Guest reahg Posted November 9, 2001 Report Share Posted November 9, 2001 I recently heard it suggested that it would be a benifit to take the MCAT after two years of university. The logic being that one would have the benefit of having recently taken the courses pertinent to the MCAT. The person who suggested this said that the first two years of Bio, physics, and chem would suffice. What does eveyone think about that?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted November 9, 2001 Report Share Posted November 9, 2001 I actually took it after my first year and scored a respectable 33. If it's organic chem you're worried about, you can take the MCAT right after your orgo course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted November 9, 2001 Report Share Posted November 9, 2001 Hey, MCAT after 2 years sounds like a good idea- the organic chem will be fresh in your mind, especially all the crappy carboxylic acid and epoxide reactions and SN reactions- tres beneficial! That stuff can be tough to remember! General question, though: at schools other than WLU (my school), is Introductory Biochem a 2nd year course or a 3rd year? At Laurier, Biochem is a 300 level course, broken into 2 semestered courses (Intro and Metabolism), but organic is a prereq for both. Is this the same as other schools, or is Intro Biochem a 2nd year with an orgo coreq? Just wondering. Thanks! Timmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BCgirl Posted November 9, 2001 Report Share Posted November 9, 2001 I think taking the MCAT after 2 years is a good idea - like everyone has said, the material will still be pretty fresh by then. Will you just have intro bio, chem, and physics? I think I would definitely take organic before the MCAT and maybe a physiology course if possible. I took the MCAT in August (after my second year) and I got a 36. I had finished first year bio, chem, and physics, both organics, a year of physiology, and a semester of cell biology. TimmyMax, My school sounds a lot like yours. Biochem is a 400 level course (they start numbering at 200 level) so people take it in either third or fourth year. We also have intro to biochem and metabolism. Organic is a prereq for them both. My school is small (and the chem department is really small), so maybe it differs at bigger schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TimmyMax Posted November 10, 2001 Report Share Posted November 10, 2001 Thanks for the insight there, BCGirl; I got the idea somewhere that Intro Biochem was a 2nd year half semester at some schools and then metabolism was a 3rd year, or something along those lines- the point being that it was possible to have Intro biochem by the conclusion of one's 2nd year. Maybe this is true at the bigger schools, like you said, but thanks for the reassurance anyway! Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted November 11, 2001 Report Share Posted November 11, 2001 I'm moving this to the MCAT forum. Ian UBC, Med 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tina Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Does anyone suggest taking MCAT w/o physics? Do you really need it? strider2004 - what courses did you take first year to be able to write MCAT after first year? Did you take any prep courses? Do med schools look down on students who take MCAT more than once? IS there a limit to how many times you can write the MCAT? Thanks a bunch for answering my questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 I wouldn't take the MCAT without first year university Physics first. Especially if you're not the type of person who works well with numbers and understanding formulae. Med schools in general don't care whether you write the MCAT over. However, if you do re-write the MCAT, then it means sacrificing all that preparation time when you are studying for your second take! You could have been out travelling or working during that time; all the people who nailed the MCAT on their first try are now relaxing, or using that extra time to work on other areas of their med school application. Therefore, re-writing the MCAT is totally possible, but it's much better to do it right the first time. I believe there's a limit from the AAMC that you can only write it 3 times, and each time thereafter you need to justify why. I could be wrong. Ian UBC, Med 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Hi guys, Yep, Ian, you're correct on the AAMC 3-time rule. One theory I've heard is that it's apparently an attempt on the AAMC's part to inhibit test prep companies from sending in decoy test takers whose function is to memorize the exam questions. However, supposedly it's not a big deal to convince them that you'd like to write it a fourth <shudder> time, if genuine need be. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest missing Manitoba Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 If you have taken high school physics, I would say that university physics is absolutely not essential for the MCAT. The physics covered is not particularly advanced. In fact, I found that my own first year PHYS course was so advanced relative to the level of the MCAT physics that it was totally useless in preparing me. If, however, you have not taken high school physics, an intro physics course (such as a "physics for life science" class) could be good preparation for the MCAT physical science section, which is normally divided pretty evenly between general chemistry and physics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDCY Posted April 1, 2002 Report Share Posted April 1, 2002 At Calgary, the first two years you take in a biological science degree covers intro physics, chem, bio, organic chem, ecology, intro to Cell/microbiology, and intro to biochemistry (no metabolism). Metabolism is a third year bcem course for us. I did my MCAT after my second year so I had taken everything needed already but having it fresh in my memory did help. The only thing that we had not learned about before was fluid dynamics in physics but that was before they changed the intro physic courses here. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JSS02 Posted April 11, 2002 Report Share Posted April 11, 2002 Writing it after 2 years of undergrad is fine. It's an extremely common thing to do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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