Commonly Tested Areas?

[becomingadoctor]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey all,

I was wanting your guys' feedback about what you think are the commonly tested topics on the MCAT as per the AAMC exams. Thus far, I have felt BS has been pretty bio heavy in general (example: osteoblast/osteoclast references appearing commonly). And as for PS, I felt that solubilities/acid base reactions involving equilibrium have appeared commonly. Not so sure about physics particularly as of yet. I have felt that the orgo has been relatively basic(example: how many stereoisomers are present given a compound etc)...

What do you all think? Or rather, do you have any intuitive feelings about what might most likely come up?

 

[mcloaf]

Know everything on the AAMC content outlines.

 

[Like]

You should know all the topics listed on the aamc website. Here is a good overview.
mcat-review.org

 

[gettheleadout]

Know everything on the AAMC content outlines.

It shouldn't even have to be said anymore. Everyone's looking for shortcuts to get out of putting in the work.

 

[becomingadoctor]

It shouldn't even have to be said anymore. Everyone's looking for shortcuts to get out of putting in the work.

I have the outlines printed and have covered everything on them and am currently as well. I just wanted to know what you all thought about commonly tested areas. Not looking for shortcuts. But I can see why it was interpreted as wanting to look for shortcuts

 

[becomingadoctor]

You should know all the topics listed on the aamc website. Here is a good overview.
mcat-review.org

thanks so much for this! great tool!

 

[Like]

Well, the biology passages are starting to look like research articles. I'm not sure what else I can tell you because we're not supposed to disclose mcat content. I guess I can tell you one thing, expect all the topics that you're dreading studying.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

When I took the MCAT I got hit with an entire passage dedicated to the topic I had neglected the most during my studying because it was so unlikely to show up. Ironically, on my last night of studying I had to make a call between doing a round of practice passages on that topic or another one that was much more likely to show up on the test (and had, in fact, shown up on nearly every practice test took). I picked the latter because I still felt uneasy about it despite having studied it quite a bit. Come test day that topic was nowhere to be found.

Moral of the story: The topics most likely to show up on the exam are the ones you're weakest in. This isn't a test where you can get away with ignoring content. The scoring scale leaves little room for error. If you want a good score, you must know everything.

 

[dudewheresmymd]

you definitely can get away with ignoring content depending on definition of "good score"...my friends have gotten 35+ without 2nd semester of physics and orgo respectively. it really just depends on luck of draw test day distribution of gen chem/physics and orgo/bio and your respective individual strenths. that being said...if you want an excellent score then you really have to know all if not >90% of the topics fairly well.

 

[gettheleadout]

you definitely can get away with ignoring content depending on definition of "good score"...my friends have gotten 35+ without 2nd semester of physics and orgo respectively. it really just depends on luck of draw test day distribution of gen chem/physics and orgo/bio and your respective individual strenths. that being said...if you want an excellent score then you really have to know all if not >90% of the topics fairly well.

I could get 15's in the sciences by only studying the topics that show up on my exam. The only problem is it's impossible to know what will show up. Can you get a good, even amazing score while neglecting certain topics? Of course. I'm sure many people have. Can you ensure a good, or even amazing score while neglecting anything? No way.

 

[dudewheresmymd]

I could get 15's in the sciences by only studying the topics that show up on my exam. The only problem is it's impossible to know what will show up. Can you get a good, even amazing score while neglecting certain topics? Of course. I'm sure many people have. Can you ensure a good, or even amazing score while neglecting anything? No way.

👍