I am thinking of taking the MCAT this spring or summer. Unfortunately I have not had physics since high-school (10 yrs ago) and did not take O-chemII in college. I am thinking of doing the online kaplan and studying on my own. What do you think? Do I absolutely need to take physics prior to the test?
MCAT aside, high school physics doesn't cover you for med school admissions. There are some exceptions, but even if you got AP credit for high school science coursework, you have to take all the prereqs, with labs, in college.
If there's one big fat mistake to avoid here, it's to avoid thinking that you can skip hoops because they're not important/interesting/relevant to you. Part of the admissions process is proving that you're a good hoop-jumper.
Regardless, you can get some immediate feedback on whether you're ready to take the MCAT by taking a free online practice test at
www.e-mcat.com. This should be an eye opener. Two specific things to look for:
1. Your verbal score on a practice test is the most interesting number. Verbal is the hardest number to improve on, and it's most indicative of what's going to happen in the science sections after you're done with test prep.
2. If you see content on a practice test that you've never seen before, such as radiowaves or light refraction or mass spectrometry, etc, then taking a prep course is not the next thing to do. You need to learn the material by taking the classes. Good prep is
review.
Best of luck to you.