Unique Circumstance - when should I take the MCAT?

[foreverLaur]

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I am halfway done with college, but was a prior accounting major. Thus, I am completely a Microbiology major in two years (possible since all the gen ed stuff is done).

Anyways, my first year (aka third year) consists of three quarters of gen chem (mid sept - early june), two quarters of bio, two quarters of physics, and anatomy.

My second year (aka fourth year) consists of three quarters of ochem, all my microbiology (two quarters of general, microbial genetics, immunobiology, and some other micro course), general genetics, and biochem.

The question is that I'd like to take the MCAT in April of my 4th year so that I can start applying to schools in June. However, I will only be about 2/3 done with ochem at that point. Will that hurt me while studying for and taking the MCAT? I won't have biochem done either (summer). However, I will have lots of bio, 2/3 ochem, and physics done. Should I take it or wait and postpone completing my med school apps?

In addition, is calc based physics really worth it? At my old school, I started taking it because it had no additional prereqs so I have one quarter of calc based physics. However, at the new school, it requires Calc III (and I only have up through calc II). Would calc based physics be worth me taking calc II or should I just stick with non-calc based? If it wasn't for that calc III class I would take calc based but with the time constraints already and my dislike for calc...

thanks in advance! 🙂

 

[foreverLaur]

bump. anyone? *desperate plea*

 

[mommy2three]

honestly i think non cal based physics is fine for the mcat since you need to only know how to use the equations not how to derive them. i think it honestly however depends on your personal preference for learning. for me even though i took the non cal based one i did have a full yr of calc and i wish i would have taken the calc based one as i feel i would have gained a greater understanding of the material that way (and the calc based physics prof was rumored to be THE single handed best ohysic prof in the dept)
as far as ochem i think you will be okay since you cover the spectroscopy stuff the first part of second semester (from what i remember anyway)....the remainder of the reactions you would need to know you can learn on your own or with the help of a study aid.
and i do not think there is much biochem on the mcat...although i heard that there was on this last one but it is nothing that can not be memorized (ie glycolysis)

i think you are fine inyour current plan. just remember that studying for the mcat and taking classes (especially difficult classes) will potentially take away study and prep time.

 

[Kateb4]

You're fine without the calc based physics. As far as the Orgo, I took the MCAT the first time with only Orgo I, and didn't feel like I was at a loss at all. I would look thru the topics that you have studied in the orgo that you have and make sure that you covered everything that you need for the MCAT, but you should be fine.

 

[Tensyle]

I believe that orgo 2 would really help, but if ur 2/3 done with it, you will be able to understand the reaction mechanisms in review books out there, so no sweat.

also, calc based physics is useless. I mean, if you can do physics using calc, you are probably gonna have an easier time using the general equations, so no problem there either.

all that microbio is gonna help ya lots :-D its good stuff...and dont forget to do verbal!

 

[foreverLaur]

I believe that orgo 2 would really help, but if ur 2/3 done with it, you will be able to understand the reaction mechanisms in review books out there, so no sweat.

also, calc based physics is useless. I mean, if you can do physics using calc, you are probably gonna have an easier time using the general equations, so no problem there either.

all that microbio is gonna help ya lots :-D its good stuff...and dont forget to do verbal!

haha yea the verbal section is going to kill me. i've always been a great writer but my vocabulary is horrible. I placed in the top 1% on the ACT but completely BOMBED the SAT - verbal section killed me.

i have a feeling my PS and BS sections will be high and the VS will be lower 🙂.

Oh and we have orgo I/II/III being a quarter school. It all equals out to a year anyways. Orgo I is mid sept - beg dec. Orgo II is beg jan to mid march. Orgo III is mid-march to beg june. however, we only take two labs... they go with orgo II and orgo III. weird, i know. we also only take two quarters of general biology. however, i go to osu so it obviously works for med school 😛

 

[MSTPbound]

I am halfway done with college, but was a prior accounting major. Thus, I am completely a Microbiology major in two years (possible since all the gen ed stuff is done).

Anyways, my first year (aka third year) consists of three quarters of gen chem (mid sept - early june), two quarters of bio, two quarters of physics, and anatomy.

