biochem or genetics before mcat?

[premed2013]

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I am going to be a junior and will be taking the MCAT in the spring. Should I start this summer and which would be more helpful, taking biochem or genetics before the MCAT? I will also be taking physics.

 

[Suncrusher]

I've heard someone on SDN say that their MCAT had more biochem questions than genetics questions, but my MCAT had much more genetics than biochem. In fact, my MCAT had more genetics questions than basic bio questions. I hadn't taken biochem before I took the MCAT, but it would have been really low-yield for me.

 

[LetsGo352]

I strongly suggest taking Biochem before the MCAT. The entire class won't be useful, but parts of the subject can help you on the Bio section.

 

[estradiol9]

I haven't taken the MCAT yet but people have suggested biochemistry and/or genetics quite frequently but physiology even more so.

 

[kexy]

I second physiology if it's possible. I'm studying for the MCAT right now and it would be very, very nice to have a solid base in physiology.

 

[nickmx50]

The guy I just bought my TBR books off of said had pulled a lot of genetics questions.

 

[byurazorhog]

I vote genetics. My MCAT had a ton of genetic questions. You'll save lots of time in the bio section for the harder questions by having a solid grasp of genetics.

 

[NZT]

I took the 3/26/2011 MCAT. The number of biochem questions >> genetics questions

 

[Barcu]

The genetics on the MCAT is quite basic. You could easily teach it to yourself (mostly Punnett Squares).

My vote would be for physio, then biochem, then genetics.

But, you can't really go wrong either way. None of them are required for the MCAT. If one interests you more, take that.

 

[LegendaryPunk]

So I'm a little confused. Everybody says biochem and genetics are not required for the MCAT...and yet the possibility exists of there being questions around both subjects.

Can these questions be solved with knowledge gained on the subjects from Kaplan / EK review books? Can they be deduced from trying to solve the question as a word-problem, without intimate knowledge of the underlying science? Or are there specific formulas, Laws and Theories etc. that must be known?

 

[Suncrusher]

Can these questions be solved with knowledge gained on the subjects from Kaplan / EK review books? Can they be deduced from trying to solve the question as a word-problem, without intimate knowledge of the underlying science? Or are there specific formulas, Laws and Theories etc. that must be known?

Yes; no; not really

From the responses, it seems like different test dates have completely different amounts of Genetics and Biochem questions. The genetics questions on mine were not basic at all and would not have been covered in intro bio. The biochem questions on mine, which were few, would have been covered in Physio. But it sounds like others have had the opposite experience, too. Try to take both?

 

[camierz]

My MCAT had a lot of genetics in it as well. However, I had not taken genetics yet and I taught myself most of it before the MCAT or i learned it in general bio. I think biochemistry would be the best class to take before taking the MCAT.

 

[Syqers]

BioChem hands down. Additionally, many schools are going to start requiring BioChem to apply in the coming years, so best to just get it out of the way.

 

[Slack3r]

Biochem. It really helps understand some of the biology concepts. I took it after I had my MCAT and I wish I would have taken it sooner. So many things were made clear to me once I took biochem.

And seconded on the physiology. Being a psio major helped me on more than a few questions on the test.