Took 2013 MCAT, scores expired, classes for 2016?

[ericd8]

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[doctorleospaceman]

To my knowledge, none of the courses actually offer good structured review. I took Kaplan and they went on an on about high yield and test techniques, but the review was up to you. Believe this is how most work. You just can't go over that much material. There was a recommended study/reading schedule, but it was unrealistic while taking a full semester schedule. I found the Kaplan review books to be really good.

I would highly recommend taking an actual biochemistry course. Psych and Soc can be studied on your own IMO.

 

[Dr. Trenb]

I suggest you contact the schools you're interested in and ask if your score is expired. School dates varies and the AAMC has no expiration date for the MCAT. It wouldn't hurt to check and you might not have to retake it.
As for content review and study plans, check out @mcatjelly's signature.

 

[doctorleospaceman]

Thank you for your feedback. I've actually taken a couple of courses in biochemistry (major in biochemical engineering); hopefully I recall some of that knowledge, that class was brutal force fed memorization.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I believe I heard that the new MCAT is more passage based than even the pre-2015 MCAT? Does this imply that knowledge of the basic sciences, although still necessary, is less important relative to critical thinking skills than it used to be? If so, then it would also follow that material review is significantly less important than exam practice material for the new MCAT, right?

If you took biochem then just a review would suffice. I presumed you haven't taken it since it wasn't on the original MCAT, so my mistake.

The MCAT is definitely still knowledge based. You still have discretes which are 100% knowledge based, and many of the passages require applying previous knowledge to a new experiment. At the same time, the stuff you need to know is now better related to medicine. For physics for example, odds are you won't see a simple kinematics problem (brick on a ramp or whatever), but you will see the application of things like fluid dynamics and pressure in relation to the circulatory system. My kaplan instructor called it "physics disguised as biology".

 

[doctorleospaceman]

That's an interesting perspective, "physics disguised as biology" questions are some of my favorites. I remember one quiz during my chemical reactions engineering class required that we view the body as a batch reactor for the processing of alcohol, using a first order rate law to determine when the individual would be sober enough to drive home. Great instructor!

You should have fun with the C/P section of the new MCAT then. Well, as much fun as you can have on the MCAT anyway.