Weak Physics Background

[up40loves]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Is it possible to do decently on the Physical Sciences with a weak background in Physics? By decently, I mean a score ranging from 8-10. Also, what are the most popular Physics topics that are usually tested on the MCAT?

Thanks!

 

[Merissa87]

Absolutely!!
I took the MCAT 6/13 and had a very limited background in physics. I took a Physics 1 teacher with a horribly thick accent, I taught myself the entire semester of physics 1. My physics 2 teacher was good, but I still constantly felt like physics was my weakest subject; I felt like I could do all the math problems fine but when it came to something conceptual I always got stuck.

I read, and re-read my TPR Physis review book (about 3-4) times and did ALL of the homework problems along with the entire 1001 EK physics book. I rapidly saw a score improvement in physics and scored a 9 on the real thing. I know I didn't break 10 but I'm really proud of myself considering that physics was always my weakest subject.

Just find what resources work for you and try to really think about what is goind on in physics and visualize it. You will do fine, just make sure you get lots of practice!!!!

 

[minhaj]

I completely agree with merissa. You can definitely do better if you are willing to work hard. I had a tough time with physics as well. Tried kaplan, felt like it wasnt sufficient. A friend (God bless him) recommended TPR and Holy Cow! that book was amazing. Heres what you should if you are not great with physics. Read a chapter thoroughly from TPR, understand the basics, then read the same subject matter from EK books, then practice from 1001. I can pretty much guarantee that you will easily score a 10 doing this. I personally went from scoring 9's to consistently scoring 12's and 13's. You have work hard though.

Good luck!

 

[Hindiana_Jones]

It is definitely possible to do well on the physical sciences section if you are weak at physics, but you must have ample time to bring up your score, and you must be persistent and work very hard.

First you need to determine if you have a weak physics background because your math skills aren't the greatest, or because you didn't learn the material as well as you hoped in class. Perhaps you didn't learn the material as well as you hoped because your math skills are not the greatest? I am by no means attempting to conjecture at your mathematical abilities, all I want to say is: you need to determine why you're not happy with your physics knowledge. Studying all the physics in the world isn't going to help as much if you don't attack a potential weakness in math.

Make sure you can do arithmetic quickly, are comfortable with doing long division, or know shortcuts to obtaining the answer , such as fractions, etc. Be comfortable with dividing decimals. Be very comfortable with scientific notation, and how to manipulate scientific notation.

Now, you may have to learn some physics for the first time, instead of reviewing it. To do this I recommend the following : Start with Nova physics, read the entire book, do all the problems. Then buy the Berkley Review books for physics, read all of them, do all the problems. Finally, get a copy of the Princeton Review science workbook and do all of those problems. This is what I am in the process of doing, and my physical sciences score is going up. Nova Physics and TBR are really good at teaching concepts. TBR problems are very difficult, so don't be frustrated. You can do well, granted you do A LOT of practice problems. Physics is learned through doing problems, through practice, and through repetition. It requires a good deal of time, perhaps three months before your test date.

You should also work on your test taking strategy, by eliminating wrong answer that are not in the range of the correct answer, have the wrong units, or are the inverse of the correct answer.

Also, have of the battle is in the chemistry, so I would recommend doing the same for chemistry as you do for physics.

 

[stereo]

Physics was definitely my weakest subject and the PS was almost always my lowest score on the practice tests. I spent a lot of my study time doing practice problems in the Kaplan books that came with the class. Made an 11 on PS on the real thing, so it can be done.

I also used the Physics Classroom site a lot. I think it does a great job of explaining basic concepts.

 

[BlueElmo]

did you guys find Gchem😛hysics was about roughly 1:1 in the real MCAT? Or does it vary from test to test?

 

[requeim]

answering the previous questions, it varies from test to test. some test dates may have more physics while others may have more chem. no way to predict that

if you feel you have a weak background in phys, def start with nova phys. it has everything you need to know and the problems are of decent difficulty and pretty similar to questions that you will see on the mcat.