Taking the MCAT without this...

[connie95]

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Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet? If there is anyone who has studied for that part on their own and still managed to conquer the MCAT, what was your strategy?

 

[dudewheresmymd]

This question is too variable to be answered. Some test dates possibly (<1 orgo passage but if you can't even answer these...very doubtful). Other test dates extremely unlikely (if you get 3 orgo passages for example).

 

[Wasted Energy]

36+ is around the 97th percentile. It's unlikely you'll get there no matter how many organic classes you take.

But possible? Sure.

 

[woltej1]

You would have to hit that section of the study books hard as organic is pretty heavy in the current format. Really depends on how adept you are at picking up concepts and your chemistry back ground from high school.

 

[Oso]

Probably someone, but why take the risk? If you want a 36+ then you need to give yourself the best chance possible, and that includes taking the necessary background courses. Rushing to take the mcat does not end well for most people.

 

[mrh125]

organic chem on the mcat is a joke and requires very little actual ochem knowledge of rxns, but just take the classes anyway.

 

[medic86]

organic chem on the mcat is a joke and requires very little actual ochem knowledge of rxns, but just take the classes anyway.

Eh, it really depends. The reactions are good ways to teach mechanisms, and some questions you can't reliably answer without knowing the mechanisms. It's all about building the knowledge-base of mechanisms when you take these classes.

You're not going to be able to infer your way to an 11+ in an organic-heavy MCAT test. Study it very hard if you're dead-set on taking the MCAT without organic I and II.

 

[Spinach Dip]

No.

 

[Spinach Dip]

Longer answer:

No. I had 2 ochem passages on my MCAT, plus a few discretes. The only reason I was able to ace them was because I took a year of ochem, minored in chem, was an ochem tutor for a year, and did hundreds of practice problems. Trust me, even with that background, I still had to make a couple educated guesses.

I studied my ass off and aced the bio section (15!). Don't try to take shortcuts. They don't work.



PS. Go take AAMC #3 and see what you score. That should give you some vague idea of how close you are to that 36 you want.

 

[chocolatethunder]

You have to take the Organic Chemistry class eventually anyway. Why not just postpone the MCAT one year forward and take it then. You can self-study but it's gonna require a lot of personal time that you might need for other things.

 

[23premes]

Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet? If there is anyone who has studied for that part on their own and still managed to conquer the MCAT, what was your strategy?

I'm taking my mcat this coming week. Taking Ochem this summer so I've never had the class. I used every Ochem book I could get and video online. I get about 3/4 of the Ochem questions right on practice test with my average bio section at 10-11 now. Had I actually had Ochem I'm sure I could get a 12-13. My PS and verbal are solid though.


Had I not been a non trad I would have waited until after Ochem. It took a lot of time learning everything and it is def hurting my bio score by a little bit. I'll be happy with a 33+. I would suggest you take the class first, unless you want to make your mcat prep even more miserable than normal.


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[connie95]

Ok I'm going to be honest now...that question was kind of a "what if" rather than a "this is my situation" question. My actual situation is way more complicated 🙁

I did take organic I and II but the problem is I went through these classes without studying AT ALL. This is because my professor chose to be really easy and his tests were EXACTLY like his practice tests. He would give us one to practice before the exam and our chem. lab professor would give us another two if we asked. When it came to the actual thing, the same exact questions were asked. I regret it now but truth is, I only studied off the practice tests, memorizing answers...I think a lot of students who realized his pattern started doing that.

As a result... guess who doesn't know any organic? I realize now how stupid I have been and don't know what to do! In the end, it's like I haven't taken organic at all...

 

[MaybeDr]

EDIT can't read

 

[23premes]

You could probably do it while taking the 2nd half of ochem while studying for the MCAT. That's what I did then again I loved ochem and I did well in ochem every quarter.

I believe he said he's already taken Ochem 2 but just didn't learn anything...


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[MaybeDr]

You could honestly probably do it by self studying using freelance-teacher.com . Ochem isn't that challenging if you do you best to understand the concepts. I think that's the point everyone misses. Everyone tries to memorize everything which is entirely unnecessary.

