"Hidden Requirements": Classes That Can Aid Knowledge for the MCAT?

[TeachEm]

So I've been asking around, and a lot of medical students and medical school applicants say that they owe a chunk of their MCAT score to some specialized courses such as "Genetics" or "Animal Physiology". I've composed a small list of classes that people suggested to take outside of the typical requirements (found some on StudentDoctor, others were personal advice), but what other classes would you recommend? Feel free to suggest a class that helped you do well on the MCAT besides the basic requirements, or vouch for a class on the list.

1.) Immunology
2.) Animal Physiology
3.) Genetics
4.) A "Neuroscience" Course
5.) A "Logic" Course
6.) General Psychology
7.) Embryology
8.) Medical Microbiology
9.) Endocrinology

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[listener23]

So I've been asking around, and a lot of medical students and medical school applicants say that they owe a chunk of their MCAT score to some specialized courses such as "Genetics" or "Animal Physiology". I've composed a small list of classes that people suggested to take outside of the typical requirements (found some on StudentDoctor, others were personal advice), but what other classes would you recommend? Feel free to suggest a class that helped you do well on the MCAT besides the basic requirements, or vouch for a class on the list.

1.) Immunology
2.) Animal Physiology
3.) Genetics
4.) A "Neuroscience" Course
5.) A "Logic" Course
6.) General Psychology
7.) Embryology
8.) Medical Microbiology
9.) Endocrinology

Physiology is the single most important upper level bio course for the current Mcat bio section. All others upper levels only help a little.

 

[AlteredScale]

So I've been asking around, and a lot of medical students and medical school applicants say that they owe a chunk of their MCAT score to some specialized courses such as "Genetics" or "Animal Physiology". I've composed a small list of classes that people suggested to take outside of the typical requirements (found some on StudentDoctor, others were personal advice), but what other classes would you recommend? Feel free to suggest a class that helped you do well on the MCAT besides the basic requirements, or vouch for a class on the list.

1.) Immunology
2.) Animal Physiology
3.) Genetics
4.) A "Neuroscience" Course
5.) A "Logic" Course
6.) General Psychology
7.) Embryology
8.) Medical Microbiology
9.) Endocrinology

*biochemistry* (structural and metabolic)
Molecular biology
Human physiology
Genetics
Cell biology
Endocrinology
Immunology
Microbiology

I suggest those!

 

[justadream]

I never took it but as someone who just finished taking the MCAT, the most useful class (by far) would be physio.

If you know Physio well, you will do very well on the BS.

 

[javalava]

.

 

[Gauss44]

The biggest problem SOME people have with the MCAT, is studying material NOT tested on the MCAT.

Your best bet is to stick with the material that's actually IN the test prep books and on AAMC's list. If that happens to overlap with say, Immunology, fantastic - but do remember that it's what's IN the prep books that counts. This is why some biology phd's get lousy scores on MCAT biology while some people who haven't even taken a full year of college bio get 12's. I've seen it happen!

 

[quicheduty]

The only three I've had suggested to me were Physio, Genetics, and Embryo, but I didn't take Genetics and didn't feel like I needed it on the exam. A med student once told me Embryo's worth will prove itself again in med school. Not sure I'll remember everything that far out, but I loved the class!

I also second @AlteredScale's suggestion of biochem. Definitely helped.

 

[benjaminl1nus]

Anecdata, I know, but I had a friend who double majored in Biochemistry & Physics. Took upper level bio/physics/chem classes throughout undergrad, ended up with an 8 on both PS & BS. Go figure, lol.

 

[csx]

French Art History....just think about it.

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

I'd strongly recommend the following "outside basic course work" classes:
- endocrinology
- biochemistry (even for the current test)
- genetics
- philosophy class (the more foreign and critical it makes you think, the better)
- psychology, sociology (for the new test)
- microbiology

I think an upper level college embryology class would be too detailed for the test, but some of it will undoubtedly help. The same argument could be made about most or all of these classes though, so keep that in mind.

