Taking MCAT w/out OChem II?

[Juh]

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I'm planning on taking the MCAT in April but I'll only have one semester of ochem under my belt. So far I have all the physics, general chemistry and biology taken care of and will be utilizing most of the Spring semester towards studying for the MCAT and taking Kaplan starting in January. I don't plan on taking more than 2 classes that semester and will graduate during the Summer, so a light class load won't hurt me.

How much of the MCAT is ochem II and will I be able to get a good grasp having a ochem I base and studying on my own and going through the Kaplan materials?

 

[Jennifer5109]

I would say taking the MCAT without OChem II is risky. The weird thing about the MCAT is that it is so inconsistent. You may take the test and have only 1 ochem passage and then take it again and have 4. I have taken the MCAT twice and each time the passages were so varied. You really need to know a bit of everything. Although, I think if you were to be missing one class before taking the MCAT ochem II would probably be the one to miss. Are you taking any prep courses? If you are they will probably cover the material you need from ochem II.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

DONT DO IT, unless your ridiculously good in BIo, then you can offset your orgo

 

[Barts]

I would say taking the MCAT without OChem II is risky. The weird thing about the MCAT is that it is so inconsistent. You may take the test and have only 1 ochem passage and then take it again and have 4. I have taken the MCAT twice and each time the passages were so varied. You really need to know a bit of everything. Although, I think if you were to be missing one class before taking the MCAT ochem II would probably be the one to miss. Are you taking any prep courses? If you are they will probably cover the material you need from ochem II.

I took it twice, the first time it had very little Orgo. and the second time it had exactly 1 passage. I'm sure it does vary a lot though, as I've seen other people post that they had lots of Orgo. on their test. Regardless, I agree with the above poster, if I HAD to take the MCAT without one course, that course would be Organic II. Of course I don't suggest it, but if you have to...you have to 😉

Good luck! 👍

 

[osli]

I took it without ochem I or II, so I'm in that "if you have to, you have to, but don't if you can avoid it" boat. I also took it without biology, genetics, micro, anatomy, physiology, etc. so my boat was sinking pretty fast.

I had lots of organic on my test, but in retrospect I think it was all pretty workable with a good knowledge of organic I. And when I say good, I really mean good. Few if any specific organic II reactions or concepts showed up, but in general ochem II helps solidify your knowledge and understanding of ocehem I, so by taking it early you run the risk of having a shaky knowledge base. If, however, you both love and ace organic I I'd say you will be pretty well prepared for that section. Supplement your knowledge with a good review book and practice questions/tests, and the impact on your score might be minimal. But if you don't like ochem I, or didn't do well, I'd certainly reconsider any plans to take it early.

 

[Juh]

Thanks for the responses guys. My plan is to take a Kaplan MCAT course for 3 months and also have an extremely light class load during that time to really focus on a review of the material. Luckily, most of the other science classes I've taken in the past 2 years so it is still somewhat fresh. Also, as for ochem I. I'm going to go to continue going to lectures this semester and work with the professor I'll be taking it from next semester to get exams, quizzes etc to study over and work on so I can be better prepared for the actual class.

 

[RoadRunner17]

If you've taken Organic Chemistry I and did well in it, you only need to teach yourself the additional topics from Organic Chemistry II that actually show up on the MCAT.. such as spectroscopy and the general reaction mechanisms for the different types of organic compounds (carbonyls in particular). A book such as Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language (the second semester one) is very helpful in this regard. You do NOT need to memorize everything but rather get a general understanding of what's going on, very much like learning to speak Spanish.

 

[plauto]

If there is one class you don' want to have, that's orgo II. Just go for it and study those few topics that might come up on review books.
Good luck!

 

[h0nd0]

I would do it...if you're strong in OChem I and Bio. I know a kid that scored a 34 without having OChem II.

Good luck!