MCAT is a test of...

[monkeyMD]

What would you say the MCAT is more about? Reading comprehension/logic or memorization? If you could assign percentages, what would them be (for these 2 categories). If you have another view of the MCAT, pls contribute.

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[ridethecliche]

Attrition.

 

[loveoforganic]

Application. I'd say 25% memorization, 75% application, but the thing is, you can't do the application without the memorization (usually)

 

[PiBond]

What would you say the MCAT is more about? Reading comprehension/logic or memorization? If you could assign percentages, what would them be (for these 2 categories). If you have another view of the MCAT, pls contribute.

Scientific literacy and application.

85% Reading comp/logic
15% Memorization

 

[Chrisebril1]

Application. I'd say 25% memorization, 75% application, but the thing is, you can't do the application without the memorization (usually)

Well said. Without the memorization, you are screwed.

 

[apumic]

90% critical thinking. 5% straight application. 4.9% pure intelligence. 0.1% memorization. Really, the memorization isn't actually necessary. The fact is that the MCAT gives you most of the information you need in the passage. The rest should be easily derived from a conceptual understanding of the topic areas. There is VERY little memorization involved. Most of it is intuition. (Although I suppose that if it does not intuitively make sense to you that it takes a proportionally greater force to accelerate a more massive object at the same rate, then I suppose you do have to memorize F=ma, for instance. Nevertheless, I still hold that memorization is more-or-less unnecessary if you really understand the concepts. The one exception is bio, but really most of the more advanced bio stuff is covered in each passage.)

 

[bassvp]

95% critical thinking. 5% straight application. 4.9% pure intelligence. 0.1% memorization. Really, the memorization isn't actually necessary. The fact is that the MCAT gives you most of the information you need in the passage. The rest should be easily derived from a conceptual understanding of the topic areas. There is VERY little memorization involved. Most of it is intuition. (Although I suppose that if it does not intuitively make sense to you that it takes a proportionally greater force to accelerate a more massive object at the same rate, then I suppose you do have to memorize F=ma, for instance. Nevertheless, I still hold that memorization is more-or-less unnecessary if you really understand the concepts. The one exception is bio, but really most of the more advanced bio stuff is covered in each passage.)

I think you'd have to give quite a bit more to memorization if only for the several questions per section that don't have a passage.

 

[apumic]

I think you'd have to give quite a bit more to memorization if only for the several questions per section that don't have a passage.

I suppose.... but really, let's take some of the old AAMC discretes (my paraphrases w/ comments) I still have from taking it:

Which of the following chemical species is not isoelectric with a neon atom?
As long as you understand what iso- means, you can easily derive the answer from the answer choices.

Which of the following explains why a sound heard through a wall has a lower intensity than one heard without a wall between the source and listener?
This question actually outright punishes people who memorize, because the intuitive (correct) answer is "no ****, Sherlock!" but the distractors are likely to seem very appealing to someone who has been memorizing their Physics books!

A solid body can be in rotational equilibrium only when...
Once again -- concept question. If you get the concept, memorization is totally unnecessary. The correct answer is easily derived via physical intuition and knowing what "rotational" and "equilibrium" mean -- which are both things you should definitely know coming out of any physics or chemistry or biology course.

A reaction is designed to produce ammonia...
[lists rxn]. Introducing catalyst to this reaction does what?
If you understand how a catalyst works, this is all conceptual. Once again, it's a matter of understanding not memorization.

Which of the following is most likely to be soluble in 1.0 M HCl than in 1.0 M NaOH?
If you understand what makes something soluble, this is a ridiculously easy question. No need to memorize ridiculous solubility rules if you know why something is soluble/not soluble.

Obviously, yes, there is some degree of memorization involved in the sense that you had to have learned this stuff at some point in the past to have an intuitive understanding of the topic areas, but focusing on memorizing now is counterproductive, in my experience.

 

[GreenRabbit]

10% memorization, 30% reading comprehension, 60% clarity of thought.

 

[Cinclus]

Ability to withstand being assaulted with many irritating questions.

 

[NickNaylor]

Application. I'd say 25% memorization, 75% application, but the thing is, you can't do the application without the memorization (usually)

I think this describes it pretty well.

 

[ilovemcat]

It's amazing how a majority of those replying are those who've scovered 40+ or very close to that. Where's Rabolisk?

 

[monkeyMD]

Along those lines...
How many of you memorized every single peak on the NMR and the IR and every single physics formula (or nearly "every single.")?

 

[NickNaylor]

Along those lines...
How many of you memorized every single peak on the NMR and the IR and every single physics formula (or nearly "every single.")?

Hell no.

 

[Local Native]

Along those lines...
How many of you memorized every single peak on the NMR and the IR and every single physics formula (or nearly "every single.")?

Actually, the physical sciences section was my worst section going into studying. I have never had much confidence in math and the physical sciences, so I really needed to hit this area hard. One way I did this was by building my confidence in the material, which meant memorizing every equation so that I could at least feel prepared for anything the test could throw at me.

I'm not saying it helped me in every situation, but it forces you to understand the material in much greater detail. As it turns out, there's only about 225 equations you have to memorize, total. Things turned out well for me as I went from scoring 8 and 9 in the PS section, to scoring a 13 on the actual exam.

 

[flodhi1]

What would you say the MCAT is more about? Reading comprehension/logic or memorization? If you could assign percentages, what would them be (for these 2 categories). If you have another view of the MCAT, pls contribute.

20-30 % memory and 70-80 % reading comprehension and logic. Depends on the exam though some exams have questions which are psuedo-discretes and require nothing but memory/critical thinking.

By the way the Physics formulas are not hard to remember.