Should I take Genetics solely for the MCAT?

Genetics will only help you on the MCAT. As part of the changes to MCAT in 2003 (you can now get a 15 in VR, etc.) the AAMC also decided to replace some Organic Chemistry questions with questions on DNA and Genetics.
http://www.studentdoctor.net/boards/mcatchanges.asp
This URL is from an AAMC survey about what topics AAMC schools would like to see tested. Genetics came out first (see page 3). http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/research/monograph6.pdf
Best of luck.
PS. Screw your schedule! There's learning to be had. Well, maybe not, but if you weren't going to take genetics because it conflicts with a job I would have told you not to take it. But you don't want to take it because it will clash with MCAT study time? Boooo.

i know i may be in the minority here, but i think its beneficial to take as many upper-division biology courses that you can, including genetics of course. seriously, some of the passages on my test were so easy because they were testing stuff that i had learned in my UD bio classes.

also, genetics is very big on the mcat now, some questions indirectly relate to genetic material, so its very helpful to have taken a full class so you have all the important concepts down.

BrettBatchelor said:

Right. I understand there is a lot of genetics but was wondering if the class is needed or will independent study of the topics will be sufficient.

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Well, I say take it. You COULD learn it on your own. It's not much material. And most of the MCAT genetics is easy - AP biology easy. (If you have any sample tests available take a look. It's rudimentary stuff. Most of my genetics course in college was math intensive. And we didn't have any of that on the MCAT. That said, I don't know about your curriculum.) But it's a good course. It will reinforce other topics on the MCAT (molecular genetics, prokaryotic genetics, etc.) and it will look good on your application. Better than head of your school's log cabin republicans? You bet your sweet bippy. (And you love that bippy!)
On the other hand, genetics is after all the weed-out courses and the level of sexy compared to those intro courses definitely goes down. Something else to think about, I suppose.

I believe that taking genetics is beneficial if you do well in it, because it will help out your med school application. But I guess it's all up to you if it's not required for your degree. I pretty much HAD to take it.

My suggestion ... don't take it. If you are taking MCAT I would focus on that rather than trying to take another class. Genetics compared to MCAT really doesn't compare in terms of WEIGHT on your application. MCAT is a HELL of alot more important. Especially if you already have a full course loas

I had a similar dilemma with physio and opted (with consulting my advisor) NOT to take it this semester (I will take it later though) because the MCAT is more important.

If you want to learn it on your own, read your bio text and get some supplemental material at the library to review.

MCAT >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> genetics

BrettBatchelor said:

Taking genetics is highly encouraged amongst the SDN community. I can definitely see based upon the MCAT topics guide where an in depth study of the material could be useful. I have already taken cell biology upper level.
I have A's in all science courses so proving I can hack sciences isn't an issue.

However, due to various circumstances below I am debating not taking the class and putting extra time/focus on it during my prep.

Pros for taking Genetics:
Mandatory in depth study of the specific material
Everyone says it is useful for the MCAT.

Cons for taking genetics:
Not required for my degree
Poor fit with my schedule (breaks up my afternoon replacing possible clinical experience that I need. Also breaks up planned MCAT study.)
Not too interested in the material.

If I don't take, I can use the time that would have been taken up by this rigorous class to study for the MCAT on my own.

What is the verdict?

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Take it if Dr. Perlin teaches it. Don't waste your time if Cobbs. It does help with MCAT, imho.
Take biochemistry - the genetics part will be helpful as well as knowing vocabulary, etc. - Biochem Review or Metabolism is good enough.
Most of the biology will be from cell-molecular and physiology.

I did have 3 sections based on genetics for the MCAT, which surprised me.

To be honest, I would almost say the genetics lab helped me as much as the class. I don't know if genetics comes with a lab at your school. If you are not familiar with most of the biological lab techniques (and I was only vaguely) it would be worth it.

Most of the genetics on the MCAT, in my experience, is like the O-Chem, fairly basic, and is something you could master yourself. Know your pedigrees, know replication, transcription, translation cold, and have the basic terminology down, and you'll be okay. Definitely know the kinds of library and storage techniques and be able to answer questions about that.

Personally, I would encourage anyone to take genetics because I found it so ****ing cool. I really enjoyed seeing the foundation of life. Yeah- I know, geeky.

Good luck.

please excuse any spelling errors, feeling far too lazy tonight.

Don't do it just for the mcats. There is a list of biology topics that involve genetics. Learn them yourself. No need to take a whole semester course if you wouldn't otherwise.

If you already know all the molecuar stuff like replication, transcripton, etc.. then don't take it. I thought is was a boring class for the most part and it can also be hard if you don't work enough problems. If I ever have to calculate the probablity that someone who's father slept with his sister will have some weird disease with 80% penetrance given that the 1st 3 children are normal again I would throw up!

Don't mean to hijack, but ....

