Biochem?!

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Steven1234

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I'm a senior and a bit late in the game. I'm 33yrs old and looking to take the MCAT this coming spring/early summer. Downfall is I haven't taken bio chem and won't be able to before the test. My university only offers it for autumn quarter and already passed that. I've taken 2 semesters in gen chem as well as 2 in orgo chem, cell bio and 3 semesters of bio as well as micro bio. So, would I be unwise to take the mcat without the biochem? Otherwise I have to wait a full year again before even applying..

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It obviously differs between people, but I tend to think with that much science background you can self-teach Biochem. Biochem is mostly a mixture of organic chem, inorganic chem, and molecular biology so most of the concepts will already be familiar to you. Maybe look over a biochem textbook.

Thanks for the info!
 
I'm a senior and a bit late in the game. I'm 33yrs old and looking to take the MCAT this coming spring/early summer. Downfall is I haven't taken bio chem and won't be able to before the test. My university only offers it for autumn quarter and already passed that. I've taken 2 semesters in gen chem as well as 2 in orgo chem, cell bio and 3 semesters of bio as well as micro bio. So, would I be unwise to take the mcat without the biochem? Otherwise I have to wait a full year again before even applying..

3 semesters of intro bio? you do kind of learn about amino acids, proteins, and metabolism in intro bio, so actual biochem after that is just filling in the details.
i suggest you do this: make concept maps (using the free Cmap software) of your intro bio notes and add general topics from AAMC outline not included in your notes; then the fun part: fill in the details using a biochem textbook and Khan academy/medicine/other youtube videos. hell if you have the time, maybe even make concept map connections between your maps from bio/biochem and cell bio, microbio, and whatever else!
 
Don't worry about that - if you give yourself enough time you should be able to teach yourself the biochem you'll need for the test. Just be diligent and practice as much as you can. In fact, taking a class can sometimes be disadvantageous since you may be more inclined to think at a more complex level than the test wants you to, as well as the amount of content that undergrad classes can teach is usually overkill if you were just taking it for the MCAT.

Good luck!
 
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