Are the required pre-med courses enough for preparation?

[Jonnyss]

As a non traditional student and a non science major, will just taking the required pre-med courses be sufficient enough to make you well prepared for the MCATs or would studying a science major such as biology help you more with doing well in the MCATs?

Can you also name some other courses that would help in preparation for the MCAT's that are not required by med schools

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[docelh]

The pre-reqs give you a solid foundation with which to work. I'm not sure you need to be a Biology major, but taking some upper-level courses like Genetics can help. Content-wise, the courses will never cover everything in the MCAT. You have to do extra content-review on your own using the prep books.

Content is only part of the battle with the MCAT. MCAT is a unique test that integrates knowledge with interpretation and analytical abilities. The other major half is doing passages under timed conditions while maintaining your stamina.

 

[Chip N Sawbones]

Basically all of the content for the MCAT will be found in the textbooks for the prerequisite classes. Whether or not it gets taught and whether or not you learn it is different. I had to learn about two chapters of biology and a chapter of chemistry on my own because in class we skipped over those sections. In general chemistry we were allowed to bring an index card of notes to exams and I got really good at writing small. It helped me get good grades, but I never really learned a lot of the material because I could just write it down. Of course, there was plenty of stuff that I'd learned in class but then forgotten and had to re-learn. Memorizing formulas was another headache. You will need to have all of your physics formulas and constants memorized, even the useless ones like gravitational attraction. I only memorized most of them, and I know it cost me a full point in the PS section. Like docelh said, the MCAT is a unique test and you will need to spend lots of time taking practice tests, and then reviewing the material on all the questions you missed. Don't forget the reading section, which won't be covered in any science class. That one's entirely up to you to study for.

 

[Jonnyss]

Will taking extra courses that aren't required pre med courses help?
I've heard genetics and cell biology will help, what about neuroscience?

 

[Law2Doc]

As a non traditional student and a non science major, will just taking the required pre-med courses be sufficient enough to make you well prepared for the MCATs or would studying a science major such as biology help you more with doing well in the MCATs?

Can you also name some other courses that would help in preparation for the MCAT's that are not required by med schools

The prereqs are plenty. You wont even use them in med school, but they do serve as a basis for admissions. Med school teaches you all you need to know and then some. Any advantage people 'claim" to have from other courses is greatly exaggerated. As with any group there will be some who do well and claim that their path was the right one, and an equivalent number of people who took the exact same courses and didn't do as well, and don't really brag about it. So you get a skewed perspective on SDN. Take it from those of us who just did the prereqs, that is enough of a starting point.

If I had to list one additional course that would have been helpful as a premed, I'd say take Spanish.

 

[Jonnyss]

Will these courses help for MCAT test preparation:

Cell biology
Neuroscience
Biochemistry
Genetics
Psychology

 

[Law2Doc]

Will these courses help for MCAT test preparation:

Cell biology
Neuroscience
Biochemistry
Genetics
Psychology

Minimally
No
Borderline minimally
Maybe, if your basic bio course was weak
No

Not worth taking just for this IMHO.

 

[ToldYouSo]

Minimally
No
Borderline minimally
Maybe, if your basic bio course was weak
No

Not worth taking just for this IMHO.

I agree with this. There was 1 genetics question I had on the MCAT that I would not have been able to answer without having taken genetics, but not worth taking for the sole purpose of doing better on the MCAT. Your time would be much better spent actually studying for it

 

[theseeker4]

Minimally
No
Borderline minimally
Maybe, if your basic bio course was weak
No

Not worth taking just for this IMHO.

If you are only taking them for MCAT prep, dont bother. If you need to take more classes anyway, you might as well take those you listed a opposed to completely random courses not related to science at all. They are not needed to do well on the MCAT.

 

[BenUstudent]

IMO, it varies on what practice test and test are like. I have had alot of Physiology, Anatomy, Genetics some Cell Biology and believe it or not ecology.

btw, don't forget to focus on verbal. I spent so much time on science content...and yeah, verbal killed me.

 

[Gauss44]

All you need to take the MCATs is Biology, General Chemistry, Physics, and Organic Chemistry. If you would like to confirm this check MCAT prep books. That's what they cover. Those are also the only MCAT relevant courses I took and did fine.

 

[Woland]

All you need to take the MCATs is Biology, General Chemistry, Physics, and Organic Chemistry. If you would like to confirm this check MCAT prep books. That's what they cover. Those are also the only MCAT relevant courses I took and did fine.

Unles you are going to be taking the new MCAT. Then IMHO you are better off reading up more on new requirements: https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/mcat2015/

 

[dsoz]

A class on logic or philosophy may be good to help out with the VR section.

I almost suggested a writing class for the writing sample, but then I believe that the writing sample is going to go away. Nobody really cared about it anyway as far as I can tell. I spent way too many hours writing practice essays for that section and nobody cares a hoot. 🙁

dsoz

 

[excitedtoapply]

Will these courses help for MCAT test preparation:

Cell biology
Neuroscience
Biochemistry
Genetics
Psychology

Hold the phone, when are you taking the MCAT? I thought the new MCAT (2015) has behavioral health on it in which case Psychology may be of use. Make sure you know what version you are taking before you decide which classes. Those of us that have already taken it may not be of as much use as a good premed adviser. The test is going through some radical changes.

Generally, I agree you don't need the upper level courses for the current test although they may help in that you will be presented with things (i.e. biochemical pathways) you have never heard of. You will need to wade through the stuff you don't know to break it down to something simple you do know. I feel like some exposure to upper level classes makes it easier to start digesting language you don't completely know. Although I recommend reading research papers for that skill though rather than classes!

 

[docelh]

I had three genetics passages on my actual exam. Two of which went far beyond intro biology.

MCAT is a curved test in which the majority of the test-takers are pre-req survivors. The majority of this group are biology majors. Hence, that's why the topic area for the B.S. portion is broad and challenging to study for: to set a tough curve for a cohort with a significant biology background. A 10 in PS or Verbal will land you in a higher percentile than a 10 in BS.

It's not necessary to be a Biology major. It is necessary to do all the content review. The biggest bang for your buck will be physiology (not anatomy), genetics/cell bio, and organic chemistry.

Personally, I think it's unlikely to get a 13+ in B.S. if you don't have a deep biology background (coursework, comfortable reading journals, bench lab experience).

 

[MT Headed]

The required science pre-med courses are enough for the science portions of the MCAT, but to do well on the MCAT you'll want to be an absolute ace at those intro classes, and you should still use a review system like EK.

Personally, I think it's unlikely to get a 13+ in B.S. if you don't have a deep biology background (coursework, comfortable reading journals, bench lab experience).

I respectfully disagree. I consistently got high marks on the practice mcat tests without anything beyond basic biology coursework, and I've never been near research nor a journal. I did use two resources (EK and TBR) for biology content review though, so I would have at least a passing familiarity with any biology topic. Biology passages always seemed like another verbal section to me, and I think my vast prior experience in logic helped me think analytically.

 

[grt398]

Prereqs are more than enough to get a good MCAT score. And I have to agree with MT Headed; I was a non-science major who took only the prereqs and was consistently scoring 13-15 on the BS section on practice tests. Got a 14 on the actual test. TBR and EK bio were what I used as well and they were plenty. I will say that doing well in orgo was surprisingly helpful for my test.

 

[Nymphicus]

I found physiology, then biochemistry, to be the most helpful non-prereq classes for both the MCAT and first year of medical school.