MCAT with minimal biochem?

[663697]

Hi everyone,

I am taking an introductory biochemistry course this semester, and I noticed in the syllabus that the course is mainly structured around biochemistry of amino acids and proteins, with very little (to none) coverage of carbohydrates and lipids.

I was planning on taking the MCAT this summer, but would this hinder my ability to do well?

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[pioneer22]

no

 

[JJRousseau]

I must say in the wake of the new mcat that you would be best off with a comprehensive, very likely two terms, biochemistry course (that asked you to grapple with the fundamental chemistry and physics of relevance) in both metabolic (lipids, protein, and carbohydrates at monomer and macromolecule level) and information (gene expression, rna processing, etc) biology. In other words a course that built up from chemical and physical principles the way that life burns and stores energy and then self regulates and replicates would be ideal in giving mechanistic insight that would serve you well in the mcat. I also imagine this education would serve you well down the line should you be interested in basic and translational heavy academic medicine but I can't say this firmly as I'm not there yet. That said you can do fine so long as your coursework allows you to effectively engage in the fundamental physics and chemistry that make cells, tissues, organ systems, and in turn organisms work. My biochemistry course was as I described and it was critical in my mcat success despite taking the exam four years after the course.


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[allanMED15]

Hi everyone,

I am taking an introductory biochemistry course this semester, and I noticed in the syllabus that the course is mainly structured around biochemistry of amino acids and proteins, with very little (to none) coverage of carbohydrates and lipids.

I was planning on taking the MCAT this summer, but would this hinder my ability to do well?

Don't do it. You want to have as much preparation in biochem before taking the test. From what you have described, it seems they may have another separate course for metabolic processes.
I have taken a lot of biochem in several different courses, but even I was surprised how biochem heavy it was when I took it .

 

[Hoyazure]

I took the new MCAT without having taken ANY biochem at all and scored well above the mean. I would say don't worry - use Khan academy for anything conceptual you don't understand and prep books for practice. You'll be fine!

 

[aldol16]

So you mean you don't do glycolysis, Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, etc.? I'd say those crucial metabolic pathways are pretty important.

 

[700825]

Also took the MCAT without any Biochem and did reasonably well. I would say as long as your confident in your ability to teach yourself the material/learn it from Khan academy, you'll be fine. Just make sure when making your study schedule that you take into account that you will be seeing some of the biochem concepts for the first time and will likely need more time for them.

 

[wizzed101]

Yes. If you have the dosh, keep voiding until you get a biochem-lite version.

 

[Frogger27]

My mcat had a ton of biochem in both the bio and Chem section

 

[663697]

So you mean you don't do glycolysis, Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, etc.? I'd say those crucial metabolic pathways are pretty important.

We're halfway through the semester and still doing proteins :/

I will try and ask my professor directly to see if we will be even skimming through those topics

 

[Welshman]

So you mean you don't do glycolysis, Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, etc.? I'd say those crucial metabolic pathways are pretty important.

I agree 100%, and considering those pathways are the hardest part of biochem I would recommend taking a class that incorporates them (or studying with KA or kaplan a lot).

As a whole, I thought it was very biochem heavy. Biochem ties a lot of concepts back to biology and the human body so it gets incorporated into a lot of questions with the new exam.

 

[663697]

Also took the MCAT without any Biochem and did reasonably well. I would say as long as your confident in your ability to teach yourself the material/learn it from Khan academy, you'll be fine. Just make sure when making your study schedule that you take into account that you will be seeing some of the biochem concepts for the first time and will likely need more time for them.

Well my plan was to take a prep course due to being offered a major discount on it. Would this help at all?

 

[663697]

I would be fine with studying for the test next summer once I actually finish 2 semesters of Metabolism, but then I would be taking it going into senior year, which I find to be risky in the event that I dont do as well as I would have liked.

 

[bluedevil5126]

Like many courses, biochemistry and the level that it's tested on the MCAT can be self-learned through many free resources. Khan Academy was helpful and Princeton Review's Biochemistry review book was really good, IMO. I definitely wouldn't skip over the metabolic pathways. Same with enzyme kinetics if it hasn't been mentioned in this thread already although my memory tells me both of these topics were covered in a bio pre-req class, however briefly.

Edit: Not sure why I said "courses" when I meant "topics"

 

[WutsUpDoc23]

I took the mcat before I took biochem in undergrad and did perfectly fine. Biochem is not entirely the beast everyone makes it out to be and can be self-taught. That said, you do NEED to know biochem one way or another, because the bio science section is absolutely biochem heavy. Also protip, as you are learning biochem read scientific journals relevant to what you are learning in class/teaching yourself. Get used to the rhetoric, way they talk, way info is presenting, etc. The bio section will not be pretty, eloquently put textbook passage problems. They will be samples of actual scientific journals with biochem integrated into them.

 

[B-Lymphocyte]

Like many courses, biochemistry and the level that it's tested on the MCAT can be self-learned through many free resources. Khan Academy was helpful and Princeton Review's Biochemistry review book was really good, IMO. I definitely wouldn't skip over the metabolic pathways. Same with enzyme kinetics if it hasn't been mentioned in this thread already although my memory tells me both of these courses were covered in a bio pre-req class, however briefly.

Definitely agree, understanding the principles of enzyme kinetics is crucial to do well

 

[700825]

Well my plan was to take a prep course due to being offered a major discount on it. Would this help at all?

I feel like it would help since you would have someone to explain the concepts to you and answer your questions over them. However, I didn't take a prep course, so I'm probably not the best person to answer this.

 

[Saifa]

I agree 100%, and considering those pathways are the hardest part of biochem I would recommend taking a class that incorporates them (or studying with KA or kaplan a lot).

This is what I don't understand. Everyone says "biochem" is so important to have then cites these topics as why. The entire end of my mol/cell biology course consisted of these. I guess your mileage varies by school.

 

[holdthemayo]

I also took the MCAT without any biochem and did well. It really depends on how well you self study. The new MCAT is full of biochem so if you can wait to take it into after the next class then you might have a slightly easier time.

 

[allanMED15]

OP, as you can tell there are many ways to study for the MCAT. I took several biochem classes, reviewed on my own and did well. Others in this thread never took a class and also did well. You should do what you think is best for your situation.

 

[Lawpy]

Hi everyone,

I am taking an introductory biochemistry course this semester, and I noticed in the syllabus that the course is mainly structured around biochemistry of amino acids and proteins, with very little (to none) coverage of carbohydrates and lipids.

I was planning on taking the MCAT this summer, but would this hinder my ability to do well?

you don't need a specific course to do well on the MCAT especially considering course quality depends on the professor and university. you can cover more than sufficient biochem background knowledge by watching Khan Academy videos and doing practice passages. Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry is an excellent reference text for biochemistry.

 

[BunnyMan17]

I'm gonna a little against the grain and recommend taking a second semester of biochem, especially if it is pathway heavy with some focus on clinical application (mine was). More than knowing all the pathways inside and out, it taught me to think like a biochemist, which really helped on the MCAT. I did manage a pretty high score. Now if you're just looking for a good, solid score then, yes... you could probably make do with khan academy, reading on your own, etc.

 

[Welshman]

This is what I don't understand. Everyone says "biochem" is so important to have then cites these topics as why. The entire end of my mol/cell biology course consisted of these. I guess your mileage varies by school.

I suppose it does depend on school, at mine mol only covers genetics and protein synthesis and cell is usually taken at the beginning of sophomore year so the level of detail needed for metabolism isn't really retained if really covered at all.