Hey guys! I'm a non traditional senior, taking an extra year to finish my prerequisites, so I will be applying the summer after I graduate. My school has the o-chem courses in a 3-part sequence (quarter system), and I finished the first part last quarter. Important thing to note: We have two biochem courses (one for biochem/chem majors, and one for non-majors), and I'm taking the course that is significantly easier and recommended to take for pre-med in the non-majors, since it hits all the fundamental concepts covered in the MCAT. Ochem B is a prerequisite for this course, however, I emailed the professor before-hand that I got an A+ in the first course of the sequence, so he let me in. My concern is, I'll be taking a total of 19 units this semester with additional volunteer commitments and I might get hired as a research assistant. Is Ochem B actually necessary for the MCAT (it starts with activation of alcohol leaving groups)? I'll be taking the MCAT in January or March of next year, and I was wondering if I should just reschedule to take ochem II in fall quarter of next year to lighten my courseload (I honestly don't know if I can manage this much, I really don't want to damage my good GPA).
Should I drop Ochem 2 to lighten my courseload?
- Thread starter jrohazn
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I didn't think that much of organic 2 is on the MCAT and if so it was stuff that was manageable to self study. But that is just my opinion - it is hard to really advise someone on what would work best for them
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I took the MCAT prior to taking Ochem 2. I will say, there are a lot of things that are taught in Ochem 2 that are fair game on the MCAT (such as carbonyl chemistry). I studied these reactions heavily prior to the exam, but it definitely would've been easier had I already been through Ochem 2. The general advice on SDN is to take all of the prereqs prior to the MCAT to maximize your chances of doing well. It's solid advice, but I would add that it is possible to do well through self-study if you're disciplined with it. Realize you'd have to study that much longer for the MCAT since you'd be learning topics for the first time.
