MCAT making me remember how much I loathe physics..

[tluedeke]

Having not taken it since the early 1990s (I was a physics undergraduate major, and still am a nuclear engineer), I'd forgotten how much I despise it. MCAT preparation has made me remember, most unfortunately.

Boring, stupid, irrelevant problems that are nothing more than pointless busywork. I can figure out the force and trajectory of an electron in between capacitor plates, what happens when a block slides down an incline with friction, or the details of a spring system. But I truly don't care, it doesn't interest me one iota, and it takes all my discipline to force myself to solve them.

I dread the days I have to haul out physics and practice this stuff. Yuck. I hope the rumors of them deemphasizing it and/or recasting it in terms of interesting biological system/medical problems is true....

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[Ad2b]

@tluedeke - it's not true; physics (especially phy 2) is on the exam. Circuits, resistors, capacitors, magnetics, optics, and waves (that sound thingy )

At least it's better than old MCAT where it was mind numbing equation memorization (which are all really just the same with different letters: P=IR looks a LOT like F=ma, etc)

I canceled my Jan exam with the same precept. While I'm still fine as biochem > all on the new one, there is still a ton of physics (depending on your particular exam on your particular day in your particular region...)

 

[tenblackalps]

All the more reason to knock physics section out of the park and never have to look at those type of problems again, OP.

I think the point of physics work is more about learning to think and following a process rather than solving problems for their own sake anyways; just like math classes. The medical emphasis on physics on the test is not that severe imo. As @Ad2b mentions all those topics are fair game on the exam and, while they are presented with a medical context, the medical emphasis is not needed to answer the question. I went at physics with a classic approach (brute force memorize all the equations, do all the kaplan 7 book set problems even though they are out of scope of the test, then do a bunch of khan physics passages) and it paid off decently well. I scored a 129 on that section but I think it was the chemistry that brought me down below 130.

I am surprised that as a practicing engineer you do not have at least a passing appreciation for these problems, though. I don't know if anyone truly enjoys solving incline plane or circuits problems, but I can appreciate the scenarios for what they are. In my opinion Maxwell's equations are one the most beautiful, profound discoveries of humankind in the past few centuries, and every time you do a circuits problem you are working with a little slice of that beauty. After all, biology is chemistry, chemistry is physics, and physics is life!