My second year (aka fourth year) consists of three quarters of ochem, all my microbiology (two quarters of general, microbial genetics, immunobiology, and some other micro course), general genetics, and biochem.

The question is that I'd like to take the MCAT in April of my 4th year so that I can start applying to schools in June. However, I will only be about 2/3 done with ochem at that point. Will that hurt me while studying for and taking the MCAT? I won't have biochem done either (summer). However, I will have lots of bio, 2/3 ochem, and physics done. Should I take it or wait and postpone completing my med school apps?

OP, my honest opinion is that one, or even two months is not going to *make or break* your application. If I were you, I would carry the benefit of having completed all these kick @$$ courses before the MCAT, and sacrifice a *slightly* earlier submission to MAXIMIZE your MCAT score. It won't kill you to take a May, or even a June exam.

In addition, is calc based physics really worth it? At my old school, I started taking it because it had no additional prereqs so I have one quarter of calc based physics. However, at the new school, it requires Calc III (and I only have up through calc II). Would calc based physics be worth me taking calc II or should I just stick with non-calc based? If it wasn't for that calc III class I would take calc based but with the time constraints already and my dislike for calc...

thanks in advance! 🙂

I've provided my opinion on this before so I'll spare you the calc-based physics preaching 🙄. Basically, I agree with above posters who say it's not required. But I took it (the calc-based physics sequence), I aced both sections, the additional credits improved my GPA (even if marginally), and I scored a 12 on PS, so I have no complaints. Furthermore, if you are at all mathematically inclined, I would say that calc-based physics really takes a lot of otherwise abstract math concepts, and makes them so much more meaningful to the real world. Who knows when you'll need to have those tools? It's nice to have 'em in your back pocket.

Anyway, good luck!



-MSTPbound

 

[foreverLaur]

I've provided my opinion on this before so I'll spare you the calc-based physics preaching 🙄. Basically, I agree with above posters who say it's not required. But I took it (the calc-based physics sequence), I aced both sections, the additional credits improved my GPA (even if marginally), and I scored a 12 on PS, so I have no complaints. Furthermore, if you are at all mathematically inclined, I would say that calc-based physics really takes a lot of otherwise abstract math concepts, and makes them so much more meaningful to the real world. Who knows when you'll need to have those tools? It's nice to have 'em in your back pocket.

Anyway, good luck!



-MSTPbound

Well I agree. My old school only required Calc I to do the calc-based sequence so I started out in it. Now that I transferred, they require up through Calc III to do it. So I'd have to take two additional calculus classes in order to do the sequence and I'm already on a huge time crunch. So my real question was is it THAT useful that it would be worth setting myself a little behind and taking two extra calc classes?

 

[majik1213]

to be honest, i found that modern physics I and II were extremely useful for the MCAT, not simply because they directly asked anything about these subjects (and they did, but only after offering introductory passages to such topics as x-ray diffaction, Planck's constant, E=hv, the s,p,d,f orbitals, etc.), but because the revelations I had about classical (MCAT) physics and because deeper exploration into the realm of physical sciences in these courses provided overarching ideas that increased my performance on the PS section (AAMC=13).

The dry answer is calculus isn't on the MCAT, but to be honest I have used it before in solving my problems correctly (e.g. using gauss' law, which relates the surface area integral to the divergance of a vector field, to rederive the equation for capacitance to answer an AAMC problem concerning how changes in distance between or the area of each of two parallel plate capacitors affects the strength of the electric field between them.) And that's the (very cold) truth

 

[MSTPbound]

Well I agree. My old school only required Calc I to do the calc-based sequence so I started out in it. Now that I transferred, they require up through Calc III to do it. So I'd have to take two additional calculus classes in order to do the sequence and I'm already on a huge time crunch. So my real question was is it THAT useful that it would be worth setting myself a little behind and taking two extra calc classes?

In a word, *No*. But think about it carefullly... not the class only, but the whole thing in general. Only you can evaluate your timeline, but with the stuff you're taking on, an extra year probably wouldn't hurt... you could also load up on ECs and do some other stuff; might be worth it. Meditate on it - I'm sure you'll make the right decision.



MSTPbound