To OChem or not to OChem

[Qester]

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That is the question...

My MCAT is on august 2nd and I have fallen a bit behind studying. My goal on the MCAT would be a 25+. I have a solid foundation in Biology so I should catch up quickly in that aspect, my verbal scores have been around the 8-9 mark and I am wretched when it comes to PS.

My question is, seeing how I have never taken an OChem class before, should I put the time in to try and learn it from scratch, or do you guys think those hours will get me more marks in other sections?

 

[Mehd School]

That is the question...

My MCAT is on august 2nd and I have fallen a bit behind studying. My goal on the MCAT would be a 25+. I have a solid foundation in Biology so I should catch up quickly in that aspect, my verbal scores have been around the 8-9 mark and I am wretched when it comes to PS.

My question is, seeing how I have never taken an OChem class before, should I put the time in to try and learn it from scratch, or do you guys think those hours will get me more marks in other sections?

I highly advise against taking the MCAT before finishing the prerequisites. You have to take them anyway, why rush the MCAT? It will only hurt your score.

 

[rfvbnmju]

OChem is important since you'll get at least 1-2 passages along with a few discrete questions.
If you go in without any OChem, the best you can do is a 9-10 assuming you get all the other bio questions right.

If you're still shaky in the foundations, I'd suggest postponing the test by a few months and applying next cycle.

 

[Temperature101]

That is the question...

My MCAT is on august 2nd and I have fallen a bit behind studying. My goal on the MCAT would be a 25+. I have a solid foundation in Biology so I should catch up quickly in that aspect, my verbal scores have been around the 8-9 mark and I am wretched when it comes to PS.

My question is, seeing how I have never taken an OChem class before, should I put the time in to try and learn it from scratch, or do you guys think those hours will get me more marks in other sections?

If you can score a 9+ in VR, getting a 25+ should not be difficult... I think you can do EK orgo, which is very succinct and then do TPRH orgo passages.

 

[Qester]

Because I am at a crossroads, I just graduated nursing school and have applied for Family Nurse Practitioner which I have a high likelihood of getting into yet want to pursue my dream of becoming an MD.

I was supposed to take OChem this semester however I needed a waiver to get in as I was taking it at a new school. The Prof signed the wavier but the class was already full. By this time I had already signed up for the MCAT. I am enrolled to take it now in Sept.

 

[Mehd School]

I think you can do EK orgo, which is very succinct and then do TPRH orgo passages.

I'm going to disagree with you here. EK crams a year's worth of organic into 4 chapters. For someone that has never taken organic before, a condensed version of the content will probably lead to a lot of confusion and little understanding.

Organic is basically a foreign language when you're starting out. Would you feel comfortable studying from a condensed Italian review book having no formal instruction on the topic?

 

[Mehd School]

want to pursue my dream of becoming an MD.

If by MD you mean Medical Doctor in a general sense and either MD or DO, then I understand.

But if you mean strictly MD a 25 probably won't cut it unless you have a bit more melanin in you than the guy in my avatar does.

 

[Qester]

I'm going to disagree with you here. EK crams a year's worth of organic into 4 chapters. For someone that has never taken organic before, a condensed version of the content will probably lead to a lot of confusion and little understanding.

Organic is basically a foreign language when you're starting out. Would you feel comfortable studying from a condensed Italian review book having no formal instruction on the topic?

The resources I have for Orgo are Chad's Videos, EK, EK1001, TPR. From the sounds of it I should really just work my butt of at orgo now until my exam and if i feel I did poorly void and take the experience as a lesson and retake after my orgo class?

 

[Qester]

If by MD you mean Medical Doctor in a general sense and either MD or DO, then I understand.

But if you mean strictly MD a 25 probably won't cut it unless you have a bit more melanin in you.

Yes I do in fact mean MD/DO or even IMG. I am quiet aware that I would need to score much higher for a traditional MD route. My goal though really is DO (just habit of saying MD).

 

[Temperature101]

I'm going to disagree with you here. EK crams a year's worth of organic into 4 chapters. For someone that has never taken organic before, a condensed version of the content will probably lead to a lot of confusion and little understanding.

Organic is basically a foreign language when you're starting out. Would you feel comfortable studying from a condensed Italian review book having no formal instruction on the topic?

I thought OP was pressed for time... I did not see that OP never took Orgo...But if OP does that at least he/she might get 50% of the orgo questions right.

 

[Mehd School]

The resources I have for Orgo are Chad's Videos, EK, EK1001, TPR. From the sounds of it I should really just work my butt of at orgo now until my exam and if i feel I did poorly void and take the experience as a lesson and retake after my orgo class?

What people don't understand is that having a glaring weakness not only brings that one section down, but potentially and realistically brings the scores down of every section.

By you having no experience in Organic Chemistry, you're going to have to spend incredibly more time on that subject than someone that has already completed the course. That time is being pulled away from other content that you could be mastering.


