GabriellaGE Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Sorry if I’m not supposed to post here! My UG is Psychology and my schools of interest don’t require prerequisites, has anyone been in a similar situation and self studied for the MCAT? how long did you give yourself? Did you study while in school? TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koopatroopa Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Hey! I took my first undergrad in psych and then wrote the MCAT after having taken first year chem and bio as well as organic chem and cell biology. Holy cow it was a long haul to study all of the biochem!! The psych section was also surprisingly difficuly but I was 3 years out of school by then. I scored a 506 - and am applying with that score, but definitely feel like I would do a lot better now with biochem and more sciences under my belt. I studied for 4 months full time before writing last August. I would recommend trying to find some med students who didn’t have a science background at all before starting - I’ve heard it’s brutally hard. But I know people have done it! Best of luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancemom Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 I wrote my Mcat before my organic chem courses, anatomy and physiology and before my 2nd bio. I scored a 509 and am applying with that score. I started studying in November for a July date, while working 50 hrs a week and raising 2 kids. l am a single mom. I wasn’t going to quit my job and go back to school if I couldn’t do the mcat. It was hard but can be done. I used Kaplan and khan academy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoopDreams Posted November 6, 2017 Report Share Posted November 6, 2017 Out of curiosity, why not take some of the pre-reqs in which you might be weak? This can be a smooth way to prepare if you have time. Good luck!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
targaryen Posted December 8, 2017 Report Share Posted December 8, 2017 My UG was also Psychology. The only "hard science" courses I took were intro chem, bio, physics, 3 years before I wrote the MCAT. My psych major definitely helped for the P/S section of the MCAT, as well as CARS. Because I had no background in orgo/biochem/genetics, I knew I would have to put in extra days to self-teach/practice those topics. I studied Jun-Sept, using ExamKrackers books, KhanAcademy passages, the AAMC official materials, and YouTube. I was lucky to not have to work during this time but I know that's not possible for everyone. I probably could/should have studied in less time, but I gave myself a lot of break days so I wouldn't burn out. Lmk if you have any specific questions about the process or would like to see my schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainAmoeba Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 I self taught all the material for the MCAT (I’m a nurse who graduated 5 years before writing). It’s totally possible, it’s just arduous. I was really happy with my scores overall, and only “suffered” in the physical sciences section, but still did above average. Just be honest with what you can do. Not everyone has the perseverance to make it work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TILs Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treasurer Posted January 2, 2018 Report Share Posted January 2, 2018 wow, thats incredible, do you mind sharing what masters you did? Do you think it helped with your MCAT prep? Also, how did you prepare for the CARS section? Thats an awesome score Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jul059 Posted January 3, 2018 Report Share Posted January 3, 2018 Happy new year! My undergrad and masters were in mechanical engineering. I have no background and have not taken any courses in biochem, psych, sociology. I have taken the equivalent a half first year in chem and bio about 11 years ago (95% of the MCAT material felt completely new). English is not my native language. I wrote my first MCAT in January 2017 after about 6 weeks of intensive study. I had underestimated the breadth of knowledge we had to master and scored 503. I rescheduled a test for August, and this time I felt much better prepared, although I wish I had started practice tests sooner. I scored 516, and the bio section was the hardest section I've ever seen out of all my practice and also my lowest score. The overall score is still more than ok though, and I improved in all sections. So to answer your question, you definitely do not need to take prerequisites to score great on the MCAT. If you know you're capable of performing well on your own at anything you set your mind to, self-study is a good way to go. Only you can tell it that suits you! There's nothing wrong with taking courses if it gets you a great score! I just don't think it would have worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballsortahard Posted January 7, 2018 Report Share Posted January 7, 2018 On 1/3/2018 at 3:41 AM, jul059 said: I have taken the equivalent a half first year in chem and bio about 11 years ago (95% of the MCAT material felt completely new). Don't you need more courses than that to apply to some of the schools you have listed? Such as Toronto and McGill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jul059 Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 12 hours ago, ballsortahard said: Don't you need more courses than that to apply to some of the schools you have listed? Such as Toronto and McGill? McGill: I'm NTP. Toronto : yes. That's why I'm almost 100% I will be rejected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celeste.kae Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I'm so glad that you asked this! I bought the books over a year ago thinking I would just take my time and study. I have not been successful at all because my plan was way too vague! I am giving myself 6 months to prepare now and have already picked a test date. I am feeling very overwhelmed though, and I do not have a science background. My undergrad is in business. I'm 30 years old with two kids, and I just want to sleep. ZzzZzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballsortahard Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 On 12/19/2017 at 4:35 PM, MountainAmoeba said: I self taught all the material for the MCAT (I’m a nurse who graduated 5 years before writing). It’s totally possible, it’s just arduous. I was really happy with my scores overall, and only “suffered” in the physical sciences section, but still did above average. Just be honest with what you can do. Not everyone has the perseverance to make it work. Do you mind me asking how long this took you? I hope to do this this summer (graduating from mech eng in a couple months) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainAmoeba Posted March 12, 2018 Report Share Posted March 12, 2018 19 hours ago, ballsortahard said: Do you mind me asking how long this took you? I hope to do this this summer (graduating from mech eng in a couple months) I spent 9 months, I studied at work, and after shifts. Just a couple hours a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butterfly_ Posted March 13, 2018 Report Share Posted March 13, 2018 I’m a non trad with a finance degree, no sciences. Took me a year to self-study full time for the MCAT. Got 508 with a 129 in CARs. It’s definitely doable, but takes a lot of discipline and self-motivation! good luck :)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFT22135 Posted April 8, 2018 Report Share Posted April 8, 2018 I have my MSc but a lot of my thesis knowledge was not even remotely related to the MCAT. I also hadn't taken physics since high school and hated organic chemistry. I took about 6 months semi-part time to study for it. I was writing my thesis and preparing to defend at the same time. I tried for about 30 hours of MCAT per week. I did my content books (TPR, Kaplan) but also focused heavily on practice questions (the aamc banks were amazing). I scored well enough to get in. I really and truly can't recommend practice questions and tests enough. I took time to understand why I got questions wrong and and why the wrong answer choices were wrong. It really helped me pick up on lot of the tricks. Also, I never really did master physics. I just had enough to get through it and still did well on that section regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.C.Nelson Posted September 6, 2018 Report Share Posted September 6, 2018 On 11/6/2017 at 11:43 AM, dancemom said: I wrote my Mcat before my organic chem courses, anatomy and physiology and before my 2nd bio. I scored a 509 and am applying with that score. I started studying in November for a July date, while working 50 hrs a week and raising 2 kids. l am a single mom. I wasn’t going to quit my job and go back to school if I couldn’t do the mcat. It was hard but can be done. I used Kaplan and khan academy. That's literally amazing! Well done, Dancemom! This is the position I am in - would it be okay for me to contact you in a DM? I have so many questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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