MCAT Physical Sciences

[Uafl112]

Are the AAMC exams are representative of the Physical Sciences section? Is the MCAT more conceptual or math intensive? Mixture of both? If its math intensive, is it simple math or will they have you derive ridiculous equations?

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[missdr10]

Apparently my test was more chem based than physics based but it seemed pretty much similar to the AAMCs. Maybe there were a few more calculations like stuff from Kaplan and it required you to know a few formulas, but nothing insane. In general, after taking a few Kaplan FL, an EK FL, and all AAMCs, nothing was surprising and it just felt like AAMC 12 lol, especially PS.

 

[egressive]

Both times I took the actual test I felt that the real deal is definitely more math intensive than the practice ones. The math isn't particularly hard, but given the pressure/nerves it can make things difficult. I noticed that a lot of problems came down to getting the exponents / units correct.

As far as concepts go, I thought the practice exams give a good idea of what you can expect. But, I will say that there is going to be something that appears random and weird which may or may not throw you off your game. My first go around I got caught up in a killer and ended up rushing through problems later on. IMO it's important to understand that its hard for everyone, and learn to make the most logical decision as quickly as you can without getting bogged down in second guesses.

All in all I think if you are proficient with manipulating units and dealing with exponents I think that you will have enough time to reasonably think about the more difficult concepts. AAMC's 10-11 PS are pretty close to the real deal. GL

 

[kmp0410]

I didn't find mine any more math Intensive. The key is really to know everything well. There's no telling what topics will be on your actual test. Thinking back it's amazing the time and work I put into many topics that didn't appear on my test. One theme of concepts appeared in about 3 passages. Just be good at doing quick math In whatever way you find best. Also knowing your units helps. There is likely to be at least one question where being able to derive units will give you a quick answer.

Im convinced the people who freak about calculation heavy PS sections don't prepare for the stress of the test and then forget the little shortcuts and tricks they should be using.