What extra pre-med classes would be beneficial?

[kayate]

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What classes would help in preparation for the MCAT, and what classes would be good to take before Medical School?

For MCAT, I heard Biochemistry, Genetics and Cell Biology are good classes?
For Medical School I heard Anatomy and Physiology?

Anybody have any advice? I have room in my schedule, so I thought it would be nice to take some of these clasess.

 

[Nymphicus]

I personally found physiology > molecular cell biology = biochem = genetics. Not anatomy.

 

[kayate]

I personally found physiology > molecular cell biology = biochem = genetics. Not anatomy.

Are these good classes to take for MCAT or Med School?

My school doesn't have Anatomy or Physiology. It only has a class called Anatomy and Physiology? What is the difference with the combined course?

 

[Nymphicus]

Are these good classes to take for MCAT or Med School?

My school doesn't have Anatomy or Physiology. It only has a class called Anatomy and Physiology? What is the difference with the combined course?

For the MCAT. For medical school the same thing applies except cell and molecular bio would be less useful.

If your school just does A&P combined then it's probably still good, but see if you can check with upperclassmen or people who have already taken the class for better advice.

 

[tenndoc]

physiology, microbio, immunology, and biochem all seem to supplement the usual mcat materials. they not only expand on your knowledge from previous courses but (in physio and biochem at least) they also tie them together. if you have a solid basic knowledge of anatomy, you'll be fine. you don't need anything too in depth

 

[Lexicon0]

Aside from the science subjects above, I'd also look into some philosophy or lit courses that require critical reading. I thought this helped me with staying focused for the verbal section.

 

[NewYorker9]

Biochem, physio, and genetics

 

[JESSFALLING]

My vote for the MCAT is Physiology > Biochemistry > Genetics = Cell biology = Immunology = Neuroscience > Microbiology = Analytical Chemistry = Philosophy (for verbal)

And for Medical School: Neuroscience* > Immunology* > Physiology > Biochemistry > Anatomy = Histology > Genetics = Cell Biology > Microbiology/Bacteriology > Virology > Abnormal Psychology

* I'm weighting these the highest because I've heard that I lot of students struggle in these areas and that prior exposure is helpful.

Personally, I am taking the top courses from both lists (i.e. Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Cell Biology, Neuroscience, & Immunology). I think that combination will help the most with everything. Time permitting, I hope to also take Virology (just because I think the subject is neat!)

PS: Biochemistry and Genetics are good top choices because they are either strongly recommended or required at quite a few schools. Then, Physiology is a good next choice if your general biology sequence didn't cover the material well....as it's very high yield for the MCAT.

PS PS: If you're planning to take the 2015+ MCAT, then you may consider adding a few Psychology 🙂 and Sociology 😱 courses, as those subjects will represent 1/4 of the exam.

 

[Praefectus]

Aside from the science subjects above, I'd also look into some philosophy or lit courses that require critical reading. I thought this helped me with staying focused for the verbal section.

Definitely take a logic-heavy philosophy class or something geared toward the LSAT. It really helps with the verbal.

 

[JESSFALLING]

Definitely take a logic-heavy philosophy class or something geared toward the LSAT. It really helps with the verbal.

How similar is the LSAT to MCAT verbal? I've never looked at it.

 

[Double A]

the anatomy and physiology courses i took helped the most for the mcat

 

[keyinhand]

The pre-med advising at my university recommends taking physiology and physics of the human body for MCAT prep.

 

[neuro nephrons]

medical terminology
anatomy/phys
genetics

 

[xxhopefulxx]

I have heard biochemistry and immunology are very helpful

 

[Praefectus]

How similar is the LSAT to MCAT verbal? I've never looked at it.

I've never studied it myself, but I hear that it's harder than the verbal section. I assume that looking at LSAT material would orient you to the expected level of logic. However, if you did this route I'd recommend going back to MCAT material at least a few weeks before the test.

 

[kayate]

If my school only offers "Anatomy and Physiology" do you think it's still worth taking?

 

[kpcrew]

in my school, there's a year long anatomy and physiology class that's for nursing students but also geared towards other health professionals (pharmacists, pas, etc.). for the bio majors, they are separate classes that are more difficult. the beginning of the nursing class was basically review of intro chem and bio so it wasn't too difficult and it went at an very manageable pace after that.

 

[sciencebooks]

If my school only offers "Anatomy and Physiology" do you think it's still worth taking?

Do you have any other pre-med students around to ask about their experience? Regardless, if I went back, I would have taken the course for the MCAT. My MCAT book was about 50% overview of all other subjects (i.e., biochem, genetics, micro, cell) and 50% physio (body systems). Because the other stuff was more basic-level, I could learn what I'd missed (like viruses) easy enough. However, physio material was from scratch and wasted time.

