Being Discouraged Off MCAT... Advice

[Lady Belle]

Had a brief chat with Pre-med advisor whom told me that not only should I not take Physics 2 at a particular college (within my schools system) because its an easy A and then i'll have knowledge gaps… But that i SHOULD NOT take the mcat while I’m still taking physics, and that I should postpone it until next year.

I was really not looking forward to hearing this. I have taken all my other pre-reqs with a 3.6 and Physics was the only left over. I am 30 yr old single mom, and am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life, so the thought of waiting an additional year is painful.
Any advice, should I truly wait another year to take MCAT and apply?

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[Malek Ayoub]

Honestly, you could learn physics 2 on your own. I dont think you should wait a full year to take MCAT. As long as you get the bio/ biochem, Gchem, and organic chem, you are good to go Good luck

 

[Lady Belle]

Thanks for this. I did take my entire Chem sequence, including Biochem and even got an A+ in it. However, I must admit that Physics 1 was not my forte. I'd like to think it was because I was juggling a lot of family struggles that forced me to miss the first 2 weeks. So I always felt like I was catching up and learning things on my own.

 

[sbook2]

I am taking the exam in April and realized during content review that I barely recall anything from my undergrad physics class, so it's like I am teaching myself the material. It has been going fine so far, but I obviously haven't taken the exam yet. For some reason I found Fluids to be the most confusing for me, so I watched a Yale lecture on it that is available online for free if you wanted to check any of those. I also would recommend these videos as I personally find them fairly concise, entertaining and educational: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbdjjTZBHNSgjzuJQqH5-pw

 

[Lady Belle]

Thank you so much for that link, I will definitely integrate it into my studying.

 

[cyang55]

I went to a university that had easy physics classes too, I aced calc based physics 1, 2, and 3 and learned nothing but it didn't helped or hindered me for the MCAT. During undergrad you're taking so many classes at once and you really won't retain much info. When you study for the MCAT, all of those prep books will help you narrow down the exact topics that the MCAT tests in chem, physics, bio, etc etc. They will also give you all of the info you need for the MCAT, so I wouldn't put off taking it for another year just for the class. A tip, if you're ever confused on specific topics go and search for them on youtube, Khan academy is a good one and they have great explanations on most topics. Good luck!

 

[BeMD13]

They removed so much of the physics emphasis anyway, I just wouldn't worry about it. It is just a small percentage of one out of four sections.

 

[coolguy5]

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[Necr0sis713]

I always disagree with people who claim you can "learn physics on your own". Yeah, you probably can learn the jist of it on your own, but the real fruit comes from actually being involved in class, being forced to do homework and think critically and on your feet about the material.

Honestly, if i just learned physics during my 1.5 month content review, I would just see it as a bunch of equations I memorized. What I learned most from physics class was learning about dimensional analysis, how to manipulate units to get an answer when i'm totally lost, and get the big picture. Honestly, you would be shooting yourself in the foot by not taking physics before the mcat. That's just my opinion though; many disagree.

 

[Zaba]

Had a brief chat with Pre-med advisor whom told me that not only should I not take Physics 2 at a particular college (within my schools system) because its an easy A and then i'll have knowledge gaps… But that i SHOULD NOT take the mcat while I’m still taking physics, and that I should postpone it until next year.

I was really not looking forward to hearing this. I have taken all my other pre-reqs with a 3.6 and Physics was the only left over. I am 30 yr old single mom, and am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life, so the thought of waiting an additional year is painful.
Any advice, should I truly wait another year to take MCAT and apply?

I do agree with the above poster that you may not get the full experience and knowledge base of trying to learn physics on your own but that being said, I don't feel that you necessarily need it to write the MCAT. Now, I say this because I have also never taken physics in an undergraduate capacity and for the new MCAT I was still able to get a decent score on the physical science section (127). I studied the entire TBR physics book, did all the questions and looked up many things on my own if I didn't understand a concept. It took a little extra time but that is something you can factor in to your study schedule.
The new exam doesn't incorporate a lot of physics like the old exam so again, it is doable. Truthfully, I also had a hard time with a lot of advanced o-chem so in my studies I let that go also (because I did not have the time to learn it in depth and would rather focus on other content) - and again, i did fine. I found in this section if you can master chem, some o-chem, really know your biochem and a.a stuff, and learn physics enough to understand the theory and how to apply it you will be fine!!

I'm also a mom of 2 with a nursing undergrad

 

[aldol16]

I think you are in the best position to assess where you, yourself, are at in terms of understanding. You shouldn't be discouraged off from it just because someone else thinks you're "not ready." None of us know you so none of us are actually qualified to pass off judgment like that. What I will say, though, is that you should take it when you feel that you're in the best position to do well. There are multiple factors at play here. If you put it off until you've finished the physics sequence, you'll be farther away from having finished your other classes and may remember less. On the other hand, you may be weak in physics and that might show on the MCAT. So I would say try to do an AAMC practice exam or Section Bank questions and see where you are on physics. If you're doing well on those, there's no reason to postpone the MCAT. If you're not scoring where you want to be, then I think you should consider it. In the end, you're the only person who can make that decision about yourself because you know yourself the best.