Sophmore rushing to take the 2014 MCAT...advice?

[letsdothis94]

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Title says it all. I'm a sophomore who's completed Gchem, Bio, and first semester physics. I will be taking first semester Ochem at the beginning of my junior year as well as my my final semester of physics. If I choose to take the 2014 MCAT I will have yet to take Ochem second semester. Therefore, my first question is for individuals who have already taken the MCAT. What percentage of the MCAT was strictly material covered in your Second semester of Ochem? My second question is what's your opinion? If you were in my shoes, how would you go about this situation? Wait for the 2015, or go all in for the 2014?

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Haha dont... just take all of the courses, take your time. The 2015 version is really not going to be that bad. People act like the sky is falling, but if anything it will actually reset the bar a little bit, Whereas with the current version everyone has perfected strategies to do well, which can leave some (especially poor) applicants in the dust.

 

[medic86]

The percentage of questions from o-chem is anecdotally reported to be variable from exam to exam.

You might be able to swing it if o-chem 2 is the only class you'll be deficient in going into the exam and you're good at self-teaching. The material is much more dense than o-chem 1.

Is it my understanding that you won't have physics 2 when you sit for the MCAT, as well?

It's up to you, but the prudent decision is to wait to take the 2015 MCAT.

 

[Mr Roboto]

I'd suggest waiting, to give yourself more time to master the material. The new MCAT is scary because people don't seem to know much about it yet, but it's also an opportunity—med schools will be reestablishing what a "good" score is on the new MCAT.

 

[YLFounder]

Title says it all. I'm a sophomore who's completed Gchem, Bio, and first semester physics. I will be taking first semester Ochem at the beginning of my junior year as well as my my final semester of physics. If I choose to take the 2014 MCAT I will have yet to take Ochem second semester. Therefore, my first question is for individuals who have already taken the MCAT. What percentage of the MCAT was strictly material covered in your Second semester of Ochem? My second question is what's your opinion? If you were in my shoes, how would you go about this situation? Wait for the 2015, or go all in for the 2014?

I'm in the same boat, but instead of OChem 2, I will be lacking Physics 2. Will that be a factor for my success?

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Wait! You can start some practice tests just to get into a groove, but I'd wait until the 2015 comes out.

 

[silverturtle]

Don't. End of story.

 

[type12]

ITT: Sound advice. If the prep comes at the cost of good grades, even the slightest drop, DO NOT DO IT, NO EXCEPTIONS. On the other hand, if you have the time, there's something to be said about knowing your enemy, and the MCAT2015 is half speculation right now (there is only the official AAMC doc as reference for what to expect, and very few examples therein).

 

[BamaNicole]

Title says it all. I'm a sophomore who's completed Gchem, Bio, and first semester physics. I will be taking first semester Ochem at the beginning of my junior year as well as my my final semester of physics. If I choose to take the 2014 MCAT I will have yet to take Ochem second semester. Therefore, my first question is for individuals who have already taken the MCAT. What percentage of the MCAT was strictly material covered in your Second semester of Ochem? My second question is what's your opinion? If you were in my shoes, how would you go about this situation? Wait for the 2015, or go all in for the 2014?

I'm more than likely an anomaly,however, I had a bio section where three out of my seven passages were all from second semester (or third quarter) OChem. I also had a good share of discretes as well. I would advise against taking the MCAT until you're completely done with your pre-reqs.

 

[NEpremed]

Hi, My daughter is in the same boat. The problem is that she will not have Physics II either but she does not want to take a GAP year and does not have room in her schedule to take sociology, etc. Her biggest concern is the lack of PRACTICE tests and material that will be available to take the 2015 test and that she would need to take it in May to apply end of Junior year and not take a gap year. I don't know why they did not decide to change the test during the summer months, as not to hinder the Class of 2016. She is going for it... We are getting her a MCAT Physics tutor and studying to the test, she will only take 4 courses in the fall and study all summer and fall .. It is a up hill climb but she feels she wants to go for it. The devil you know is the better than the devil you don't and you need to PRACTICE PRACTICE, PRACTICE and there won't be any materials to do that with the 2015 test.

 

[type12]

Hi, My daughter is in the same boat. The problem is that she will not have Physics II either but she does not want to take a GAP year and does not have room in her schedule to take sociology, etc. Her biggest concern is the lack of PRACTICE tests and material that will be available to take the 2015 test and that she would need to take it in May to apply end of Junior year and not take a gap year. I don't know why they did not decide to change the test during the summer months, as not to hinder the Class of 2016. She is going for it... We are getting her a MCAT Physics tutor and studying to the test, she will only take 4 courses in the fall and study all summer and fall .. It is a up hill climb but she feels she wants to go for it. The devil you know is the better than the devil you don't and you need to PRACTICE PRACTICE, PRACTICE and there won't be any materials to do that with the 2015 test.

If it is going to affect her school performance in ANY way, she should hold off. If she can teach herself (which is not impossible at all, it's interesting stuff but a little counter-intuitive at first), then go for it.

That being said, AAMC is currently working with Khan Academy to prepare official prep resources for MCAT2015, so you'll be in good hands. I honestly think there will be a huge upset in the test prep world when the official test prep material is released, as what could be better than straight from the horse's mouth?

EDIT: As a tutor myself, I urge you to make sure the tutor encourages intentional practice. Studying smart, especially for the physics, is ABSOLUTELY critical, as knowing how to get the right answer is not quite as important as knowing the concept. Why? Because the MCAT has "tricks" that play with your understanding. For example, if they say a constant force is applied on an object moving a 5m/s for 10s, the net force is zero because there's zero acceleration (they just didn't bother to tell you the other forces).

 

[Aerus]

Unless you are very good at self teaching and can possibly push your three month study plan to four months, I highly discourage taking the MCAT without all the prereqs done. This is addressing everyone in this thread who plans on doing that.

There is A LOT of MCAT content to go over even if you've already seen this material before. If you've NEVER seen this before, studying becomes more difficult. To make matters worse, the MCAT is a critical thinking test, NOT a content test. You must have a certain degree of mastery over the material and be able to think critically with it and if you are not comfortable with the content in the first place, thinking critically with it becomes a lot more difficult.

I highly advise against taking the MCAT before you are 100% ready. Understand your own study abilities (or your daughter's) and err on the safe side. If they are unable to self study effectively, I would hold off on taking the MCAT until they get those prereqs finished.

 

[medic86]

I'm more than likely an anomaly,however, I had a bio section where three out of my seven passages were all from second semester (or third quarter) OChem. I also had a good share of discretes as well. I would advise against taking the MCAT until you're completely done with your pre-reqs.

Mixed Claisen?

 

[Muffinho]

Unless you are very good at self teaching and can possibly push your three month study plan to four months, I highly discourage taking the MCAT without all the prereqs done. This is addressing everyone in this thread who plans on doing that.

There is A LOT of MCAT content to go over even if you've already seen this material before. If you've NEVER seen this before, studying becomes more difficult. To make matters worse, the MCAT is a critical thinking test, NOT a content test. You must have a certain degree of mastery over the material and be able to think critically with it and if you are not comfortable with the content in the first place, thinking critically with it becomes a lot more difficult.

I highly advise against taking the MCAT before you are 100% ready. Understand your own study abilities (or your daughter's) and err on the safe side. If they are unable to self study effectively, I would hold off on taking the MCAT until they get those prereqs finished.

The bolded portion is 100% accurate.

 

[CATDEWORMER]

If you get your target score on multiple practice exams you might as well go for it.