 

[Rezonance]

How similar is the LSAT to MCAT verbal? I've never looked at it.

Not similar at alllll.

The MCAT verbal is unfathomably challenging whereas compared to the LSAT verbal.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

From what I have heard, biochemistry, A&P, genetics, microbiology, and immunology.

 

[kayate]

Thanks guys, I'll try to squeeze in 2 semesters of Anatomy and Phsyiology, 1 semester of BioChem, and 1 seemster of Genetics before I take my MCAT!

 

[ashylarry23]

physical chemistry, materials chemistry, maybe a little of biomolecular imaging

 

[unrealplayer]

I would definitely recommend physio, cell bio, and genetics before the MCAT. The MCAT is moving more towards molecular bio (at least that's what I've heard from several MCAT instructors). Physio incorporates many core concepts covered on the MCAT as well. I didn't take biochem before my MCAT but I did take orgo 2 and I felt like it really prepared me for anything "biochem" related.

 

[bmw8591]

I took both Biochem and Advanced Biochem and feel that they helped give me a better grasp of the Bio section. It just helps to tie together a few of the major concepts from different perspectives. I also believe that Neuroscience helped somewhat, but will be more helpful in med school. Same goes for Histology. That, I believe, will be a major help in medical school.

 

[SpecterGT260]

so..... am I asking for trouble if I comment on all the pre-meds discussing what is going to be beneficial to med school?
Comment away for the MCAT 👍 but the comments of "ive found that xxxx will help med school" are not based on experience but rather wishful thinking. I took most of that stuff in UG. the way you learn it in UG is not the way you learn it in med school. If you want classes to help you in med school (while not advocating this) take classes that make you work your butt off and get you used to pulling long hours studying and triaging information. That is the only useful thing UG can teach you as anything you learned in UG will be erased and replaced by your med school professors 😉

 

[bmw8591]

so..... am I asking for trouble if I comment on all the pre-meds discussing what is going to be beneficial to med school?
Comment away for the MCAT 👍 but the comments of "ive found that xxxx will help med school" are not based on experience but rather wishful thinking. I took most of that stuff in UG. the way you learn it in UG is not the way you learn it in med school. If you want classes to help you in med school (while not advocating this) take classes that make you work your butt off and get you used to pulling long hours studying and triaging information. That is the only useful thing UG can teach you as anything you learned in UG will be erased and replaced by your med school professors 😉

I certainly agree with this, but as far as my comments, they were at least somewhat based off of students that are in/finished with medical school. Several classes they suggested from my particular school are why I included saying they would be helpful in the future.

So I guess that would be another suggestion. If you can, talke with students from your undergrad in/just finished with med school and find out if they have suggestions. Each school will probably have some class/prof that can be helpful in the future.

 

[mechengmed]

My vote for the MCAT is Physiology > Biochemistry > Genetics = Cell biology = Immunology = Neuroscience > Microbiology = Analytical Chemistry = Philosophy (for verbal)

And for Medical School: Neuroscience* > Immunology* > Physiology > Biochemistry > Anatomy = Histology > Genetics = Cell Biology > Microbiology/Bacteriology > Virology > Abnormal Psychology

My school doesn't have a class titled neuroscience (or at least I haven't found it in the catalog) but they do have one called neurobiology. The description they give is this: Basic nerve cell physiology, nervous system organization, sensory and motor systems, neural basis of behavior, and nervous system development and plasticity. Would that basically be the same thing or is it not worth taking?

We also have two different physiology classes, human physiology (200 level) and a 400 level general (animal) physiology. I need human physiology for my major but would it be worth it to also take the 400 level one too?

So, it's looking like for my schedule next spring I will have to choose between neurobiology, general physiology, microbiology, and anatomy. If I take two of these I will have 16 hours and if I take three it will be 19 hours 😱. Any suggestions on what would be best?

 

[kayate]

Can anyone rank these classes by importance for MCAT??

Anatomy and Physiology 1
Anatomy and Physiology 2
Biochemistry
Genetics
Cell Biology

 

[Desp]

Can anyone rank these classes by importance for MCAT??

Anatomy and Physiology 1
Anatomy and Physiology 2
Biochemistry
Genetics
Cell Biology

I don't like this A&P business. I like when they are separate courses.

I would say the cell biology is the most important, followed by the A&P, then genetics, then biochem.

Others may stress the A&P thought, cowboy.

