Take Intro Psychology or self-study (for new 2015 MCAT)?

[MedicinalCalling]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey guys,

Right now, I am planning on taking OCHEM B (with lab), BIOCHEM (without lab), and a Spanish class for next semester. I plan on blocking off the whole summer so that I can study for the MCAT and take it at the end of summer '16. I was wondering how challenging the psychology section of the new MCAT is, and whether it is worth taking a formal intro psychology class (on top of OCHEM and BIOCHEM) just to prepare for this section on the MCAT. Would my time be better spent just self-studying psychology over the summer instead of taking the actual class? I would appreciate any advice/input. Thanks!

 

[rilte4]

It'd be a much better use of your time to run through a Psych/Soc review book or two. (I only say two because each prep company seems to have missed a handful of things that the other books cover.)

 

[Cotterpin]

Psychology is a fun and interesting subject. I don't think an intro psych class would be too much to take with ochem and biochem.

But since you mention that you're taking orgo and biochem at the same time . . . why are you doing that? Isn't orgo a prereq for biochem at your school? I know at my school, it was pretty rough trying to study biochem if you didn't already have orgo down.

 

[Spector1]

psych is often a grade boosting class in undergrad so if you want a gpa boost go for that.

if gpa isnt a big deal, just read a book

 

[123456123456]

I think it is doable to self teach psychology. However, I would take an actual class because psych classes are usually easy (use ratemyprofessors to make sure you get a good professor) so it would be a good GPA boost if needed. Plus, a lot of med schools require 1-2 classes in the psych/sociology area. & Then just do a review of psych when you study for the MCAT

 

[DrHart]

It depends on you. If you have the willpower to actually study, then you would probably save some time.
Personally, I would take the class. It's an easy A intro class - bump your GPA a tad, and would force you to stick to a schedule of learning the material.
I think I've said this before in MCAT threads, but really the core of the Psych/Soc section is knowing terms and definitions that you can't guess at by using intuition. I retained info much better after needing it for an exam instead of just self studying it. Just my 2 cents!

 

[Cotterpin]

It's worth noting that the psych/social sciences part of the MCAT is a whole lot of reading and interpreting studies. It's kinda like "what is the control in this experiment?" or being able to read a table of data. I didn't even glance at the Khan Academy stuff and I ended up crushing this section of the MCAT.

 

[New_Slang]

ITunesU has the Yale intro psych class for free - you can only listen to the lectures and obviously won't get credit, but it worked just fine for me alongside the review material from the big names (Kaplan, PR).

Just be sure it isn't a new pre-req for any schools you're interested in attending!

 

[Gibbward]

I honestly didn't think intro psych would be all that helpful the MCAT. Sure you'll recognize some terms/concepts when you're reading the prep-books, but if you read them enough times, you'll be able to memorize those terms anyway. Then there are the experimental elements of the section, which you probably won't encounter in an intro class. So really, unless you're really interested in psych or need it for a GPA boost, you should get by with just studying prep-books and doing a bunch of practice passages.

 

[purplecricket]

When I took the new MCAT my psych 100 class was about 7 years behind me, used Khan academy and practice Qs and scored in the 90th percentile. I think self-study is sufficient, there were plenty of terms that they asked about that were never mentioned in my intro psych class, but make sure you know the terms in the outline there were plenty of questions that were straight recall. But to echo previous posters, many questions are about understanding experiments so knowing the definitions are key.

 

[raiderette]

I honestly didn't think intro psych would be all that helpful the MCAT. Sure you'll recognize some terms/concepts when you're reading the prep-books, but if you read them enough times, you'll be able to memorize those terms anyway. Then there are the experimental elements of the section, which you probably won't encounter in an intro class.

YMMV, but the material in my intro to psych course was identical to the information that I needed for the MCAT. My sociology class didn't quite make it, and not all the prep books did a good job in that area.
Also, be sure to check the schools on your list. Many are starting to add either specific classes or request you have X number of behavioral science classes.

 

[panda16]

There were two or three questions on my MCAT that were not covered in my Kaplan book but were covered in my intro class

 

[Gibbward]

YMMV, but the material in my intro to psych course was identical to the information that I needed for the MCAT. My sociology class didn't quite make it, and not all the prep books did a good job in that area.
Also, be sure to check the schools on your list. Many are starting to add either specific classes or request you have X number of behavioral science classes.

Right, a majority of the info needed for the MCAT was in my intro psych courses as well (My school had 2 intro psych classes, I took both, and I think 90% of the content on the AAMC outline was covered in those two classes.) I guess to say the courses won't be helpful is incorrect. I just didn't word that correctly 🤔. Still, I think that studying the prep books will be more than enough to get a solid score, at least for psych. The concepts are straight forward enough that with a lot of reviewing and practice, OP should fine. I agree with sociology tho. It seems like the best bet for that is Khan academy.

and +1 on checking specific school's behavioral science requirements