Good luck!

 

[scribbler01]

My quantitative analysis in Chemistry course really helped me for the chem section. I could do pH problems in a jiffy!

 

[Czarcasm]

At this point in the game, it's pointless to even consider taking upper level coursework. For me personally though, I'd argue Immunology to be one of the most helpful classes I've taken. Just about every MCAT I've seen has incorporated some immuno concept in someway. But that wasn't necessarily why I found it so helpful. Just the shear complexity of the topic gave me the confidence to approach even the most mundane bio passages. No passage was ever too scary for me and I think that confidence is why I probably did so well in BS. That aside, I would never take an upper level course strictly for the MCAT.

For the curious however- Having taken nearly most upper level courses at this point and the MCAT twice, it would seem the most relevant classes are Biochemistry, Genetics (molecular or classical), and Physiology (in order of significance). Biochemistry is probably the most useful as the content overlaps with multiple subjects. Genetics is frequently tested as it's probably the most easily testable content. Physiology is pretty self explanatory.

 

[MightBeACylon439]

Molecular Genetics for sure. MCAT loves the endocrine system, the kidney and menstruation. All of which are hammered pretty hard in a standard physiology course.

I would also recommend thinking about how concepts are bridged between Ochem, chem, bio and physics. For example: diffusion in the kidney can be related to entropy and the laws of thermodynamics, or the primary structure of proteins being from amino to carboy terminus because of the organic mechanism of peptide bond formation.

Also, don't put off verbal. It's what a majority of students put off and it ends up biting them in the butt on test day. I would be happy to give you things to read- not that you will see it on any of your MCATs, but I found it very helpful in just getting used to reading that kind of dense, mind-numbing material.

 

[UOP123321]

what for the DAT any suggestion ?

 

[cryhavoc]

So, what if you do poorly in one of those classes though? I took a genetics class, learned so much, loved it (one of my favorite classes). But I got a C.

Still worry about how it makes me look as a candidate. Like I can't handle medical school level science or something.

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

I'd strongly recommend the following "outside basic course work" classes:
- endocrinology
- biochemistry (even for the current test)
- genetics
- philosophy class (the more foreign and critical it makes you think, the better)
- psychology, sociology (for the new test)
- microbiology

I think an upper level college embryology class would be too detailed for the test, but some of it will undoubtedly help. The same argument could be made about most or all of these classes though, so keep that in mind.

Good luck!

TJ is 100% right here and I just want to emphasize something - notice what's NOT on his list -- physiology.

The thing about physiology is that it's a LOT A LOT A LOT of content. It's good content but the volume of content actually makes physiology low-yield compared to something focused specifically on endocrine and molecular genetics.

Ever since the test went computer the Bio Sci has been pushing harder and harder on "the biology of the small" so you're much better off with cell bio, molec genetics, etc. rather than stuff that focuses on the organism or organ-system level.

 

[Lawgiver]

Are these really "hidden"? Does the MCAT really require coursework, upper level or otherwise, in areas not included in required pre-reqs? Or is it the case that because it probably was a while since general bio, these served as a nice refresher for the folks taking them? All these topics are covered at various levels of depth during gen bio. And then the are covered I assume sufficiently in prep material.

 

[petyr_baelish]

PHILOSOPHY

 

[Uafl112]

I personally wish I had taken Genetics before going in. Bio was standard until I came across a left field passage about regulation and expression of genes and a bunch of terms I just learned now in Genetics. Would I have aced that passage had I taken Genetics ahead of time? potentially. All I do know is that I would have had a better chance.

 

[razzmatazz87]

1.) Immunology
2.) Animal Physiology
3.) Genetics
4.) A "Neuroscience" Course
5.) A "Logic" Course
6.) General Psychology
7.) Embryology
8.) Medical Microbiology
9.) Endocrinology

Genetics is good, its pretty common. Psychology for the new MCAT, sure, but it is a very easy class, and interesting. You can easily self-learn it. Neuroscience isn't necessary. Most schools don't offer undergrad Endocrinology, but I highly doubt the depth on the MCAT would exceed that in a Physiology course. Physiology is great to take, more schools require it, and its very MCAT relevant. Immunology is nice, you'll need it in med school, but not super in depth on the test.

