What does the Organic Chemistry entail?

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

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I am pretty familiar with the Verbal, Bio, and Gen Chem passages of the MCAT, but now that I am finishing O Chem and Physics I am wondering what these passages look like, specifically O Chem. I know that O Chem is largely mechanisms, but how does a MC exam like the MCAT take Mechanisms into account?

 

[ridethecliche]

I am pretty familiar with the Verbal, Bio, and Gen Chem passages of the MCAT, but now that I am finishing O Chem and Physics I am wondering what these passages look like, specifically O Chem. I know that O Chem is largely mechanisms, but how does a MC exam like the MCAT take Mechanisms into account?

Take practice exams, even if they're not AAMC's.

 

[SmokeyJunior]

if your taking o chem right now (in class?) you will be very happy and probably could answer a decent amount of the questions without looking at the passage - I do that for a few of them.

As for you having to know the mechanisms, the passage usually presents you with the mechanisms and asks how would the product look like instead if X was used instead of Y. Or what would happen if X wasn't there. How does the transition state look like? If we used a labeled LiH4 or H20, which product/carbon would have the labeled H/O. Were the students right in predicting the mechanism was via SN1 etc. The orgo parts are more straight forward.

 

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

I thought that Orgo would be a bit more straightforward. I think the subject I will find the most difficult on the MCAT is Physics. This is just because I feel that it will take more practice on my part to be able to read the passage and decipher what exactly it is talking about, which equation to refer to, and to calculate an answer. I feel like my conceptual understanding of Physics is pretty solid.

 

[ridethecliche]

I thought that Orgo would be a bit more straightforward. I think the subject I will find the most difficult on the MCAT is Physics. This is just because I feel that it will take more practice on my part to be able to read the passage and decipher what exactly it is talking about, which equation to refer to, and to calculate an answer. I feel like my conceptual understanding of Physics is pretty solid.

Then you'll be fine.

Honestly, this is all conjecture till you take practice exams. And still an estimate till you take an aamc (which is a good estimate).

 

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

I'm basing my opinions on the few practice passages I have done, which as of right now consist mainly of the outdated (10 years old) physics passages my professor likes to do in class every now and then; hardly a good estimate of m mcat abilities, but it made me realize how I need to be able to read a convoluted passage and come to an effective equation, which could take time I suppose.

 

[ridethecliche]

I'm basing my opinions on the few practice passages I have done, which as of right now consist mainly of the outdated (10 years old) physics passages my professor likes to do in class every now and then; hardly a good estimate of m mcat abilities, but it made me realize how I need to be able to read a convoluted passage and come to an effective equation, which could take time I suppose.

Then why not take some passages that aren't 10+ years old. Honestly...

 

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

I was planning on doing that soon. I am in the process of putting study schedule together that I will use from this summer until I take the MCAT. This summer I will passages to familiarize myself with the MCAT while I review content.