Self-learn physics?

[TheDBird90]

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I'm getting a BA in biology, rather than a BS. If I had the time and money, I would get the BS, since that entails the pre-med requirements (not for any particular school, just in general). But since I can't take General Physics I and II, do you think it's possible to learn it by oneself? I don't feel like organic chemistry will be a problem, but physics seem difficult. The biggest problem seems like there's no way to check your work. Most "solution" manuals only contain the answers or work for a select few problems, not all of them. Really??

 

[Skydive Fox]

If you've got the motivation, it's definitely possible to self-teach enough to get a decent MCAT score, but that won't exempt you from the physics and organic chem prereqs...

 

[calisurfer19]

Check the schools you're thinking of applying to and find out if they have physics as pre req for admission. If most of them require it, you need to find a way to take it. It's possible to teach yourself, but taking post bacc classes is probably the best course of action for MCAT prep and for gaining admission. I gather you're projecting your timeline out for when you want to start school (I'm guessing 2 years from now), but give yourself some time to do well in your courses and on the MCAT. I also know money is a big issue to you and many other students, but consider the money and time spent as an investment rather than an albatross around your neck. Best of luck.

 

[themoonman2]

You probably can teach yourself both of those subjects if you can find useful resources. I just don't understand why you would make such a risky choice for such an important test. Many schools also require a year of physics and o-chem, so there's that..

 

[TheDBird90]

You probably can teach yourself both of those subjects if you can find useful resources. I just don't understand why you would make such a risky choice for such an important test. Many schools also require a year of physics and o-chem, so there's that..

I'm not going to med school, I'm just interested in learning medicine for fun. Definitely don't want to practice it.

 

[Skydive Fox]

I'm not going to med school, I'm just interested in learning medicine for fun. Definitely don't want to practice it.

Ah, the confusion... You posted this in pre-allopathic so we assumed you were pre-med, lol. Yeah, if you're just tryna learn for the fun of it, self-teaching is more than sufficient 👍

 

[OchemOficionado]

I'm not going to med school, I'm just interested in learning medicine for fun. Definitely don't want to practice it.

Lol, what? Ok then, the answer is yes. You can self teach in your free time. Get a text book or two and use YouTube. Or, just skip straight to the medicine all together, why waste time with the prerequisites unless the topics really excite you.

 

[themoonman2]

I'm not going to med school, I'm just interested in learning medicine for fun. Definitely don't want to practice it.

Then I agree with the other posters. If you want to learn physics an o-chem, buy intro to physics or o-chem text books and have at it. For an even more parsimonious experience with each one, get MCAT review books.

If you want to learn medicine, you might as well skip learning those topics as most of the content covered in each prereq subject is only tangentially related to medicine. The principals remain constant but actual use of the knowledge isn't there for many, many of the topics covered in those two particular courses.

 

[TheDBird90]

Ah, the confusion... You posted this in pre-allopathic so we assumed you were pre-med, lol. Yeah, if you're just tryna learn for the fun of it, self-teaching is more than sufficient 👍

Oh sorry, I guess someone could move this to the appropriate thread/forum. Thanks, that sounds good. Organic chemistry sounds really interesting, and I've always wanted to learn it, so that'll be fun. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all the help. 🙂 And yes, that sounds like a great idea: just skip some of the prerequisites unless I absolutely need them.