orgo on mcat

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

giggledesi

Senior Member
10+ Year Member
7+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2004
Messages
111
Reaction score
0
Hi I am taking planning to take the MCATS next april after i take orgo... but i was planning to take an mcat class this summer... just to get a feel for what i am doing. how much orgo is on the mcat. will a class be any use? thanks

Members don't see this ad.
 
giggledesi said:
Hi I am taking planning to take the MCATS next april after i take orgo... but i was planning to take an mcat class this summer... just to get a feel for what i am doing. how much orgo is on the mcat. will a class be any use? thanks

Not much really. I reviewed orgo the least.
1) You just have to know all about sn1, sn2, e1, e2, and of course nucleophiles and electrophiles
2) nomencleture
3) Sugars- epimers, alpha, anomeric carbon, etc (may have had this in biochem)
4) isomers: stereoisomers, diastereomers, enantiomers, structural, constitutional, etc
5) oxidation/reduction
6) know how to follow arrows and electron movement
7) all the review material that used included hybridization in organic, although I did this first semester of general chemistry, so I will include it here since every one else does.

These were the main things that seemed to show up repetively on each practice exam and on the real thing. Really simple compared to actual organic class. You could try going through EKs or Kaplans organic review, although I feel they definately go overboard with it.
 
There is a fair bit of Orgo in the biology section, though there has been a shift towards genetics in the last year. Most is Org. I, though there is some Org. II, (aldol condsensation rx, NMR spectroscopy, etc.)

A review class would be fine, just understand that you won't get the full benefit out of it without having had the required classes prior. (A review class is in no way a subsitute for the actual class, especially in Organic chemistry)
 
I agree with some of both of the above posts.
I found that you could find repetiton in similar questions on the various AAMC practice tests. I think that you'll have to have a decent handle on carbonyl chemistry, nomenclature, and concepts of reactivity and electron movement. NMR should be superficially understood for some easy points. I didn't see much orgo I - AAMC has removed a lot of the benzene and alkene chemistry from the test.

Good luck with it.

dc
 
Members don't see this ad :)
to be honest with you...the MCAT does not have much of organic chem.

This april's MCAT had only 2 organic chem passages...versus 7 bio.
 
To the OP, you could be shocked. If someone told me that on an MCAT I would get 8 physics passages and 3 gen chem flustered with a more than regular amount of calculations, I woulda called them liars.
In the same vein, don't be shocked if you get 7 Orgo passages and 4 in bio. It looks improbable but prepare for the worst. I wish I did. Now August keeps haunting me. Till June mate.
 
It all depends on where you sit on that day (what form you get). From there, you might get 70% Orgo / 30 % Bio or you might get 10% Orgo / 90% Bio (genetics) like I did.... there is no way to tell which it will be.
 
Top