MCAT without Physics 2?

[Stumpyman]

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Hey,
I just finished the first semester of Physics (algebra based), but I don't think I'll be able to take Physics 2 next semester (I'm transferring). My plan was to study for the MCAT from May-August and take it in late August/early September, although I'm not sure if that's going to be possible without Physics 2?

I had a really tough time with the first semester of physics, and pulled a B at the end. I never took it in High school, so everything was new and I found it to be the toughest pre-req by far up to this point. Is it possible to just self-study the physics 2 material on the MCAT?

Thanks

 

[darklabel]

I highly wouldn't suggest it since quite a few topics in Physics 2 can show up on the MCAT such as optics and circuits to name a few. But if you can self study the material, than don't worry too much.

 

[gettheleadout]

Hey Stumpy!

I would also have to say that since second semester physics material is commonly more difficult to master and as was said above, optics and things are often seen on the MCAT, it's probably not a good idea unless you really easily mastered first semester material.

I just finished Physics I as well, but I'm taking II in the spring (MCAT is March 23) and I'm comfortable enough with my performance that I feel I can balance it and still master the material.

 

[Stumpyman]

Ah, thanks for the replies. I should probably aim for an MCAT after the spring, in that case. Is it possible to study for basically everything on the MCAT over the summer, and possibly leave the physics 2 stuff for 3 months later (and after physics 2, brush up on everything I studied in the spring)?

 

[gettheleadout]

That doesn't sound like the most efficient plan, and I don't know why I didn't think of this last night, but if you could make a regimented self-study plan to teach yourself physics II over the entire spring semester, you could keep to your plan of MCAT prep from May-August. This way you'd have several months of physics II being your only extracurricular studying focus. You'd need to be strict about keeping up with it and have good material though.


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[Hemorrage]

I wouldn't necessarily say physics 2 is harder than physics 1. Several of my friends have said they preferred physics 2 because the topics were way more interesting compared to the rolling balls and pendulums of physics 1

 

[gettheleadout]

I wouldn't necessarily say physics 2 is harder than physics 1. Several of my friends have said they preferred physics 2 because the topics were way more interesting compared to the rolling balls and pendulums of physics 1

Well there's variation I'm sure, but heck, I've got friends in electrical engineering (and doing really well) who were adamant that physics II was harder than I. And they'd had AP Physics B and C in HS too. Maybe that's just my school. Either way, I just meant that as a heads up. Stumpy may find physics II easier!


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[Hemorrage]

Well there's variation I'm sure, but heck, I've got friends in electrical engineering (and doing really well) who were adamant that physics II was harder than I. And they'd had AP Physics B and C in HS too. Maybe that's just my school. Either way, I just meant that as a heads up. Stumpy may find physics II easier!


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I'm really hoping physics II is just more interesting, i don't mind a challenge. I didn't do amazing this semester in physics primarily because i found it put me to sleep thinking about it lol.

 

[gettheleadout]

I'm really hoping physics II is just more interesting, i don't mind a challenge. I didn't do amazing this semester in physics primarily because i found it put me to sleep thinking about it lol.

My only comment on that is that discipline is both important and understandably hard to learn. Gen ed classes in college seem to be good training for keeping yourself engrossed in something totally unappealing to your interest, as one might find during verbal...

 

[Hemorrage]

My only comment on that is that discipline is both important and understandably hard to learn. Gen ed classes in college seem to be good training for keeping yourself engrossed in something totally unappealing to your interest, as one might find during verbal...

You're right, thankfully I didn't do all that bad but In terms of verbal .. I can already see myself getting mad at the book when doing it. Are you taking the MCAT soon?

 

[Stumpyman]

Well there's variation I'm sure, but heck, I've got friends in electrical engineering (and doing really well) who were adamant that physics II was harder than I. And they'd had AP Physics B and C in HS too. Maybe that's just my school. Either way, I just meant that as a heads up. Stumpy may find physics II easier!


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I'm really hoping physics II is just more interesting, i don't mind a challenge. I didn't do amazing this semester in physics primarily because i found it put me to sleep thinking about it lol.

Yeah, I mean, I was about 3% away from an A in Physics 1. What really killed me was this brilliant, genius, superhuman named Newton and his Second Law, which seemed to pop up on 70% of the questions in Physics 1. Never really got my head around Newton's 2nd Law.

 

[gettheleadout]

You're right, thankfully I didn't do all that bad but In terms of verbal .. I can already see myself getting mad at the book when doing it. Are you taking the MCAT soon?

March 23, the very end of my Spring Break haha... I started the SN2ed study schedule yesterday!

 

[Stumpyman]

Wow, so I think I preemptively spoke; just found out I ended with an A in Physics 1. I think I'm definitely going to (try and) follow this --study Physics 2 material by myself for the next semester, and then regular MCAT prep from May-August.

Thanks all!

That doesn't sound like the most efficient plan, and I don't know why I didn't think of this last night, but if you could make a regimented self-study plan to teach yourself physics II over the entire spring semester, you could keep to your plan of MCAT prep from May-August. This way you'd have several months of physics II being your only extracurricular studying focus. You'd need to be strict about keeping up with it and have good material though.


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[Hemorrage]

March 23, the very end of my Spring Break haha... I started the SN2ed study schedule yesterday!

Haha wow well i hope its working out well for you. I'm aiming to take it in April or June .. probably going to start studying in the next 2 weeks. Looks like we'll be applying in the same cycle!

 

[Mavs88]

Wow, so I think I preemptively spoke; just found out I ended with an A in Physics 1. I think I'm definitely going to (try and) follow this --study Physics 2 material by myself for the next semester, and then regular MCAT prep from May-August.

