Inorganic Chem or Physical Chem?

[Buzzin]

I was going to major in Chemistry, however I am considering changing to Biochemistry based on the emphasis of the 2015 MCAT. In any case, I have to take either Inorganic Chem or Physical Chem I, any recommendation for one over the other?

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[Jack Westin]

Inorganic chemistry is on the MCAT. Physical Chem I is not. Therefore I would take inorganic chem. I think this is what you are asking? By the way, your major does not matter for the MCAT.

 

[nenya]

I was a Biochem major and took both Inorganic Chem and PChem. While it is true that inorganic may appear on the MCAT as a gen chem question, it will be very basic. PChem helped me gain a deeper understanding of many Gen Chem topics and was super interesting. With that being said, if you don't like calculus don't take PChem....

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

I'd recommend to take either class - more importantly, the class that you want to take. Don't forget that a high GPA is needed for a high chance at getting into med school!
But in terms of the MCAT specifically - it's not really a question of which one will help you since both will undoubtedly cover a lot of extraneous detail and information within the context of the information the MCAT will test you on. Inorganic chem is on the test and physical chem is not, but maybe take a play out of @nenya 's playbook and choose the class you think you'll find the most interesting and excel at. After all, the basic concepts that are needed for the test can be learned from a good test prep book and a lot of practice.

 

[Buzzin]

I have a 3.92 gpa so I'm not worried about it, I jus want to take whichever class helps me on the MCAT more and isn't a complete waste of my time.

 

[The Brown Knight]

I think physical chem will help more depending on what it focuses: if it focuses on thermodynamics then I'd take it; if it focuses on quantum chem, then take inorganic. p chem thermodynamics will prob include topics like thermochem, kinetics, solutions, equilibrium, and gases all of which are the core of the chemistry in the mcat. imho taking the (fairly challenging) p chem thermodynamics course seriously helps wayyy more than any prep book (I zoomed through the corresponding TBR chapters b/c of it)
having said that, inorganic was definitely one of my favorites: mine at least dealt with group theory and assigning symmetry to molecules, MO/crystal field/ligand field theories, crystal packing, and a whole lotta organometallics --- in short, it's tougher and less relevant to mcat but more interesting.