self-studying sociology?

[PeruvianMD]

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I'll be taking the mcat on april, and don't know if I should take a sociology intro class or just self study for it. I'll be studying for the mcat during the spring semester so maybe it would be better to keep my course load as light as possible. Any opinions?

Thanks

 

[cantankerous]

Intro to Sociology is a useless class honestly.
3 hours spent reading SJW blogs on tumblr will summarize everything you will learn from the class. (I wouldn't take them all too seriously since they tend to be misguided and overemotional but keep the underlying message in mind when reading lol).

The "terms" you need to know are really just common sense.

 

[Lawpy]

I think prep books and Khan Academy do a better job covering P/S than a textbook/course could.

 

[chocoholicsoxfan]

I've said it a million times, I'll say it again.

There is more sociology than O Chem on the new exam. It's important. If there is ANY WAY to squeeze a sociology class in your schedule, do it! Yes, the class itself may only be moderately useful, but more important is using your TA/prof as a resource. I know when I was confused on, say, the difference between social constructionism and symbolic interactionism or stereotype threat vs self fulfilling prophecy, it was helpful to have someone with whom I could talk it out.

(Fwiw, though this may be of limited relevance, I got a 132 on Psych/Soc)

 

[thatwouldbeanarchy]

.

 

[Lawpy]

I've said it a million times, I'll say it again.

There is more sociology than O Chem on the new exam. It's important. If there is ANY WAY to squeeze a sociology class in your schedule, do it! Yes, the class itself may only be moderately useful, but more important is using your TA/prof as a resource. I know when I was confused on, say, the difference between social constructionism and symbolic interactionism or stereotype threat vs self fulfilling prophecy, it was helpful to have someone with whom I could talk it out.

(Fwiw, though this may be of limited relevance, I got a 132 on Psych/Soc)

I think it depends somewhat on your background. Taking a Soc course probably wouldn't hurt... But I think if you have any background in the social sciences, you might not need it. I didn't take a single Psych or Soc class in college but I studied Cultural Anthropology and there was a fair bit of overlap. Really, what I needed was to brush up on some of the more specific schools/theories of Psych and I found the Exam Krackers books sufficient for that.

Ended up getting a 128 on that section.

Brb. Gonna check with my Marxist sociology professor for more clarification on soc concepts.

 

[chocoholicsoxfan]

Brb. Gonna check with my Marxist sociology professor for more clarification on soc concepts.

OK well obviously use rmp first. If you're deciding between Soc and Genetics, take genetics. If you're deciding between Soc and a PE class or nutrition class or something, take the Soc class. If nothing else, it should be an easy GPA booster. (4 credits of A? Why the heck not!)

 

[Glazedonutlove]

Don't waste your time. Memorise a glossary--way more efficient

 

[BobbyJoe]

It's all memorization and you can learn enough from reading a book or watching khan. i made a 131 on PsS without ever having taken a psych or soc course.

 

[wavvvvvves123]

lets not completely downplay sociology when every MCAT response thread here has a significant amount of people complaining about how "random" or "out of nowhere" the sociology questions ended up being. OP, it'll help to take a course or at least supplement your MCAT sociology books with a sociology textbook or something just because Kaplan and all those test makers still don't have a complete handle on what to expect for the MCAT sociology section. i've taken a handful of courses in college and it helped me a lot. there were questions i learned in my classes but didnt see in my kaplan/TPR books if that means anything. khan academy is actually pretty comprehensive too though

intro to sociology is usually not a tough course so i wouldnt worry about keeping your courseload light at the expense of mcat prep. the material is interesting, too if taught by an engaging professor. see if your school offers a good intro to sociology course. if it's unnecessarily difficult, then yeah you can teach it yourself.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

We are not saying it's not an important part of the exam. I think it's unnecessary to take a class (unless it easily fits in your schedule) when you can learn the info on google by searching each aamc topic.

 

[PeruvianMD]

thanks for your imput guys! Intro socio at my college is more reading articles and analyzing them instead of a textbook.

 

[narvik2016]

Try and find out from others who have taken the course what it is like. I agree that it could be helpful if your class will cover the topics/definitions needed for the MCAT, but that may not be the case... I took soc 101 during undergrad and it was essentially a grad student having us choose a book, movie, song, image, etc. each week to analyze and talk about its role in society and influence on people... I don't think I learned a single definition.

Edit: Just saw your post about analyzing articles... in that case, I would say don't bother.

 

[123456123456]

I think it's something you could definitely self study using the 2015 MCAT books. However, a lot of schools require at least 1-2 courses in the psych/sociology area so I would definitely take it at some point in your undergrad career