Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Mcat After First Year Summer?


liuk53

Recommended Posts

I'm a first year Med Sci student at Western and I'm taking two semesters of organic chemistry because I got a transfer credit from high school, and psych. I'm thinking about taking summer to prep and writing the MCAT in August. I would have to learn first-semester biochemistry as well as sociology. Is this doable to get a good MCAT score this way or would you recommend for me to take the MCAT after second or third year?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Assuming you have a good understanding of general chemistry, I think it's doable (there's really not a lot of organic chem on the MCAT). Have you taken physics and biology? Some of the biochem content overlaps with grade 12 bio (especially if you took AP), but I do think it will be a lot of work to teach yourself the biochem. Not necessarily difficult, but time consuming. In regards to sociology, I wouldn't worry too much! I've never taken sociology and still scored over the 90th percentile on psych/soc. My experience was that it was mostly psychology content. I believe it would be sufficient to go over one of the psych/soc review books and familiarize yourself with the key terms.

 

I think a clear benefit to writing after first year is that you get it out of the way if you do well, but you also have a lot of time to improve if you don't. Best of luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Honestly I would suggest waiting until after second year. I was in the same program as you (I'm in fourth year now) and I really felt that the majority of the biology section of the MCAT came from second year courses, not first year. This is of course subjective because it depends on you and how you feel you will be able to prep. I would strongly suggest waiting until you have taken the second year biology courses in your program like cell bio, genetics and biochem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took it after 1st year without any of the biology or orgo background and did fine. But I also took a prep course over the summer.

 

If you feel confident that you can do it, then go for it. You can always re-write after 2nd year if you don't score well (but obviously aim to only write once).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say the physical sciences section is mostly from 1st year courses. With biological sciences, second year biochem, cell bio and physiology all cover high yield topics, so you would be slightly disadvantaged taking the MCAT in 1st year. That being said, the new mcat focuses more on data analysis so I wouldn't sweat it too much if you haven't taken those 2nd year courses yet. You may just need to self-study a little more then the average student but nothing that khan academy can't teach you. 

 

At the end of the day though, focus on verbal (CARS)! It's the only section that really makes a huge difference in your application (at least in Ontario). Generally, it's not as important to score super high in the other 3 sections. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say if you have time to try to study for it and potentially do it.

 

Couple of reasons why it would be a good thing to STUDY for it but not necessarily write it if you arent getting scores that you'd like.

1. Gives you exposure to the exam early on, how to study for it, the different materials out there etc. it will force you to do your research and become more acquainted with the test itself, which is really important for actually going in with confidence and getting a score you are happy with.

 

2. This studying will supplement your future courses. I wrote my 1st MCAT after 2nd year, and honestly a lot of the courses I took in 3rd/4th were super easy because I had studied the material for the MCAT (really helped for immunology, physiology etc.)

 

3. You could write it and get it out of the way! (if you get a good score) - HOWEVER keep it mind how long your score would last, I would do some research on this.

 

4. Learn your strengths/weaknesses early on

 

Essentially GPA is SUPER IMPORTANT in Canada, the MCAT may help you in future courses so in my eyes its a win-win even if you do not end up writing the exam.

 

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One point I haven't seen mentioned here.. If you write your MCAT well before you are ready to apply you are burning a portion of the 5 year time frame during which it is valid. Given that many people have to apply multiple times this would be a consideration for me. The worst would be getting the score you want but then having to retake because your test expired.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hmm it might be too early! Don't want to take any risks if you're not fully confident and prepared. My suggestion would be to take it in the 2nd or 3rd year after you've buckled down on classes and have built a stronger foundation. The MCAT test I took required me to apply a lot of critical thinking to solve the problems and not rote memory. Over time, you'll develop these skills by taking lots of practice tests.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I agree with Synth1. I think any benefit that could be gained by taking it early is not worth it because there is a significant risk your score could expire before you get into med school. Many people need 2-3 attempts to get in and it would be a huge pain to have to rewrite because a perfectly good score expired. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I would say that if you are able to learn new material by yourself, then go for it. There were a bunch of things on the MCAT that I did not learn in school, but I learned the material by myself and it turned out fine. Khan Academy saved me in physics and orgo and honestly, the mcat tests mostly critical thinking and you most likely will not have learned every topic tested on the mcat. In the end, if you feel confident that you can take it after 1st year, then go for it. otherwise, just enjoy life lol

 

-good luck:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can also decide depending on if you are able to land any productive employment/activities in the summer. I regretted delaying and taking the MCAT when I did because it really detracted from how productive I was during my research summers.

 

If anything, you can always redo the MCAT. But the REALLY cool thing about this test is that if you study well for it, you'll absolutely crush your courses (granted that you're in life sciences).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took a prep course and took it after 2nd year, and it does feel like that prep course covered enough of the material that I didn't need to draw on outside knowledge to write the mcat. However, if your first year classes don't already include at least either anatomy or physiology, I don't envy anyone trying to learn that for the first time while also trying to self-teach biochem. Not to say that it's not doable, but it would be a very memorization heavy summer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...