biochem or more time for MCAT

[DrDMD2014]

Hi everyone

This is my first thread on the sdn. I'm a junior and im planning on taking the MCAT next May 2013. I was thinking of taking orgo 2 lab during that semester of which i will be preparing for my MCAT.
I was also debating if I should take Microbiology or Biochem during that semester. I'll also be doing a lot of research during that semester and im going to tack on a history GEC as well.

So
im planning on following sdn2ed's 4 month study plan
along with either micro/biochem
and a history course
and research..

Can someone give me some good solid advice on this..in particular regarding whether its a wise idea to take biochem and study for MCAT and how easy is micro to biochem..

Thanks

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[Aerus]

Hi everyone

This is my first thread on the sdn. I'm a junior and im planning on taking the MCAT next May 2013. I was thinking of taking orgo 2 lab during that semester of which i will be preparing for my MCAT.
I was also debating if I should take Microbiology or Biochem during that semester. I'll also be doing a lot of research during that semester and im going to tack on a history GEC as well.

So
im planning on following sdn2ed's 4 month study plan
along with either micro/biochem
and a history course
and research..

Can someone give me some good solid advice on this..in particular regarding whether its a wise idea to take biochem and study for MCAT and how easy is micro to biochem..

Thanks

Since biochem appears somewhat frequently on the biological sciences section, taking a biochem course will actually help you on the MCAT. However, this is all up to you, if you think you can juggle it.

You'll need to be really on top of your time management, but if you can pull it off, I recommend it.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

Hi everyone

This is my first thread on the sdn. I'm a junior and im planning on taking the MCAT next May 2013. I was thinking of taking orgo 2 lab during that semester of which i will be preparing for my MCAT.
I was also debating if I should take Microbiology or Biochem during that semester. I'll also be doing a lot of research during that semester and im going to tack on a history GEC as well.

So
im planning on following sdn2ed's 4 month study plan
along with either micro/biochem
and a history course
and research..

Can someone give me some good solid advice on this..in particular regarding whether its a wise idea to take biochem and study for MCAT and how easy is micro to biochem..

Thanks

Biochem will be helpful on the MCAT. It is also very important for the first few weeks of medical school. However, biochem is a very time-intensive course compared to micro.

I agree that you should take biochem but only if you can handle the time commitments of Sn2ed's schedule, biochem, and research.

 

[DrDMD2014]

Here's my dilemma :
I need to know how intensive biochem actually is.. Is it comparable to ochem? Because when I took ochem I only had time for ochem.
So i don't want that to happen the SAME semester im studying for my MCAT

On the other hand, I also feel that instead of studying for micro which is comparatively easy, it would probably be a better idea to use that time to study bio chem which would be at least useful in MCAT

But i don't know how big of a difference biochem and micro bio is (the easiness or difficulty level per se)

And how big of a difference would it make to do biochem or not do biochem before MCAT? I know the ochem section is small but how small is small?

Would it be sufficient to just use the MCAT books like Berkeley Review to catch up on the biochem instead of taking a biochem course in itself?

Thanks!

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Biochem emphasizes memorization over application - most of the time, the application is explained in class. It's not like having to do synthesis problems in Orgo. You'll have to memorize the steps of stuff like Glycolysis (reactant/product, enzymes, cofactors, etc.), Krebs Cycle, etc.

IMO, the pitfall for most students is not being used to memorizing so much information - and cramming fails when you're not used to the volume you find in Biochem. The rub here is managing your time, which is going to be difficult enough while studying for Biochem. Throw in the MCAT and, well - it's up to you if you think your time management and study skills can handle the combination.

 

[ashylarry23]

biochem

 

[music2doc]

Biochem emphasizes memorization over application - most of the time, the application is explained in class. It's not like having to do synthesis problems in Orgo. You'll have to memorize the steps of stuff like Glycolysis (reactant/product, enzymes, cofactors, etc.), Krebs Cycle, etc.

IMO, the pitfall for most students is not being used to memorizing so much information - and cramming fails when you're not used to the volume you find in Biochem. The rub here is managing your time, which is going to be difficult enough while studying for Biochem. Throw in the MCAT and, well - it's up to you if you think your time management and study skills can handle the combination.

Meh, just a taste of medical school (31-unit load here + required ECs). Should be pretty manageable with the OP's load.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

Here's my dilemma :
I need to know how intensive biochem actually is.. Is it comparable to ochem? Because when I took ochem I only had time for ochem.
So i don't want that to happen the SAME semester im studying for my MCAT

On the other hand, I also feel that instead of studying for micro which is comparatively easy, it would probably be a better idea to use that time to study bio chem which would be at least useful in MCAT

But i don't know how big of a difference biochem and micro bio is (the easiness or difficulty level per se)

And how big of a difference would it make to do biochem or not do biochem before MCAT? I know the ochem section is small but how small is small?

Would it be sufficient to just use the MCAT books like Berkeley Review to catch up on the biochem instead of taking a biochem course in itself?

Thanks!

