What section is most memorization

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Slechts1Leven

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I know you are supposed to understand the concepts, but I saw some of the posters 30+ MCAT thread saying they just plugged into formulas. So, if someone put a gun to your head and asked you out of Org. Chen, CHem or Physics, which section is has the most memorization?

Thanks
 
I know you are supposed to understand the concepts, but I saw some of the posters 30+ MCAT thread saying they just plugged into formulas. So, if someone put a gun to your head and asked you out of Org. Chen, CHem or Physics, which section is has the most memorization?

Thanks

That's a strange question. But I guess if I had to chose, I would say Organic only because it's an entirely new language. Before you can actually learn more advanced material, you need to get comfortable with the terminology. Once you've established that, understanding additional concepts become more comprehensible.

And while many people might disagree, I think some degree of memorization is involved in Organic. While being able to understand and predict mechanisms is important, at the end of the day, you're probably better off just memorizing the main details: the reactants, reagents, and products. That alone will be enough to help you answer a vast majority of questions.

The topics presented in Physics and General Chemistry aren't really that difficult either. Much of what you learn is simplified into a sheet of equations. But, it's how those topics are presented (in the most obscure ways) and knowing when to use the appropriate equations that makes those topics challenging.

Just my 0.02c
 
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I have to humbly disagree. Organic, if you learned it right in undergrad requires little to no memorization. It is very intuitive. Positive attracts negative/ Nucleophile attacks electrophile/lewis base attacks lewis acid. You follow this, and develop an understanding of whether a process occurs in one step or two, and you will be okay on most organic problems. I wish there was more organic.....

personally , I would say bio. I think the more background knowledge you have and the more details you can memorize, the better you will do in bio even though all the ? come from a passage
 
Yes, Biology would obviously be the #1, and I am a biology major. That is why I did not put it as a choice. Thanks for replies. Before I posted the question I was thinking organic as well.
 
Keep in mind that most of those posts in the 30+ thread are from older MCATs. Currently, the MCAT is heavily conceptually based. A common sentiment you'll read from people that have recently taken the MCAT is that the other sections felt VR-like. This is especially true for BS.
 
That is very important to know SN2ed. Thanks for your input. By the way could you message me what you made on your MCAT and/or what followers made using your 3 month study system.

If you want me to post this question on your 3 month study forum, let me know.
 
Keep in mind that most of those posts in the 30+ thread are from older MCATs. Currently, the MCAT is heavily conceptually based. A common sentiment you'll read from people that have recently taken the MCAT is that the other sections felt VR-like. This is especially true for BS.



You are a genius. When they change the MCAT you better believe some company is going to pm'ing you asking you to be a consultant.👍
 
I know you are supposed to understand the concepts, but I saw some of the posters 30+ MCAT thread saying they just plugged into formulas. So, if someone put a gun to your head and asked you out of Org. Chen, CHem or Physics, which section is has the most memorization?

Thanks

Bio.

The others require essentially no memorization beyond a thorough understanding of concepts.

Bio is really the only MCAT subject that cannot be quickly solved via critical thinking alone. (That is b/c of the complexity involved in bio and the limited information typically given, whereas in a physics, g-chem, o-chem, or VR passage, most/all of the necessary information is given right there and critical thinking will get you the rest of the way.)
 
That's a strange question. But I guess if I had to chose, I would say Organic only because it's an entirely new language. Before you can actually learn more advanced material, you need to get comfortable with the terminology. Once you've established that, understanding additional concepts become more comprehensible.

And while many people might disagree, I think some degree of memorization is involved in Organic. While being able to understand and predict mechanisms is important, at the end of the day, you're probably better off just memorizing the main details: the reactants, reagents, and products. That alone will be enough to help you answer a vast majority of questions.

The topics presented in Physics and General Chemistry aren't really that difficult either. Much of what you learn is simplified into a sheet of equations. But, it's how those topics are presented (in the most obscure ways) and knowing when to use the appropriate equations that makes those topics challenging.

Just my 0.02c

I have to humbly agree with you. Sure, an intuition is needed for OChem, but usually, that intuition has to kick in (and should kick in) very early on in the problem. With me, the key to understanding ochem is KNOWING your functional groups cold, reagents, and expected products. That's all it takes. The intuition is really how fast you can associate and put together what's going on (thanks to memory). There's no way that you can have intuition take precedence over memory here..sorry lol.

In other words (for me), it's not the path that matters (i.e. the mechanism). It's the fact that you got there. That's OChem for ya! God, I love it..what a philosophy!!
 
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