I feel like the biggest things they ask from ochem is some minor AA chemistry, substitution/elimination, and synthesis with carbon substitutions(grinards etc). You're bound to receive some spectroscopy, which is honestly just free points for memorization of peaks.

People complain about spectroscopy you should see the NMR we deal with in lab on a daily basis, heh.

 

[terra330]

On the MCAT I had, you could have probably gotten away with self studying organic. I only had 1 organic passage, and it was pretty basic stuff.

 

[cratezhayao]

It's unlikely you'll get there no matter how many organic classes you take.

 

[23premes]

On the MCAT I had, you could have probably gotten away with self studying organic. I only had 1 organic passage, and it was pretty basic stuff.

I'm hoping for something like this lol.


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[MaybeDr]

On the MCAT I had, you could have probably gotten away with self studying organic. I only had 1 organic passage, and it was pretty basic stuff.

I had one passage too but it was more of a comprehensive analysis but not many questions on it.

 

[moop]

Yes, people can do it. Can you? No way of knowing. You would need to be a great and proven self-learner or with solid high school background from classes.

Betting it on the house is never worth it.

 

[V5RED]

It is a multiple choice test. Technically, you could walk in with zero knowledge of anything and get a 45. It is not, however, likely that you will get your desired 36+ if you walk into the test with a significant gap in your knowledge.

If you haven't taken organic chemistry at all before your MCAT prep, it will be a lot harder on you to prep for that material than it will be if you take the MCAT after taking organic chemistry. For myself, I took the physics for engineers and that sequence skipped optics, fluids, and sound. That part of my MCAT prep sucked and was an area in which, when I saw it on the exam, took me the longest to solve problems. I can't imagine have an entire discipline unstudied prior to the MCAT prep.

 

[23premes]

It is a multiple choice test. Technically, you could walk in with zero knowledge of anything and get a 45. It is not, however, likely that you will get your desired 36+ if you walk into the test with a significant gap in your knowledge.

If you haven't taken organic chemistry at all before your MCAT prep, it will be a lot harder on you to prep for that material than it will be if you take the MCAT after taking organic chemistry. For myself, I took the physics for engineers and that sequence skipped optics, fluids, and sound. That part of my MCAT prep sucked and was an area in which, when I saw it on the exam, took me the longest to solve problems. I can't imagine have an entire discipline unstudied prior to the MCAT prep.

He took Ochem, just didn't learn anything.,,,


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[Goro]

It would be extremely foolish, and make me question your judgement.



Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet?

 

[clutch21]

Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet? If there is anyone who has studied for that part on their own and still managed to conquer the MCAT, what was your strategy?

I was in a situation 2 years ago (now a first year med student) where I had to take the MCAT before taking organic chem (both 1&2). I wouldn't have been able to matriculate in time and still have my MCAT study window if I didn't put off organic. I studied the BR ochem book per the traditional 3 month study plan and I ended up with a 13 on the BS section.

Obviously this isn't optimal, but in your situation (already haven taken organic) it might be the most prudent choice. Good luck!

 

[connie95]

I was in a situation 2 years ago (now a first year med student) where I had to take the MCAT before taking organic chem (both 1&2). I wouldn't have been able to matriculate in time and still have my MCAT study window if I didn't put off organic. I studied the BR ochem book per the traditional 3 month study plan and I ended up with a 13 on the BS section.

Obviously this isn't optimal, but in your situation (already haven taken organic) it might be the most prudent choice. Good luck!

So are you saying that it is possible to re-learn everything from the TBR book and still do well? Did you follow Sn2ed study plan? Or take a prep course? Because 13 is a pretty good score. 🙂 especially for someone like you who did not take organic. I, on the other hand, took organic and still didn't learn anything...hmph

 

[23premes]

It would be extremely foolish, and make me question your judgement.



Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet?