Yes, biochemistry is very content dense, and I'm assuming somewhat similar to (although nowhere near the amount) medical school curriculum. Unless you plan on taking the 2015 MCAT when they are adding in biochemistry as well as a few other subjects, you do not need biochemistry for the test. It is a nice supplement to class material as well as prep books but is in no way necessary.

You may be better off studying the material for the MCAT without taking biochemistry because they both require loads of content understanding and memorization for the tests. I would recommend replacing at least some of the time you would have spent with biochemistry studying by leadership ECs or shadowing/volunteer because they will allow some mental break from the studying. I shadowed some in the weeks before my MCAT, and it was a nice change of pace from the studying and helped with motivation.

I will say MS1s have told me to put time into committing biochemistry to long-term memory because medical school covers the entire course in 6 weeks or whatever the time frame is. It would help to already know a large part of it, so I would say definitely don't half *** the class because you are studying MCAT.

 

[darkjedi]

Learning biochem in ugrad will likely only give you a few weeks head start, and so may not be totally worth it if that is the reason you want to take biochem.

I didn't take biochem at all, and did fine on the bio section on the MCAT.

Unlike the other posters here, I personally believe that having more time to study for the MCAT is more important, as your application is way more important than if you get a heads up on something that is a relatively small subsection of your first few weeks of med school. MCAT can potentially decide if you even get into medical school.

 

[Narmerguy]

Learning biochem in ugrad will likely only give you a few weeks head start, and so may not be totally worth it if that is the reason you want to take biochem.

I didn't take biochem at all, and did fine on the bio section on the MCAT.

Unlike the other posters here, I personally believe that having more time to study for the MCAT is more important, as your application is way more important than if you get a heads up on something that is a relatively small subsection of your first few weeks of med school. MCAT can potentially decide if you even get into medical school.

I would agree. The time you spend on a whole course of biochem is not going to improve your MCAT that much. You could get the same benefits in much less time by simply studying the BS section better. The other time you save could be spent improving your app in other ways.

 

[DrDMD2014]

Hi

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm want to shoot for at least a 14 or try for a 15 on the BS because my gpa isn't super high so I want to get a really good MCAT score so that it kind of takes the edge off the gpa. For those of u guys who didn't take biochem before the MCAT, did u guys find it easy to score really high on the BS?

Thanks

 

[DrDMD2014]

Learning biochem in ugrad will likely only give you a few weeks head start, and so may not be totally worth it if that is the reason you want to take biochem.

I didn't take biochem at all, and did fine on the bio section on the MCAT.

Unlike the other posters here, I personally believe that having more time to study for the MCAT is more important, as your application is way more important than if you get a heads up on something that is a relatively small subsection of your first few weeks of med school. MCAT can potentially decide if you even get into medical school.

Hi

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm want to shoot for at least a 14 or try for a 15 on the BS because my gpa isn't super high so I want to get a really good MCAT score so that it kind of takes the edge off the gpa. For those of u guys who didn't take biochem before the MCAT, did u guys find it easy to score really high on the BS?

Thanks

 

[DrDMD2014]

I would agree. The time you spend on a whole course of biochem is not going to improve your MCAT that much. You could get the same benefits in much less time by simply studying the BS section better. The other time you save could be spent improving your app in other ways.

Hi

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm want to shoot for at least a 14 or try for a 15 on the BS because my gpa isn't super high so I want to get a really good MCAT score so that it kind of takes the edge off the gpa. For those of you who didn't take biochem before the MCAT, did u find it easy to score really high on the BS?

Thanks

 

[Narmerguy]

Hi

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm want to shoot for at least a 14 or try for a 15 on the BS because my gpa isn't super high so I want to get a really good MCAT score so that it kind of takes the edge off the gpa. For those of you who didn't take biochem before the MCAT, did u find it easy to score really high on the BS?

Thanks

I took biochem before the MCAT, basically forgot all of it, and didn't feel that I was missing anything. BS was my best section.

 

[pasiley]

I took biochem before the MCAT, basically forgot all of it, and didn't feel that I was missing anything. BS was my best section.

Same. Taking extra classes just to do better on the MCAT is a poor use of time/resources.

 

[music2doc]

Hi

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm want to shoot for at least a 14 or try for a 15 on the BS because my gpa isn't super high so I want to get a really good MCAT score so that it kind of takes the edge off the gpa. For those of you who didn't take biochem before the MCAT, did u find it easy to score really high on the BS?

Thanks

To be honest, I think you greatly underestimate what it takes to get a 13, much less a 14+ on the MCAT in any 1 section. It is a combination of top aptitude, outstanding application of a thorough knowledge base AND amazing luck the day of the exam.

 

[darkjedi]

Hi

Thanks for all the feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm want to shoot for at least a 14 or try for a 15 on the BS because my gpa isn't super high so I want to get a really good MCAT score so that it kind of takes the edge off the gpa. For those of you who didn't take biochem before the MCAT, did u find it easy to score really high on the BS?

Thanks

I scored perfectly on the BS, but I attribute that more to luck than anything else. I was averaging between 11-13 on BS for the practice AAMC tests however. No Biochem necessary.