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Scared About Pre-Recs Coming Up... Need Advice!


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It's been about 5 years since I've done chem and physics and quite frankly I'm really nervous about it. I am in my 3rd year of Kinesiology with a 3.81 cGPA with a strong upward trend (first year was 3.3). I am working on my EC's now as well. I will graduate next year but will take a gap year to finish my pre-recs probably and take the MCAT. I didn't decide I wanted to pursue medicine until about 9 months ago. I was initially set on physio. Are those chem and physics courses going to be really tough? I don't remember anything from high school and I didn't really do all that well in high school to begin with. I will talk to my advisor soon and see what she says but just wanted to post on here as well. I know how to study well and I can put in the work. Just wanted to see what realistic advice I could get and if any other people were like me in my situation. I'm in Alberta as well btw... Thanks a lot!!


 


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Hard to know until you actually do them and see for yourself... perhaps see if you can get any material from a colleague and/or ask a prof for a syllabus to get an overview. 

 

You don't really need to take pre-reqs however if it's just to do the MCAT. Most people can do fine as long as you have the prep books, time, and determination. 

 

- G

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Hard to know until you actually do them and see for yourself... perhaps see if you can get any material from a colleague and/or ask a prof for a syllabus to get an overview. 

 

You don't really need to take pre-reqs however if it's just to do the MCAT. Most people can do fine as long as you have the prep books, time, and determination. 

 

- G

I don't know if I would have the discipline to self-study haha but that is an idea. Which prep books do you recommend?

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I don't know if I would have the discipline to self-study haha but that is an idea. Which prep books do you recommend?

 

Examkrackers for me, and it'll be useful since it explains things in simple terms.

 

You'll need that self-discipline if you want to succeed beyond your degree. That said you can consider prep courses, study groups, etc if you need it

 

- G

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Examkrackers for me, and it'll be useful since it explains things in simple terms.

 

You'll need that self-discipline if you want to succeed beyond your degree. That said you can consider prep courses, study groups, etc if you need it

 

- G

So the Examkrackers will teach me everything? I emailed a prep course in my area and I will see what they say

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Hey!

I think for old MCAT, ExamKrackers was the gold standard. For new MCAT, I would use Kaplan for science and ExamKrackers/Princeton/NextStep for CARS. The reason I didn't like EK was because it was way too succint. I was out of school for two years and I was rusty. I think it's meeting halfway between taking the prerequisites and just solely using EK.

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Prep courses are honestly a waste of money. Get the Berkeley review for the organic/general chemistry, EK bio, Kaplan biochemistry, Khan academy videos for physics, EK CARS/verbal, and a shitload of full length tests and you'll be all set.

 

I can post a longer self-study guide here if you want!

 

It's not very useful to write blanket statements without justification when someone is trying to decide what's best for them.

 

Prep courses may be more useful for some people if: 1) they need more help than they imagined and would benefit from those with experience, 2) they need the structure, 3) they need the push from others during the summer... now all of these things can be done in other ways too but with prep courses aren't a waste of money to some people. That said it is expensive so it's definitely important to consider how much you can spend. 

 

Prep course or not you can still do well (generally) if you put in the effort.

 

- G 

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