Beneficial Courses for Med School/ MCAT

[Fantastik19]

Is it a good idea to take Microbio (upper division)? Will it help me at all in preparation for the MCAT and/or Med school?

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[Law2Doc]

Is it a good idea to take Microbio (upper division)? Will it help me at all in preparation for the MCAT and/or Med school?

I wouldn't bother. Med school teaches you what you need to know. Some people find biochem helpful. All the rest will not be of adequate detail that it helps much. the prereqs are all you need for the MCAT.

 

[Fantastik19]

One question Law2Doc... why is it that so many people say having the science background tends to give them an edge on the MCAT that other non-science majors (such as myself) lack?

 

[madonna]

One question Law2Doc... why is it that so many people say having the science background tends to give them an edge on the MCAT that other non-science majors (such as myself) lack?

i think that classes physiology and gentetics are pretty useful.
since a lot of the mcat passages are experiments as a science major you have more practice with that stuff.

 

[ucsb101]

at my undergrad the pre med advisors told us to make sure that we took physiology and genetics before we took the MCATS.


I suggest Phsyio, biochem, genetics


more so biochem than genetics

 

[Law2Doc]

One question Law2Doc... why is it that so many people say having the science background tends to give them an edge on the MCAT that other non-science majors (such as myself) lack?

It really depends on the quality of your prereqs, I think. I was a big time nonscience person, and exclusively just took the basic prereqs (2 chems, bios, orgos, physicses) and felt I was well prepared and had covered all the applicable material. Any additional class would have been more of a distraction than a benefit -- there truly wasn't anything I saw on the MCAT that wasn't dealt with in one of those subjects. There was stuff I didn't know, but it was stuff I had certainly covered in the prereqs. But then again, my basic bio course did a pretty nice job covering things like physiology and genetics, which some bio courses might skimp on. So it depends on your school. I certainly wouldn't go overboard with things like micro or biochem or anatomy for MCAT purposes.
Also bear in mind that people with science backgrounds tend to really like and be good at studying and taking tests in the sciences, so that in and of itself may prove more benefit on the MCAT, a science test, than the additional courses they took and supposedly found helpful.

 

[Fantastik19]

thanx everyone.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

One question Law2Doc... why is it that so many people say having the science background tends to give them an edge on the MCAT that other non-science majors (such as myself) lack?

It could also be that a lot of science majors are hardcore, uptight and tend to overestimate their abilities.

 

[scpod]

Also bear in mind that people with science backgrounds tend to really like and be good at studying and taking tests in the sciences, so that in and of itself may prove more benefit on the MCAT, a science test, than the additional courses they took and supposedly found helpful.

Actually, as far as MCAT Statistics go, Physical Sciences and Math & Statistics majors have the highest scores. HUmanities and Social Sxiences majors lead Biology majors, who are next to the bottom just above Specialized Health Sciences majors.

The Breakdown is like this:

Biology 30.0
Humanities 30.9
Social Sciences 30.2
Math & Statistics 31.2
Physical Sciences 31.4
Health Sciences 28.6

What does that say to me? Anybody can learn the Biology part, but maybe the Biologists just don't have as well-rounded of an education as they might think. Uh Oh! I'm one of them