I'm not just making this stuff up. I tried to take the MCAT last summer before taking Physics 2, and I wasted so much time trying to make heads or tails of much of the P2 content. Once I finished the course and could truly review the material, my progress was much more efficient.

 

[Mehd School]

Yes I do in fact mean MD/DO or even IMG. I am quiet aware that I would need to score much higher for a traditional MD route. My goal though really is DO (just habit of saying MD).

I do the very same. If you are capable of a 25, scratch IMG off your list. I'll let you search as to why. I'm assuming that since you graduated Nursing school you have a somewhat competitive GPA.

 

[Qester]

I do the very same. If you are capable of a 25, scratch IMG off your list. I'll let you search as to why. I'm assuming that since you graduated Nursing school you have a somewhat competitive GPA.

Well before nursing school I received a 4 year BSc. Combined my GPA is ~3.3-3.4 (?), my nursing school GPA was >3.9.

 

[Tapoona]

The first time I took the MCAT I studied all areas equally and got a 23 (I had already completed all pre-requisites). The next time around I did not study any OCHEM and scored a 25. OCHEM was not my strongest area, but it was not my weakest either. My undergrad GPA was similar to yours, but your Nursing GPA rocks and that will help you for sure! In my opinion, if your extra curricular activities are above average and you interview well, you will be able to get into a DO program. I will be starting DO school in the fall.

 

[rfvbnmju]

OChem is important since you'll get at least 1-2 passages along with a few discrete questions.
If you go in without any OChem, the best you can do is a 9-10 assuming you get all the other bio questions wrong.

If you're still shaky in the foundations, I'd suggest postponing the test by a few months and applying next cycle.

 

[gettheleadout]

Well before nursing school I received a 4 year BSc. Combined my GPA is ~3.3-3.4 (?), my nursing school GPA was >3.9.

You will likely be judged mainly on your undergraduate GPA, unfortunately, and a 3.3-3.4 is not competitive.

Still, don't consider IMG an option.

 

[scruggs92]

Watch Khan's videos on Youtube to learn a little bit.

 

[SN2ed]

I would strongly recommend against taking the MCAT at this time. O-Chem can make up almost HALF of your BS section. Thus, a poor O-Chem score will severely limit your potential on the BS section. Additionally, as already mentioned, if you spend more time studying O-Chem in an attempt to learn it all, your other sections will be hit hard.

I have never understood why people disregard this section when you're guaranteed to have some passages and discretes on it.

 

[survivordo]

Can we just clarify your goals and be real here for a moment? There are lot's and lot's of people who have taken ALL pre-reqs AND studied their butts off for many months and have trouble breaking a 25. How do you think you are going to just walk on in, admit you have barely studied, haven't taken pre-reqs and think you are going to do well? And why are you only aiming for a 25 anyway? I'm not trying to be an ***** (although I did just work 26 hours and may be a little ornery) but you have to be realistic. You don't want to take this thing more than once, do it right the first time!

Survivor DO

 

[Qester]

Can we just clarify your goals and be real here for a moment? There are lot's and lot's of people who have taken ALL pre-reqs AND studied their butts off for many months and have trouble breaking a 25. How do you think you are going to just walk on in, admit you have barely studied, haven't taken pre-reqs and think you are going to do well? And why are you only aiming for a 25 anyway? I'm not trying to be an ***** (although I did just work 26 hours and may be a little ornery) but you have to be realistic. You don't want to take this thing more than once, do it right the first time!

Survivor DO

Whoa who said I have barely studied? My question really revolved around the fact of how much orgo is on the exam? The exam is still over 2 months away for me which I plan on continuing to put in 6+ hours a day until the exam. For my prereqs in bio I have taken A&P1+2, micobiology, pathology, pathophysilogy, cellular biology, molecular biology. calculus for biology, genetics, neruoscience, biochemistry, biology1+2 and add in all my nursing courses which all have physiology regarding principles of disease.

I have been I guess lucky in my studying so far but all my verbal indicators (even 2months away) show I am in the 9-10 range.

Sorry if it sounds like I am defensive. I had signed up for the date when it first opened, which was before I could sign up for my last prereq. I had the intention of taking Ochem in the spring but due to factors out of my control I was unable to. So now I have a testing date of August 2nd.

 

[QrtrLifeCrisis]

You only really need Orgo 1 and maybe a quick review of the important concepts in Orgo 2 for the MCAT.

However, if you haven't at least taken a full Orgo 1 class, it's likely that you won't do well on the BS section unless by some miracle you have no Orgo passages on your exam. However, I don't think I've ever heard someone say that they didn't have at least one Orgo passage, in addition to a bunch of discretes. Orgo is not something that you can pick up overnight. It is considered one of the harder premed prereqs for a reason.

On the other hand, if you're only shooting for below a 30, that's a different story.