Thanks all!

How did the self study for physics go and how well did it prep you for that mcat?

i'm taking physics 1 this spring and mcat in august...want to do the sn2ed method for 3 months straight but not sure if i should try and take physics 2 and lab in summer while studying that much.

thanks!

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I'm actually studying for the MCAT without taking Physics II right now. I think the only benefit to the first sequence that we took was that we did optics for the last portion of Physics I and apparently Fluids and Solids is in the second sequence of Physics. It's not that big of a problem and I'm sure there's people out there who have done and scored well, but it's not recommended. Due to financial issues from my family, I was forced to take classes next semester instead of this semester, so I was unable to take Physics II before MCAT study. Since I wasn't taking classes, I decided to put my full focus on the MCAT during the Fall. I would recommend reading up on Physics II beforehand as I am having some trouble and it takes me 2-3x the amount of effort and time to put in that the other subjects, granted I am actually sacrificing some verbal practice for PS practice.
So in general, it CAN be done, but you have to put in a lot of work, be adept at or build up on MCAT math (or math in general), practice a lot, and have good time management skills (something I'm pretty bad at lol)

 

[Mavs88]

I'm actually studying for the MCAT without taking Physics II right now. I think the only benefit to the first sequence that we took was that we did optics for the last portion of Physics I and apparently Fluids and Solids is in the second sequence of Physics. It's not that big of a problem and I'm sure there's people out there who have done and scored well, but it's not recommended. Due to financial issues from my family, I was forced to take classes next semester instead of this semester, so I was unable to take Physics II before MCAT study. Since I wasn't taking classes, I decided to put my full focus on the MCAT during the Fall. I would recommend reading up on Physics II beforehand as I am having some trouble and it takes me 2-3x the amount of effort and time to put in that the other subjects, granted I am actually sacrificing some verbal practice for PS practice.
So in general, it CAN be done, but you have to put in a lot of work, be adept at or build up on MCAT math (or math in general), practice a lot, and have good time management skills (something I'm pretty bad at lol)

Thanks! I'm actually taking Physics I this Spring and plan on starting the SN2 plan after school ends...so either I will incorporate the physics II self learning in there or actually take the class in summer I...i'm kind of leaning toward the class...even if I take it, I can still dedicate 5-7 hours a day to the study material I think.

 

[Roxas]

Thanks! I'm actually taking Physics I this Spring and plan on starting the SN2 plan after school ends...so either I will incorporate the physics II self learning in there or actually take the class in summer I...i'm kind of leaning toward the class...even if I take it, I can still dedicate 5-7 hours a day to the study material I think.

What's the rush? To most people in your situation the simple solution would be take physics 2 in the fall, MCAT in spring 2015 (or Jan. if you don't want to take the new MCAT), and apply summer of 2015. Admittedly, it is possible to self study certain subjects enough to do ok on the MCAT, but for the majority of people who rush to take the MCAT they get stuck in the sticky situation of a bad first score.

 

[PHellmuth]

I agree with most of what's been said here... Studying ahead of time and then trying to brush up later is definitely a bad idea, you just aren't going to be as fresh on the material as you need to be when you actually take it. If you're good at self study then you could get by but you will definitely see Physics 2 on the test and you don't want to go into something knowing you may need a retake.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I have seen a number of successful PS scores from people had not taken Physics II (or Physics C in the quarter system) that buckled down and self-studied the material. But the common thread in the majority of them was (1) they had taken physics in high school, (2) had been doing really well in the college physics courses they had taken so far, and (3) they made it to nearly every physics office hour we offered.

For the OP, the first two are not true (and the third is an unknown), so it would seem like a huge risk to take the MCAT. Let's go with ideal probability that on PS, 26 of the 52 questions are from physics and that half of those 26 come from the second half of physics. That's 13 questions total. Random guessing gets you 3 out of 13, so there's the chance for a swing of 10 questions. Even if you were to only get 7/10 on those swing questions after taking Physics II, that could equate to 3 points on your MCAT score. The difference between a 7 vs. a 10 or an 8 vs. an 11 is huge in terms of whether you'd be repeating the MCAT or not. The only way it would seem worth the risk is if you are well on your way to getting a 12 on the BS and the VR sections, even on a bad day and that you had plenty of time and resources to self-study for physics.

 

[Astharia]

Has anyone here taken Classical Physics I (Calculus based) instead of Physics I? I'm taking Classical Physics in the spring and I wonder if I can just take that and be OK for the MCAT, or If I should take that and Physics II, or just take Classical Physics and take both Physics I and II and find it much easier.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I really don't recommend it. It's horrible, I had no idea about anything Electric or Magnetism, so I supplemented with the Giancoli Physics textbook. There's like 5-6 chapters dedicated to E and M and circuits, and I'm tempted to read all those chapters, even though I've gone through 3 already lol. It helps because TBR is just that, a review. They leave some of the most basic elements out that a textbook doesn't leave out. Of course I will do the TBR section once I finish browsing through the chapters. IMO, I would recommend videos to save time, but I'm not a video guy simply because I tend to space off, laugh at the guys voice, or goof around on various websites (do u even misc bro) when I'm next to a computer.

 

[CATrtb]

Took the MCAT w/o taking any physics. I self-studied Kaplan materials for a couple months along with my regular study schedule. Did decent enough.

 

[brood910]

If you are good with studying on your own like me, then go ahead. I didnt go to lectures for physics at all and read the books + lecture notes posted online to study on my own and managed to get As for both Physics 1 and 2.

Use TBR books + TPRH workbook, then you will be more than fine imo.