Taking Biochem the same quarter as the MCAT

[Evil_Diastereomers]

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I'm a senior in college who decided to go premed in the beginning of junior year, planning on staying an extra year to finish prerequisites. I'm planning on applying for the 2020-2021 cycle, however, there's one small issue. I'm planning on taking my MCAT at the end of March/April but biochemistry is only offered winter and spring quarter at my school. This means that if I take biochem during the winter, I would be done with my course in the middle of March, which doesn't give me enough time to study for the relevant topics, since biochem is heavily emphasized on the MCAT. I'm not quite sure what to do? Should I study CARS & P/S beforehand, then self-study before/during the quarter while taking biochem? Please help! Thank you!

 

[965978]

It’s very difficult for me to imagine what it would have been like to take the MCAT if I had just finished Biochem. So I can’t contribute any advice on how it would work out. But, I can say the following two things:

1) Maybe you can consider taking summer session biochem this year at your 4-year uni?

2) Maybe you can consider not taking the MCAT until June/July of next year, in which case you’d still be complete by Labor Day. You can focus on pre-writing secondaries while you’re getting your score back. Don’t actually list more than one school on the primary though.

 

[Evil_Diastereomers]

It’s very difficult for me to imagine what it would have been like to take the MCAT if I had just finished Biochem. So I can’t contribute any advice on how it would work out. But, I can say the following two things:

1) Maybe you can consider taking summer session biochem this year at your 4-year uni?

2) Maybe you can consider not taking the MCAT until June/July of next year, in which case you’d still be complete by Labor Day. You can focus on pre-writing secondaries while you’re getting your score back. Don’t actually list more than one school on the primary though.

They don't offer it during the summer so I looked at UCI's summer session and the course has more prerequisites that I haven't fulfilled. Do you think 1 1/2 months is ample time to study for the relevant sections?

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

They don't offer it during the summer so I looked at UCI's summer session and the course has more prerequisites that I haven't fulfilled. Do you think 1 1/2 months is ample time to study for the relevant sections?

No. Follow the advice that @gonnif gave. Do you have any serious reason to rush this application process?

 

[965978]

You should take Biochem and then a gap year. Taking the MCAT, an exam that will set the course for the rest of your life, should not be taken until ALL prereqs are complete AND you have had sufficient time to prep for exam. Additionally you need to focus and do well in the MCAT before focusing on AMCAS and writing highly polished application along with 10-25 secondaries. Applicants always woefully underestimate the time you need to do all this work. Applying to medical school is a full-time job from January of application year (if you havent taken the MCAT) until at least September. Students seem to set their application schedule and work towards that instead of setting the timing based on the work needed to complete.

Unless OP writes all their secondaries this summer and safely secures them into a flash drive until they apply next summer.

I don't think it's too early to start secondaries a year in advance. A year passes by very quickly.

 

[zgotham1]

I'm a senior in college who decided to go premed in the beginning of junior year, planning on staying an extra year to finish prerequisites. I'm planning on applying for the 2020-2021 cycle, however, there's one small issue. I'm planning on taking my MCAT at the end of March/April but biochemistry is only offered winter and spring quarter at my school. This means that if I take biochem during the winter, I would be done with my course in the middle of March, which doesn't give me enough time to study for the relevant topics, since biochem is heavily emphasized on the MCAT. I'm not quite sure what to do? Should I study CARS & P/S beforehand, then self-study before/during the quarter while taking biochem? Please help! Thank you!

Im in the same boat. I finay decided to follow my dream to pursue medical school, switched from Pre-PA studied literally 3 days ago. I still need physics I ans II and Biochem. Im taking physics I and II w/lab at my university over the summer, planning on taking biochem next semester. (Senior fall semester.)

I understand you eagerness to get started on everything. However, after having many talks with my advisor and my buddy thats attending medical school now, ive come to the conclusion to not rush anything. I will most likely be taking a gap year. This will allow me to study HARD for the MCAT and make sure that i get it done right.

Set yourself up for success- patience is key. Youll get to where you want to be, just be patient and make sure you do it right. I say take the gap year and study hard after your senior year.

 

[deleted804295]

I'm a senior in college who decided to go premed in the beginning of junior year, planning on staying an extra year to finish prerequisites. I'm planning on applying for the 2020-2021 cycle, however, there's one small issue. I'm planning on taking my MCAT at the end of March/April but biochemistry is only offered winter and spring quarter at my school. This means that if I take biochem during the winter, I would be done with my course in the middle of March, which doesn't give me enough time to study for the relevant topics, since biochem is heavily emphasized on the MCAT. I'm not quite sure what to do? Should I study CARS & P/S beforehand, then self-study before/during the quarter while taking biochem? Please help! Thank you!

Depending on how your class is structured you might be missing out on penrose phosphate pathway and fatty acid metabolism. These are both on the MCAT. Fatty acid pathways are only like 5 steps with around 4 enzymes so you're not missing much but it's nice to get the classroom perspective because if your professor was anything like mine they might incorporate pathology such as diabetes and cancer at the end of the semester that links back to all the pathways.

Just to add onto what others have said: The MCAT requires a lot of prep. You should ideally start reviewing content 3-4 months prior to taking the exam and starting practice 2-3 months before the exam. What this means is you need to be finished learning about biochem in January with a March/April test date which is before you even start your biochem class.

I'm not saying it's not doable but I do think it isn't a good idea with a class like biochem since it is a large portion of the MCAT. If we were talking physio or genetics then my answer would change.

I know advisers here hate CC courses but is there any way you could fit biochem in this upcoming summer?

 

[jmetaller]

Maybe I'm not clear here on the timeline. But you are still a junior? Planning on a 5th year? Why not take the MCAT at the end of the summer before you graduate? So summer before senior year? That way you have 3 months to prep which is about what I took. The down side is your MCAT scores expire to my understanding so you're losing an entire application cycle worth of opportunity. Honestly I side with gonnif here. His advice is always thoughtful and I don't think I could have done well on my MCAT if I didn't set aside 3 months of straight studying in my gap year. It's good for reflection too. Medicine is a big commitment and it's not a horrible idea to catch a breath before jumping right back in the frying pan. It will give you a chance to gain more experience in the field as well, boost your application, and really be certain it's what you want to do.

Also what kind of biochemistry are you taking? In my school we had two basic courses. A structure/function based course and a metabolism based course both of which are very very very different conceptually. From what I recall the MCAT is much more geared towards the later so if you're taking a one semester biochem course I would make certain that it covers all the topics you'll need.

 

[Isoval]

I did this.

I made a 130 on C/P and a 129 on B/B.

 

[Evil_Diastereomers]

Thank you guys! I emailed the professor, and he let me in when I told him that I got an A in ochem 1.

 

[lalalallala]

I took the MCAT at the end of the semester when I was taking biochem. Worked out well for me, but other people need more time. Think hard about how much time you need to do your best and then do what you need to do to get that time