Guest uofter Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 i'm not a science student but did take some OAC science courses and psych courses in undergrad. if i plan on taking a prep course over the summer (princeton or kaplan) and plan on writing my mcat in august, do i even have a chance of getting decent marks to be eligible to apply to med schools? studying from may-august enough prep time for a non-science student to learn the material for the mcat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 A lot of the science material on the MCAT is taught at the 1st/2nd year university level, although realistically it's not too far beyond OAC science. Science students, learn material beyond the level of the MCAT, which can be a disadvantage if they end up overthinking questions that are simpler than they appear. If you thoroughly prepare, you have a pretty good shot at doing well, and as a non-science student, you may have an advantage on the verbal and writing sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uofter Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 wow! thanks steve for that quick and honest reply. everyone i've been talking to about this told me to forget about taking the mcat because i'm not a science student therefore i won't have a shot of doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 The MCAT is only half science. The other half is verbal reasoning and writing, and science students on average don't do as well on those sections compared to humanities or social sciences students. If you look at the stats on the aamc webpage, you'll actually see that non-science students often do fairly well on the science sections too. I think you'll certainly need to work hard to prepare, but it is definitely possible to do well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coastal79 Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Don't worry about it. I was an English major, hadn't taken any science courses within the year before I wrote (except 1st year physiology), and did okay with only a 2 month study. If you give yourself a solid 4 months you could work it over. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest byjude Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 In addition to half of the test being non-science, even the two science sections aren't exclusively testing your scientific knowledge - they also test your ability to think rationally and read for the point. Not sure what your major is, but if you're an arts student, you've probably picked up this critical reading ability through your courses more than your average science student may have (especially by first or second year). A few of the questions don't require any science knowledge, only an ability to interpret a passage that has to do with science and critically determine the answer. In OAC, I was curious about how challenging the material on the MCAT would be. I checked out a prep book from my local library, and wrote a sample test inside just for fun. Just based on my OAC bio and chem courses, I scored decently on the bio section - probably about a 6-7 I think based on a sample conversion of the scale. Not good enough to make the cutoffs at most universities, but definitely didn't leave much room that a course like Kaplan/Princeton would need to cross to make up the difference. The good thing about the MCAT is that it covers a lot of the same areas every year. So the stuff that you didn't learn in high school (like how to read a protein/DNA gel, or how to determine what type of organic reaction has occurred) will be clearly explained in a prep course to prepare you for the expectation that these questions will probably occur on your test. If you have the time to devote to doing a lot of background reading this summer (eg, maybe 10-20 hours per week) you should have no problem. P.S. A comment on choosing a prep course, if you decide to go that route. Be advised, I've never taken either prep course, so this is based entirely on what other people seem to be saying. Princeton may be a better course if you want the more remedial approach. They generally have better teachers, and I think you spend 4 nights a week in class, so it's double the class time. This gives them a better chance to explain more of the scientific concepts. This is good assuming you're a classroom learner. On the other hand, Kaplan is probably better for its outside-of-class features. It has a large online exam bank and online resources, flash cards, and arguably more comprehensive books. But the teaching is often not as good. Either class has its advantages and neither is objectively better. But if I were in your situation and wanted to cover a lot of scientific ground in a short time, I'd go for the Princeton course for its more in-depth and competent instruction. (That is, if you choose to do a prep course. If you're a more independent studier, you might want to save the large chunk of money and just buy a bunch of study books, but if you can afford it, it's probably a worthwhlie investment to take the course if it's your first time seeing the material). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Hi there, They generally have better teachers, and I think you spend 4 nights a week in class, so it's double the class time. Princeton Review's classroom schedule may have evolved since I completed their course two summers ago, but when I did, I was in class three days per week for 3-4 hours per day. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 My Princeton Review course in the summer of 2002 was twice per week for 4 hours, and occassional practice exams on Saturdays (5 over the course of the summer). I found all the instructors to be really great. There was a physics Ph.D. student teaching physics, a med student who did an undergrad in chemistry teaching both physical and organic, an English Ph.D. teaching verbal and writing, and a senior undergrad doing the bio. The bio instructor supposedly did rather poorly on the MCAT, but he had a lot of teaching experience, and was reasonably good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest uofter Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 thanks you guys! this is by far, the most helpful and friendliest websites i've ever been to! (next to the UWO student forum website...lawrence loh is great!) anyhow, thanks for all the information!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aidan Posted March 19, 2004 Report Share Posted March 19, 2004 This year, the PR courses are changing a bit. Instead of being 4 hours 2 nights a week, they're going to be 2.5 hours 4 nights a week (so there's actually more class time this year). Cheers, - Aidan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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