Why would this really be extremely foolish? The Ochem on the mcat is relatively simple and usually a very little part of the mcat. Besides, it's not like one is going to waltz into the mcat without taking practice exams. One can clearly see then how it's going to impact their bio score. I've consistently scored between 10-11 without Ochem on practice exams, having read books to teach myself.

But besides that, the OP has already taken Ochem. He just apparently didn't learn anything...


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[AlbinoHawk DO]

Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet? If there is anyone who has studied for that part on their own and still managed to conquer the MCAT, what was your strategy?

They are called prerequisites for a reason, and don't believe the hype that Organic 2 isn't tested much at all anymore. I'd say over 50% of my MCAT orgo was from orgo 2.

 

[Goro]

There's a reason why reading comprehension is assessed on the MCAT too:

From OP's post: Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet?


But besides that, the OP has already taken Ochem. He just apparently didn't learn anything...

 

[clutch21]

So are you saying that it is possible to re-learn everything from the TBR book and still do well? Did you follow Sn2ed study plan? Or take a prep course? Because 13 is a pretty good score. 🙂 especially for someone like you who did not take organic. I, on the other hand, took organic and still didn't learn anything...hmph

Yes, of course it's possible. In my experience, organic chem BR did a great job at hitting several of the topics that show up frequently on the MCAT. The book itself is designed to be a review, so the biggest obstacle was understanding the basics that the book already assumed you knew. I definitely didn't come away with a comprehensive understanding on the subject, but I learned enough to navigate my way through that respective portion of the MCAT.

I used Sn2ed's study plan, and stuck faithfully to it. It took a lot of self motivation (coupled with frustration) to get through the ochem BR. If you're serious about going that route just make sure you're prepared for how much work and self discipline it entails. Then again, if you've taken ochem, you might actually know more that you think.. which might make it a hell of a lot easier to teach yourself what you don't know.

 

[Gauss44]

Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet? If there is anyone who has studied for that part on their own and still managed to conquer the MCAT, what was your strategy?

It's not probable IMO. A score of 36 means a very steep scale. If it were possible, you would need to study OC before the test. I would recommend Chad Videos and Examkrackers for a concise, yet reasonably complete review. (BTW, I wanted to make sure you knew there was an MCAT forum on here too. I'll look for the link in a moment.)

MCAT Forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/mcat-discussions.31/
Potentially Helpful Resources: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/free-stuff/1247592/

 

[23premes]

There's a reason why reading comprehension is assessed on the MCAT too:

From OP's post: Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet?


But besides that, the OP has already taken Ochem. He just apparently didn't learn anything...

If you actually bother to read his other post you will see that reading comprehension isn't a problem. I guess some people just read what they like...


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[23premes]

There's a reason why reading comprehension is assessed on the MCAT too:

From OP's post: Is it possible to take the MCAT and do well (36+) without having taken organic chemistry I and II yet?


But besides that, the OP has already taken Ochem. He just apparently didn't learn anything...

And to make it easier for you to read Goro:

"Ok I'm going to be honest now...that question was kind of a "what if" rather than a "this is my situation" question. My actual situation is way more complicated 🙁"

Feel free to read his full post if you like


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[OrgasmicChemistry]

My immediate reaction was NO! (it's punny)! However, when I think about how I learned OChem, all I did was study out of the priceton review MCAT book. Profs and textbooks were completely useless. I did fairly well on the bio section, and because I was strong in the other sections I did "well" according to your standard. However, I did take OChem also and it did force me to do a lot more practice problems and what not. That said, yea I think it's completely possible if you are strong in the other sections, a really independent learner, and a disciplined studier. Will you get a 15 on bio? probably not, but you also probably won't get that score anyway.

e: should have said that I studied out of the PR OChem-specific MCAT book and did OChem practice problems on the side (along with a lot of practice MCATs)

ee: I would also caution you to be ABSOLUTELY SURE you're prepared for the test before you take it. Numerous adcomms actively caution AGAINST this strategy because they see so many people fail at it. I was only stating what I believe is possible, not what I believe is likely.