do you need to master all concepts to do good on mcat

[wlee43]

Or can you just know tha basics and still do good?

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[iceman132]

Or can you just know tha basics and still do good?

You pretty much need a PHD in every science subject.

 

[MedPR]

Or can you just know tha basics and still do good?

Tha basicks will get you a gud scurr on tha emcat.

 

[wlee43]

wats emcat

 

[Mces97]

I took my first real mcat yesterday. You need to know everything. Formula's, concepts, little details. Some concepts may not be tested on your particular mcat, but you never know and I believe this test is too important to not get everything down cold. I have found with myself that when I have taken practice tests the questions I would get wrong the most werent always hard formula based things, but often a tiny little detail. For example Q=AV, understand that. What does this mean. Sure you can get a plug and chug (if your lucky), but more than likely you may be asked a question or see a diagram, and you need to immediately know that formula is how to get the answer, but why. You may not be asked to give a specific value, but maybe they will ask if the area increases here, what happens to the velocity here, or how about the pressure of a fluid flowing through closed system. Understand why Q=AV. In college a lot of things are plug and chug, but the MCAT is not that. Medicine is not plug and chug. Medicine is often not straightforward but to determine the correct course of action, one must understand what is happening. I believe formula's only get you so far on the MCAT

 

[muhali3]

For 13+ scores in the sciences, yes, you need to understand everything on the AAMC content outline.

 

[IrishCogs]

Instead of memorizing (although some is necessary) try to actually understand equations and concepts, I tried to explain *out loud* to myself every concept and it really helped me.

 

[Mces97]

Agreed. Even on the most calculation based MCAT, I don't think we can expect to see more than 10-12 at most questions that involve a specific calculation based answer. Concepts are very important and the AAMC knows this.

 

[saoj]

That's why I think it is better to read a textbook, instead of the reviews. A review does not explain why and how. It just spits out the content. That's why they say the pre-reqs are very important. I took Biology 15 years ago, so I am reading the full Campbell book. The only problem is time. I am hoping to be able to finish the book in a month, but I am not so sure about it. It would be nice is someone knew what actually needs to be ready from Campbell... I am reading almost everything...

 

[wlee43]

That's why I think it is better to read a textbook, instead of the reviews. A review does not explain why and how. It just spits out the content. That's why they say the pre-reqs are very important. I took Biology 15 years ago, so I am reading the full Campbell book. The only problem is time. I am hoping to be able to finish the book in a month, but I am not so sure about it. It would be nice is someone knew what actually needs to be ready from Campbell... I am reading almost everything...

yeah but do you soak in all the information of what you are reading? if I opened up to a random page and tell you to describe it in a fully detailed way I don't think anybody can do that unless they have photogenic memory.

 

[fas376]

That's why I think it is better to read a textbook, instead of the reviews. A review does not explain why and how. It just spits out the content. That's why they say the pre-reqs are very important. I took Biology 15 years ago, so I am reading the full Campbell book. The only problem is time. I am hoping to be able to finish the book in a month, but I am not so sure about it. It would be nice is someone knew what actually needs to be ready from Campbell... I am reading almost everything...

Are you serious? That is a total waste of time! Look at what everyone said about the most recent MCAT. The general consensus was that very little content knowledge was required. Although I am supplementing with the Campbell textbook, I don't expect to read more than 1-2 chapters form it. Reading the full textbook will do nothing but fill your head with information you wont be tested over (photosynthesis is one of many examples i can think of). Practice is the key!

 

[MedPR]

Are you serious? That is a total waste of time! Look at what everyone said about the most recent MCAT. The general consensus was that very little content knowledge was required. Although I am supplementing with the Campbell textbook, I don't expect to read more than 1-2 chapters form it. Reading the full textbook will do nothing but fill your head with information you wont be tested over (photosynthesis is one of many examples i can think of). Practice is the key!

Yea, one content-light MCAT means all of the past content-heavy MCATs are meaningless.

 

[saoj]

Yea, one content-light MCAT means all of the past content-heavy MCATs are meaningless.

Reading the full textbook will do nothing but fill your head with information you wont be tested over (photosynthesis is one of many examples i can think of).

You are right about photosynthesis BUT all the mcat content is spread around ALL the chapters. Out of the 56 chapters I excluded not more than 10, mainly the plants part. If the MCAT is really a UNDERSTANDING and CRITICAL THINKING exam, training your brain with FUNDAMENTALS is the best approach in my opinion. And a review book does NOT do that. (Note: unless you are coming out of a BIO college course and have recently read / studied the Campbell's book or other one similar)

But due to time contraints (and I am going to do the MCAT only in August) I will try to read the Kaplan review and refer to Campbell ONLY when necessary. I hope Kaplan does a better job than EK, which I found very raw (memory game).

And OF COURSE, after all this content is covered and minimally understood, practice, practice and practice. thumbup:

 

[liveoak]

my real MCAT had such a specific definition question i was angry as **** when i saw it.

to get 13+, you must study everything.

 

[muhali3]

There are straight up memorization questions on the MCAT as well. You either know them or you don't, and no amount of reasoning will get you to the right answer. So you need to know all the information in addition to understanding the concepts.

 

[paul411]

That's why I think it is better to read a textbook, instead of the reviews. A review does not explain why and how. It just spits out the content. That's why they say the pre-reqs are very important. I took Biology 15 years ago, so I am reading the full Campbell book. The only problem is time. I am hoping to be able to finish the book in a month, but I am not so sure about it. It would be nice is someone knew what actually needs to be ready from Campbell... I am reading almost everything...

A combination of a good MCAT review book (EK, TBR, TPR) and Wikipedia are more than enough to get 12+ scores on the sciences. Textbooks are overkill; you are much better off spending the time doing practice problems.

 

[Camy99]

*do well

sigh.

 

[Alejandro]

The way how I like to think of it is that the MCAT asks for mastery, not familiarity, of a concept. Study up.