It's been mentioned above but I think it's worth reiterating that a critical reading course is highly valuable. I took a seminal papers in biology class that drastically increased my reading comprehension. I really think pre-med students lack fundamental reading skills.

 

[MT Headed]

physical chemistry, materials chemistry, maybe a little of biomolecular imaging

What in the hell would that give you an advantage in?

 

[SpecterGT260]

What in the hell would that give you an advantage in?

Performing under the feeling of impending doom 😉

 

[K M R]

What classes would help in preparation for the MCAT, and what classes would be good to take before Medical School?

For MCAT, I heard Biochemistry, Genetics and Cell Biology are good classes?
For Medical School I heard Anatomy and Physiology?

Anybody have any advice? I have room in my schedule, so I thought it would be nice to take some of these clasess.

Calligraphy, scuba diving, boxing, history of landscape architecture, theatre set design. Have some fun, (wo)man.

Also consider physiology, immunology, and medical Spanish.

 

[kayate]

My school splits Anatomy and Physiology into I and II, do you think it would still be beneficial to just take the first course?

 

[bearofthesnow]

My school offers A&P I and A&P II. Each course covers different organ systems so just the first course is better than nothing, but you'll only learn about half the body (if your school teaches it the same way). I found taking both was helpful for the MCAT.

I found Biochemistry more useful than Cell Molecular Biology and there were a few Genetics questions on the MCAT.

It would be beneficial to chat with your advisor and a few upper-classmen who have experience with the courses at your school.

Like K M R said, don't forget to take some fun classes too!

 

[MT Headed]

My school splits Anatomy and Physiology into I and II, do you think it would still be beneficial to just take the first course?

No. A lot of the high yield MCAT material (kindey, digestion, etc) shows up in the second semester of A&P. The first semester will spend a fair amount of time reviewing the obvious and diving into anatomy, before touching on useful stuff like muscles and nerves before xmas.

 

[SpecterGT260]

No. A lot of the high yield MCAT material (kindey, digestion, etc) shows up in the second semester of A&P. The first semester will spend a fair amount of time reviewing the obvious and diving into anatomy, before touching on useful stuff like muscles and nerves before xmas.

I do not recall any human A&P on the mcat.... although I took it a few years ago... its this with the newer version?

 

[kayate]

My school offers A&P I and A&P II. Each course covers different organ systems so just the first course is better than nothing, but you'll only learn about half the body (if your school teaches it the same way). I found taking both was helpful for the MCAT.

I found Biochemistry more useful than Cell Molecular Biology and there were a few Genetics questions on the MCAT.

Yeah, my school teaches half the organ systems 1 semester and the other half the 2nd semester 😛 I guess I'll try to fit both in, biochem and cell bio. And we'll see about the genetics course 😀

 

[Haislip]

I would take a writing course that focuses on applications, resumes presentations etc. It might not help with the MCAT but it will help with the application process

 

[K M R]

No. A lot of the high yield MCAT material (kindey, digestion, etc) shows up in the second semester of A&P. The first semester will spend a fair amount of time reviewing the obvious and diving into anatomy, before touching on useful stuff like muscles and nerves before xmas.

Lol wut? Save yourself a few thousand dollars and buy EK Bio.

 

[ts173]

Biochemistry definitely helped me the most for the MCAT. That being said I dont take anatomy or physiology til senior year at my school so I can't comment but I feel like Kaplan covered the basics here pretty well but I am sure the A&P class would be very useful.

 

[Nebby]

Some great suggestions in this thread... but there are few wonderful, basic classes that will help immensely in life if you want to expand beyond your criteria:

Ethics (because it's a good introduction to some of the medical ethics courses you might take)
Interpersonal communication (because it's a basic life skill)
Computer science (because it helps to know how programs you will use function -- everything is digital anymore)
Spanish (¿Por qué no?)

Try to broaden things a little!

 

[K M R]

Some great suggestions in this thread... but there are few wonderful, basic classes that will help immensely in life if you want to expand beyond your criteria:

Ethics (because it's a good introduction to some of the medical ethics courses you might take)
Interpersonal communication (because it's a basic life skill)
Computer science (because it helps to know how programs you will use function -- everything is digital anymore)
Spanish (¿Por qué no?)

Try to broaden things a little!

I disagree with everything above, save Spanish.

 

[MT Headed]

I do not recall any human A&P on the mcat.... although I took it a few years ago... its this with the newer version?

Obviously each test is different, but Human P (without the A) is on the list of biology topics you should know about. The original question was would just taking the first half of a two semester A&P be useful, and the answer is no, but taking the second half would be. Or just learn it all in EK Bio. The core physiology concepts are likely to be explained in the passage anyway.