Starting to study for the MCAT before organic 2 and physics 2 bad?

[browneyes124]

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So I am taking organic 1 and physics 1 this coming semester. Aside from organic 2 and physics 2 I will have all the other prereq courses finished by December. I was originally going to take the MCAT in May (graduate december 2018) but alot of people said I should take it in March so If I had to retake if than id have time and could retake it in May. This sounded like a pretty good idea, but in order to do this I will have to start studying around November.

I took a physics college level class in high school and got a good grade because im pretty good at math and memorization and I feel like most physics is jus math and memorizing theories. I heard there was not alot of physics 2 or organic 2 and if was mostly just physics 1 and organic 1 but that was only like 5 %. I've asked about 10 of my friends who took the new MCAT the first year it came out and now and they all said this. What do you guys think? I have the Kaplan 7 course review books and im pretty sure I could teach myself physics 2, organic 2 im a little worried about but still. Also I'm not saying im going to take the MCAT before I have any intro into these 2 subjects, just that I want to start really studying before I take them. I will have them both in the spring so I will have almost 2 months in the class before I take the MCAT but I just do not want to start studying in the spring because I'll have more time in the fall with Winter break and everything.

Any tips or thoughts? Did any of you not take a class before the mcat?

 

[tvbbnumber41]

Sounds like bad advice to me. The application doesn't open until June 1st. I'd say take your test in June. Your score takes about a month to get back, but you can send your primary without having done the MCAT. Depending on how fast your University writes your committee letter, you should get your scores a little after you get your secondaries which will still be considered early. While you're waiting for your scores pre write all the secondary essays and whatnot. And to answer your question, unless you are a math wiz, teaching yourself physics 2 will be a pain in the ass. Take orgo 2 and physics 2 in the spring and take the full month to do nothing but study, which should be decent time to take the test (given that you are studying during the semester and the winter break).

Also, your friends are correct as far as the MCAT will not really ask you direct physics questions, but understanding the concept in scenarios (because they often combine biology, chemistry, and physics) will help you answer the questions. Same with orgo. I'd say in my personal experience the bulk of physics is from physics 2, like 90%. Hope this helps.

 

[workaholic181]

I took the MCAT without physics 2 and felt fine. I self taught everything else and frankly I think you could at least brush up well enough on your own that you'd be ready by March.

My MCAT had a lot of Orgo 2 but it's normally like lab techniques, H NMR, and oxidation/reduction reactions. Won't get too much crazier than that. Honestly with half a semester under your belt you'd probably learn a lot of the material needed. I used TPR o chem book and loved it, highly recommend.

 

[sharpei1971]

It can absolutely be done. I took the MCAT before physics 2, organic chemistry, and really any bio and scored 515. But, you have to know yourself and how you learn before I would ever recommend that path. I used the Kaplan books and khan, and both helped a lot. So, yes, you can definitely do it, just know that it requires more studying time and discipline.

 

[Doctor or bust]

Wait until you're done with pre-reqs. You'll find some people with anecdotal evidence of doing well without them but I'd be willing to be that the majority of test takers are unable to do this. I see it as similar to caribbean schools, some will do well and talk about their success with that, however, there are going to be a lot of people who have a less than satisfactory experience with it.

 

[Ad2b]

Wait until you're done with pre-reqs.

Agree. I was going to take the MCAT pre-2015 without physics 1 or 2 because the fine folks at the test prep company gave me the supplemental module for physics and said it'd be all I needed to have.

Nice. Hopefully, they enjoyed that $2200.

So, I registered for the 2015 (YEAY! Biochem - which I love) but still no physics. As the test got closer and my knowledge of physics, or lack thereof, became more glaringly clear, I bailed on that test cycle to get physics.

While the formulas are very similar in format (F=ma is really a lot like V=IR you can replace R with p*L/A and so on)... but the concepts are different. Kinematics don't matter really in optics at the physics 2 level (or at least, didn't for me).

Watching peers of mine try to finish up senior year, take the MCAT in May, graduate and then apply - not many were that successful and retook the exam. You could continue to do content review while in school, take the practice exams after school's out, test in June or even July or le gasp, August, and still apply that cycle.

Don't rush the MCAT. Don't fear it either.