MCAT before O-Chem?

[DeadCactus]

From the looks of it, I will be taking O-Chem my Senior year. Is it necessary for the MCAT?

I've heard that most of the pre-med classes are too broad to be all that helpful and simply getting a prep-book or two and using those is what you need...

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[BellyDancingDoc]

From the looks of it, I will be taking O-Chem my Senior year. Is it necessary for the MCAT?

I've heard that most of the pre-med classes are too broad to be all that helpful and simply getting a prep-book or two and using those is what you need...

O-Chem is absolutely on the MCAT, so yes it is necessary for you to know the stuff.

That said, if you are a very, very dedicated student and you got yourself a private tutor, you could probably learn what you need on your own. However, O-Chem is such a "new" and compelx way of thinking that there's no way a simple prep-book is going to do it for you. The prep book will assume that you are fluent in O-Chem"ese," and will be written accordingly.

 

[DeadCactus]

Hmmm... guess I need to figure this out...

 

[Psyche Estrelle]

Oh noes... yes, O-chem is **ABSOLUTELY** necessary and makes up about 30% of the biological sciences portion of the MCAT. If I were you I would spend senior year kicking ass at O-Chem, take the MCAT that spring, and apply the following fall (i.e. taking a year off before you matriculate). I honestly honestly don't think it's worth it to "learn it all" on your own because it will be A LOT of work and A LOT of time that you should be dedicating to studying the other sections. That's just my opinion, of course there are ppl out there that are amazing and prove the naysayers wrong. :>

 

[cooldreams]

take a few mcat prep courses. make sure they are as long and drawn out as possible. if you are studying and focused on the mcat for over a year, you are going to do well on it. just a simple fact.

another fact, most ppl spend less than a month preparing for it...

 

[chad5871]

another fact, most ppl spend less than a month preparing for it...

What?!?! What do people think this thing is, the SAT?

My brother spend three months of intense preparation (~5 hours a day) for his LSAT, and that is supposed to be much easier than the MCAT.

 

[TPROrgoTutor2]

I would say you will sink without it. And yes, over a couple months of prep really isn't necessary. When I took it I had likey 2 weeks of a few hour a day studying and a few month class before that of meeting every week with TPR.

 

[Phil Anthropist]

Moving to the MCAT forum

 

[sgglaze]

O-chem is a must before the MCAT.