Is Physical Chemistry worth it?

[HistoRocks]

Especially those of you have taken it, did it help you on the MCAT?

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[Mwz1024]

Physical Chemistry didn't help too much. It just went into more details of things such as thermodynamics. I think it dotted the i' and crossed the t's. The same goes for Biochemistry

 

[CA med app]

Especially those of you have taken it, did it help you on the MCAT?

nope.

 

[Medikit]

I think the thermo might help a little but I mean you can get the MCAT thermo in like 10 minutes, so a whole semester devoted to thermo is entire unnecessary.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

Doesn't help too much for the MCAT (definitely don't take it for this reason).

Otherwise, it's a really good course because it bridges the gap between biochemistry and more fundamental physical concepts such as energy. Also, it can be a plus for an MD/PhD application at some schools (Stanford allegedly).

 

[Arsenic]

Doesn't help too much for the MCAT (definitely don't take it for this reason).

Otherwise, it's a really good course because it bridges the gap between biochemistry and more fundamental physical concepts such as energy. Also, it can be a plus for an MD/PhD application at some schools (Stanford allegedly).

NOT AT ALL, I was a chem major - no one on admissions committees will care. Make your life easier and don't take it if you have the choice. You'd be better off taking immunology or molecular genetics for the MCAT and med school.

 

[shad420w]

I have to differ with everyone on this......

I took the MCAT this past summer and the last time I had general chemistry was in Winter 2002. At the last minute this past spring, I decided to take Pchem over BioChem for MCAT prep. THIS WAS A GREAT CHOICE! I am a computer engineer so I dont see much Gchem in my other classes, so having PCHEM before the MCAT was CRUCIAL. It helped me out A LOT! I think my PS score would have been 3 to 4 lower without it. If you have the time and are not a chem major, I would do it.

just my 2 cents

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

P-chem sucks. Completely uninteresting material, difficult to wrap your head around, and just plain BORING. I'm doing alright in the class, but boy do I dread it. Did I mention mine is at 8 am as well?

 

[DrKT2009]

Especially those of you have taken it, did it help you on the MCAT?

I do not think physical chemistry made any difference on the MCAT. I think that physical biochemistry helped more due to it going over every type of instrumentation that is used and how it works -- this helps because in the passages, sometime they mention instruments that you don't talk about too much in the lower chemistry classes, but it is still not necessary. I just think that physical chemistry goes way too much in detail. It may help you with the concepts (if you did not already understand them), but it definitely won't help you with the math problems on the test. The main reason for this is because in general chemistry, you do most of the problems based on estimation while in physical chemistry, you learn the exact answer using calculus. Not too revelent for the MCAT.

 

[QofQuimica]

Especially those of you have taken it, did it help you on the MCAT?

It depends on what kind of help you are looking for. If you are wanting help with general problem-solving skills, P. chem is a great class to take. I thought it was very interesting and quantum chemistry in particular just blew my mind. But if you are looking to brush up on your gen. chem. knowledge, it won't be as useful. This is because p. chem is much more specialized and goes into depth on fewer subjects, rather than being a broader kind of survey course like gen. chem is.

I think that overall I wouldn't recommend taking it as an MCAT prep course. If you take it, you should do it either because you want to finish a chemistry major or because the subject interests you. I agree with whoever said that biochem would be a more useful MCAT science-content prep course.