Delay taking MCAT due to biochem/gap year?

[aklvkk]

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[MaxPlancker]

Are you sure you can study effectively for the MCAT while doing full-time research? Only you can answer this question. To me, it seems that regardless of when you take the MCAT, you will have a full-time work load on you whether it's taking classes or doing research. How comfortable are you with the other sections?

You are the only person that really knows your abilities…don't try to be a hero and tackle everything just because you see people on SDN or others in real life doing it all. If you need to study full-time this summer for the MCAT by dropping research, then do it. I can guarantee you that having a summer of research is nothing if you can't score well on the MCAT. Prioritize.

Lastly, the biochem course isn't that helpful for the mcat. The biochem lab would be helpful but most of the pathways and minutia you learn in the actual course won't show up on the MCAT.

 

[Cotterpin]

Do you think you could maybe teach yourself biochem this summer (maybe with the MIT free online classes?) and then study over winter break this year and take the MCAT in January? If you don't do well, it would at least give you time for a retake before applying in June.

 

[aklvkk]

MaxPlanker, I can't back out of the research now because I have committed to the program already. The research hours are usually pretty flexible though. I feel like I have a solid grounding on everything but bio and biochem; I was always under the impression that other people waited to take several upper-level bio/biochem courses before taking the MCAT.
Also, I thought that biochem was heavily tested on the new MCAT, though I'm not sure how specific it gets (I did read through the AAMC exam content review, but idk how much detail is tested on each topic).

Cotterpin, that's a possible idea but that gives me ~6 weeks of devoted study time as opposed to the 3 months I have now. Granted, I'm doing research now but this is at a very different pace than taking classes, participating in extracurricular activities, etc. I have a lot more downtime that I can use to study.

 

[MaxPlancker]

MaxPlanker, I can't back out of the research now because I have committed to the program already. The research hours are usually pretty flexible though. I feel like I have a solid grounding on everything but bio and biochem; I was always under the impression that other people waited to take several upper-level bio/biochem courses before taking the MCAT.
Also, I thought that biochem was heavily tested on the new MCAT, though I'm not sure how specific it gets (I did read through the AAMC exam content review, but idk how much detail is tested on each topic).

Cotterpin, that's a possible idea but that gives me ~6 weeks of devoted study time as opposed to the 3 months I have now. Granted, I'm doing research now but this is at a very different pace than taking classes, participating in extracurricular activities, etc. I have a lot more downtime that I can use to study.

Yes well just because the biochem is tested heavily doesn't mean your biochem course is high yield or worth taking for it. There will be MAYBE 1 or 2 random questions about what enzyme regulates this step of CAC or some other minute biochem detail. The biochem that is tested is more geared towards testing your thinking rather than rote memorisation. The few things you may want to memorise such as amino acid structures, nomenclature, etc you can do by yourself. Just my 2 cents.

 

[aklvkk]

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