I'll be sitting the MCAT in April, and I was planning on taking an easy load to study (1 science class, 2 labs, a bunch of humanities), and taking genetics in summer. Is it better to take genetics while studying for the MCAT, or just focus on the MCAT instead of an entire genetics class?

Thanks.

Edit: Genetics is also a requirement for my major.

Basically, Will taking the course afford that much advantage when it comes to the MCAT than studying the same topics independently?

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No, especially since you've already had cell bio. It is a cool class, but for strictly mcat purposes you've already had a lot of it (in intro and cell) and can study the rest on your own.

Look ahead and take it for med school, ESPECIALLY if you can find a course with a good instructor.

Once you get into med school, they are probably going to race through genetics at a pace you wouldn't believe, and the teaching is likely to be crappy. The people in my class who had never had genetics before were not very happy. When med school faculty teach about disease, there is often an enormous emphasis on mol bio and genetics, in ways that you would never have expected. You want to be able to read a pedigree without even thinking about it; you want to have great facility in Hardy-Weinberg calculations and related stuff. And it's all going to show up on the boards after second year.

Genetics/mol bio was the single most valuable course I took in the year before med school. It helped enormously on the MCAT (lab was very useful too; I got a 14 in BS with just first-year cell bio and first-year genetics), and it has helped in most courses in med school.

I see no way any biology class other than general biology would have helped on the MCATs. The BS section is mostly logic and reading comprehension. Everything you need to know can be found in the Examkracker's bio book. Taking a genetics class just for the mcats is crazy. BTW, I scored a 14 on the august exam. My form had <10 orgo questions and was mostly genetics & microbiology. If you're going to take an extra course, take a tough lab course.

I'd recommend taking ALL the bio classes you can take before taking the exam. I'm an electrical engineering major so I lacked many of the classes that bio majors take. I took physio, genetics, intro bio, and biochem and ended up getting a 12 on the PS section. However, I strongly feel that if I took upper division classes or if I was a bio major who has be exposed to all the crazy bio terminology then I would have done much better. So, take as many bio classes you can take, specifically more upper division classes.

Will Ferrell said:

I see no way any biology class other than general biology would have helped on the MCATs. The BS section is mostly logic and reading comprehension. Everything you need to know can be found in the Examkracker's bio book. Taking a genetics class just for the mcats is crazy. BTW, I scored a 14 on the august exam. My form had <10 orgo questions and was mostly genetics & microbiology. If you're going to take an extra course, take a tough lab course.

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Hi there,

Did you yourself take genetics? Congrats on the 14, btw.

My genetics class spent little time with Mendelein genetics (except 2 of the 4 labs are the fruit flies, which deal with Mendelein inheritance), and the rest of the class is more genetic recombination, expression, etc. From what I've seen of sample MCATs and the Kaplan, EK, and TPR guides, there isn't much of that, but I'll bet there will be in med school!

So MCAT genetics is all Mendelian stuff?

Heck if I know! I'm taking it more for med school prep, like my last post said.

Edit here... sorry, I missed what you were saying in your post.

I haven't taken the MCAT, so I can't comment as to what's on the MCAT. I didn't see much along the lines of genetic recombination or expression in the MATERIALS that I have perused to this POINT. I have seen information about heredity (which is more in line with Mendelian genetics). I'm sure I will talk about this later when I start studying for the MCAT, but I wouldn't think there would be any questions in-depth about things other than transcription/translation, heredity, DNA/RNA composition, mitosis, and meiosis, which are all covered in general biology. Anything more specific would be covered in an advanced course (i.e. Genetics) and is not a pre-req for the MCAT. The advanced course does solidify everything and demonstrate its purpose in medicine, and lets you visualize it better.

But, I'll be taking it on the computer, and who knows what else has changed since then.

Sicilian said:

Hi there,

Did you yourself take genetics? Congrats on the 14, btw.

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nope, my only biology courses were general biology I+II from freshman year. So few of the questions were based on knowledge (all covered in EK bio) and those were gimme points. If you understand how and why experiments are set up, then you'll be in great shape. The hardest questions all dealt with the reasoning behind lab experiments and analyzing the results rather than straight out the book biology.

thanks!

screw genetics... if you took molecular and cell you are set!

Although I, generally, think genetics is an excellent MCAT prep course, it's neither necessary, nor a particlarly good fit, for yourself. It's helpful, mostly, because of the molecular aspects. The pedigree analysis & Mendelian ratios are pretty easy.
Maybe you should take a practice MCAT to assess where you stand. Although, I think for most people genetics is a great idea, I suspect the OP maybe should take the El Paso.

Yeah, if it came down to choosing Genetics or A&P, I'd go with A&P. You could always take genetics after you take the MCAT (while you are applying/interviewing). It's an interesting course, and for me, pretty easy to follow during a busy semester.