrading my future degree because s/he thinks s/he's making a funny?

It was an asinine comment to make, considering a very large chunk of the people on this board will be/are applying to DO schools. Not to mention the fact that all of the MD students will eventually be working alongside physicians with the DO degree. As equals.

 

[Nevadanteater]

Could be done.

Would be a lot of work.

But deffo could be done. I reckon with about 6-12 months (YMMV) of hardcore studying you could learn what needs to be learned.

Get some prep books and get cramming.

 

[Begaster]

If you're a motivated learner, it's doable. You'll have to spend hundreds of hours studying, though. Take the Princeton Review class.

 

[SN2ed]

It can be done with intense studying, however, it's not worth it. You still have pre-reqs you MUST take which will take 2-3 years to complete. MCAT scores are only good for about 3 years, so you will likely cut it too close. I suggest volunteering at a hospital, shadowing a doctor, and looking more in-depth into the medical field before doing anything else. It doesn't sound like you know much about the medical field. Hence, get more familiar with it and see if you really want to go for it.

 

[physics junkie]

I'm supposed to just laugh off the fact that this guy is degrading my future degree because s/he thinks s/he's making a funny?

It was an asinine comment to make, considering a very large chunk of the people on this board will be/are applying to DO schools. Not to mention the fact that all of the MD students will eventually be working alongside physicians with the DO degree. As equals.

Of course the comment was asinine(as was the original post). I didn't take it as degrading. I just took it as him making fun of the original poster wanting to go to MD school without any prereqs. I've made plenty of jokes in that format(not with that content) so I didn't take it as him intending to be offensive. Btw, degrading your future degree? Taking offense from someone who is not in medical school degrading something that you're not is a bit over the top.

 

[bioteach]

Taking offense from someone who is not in medical school degrading something that you're not is a bit over the top.

Well we can agree to disagree on that point.

I call it as I see it and that was an insulting statement. However, if I called out every asinine statement on SDN I suppose I'd be posting in just about every thread at some point. This guy just chose to be an a$$ on the wrong day.

 

[Vihsadas]

Alright guys...Just let it be and keep the thread on topic.


To the OP:
The MCAT does require that you have taken the prerequisite science courses. Your major is not important, but you will have a hard time doing well if you haven't had the freshmen science courses. If you are interested in becoming a practitioner you'll need those classes anyway so it's win, win! (sort of). Good luck.

 

[BassPlease]

I often joke with my boyfriend (an accounting/finance major) that he would do better than me if he took the MCAT, and I totally believe it.

He just has the brain to learn information (such as from test books) and commit it to memory. I don't know how he does it. On top of it he is an excellent test taker. I think that he would be able to read any passage (especially those about physics) and just have the brain to extract the exact amount of information needed to answer a good amount of the questions correct. I think that if he took a month with the books and sat the MCAT he would get 30+ and he hasn't taken a science class since high school.

That being said, of course, there are prerequesites that are necessary to apply to medical school, but none of that would technically keep you from actually taking the exam.

-BP

 

[Zappel]

While most of the posters here said that if you don't care the pre-req courses first, you don't stand a shot at doing well, it is not necessarily true. I hadn't taken Organic Chem I & II nor Physics II and I took the MCAT and got a high enough score to be accepted. I did however self-teach myself enough physics and orgo over a two month period to be able to comprehend the concepts being tested on the MCAT. If you have discipline and are capable of learning sciences on your own, then you might want to give it a shot. However, don't blame me if you don't do well.

Hey,

I'm preparing for the mcat on my own, with no organic chemistry background. Your post inspired me! Could I find out what books you used to self-teach yourself the science? I have 4 months to prepare...

 

[LikeClockWork]

I hate it when people create threads like this and then are never heard from again.

 

[majik1213]

Hi Mark,
the MCAT is the Medical College Admissions Test (just making sure you're not lost).

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I hate it when people create threads like this and then are never heard from again.

And given all of the positive, well-thought, helpful advice people gave the OP in this thread, you'd think they'd have come back.

As far as taking the MCAT on only high school science courses, there is perhaps 1% of the premed population that could pull it off and get a decent score. It's definitely risky to try to learn all of science from review materials. But, I do know a good number of students who learned at least one subject that way.

 

[paranoid_eyes]

I'm supposed to just laugh off the fact that this guy is degrading my future degree because s/he thinks s/he's making a funny?

It was an asinine comment to make, considering a very large chunk of the people on this board will be/are applying to DO schools. Not to mention the fact that all of the MD students will eventually be working alongside physicians with the DO degree. As equals.

i agree. in the good 'ole days, i would take pleasure in stoning him/her