Microbiology isn't really on the MCAT too much, but its a interesting class. Embryology, not really needed.

So yeah, Genetics and Physiology, maybe swing an Anatomy class if you can

 

[Dandine]

Not sure if this will help but I've been telling people stuff about what I do for verbal to help me get passages more quickly (stamina is another story).

By the way my class suggestion comes in the form of "any class which involves reading academic literature/articles".

Recently, for classes where we have reading on PDF, I've been using the highlighter tool to get used to at least clicking over things that I want to keep track of while reading--not whole lines of stuff but just short, important stuff like names or repeated words that show up in the text. I'm finding that with this method I don't have to do a whole lot of writing to re-understand the reading. Even skimming the article a second or third time makes it clearer, just because I've already gone through the process of marking the things I want to remember.

Some classes use books, but this could apply as well (as in, use real highlighter...I use pencil though because I'm wimpy about paper markings). The most important thing, regardless, is to only highlight snippets!

Some other thoughts after taking a practice exam (PR not AAMC; may edit once I do); these are classes that allowed me to skim passages rather than full-on read them:

-Genetics (allowed me to freak out less about repeated things I saw), Psychology (for experiments), Neuroscience (mainly the upper levels I took on anatomy; above poster is probably right about it not being mandatory), Physiology

CHALLENGE: Anything helpful for physical sciences?

 

[Sir.SavaLottaLife]

Quantitative Analytical chem really made me proficient in equilibrium/acid-base/electrochemistry, pretty much by reviewing and going more in depth in said gen chem II topics, which many people struggle with in gen chem II and/or forget once they are done with the class.

That being said, the new MCAT is taking less emphasis off of gen chem/ "hard sciences". But I think it certainly helps to be able to play with pH's and pKa's quickly in your head in a time constrained setting such as the MCAT. In fact, despite getting the highest grade in my gen chem II class, I didn't really even have the concept of how the pKa and pH are related down, (outside of just knowing the H-H equation of course) and how certain species of a molecule exist in different acidic/ basic environments.

Of course you're probably a chemistry major if you are taking this class anyways lol. I've yet to take the MCAT but I'd say genetics will help me out notably, I hated dealing with inheritance in my general bio class but, for example, now I automatically know the pattern of x-linked inheritance when I see it. My professor was also a biochemist so the molecular part of the class was pretty insightful and interesting. The techniques from the genetics lab also seem to be a favorite in biology passages, and I think they will be even more so with the addition of biochem.

 

[rozalind]

I would highly recommend Genetics and Biochem courses. Taking these two classes has made working through the Biological Sciences material /so/ much more manageable for me. Idk where I would be without them.

I would also recommend a good Statistics course. I know that some schools/majors require stats to graduate, but that's not the case everywhere, and it's easy to overlook something like stats when you're trying to cram in as many bio courses as possible. But as the new MCAT seems to rely heavily on the interpretation of data, it's good to have some familiarity with the techniques and formulas involved in data gathering and interpretation.

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On the flip side, I don't really see the need to take an entire Embryology course for the sole purpose of doing better on the MCAT. I took embryo, and all the embryo material I've seen on the MCAT study guides so far was covered in the first week of my class, and that material can be easily self-taught. It's definitely a good idea to have an understanding of the concepts behind embryo (I believe that knowing a little about germ layers can go a long way!), but don't feel like you /have/ to take the full class - unless, of course, you're taking it to widen your knowledge/have fun

I also took some higher-up physics classes, and I never really encountered anything on MCAT practice so far beyond Physics II material, besides some radioactive decay stuff which (weirdly?) wasn't covered in my "med-school required" physics classes. I do recommend taking upper-level physics classes though, for better problem-solving skills and for funsies