MCAT Course List

[Mansoor]

Hey this thread is for people to comment on the academic courses they took (in college), and whether or not it helped them on the MCAT. Is it worth spending an entire semester to take these courses, just for a few measly questions on the MCAT? Or were these courses invaluable, and you're very thankful/wish you had taken them. I have compiled a list of some of the common ones. Any other suggestions/comments are welcome. I haven't taken most yet, so i don't have any comments. Any MCAT veterans, please post your opinions.

• 
  Human Anatomy
  Human/Mammalian Physiology
  Genetics
  Cell Bio
  Microbiology
  Biochem I
  Biochem II
  Biochem Lab
  Biological Ecosystems
  Developmental Biology
  Physical Chemistry I
  Physical Chemistry II
  Literary Analysis/Argumentation
  Argumentative Writing
  Philosophy

Tack on any other courses you think of.

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[Smurfette]

personal opinion~

Philosophy and ecosystems--not of much use for MCAT

Microbio--don't rememmber anything remotely micro-related on MCAT

Anatomy, Physiology--probably very basic for MCAT, more useful for first year of med school

Genetics, Cell Bio, Biochem and basic P-Chem (thermodynamics as learned in physics)--most useful

Developmental & the literary/writing courses--never took any of that myself, though it probably would be more beneficial than not.

 

[Spiderman [RNA Ladder 2003]]

Microbio?! Sometimes they have bacteria plates in which they change media and treatment.

 

[randomlogik]

mmm...lets see
biochem I and II definately very useful
genetics is good too
i wish that i had taken an anatomy or physiology class, so i would recommend that too. i ended up not having many of those questions on my test, but thats just the luck of the draw.
i dont think that p chem is really necessary. it goes way to far into details you will never use on the mcat.
for the rest, just take a good english type class that makes you do a lot of writing and reading so ya dont forget how to do those things. lol

 

[Mansoor]

So biochem II was one of the things i was really wondering about. I know biochem is highly recommended, but who wants to put a whole other semester into it? Is it worth the second semester?

 

[Assassin]

if you think ANY of those courses will help you on the mcat, you're fooling yourself. if you have a phD in bio & physical sciences, i still wouldn't be surpised if they threw passages at you that you've never encountered before. mcat practice raises your mcat score, NOT some lame coursework.

although philosophy course may in fact help you (i'm assuming it entails tons of reading, which is exactly what you'll be doing on the mcat)

 

[randomlogik]

I did have two semesters of biochem. Of course, it was because it is required for my major. personally, i think both did help a lot because all of the material that you cover in both classes are subjects that could possibly make it to the mcat. its up to you whether or not to take it. our second semester delt with sythesis and degredation pathways. i think that one was the most helpful.

 

[ellerose]

The only courses that I hadn't taken before the MCAT that I really wish I would've were animal physiology and biochemstry. Other than that, I had already taken genetics, cell bio, and logic (philosophy--I'll tell you, though, I don't think it helped one bit). Micro may or may not help. I took it after, and didn't feel that I would have needed it before the test. The whole damn test is a crapshoot. I had the luck of getting only a couple of free-standing questions on genetics (one of my favorite subjects) and numerous questions relating to physiology (which I hadn't taken yet). Who knows, maybe your section will have tons of genetics, and little physiology. Take as many of the courses as you can before. Don't worry about it if you can't fit them all in. You're going to be on about the same playing field as other students who haven't taken all supplementary bio courses either.

 

[aquapants]

Here's a list:

REQUIRED

Intro Biology
General Chemistry
Organic Chemistry I
Biochemistry
Physics I & II

HIGHLY RECCOMENDED (in order)

1. Physical Chemistry
2. Animal Physiology
3. Organic Chemistry II
4. Genetics