Background knowledge for Physics on MCAT?

[washupremedSV]

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Hi, I'll be a sophomore next year and most likely will not be able to take one full year of physics in college before I take my MCAT but I took AP Physics C: Mechanics and Electromagnetism during high school and did well on the AP exam. If I review over my Physics book (Fundamentals of Physics, Halliday and Resnick) along with looking over MCAT prep books, especially ExamKrackers (including the 1001 physics questions), should that be enough or do i pretty much need to take a year of physics (along with physics lab) to do well on the MCAT? Thanks!

 

[ballofnerves]

I think you'll be alright. I am personally a physics major (I also took AP physics in high school, but it was B, not C) and I wouldn't say that university courses in physics have improved my knowledge of MCAT subjects greatly. It is good to have a solid backgroud in electromagnetism and modern physics is also quite important from what I have seen. People on these forums seem to swear by Nova physics, so you might consider looking into that as well.

I don't think that the depth of knowledge required for the MCAT would go much beyond that of AP phsyics, if at all.

 

[SN2ed]

I would say wait. I think it's way too early to take the MCAT if you're entering into your Sophomore year. Your scores would have expired for most schools by the time you're finished college. Trust me, you NEED a break before going into med school. Not only that, you could easily change your mind about becoming a doctor. I knew several people that after their freshman year were really all for medicine, but after being exposed to different stuff, they changed their mind once they found something they thoroughly enjoyed.

 

[washupremedSV]

oh no no i'm not taking it right now, i'm taking it after the summer of my sophomore year (next august) and I wasn't able to get into our introductory physics class since the seats were limited and most of the spaces set aside for freshmen. i just wanted some feedback to see whether i should self study or not.

 

[Neurokiran]

Physics background is really helpful but that much knowledge is not required in MCAT.you can just stick with Kaplan and make sure your concepts are clear.you will be fine🙂

 

[rowerlauren]

WashU you weren't able to get into physics last year? Or this summer? Weird! Being that we are from the same U-grad I find that shocking.
Most WU students don't take the MCAT until summer after soph year at the earliest and some entering seniors are still taking it June 13th (they are freaking out though).
Have you taken orgo? You can't have taken much bio though. 2970 and 3058 are good for the MCAT in my opinion. Yes you have to do a bit more physiology studying on your own for the MCAT after 3058 but it's easier than the whole curriculum.

You can PM me if you have any questions about anything...

 

[majik1213]

I did an AAMC MCAT the other day and interestingly a question popped up about the direction of the magnetic field lines in a rail gun. The question presented four diagrams showing B field lines and you had to choose the right one.