30+ MCAT w/o pre-requisites??

[medhacker]

Do you believe it is possible for someone well trained in "taking MCATS" to score a 30+ without actually having taking the pre-requisite courses?

After reading the testimonies of many recent test-takers I've began to wonder if a person who becomes proficient in the art of MCAT type questions could actually get a good score on it without having taken the actual courses. What do you think?

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[Sicilian]

I would say no. But you need not study specifically for the MCAT to do well on it. Take for example an engineer with a strong grasp of chem & physics, who's also good at verbal. 13, 13, and a 5 for BS adds up to a 31. Pretty good stuff.

 

[medhacker]

Bump

 

[medhacker]

Totally. Take for example an engineer with a strong grasp of chem & physics, who's also good at verbal. 13, 13, and a 5 for BS adds up to a 31. Pretty good stuff.

I guess that would be one type of case.

 

[medhacker]

I would say no. But you need not study specifically for the MCAT to do well on it. Take for example an engineer with a strong grasp of chem & physics, who's also good at verbal. 13, 13, and a 5 for BS adds up to a 31. Pretty good stuff.

Sicilian

I kind of take that back since I have read of a bunch of people who considered themselves above average in the actual pre-reqs took prep-courses, other bought materials yet felt their scores did not reflect how much they knew. So I am wondering if with little background someone could learn to get the answers from those passages and yet score a decent score in all sections.

 

[Sicilian]

Sicilian

I kind of take that back since I have read of a bunch of people who considered themselves above average in the actual pre-reqs took prep-courses, other bought materials yet felt their scores did not reflect how much they knew. So I am wondering if with little background someone could learn to get the answers from those passages and yet score a decent score in all sections.

I think you responded to my post there before i edited it, lol. My bad. Lets see... the MCAT is a conceptual test, as you know. If you could just plug numbers in and everything worked out, then there would be nothing to it, right? On the other hand, if it was a common sense test, you could also phase it out with virtually no effort. Clearly its not either of these. The majority of questions actually require you to think a bit. I say a bit because you have approximately 1-2 min/question. I have a gut feeling it comes down to seeing the little tricks. You know... the little intermediate detail that takes you from step A to step C. With clear-cut questions, you do the same thing, only you do it so fast, step B seems practically invisible. At least this is my theory, based on experience with conceputal questions. They're not difficult (no drawn-out mathematical calculations); they just require you to make that one connection, and then bingo! But I've also found that these kinds of questions require you have a pretty solid grasp of the fundamentals.

 

[leviathan]

Do you believe it is possible for someone well trained in "taking MCATS" to score a 30+ without actually having taking the pre-requisite courses?

After reading the testimonies of many recent test-takers I've began to wonder if a person who becomes proficient in the art of MCAT type questions could actually get a good score on it without having taken the actual courses. What do you think?

I received an 11 in the Bio section for this Aug 2005 exam, and I hadn't taken an organic chemistry course. I'd say it's possible, but without pre-req courses it will be a lot more difficult.

 

[mrhealth]

I received an 11 in the Bio section for this Aug 2005 exam, and I hadn't taken an organic chemistry course. I'd say it's possible, but without pre-req courses it will be a lot more difficult.

i got a 10 on the BS section and havent taken general bio in college yet (i was an econ major). scored a 31 overall

 

[medhacker]

Bump

 

[Wertt]

I am clinically deficient in Organic Chemistry due to a genetic predisposition to being crappy at drawing resonance structures, but I dodged a bullet by having I think 2 orgo passages and slid out with a 13 - so it really can depend on your form if you have specific areas you are crappy in.

 

[Mister Pie]

You don't physically need to take the prereqs to do well but you really need to review them on your own if you don't take them. It depends on what section though.

For PS I'd highly, highly recommend taking the prereqs, unless you are like Maxwell Jr and have the ability to derive the laws of E&M by yourself on the test.

For BS, I'd say you might be okay if you don't have everything down because the BS is closer to verbal reasoning.

 

[mshheaddoc]

also think it depends on the luck of the draw for what form you get too

 

[osli]

Definitely possible. In my case a high VR balanced out an average BS and PS for a 30. I have yet to take any college level organic chemistry or biology/zoology/micro/biochem/genetics/anatomy courses.

Biology passages are definitely related to VR, and if you are decently read in science journals/books you can do well on the biology passages. I studied organic on my own to prepare, but it had been 10 years since I had general chemistry and nothing really made much sense (that chem also hurt my PS score... physics is a strong suit). I tried to memorize reactions, products, names etc. but about the only thing I actually learned well was the IUPAC system... and didn't have any of that on my form.

FWIW, I did a lot better in AAMC practice tests on BS and PS (especially PS) than I did on the August MCAT. VR has been very consistent on all practice tests and the MCAT.





But to answer what I think the intention of the question was... I don't think any but the most genius could score 30+ on the MCAT without at least studying the subject material. I don't think you could only study "test taking tips and shortcuts" type of stuff, ignore the actual science subjects, and do that well. Even with a 15VR you'd have to score 7/8 on the sciences... that's getting well over half of the questions correct. Possible for the biology if someone has a great memory from high school and is excellent in VR, but IMO not for the physical sciences. That stuff you just have to learn. Not even Newton would have enough time to derive equations from scratch on the MCAT as needed... you have to know them going in. Not for every passage, but for enough to make a good score unlikely.

A true genius... possible. Maybe. But you'd probably find that they had learned/read/studied physics, chem, and biology on their own time and in their own way at some point in their life.

 

[Sicilian]

Seems like what I said in post #2 still stands. A lot of ppl are saying they were deficient when it came to bio, but PS balanced it out. Verbal, of course, is anyone's game. You don't go to college to learn that.