Importance of taking biochemistry

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how necessary and important is it to take biochemistry course as undergrad?
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Fuarky said:
how necessary and important is it to take biochemistry course as undergrad?
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If you intend to take the MCAT, critical.
 
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Some schools have it as a requirement. And you need it for the MCAT.
 
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I'd say biochem is the single most important class you can take for the MCAT.


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Most helpful topic for the MCAT bar none
 
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My biochemistry class completely changed my outlook on biology, physics and chemistry. Even if it wasn't on the MCAT I would say it is a must for anyone at least vaguely interested in life sciences.


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Is taking biochem prior to matriculation necessary ? If it isn't required by the program ?

I am in the minority ,but I never took bio Chem prior to the mcat.
 
libertyyne said:
Is taking biochem prior to matriculation necessary ? If it isn't required by the program ?

I am in the minority ,but I never took bio Chem prior to the mcat.
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Possibly for some schools. Check out the schools requirements
 
Mclovin0351 said:
If you intend to take the MCAT, critical.
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Dr. Jan Itor said:
I'd say biochem is the single most important class you can take for the MCAT.
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RogueBanana said:
Most helpful topic for the MCAT bar none
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Doggo said:
My biochemistry class completely changed my outlook on biology, physics and chemistry. Even if it wasn't on the MCAT I would say it is a must for anyone at least vaguely interested in life sciences.
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I agree with these guys.
 
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when you get in, it will be easier learning it for a second time
 
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+4
I think you have your answer already but:
Me on MCAT before biochem: 503
MCAT after biochem: 512
Biggest mistake I've made in the application process so far. You need this class.
 
Fuarky said:
how necessary and important is it to take biochemistry course as undergrad?
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It depends how smart, analytical and self-disciplined you are. You can self-teach biochem by reading Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry. Master the content cold, and with very strong analytical reasoning ability, you can do well on the MCAT.

School-specific biochem requirements can be found by looking in the MSAR
 
Take it, take the second semester, elope with it to Mexico if you must. It will make your life exponentially easier on the MCAT. Not to mention it does change your outlook on things, as @Doggo mentions.
 
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Biochem is the best preparation you could possibly have for MS1, as medical biochemistry is basically the same stuff and many people find biochem to be the most difficult material in preclinical.
 
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Mad Jack said:
Biochem is the best preparation you could possibly have for MS1, as medical biochemistry is basically the same stuff and many people find biochem to be the most difficult material in preclinical.
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Agreed. Having taken many biochemistry classes allowed me to not have a stressful first month of med school unlike many of my classmates.
 
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Lawper said:
They find biochem more difficult than anatomy and histo?
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Anatomy was the most difficult subject for me. Histo was difficult only because I devoted zero time to it lol, it's not hard, it's just hard to force yourself to study.

Biochem though, biochem is both difficult and high yield, something that you can't let up on until Step 1 is over.
 
When should you take Biochem then? Before or after you've had chemistry? Or does it matter?
 
Inez796 said:
When should you take Biochem then? Before or after you've had chemistry? Or does it matter?
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Are you referring to gen chem? At my school biochem is 4410 and 4420 with both semesters of gen chem and orgo being pre-reqs, so not a whole lot of choice for us. I'm assuming its more or less the same elsewhere.
 
Inez796 said:
When should you take Biochem then? Before or after you've had chemistry? Or does it matter?
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might be helpful to take it concurrently with organic chemistry or after organic chemistry
 
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the single biochemistry course offered only in spring at my school. Strongly leaning towards taking it!
 
don't forget cell and molecular biology

and immunology

and micro

actually, just take all the upper division classes you can

seriously
 
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I agree with the poster above me, take as many relevant upper level sciences you can take. I took biochem, neurobiology, endocrinology, micro, cell bio, etc and have had a much easier time adjusting to med school than some of my classmates. I also thoroughly enjoyed all of those classes, much more relevant than your gen level classes.
 
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If I were to take the single biochemistry course offered at my uni I would most likely have to take an extra year to finish school meaning a fifth year but if I choose not to take it I could be done earlier with school.
 
Oh_Gee said:
don't forget cell and molecular biology

and immunology

and micro

actually, just take all the upper division classes you can

seriously
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The mcat has no correlation with those classes though right?
 
Fuarky said:
The mcat has no correlation with those classes though right?
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It definitely helps when I took the MCAT (and MCATs differ a lot). Cell and molecular biology was really fun, it ties together concepts throughout undergrad. Immunology would be really useful to take to get underlying concepts. Microbiology was also really fun personally, highly suggest you take it to get acquainted to different lab techniques :)
 
Fuarky said:
The mcat has no correlation with those classes though right?
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Basically anything in the upper division biosciences is going to be "helpful" to some degree. By no means is any class "required" but really knowing first semester biochemistry inside and out is probably the best prep you can have for the new MCAT short of actually starting a study regime to cover all of the content.

The MCAT is pretty broad in terms of subject matter but it is not really an exam where content is king. Obviously, it is important to have an understanding of everything that may appear on the test but if you get a kidney disease passage chances are all of the information you need is in the text + figures as opposed to the test requiring you to have recently finished Systems Physiology (although recognizing the answer right away because you did have SP is nice). This is why answering the question "what classes help on the MCAT" leads to a billion different answers.
 
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