How well do you need to know Orgo for the MCAT?

[honeypot]

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The reason that I am asking is because I am taking Orgo I and II this summer and it is so rushed that I don't know how well I am actually learning the material.

 

[jochi1543]

Not too extensively...you need to understand the basic concepts behind reactions mechanisms, and it helps to know things like nucleophile strength and the ideas behind spectroscopic and separation techniques. I took the MCAT with only Orgo I, and used Examkrackers for my prep (the Orgo book, not the 1001), and I didn't encounter any difficulties when it came to orgo on the exam, even though I was quite worried about it, like you are. Now bio I felt pretty good about and that did NOT go over well at all.

 

[ATP Synthase]

The reason that I am asking is because I am taking Orgo I and II this summer and it is so rushed that I don't know how well I am actually learning the material.

I wouldn't take both in the summer...taking Orgo I should be enough for the MCAT.

 

[jochi1543]

I wouldn't take both in the summer...taking Orgo I should be enough for the MCAT.

I think it depends on what Orgo I and II entail at your particular institution. For example, my orgo I covered aromatics (even though AAMC stated it wouldn't be on the test, I did get at least one question on them) and all laboratory techniques outside of C13 NMR - which EK says won't be on the exam anyway. But it seems that for most folks here, this material is part of Orgo II.

 

[RandomBlackManX]

You only need to know a select amount of reactions and concepts for organic chemistry on the MCAT. For me, there was an equal mixture of material tested from both organic 1 and 2. That said, as long as you memorize the EK Orgo book (or Kaplan/Princeton Review with the topics list in hand lest you memorize too much), you will be more than good to go. Don't sweat it buddy. 🙂

 

[DocCallaway]

I honestly rolled the dice last time, on July 13th, and barely studied. Luckily, solid bio knowledge actually helped my two orgo passages. I would study the basics---nomenclature, Sn1 & Sn2, elimination and then your techniques and IR peaks.

 

[151333]

i had one orgo passage (that i can recall) on MCAT and it involved just a little bit of OChem I
And I think i had no more than 2 or 3 freestanding questions on it

 

[scdocusc]

if your test is anything like the july 24th one then you only need to know about chirality for the single passage you have on orgo..... yes I'm bitter about it