Preparing For Mcat 2015 With Minimal Coursework

[math_head]

I'm currently in my third year of a math major, and I'm considering writing the MCAT this summer so I can apply for med school in Fall 2015. I had taken essentially a biology major's coursework in first year: 2 semesters of biology, 1 semester of inorganic chemistry, 1 semester of organic chemistry, 2 semesters of anatomy, and 1 semester of psychology. However, my second year was entirely mathematics, so I'm a bit rusty with all of these subjects. I'm planning on doing my preparation during Winter 2015 as I have a work-term during that period, so I should be able to devote a good portion of my time to study.

 

I've been looking at some resources pertaining to preparing for the MCAT, and I'm a bit taken aback at the assumed depth of knowledge when it comes to certain things. For instance, this video on Khan Academy, which is the first in a series of new videos designed to prepare students for the 2015 MCAT, mentions "keto-enol tautomerization", which I had never even heard of in my organic chemistry course, and even if I had, I probably would not have remembered it. Later, it mentions carboxylation, which strikes me as much more familiar, yet still ghostly term.

 

So I ask you, how much knowledge is assumed of someone who cracks open a prep book like TPR or Examkrackers? Are these books as scary as the video I linked to someone who doesn't remember much from 20 months back? Is recently done coursework essential to doing well on the MCAT? Does anyone successful have experience being in this type of situation?

 

Video mentioned:

[MathToMed]

From one math major to another (in fact it sounds as though you have even more relevant coursework than I!), I have to emphasize one point and dispel one painful thought that I'm almost positive you've had: You are not at a significant disadvantage for choosing math. Regarding my comments, bear in mind I have already written the MCAT and gotten a decent score so I won't be prepping for 2015 (fingers crossed!) unless I have to. I realize there is far more content involved and that can be a daunting task in and of itself.

 

However I did have to teach myself physics (not a whole ton as I'd taken coursework), bio, chem and orgo. I'm fully convinced that grappling with proofs and calculations has made the MCAT easier for me, I just needed to wake up the 'memorization' part of my brain when necessary. However to emphasize, only when necessary as that was not my academic strength.

 

Math emphasizes logic and sound reasoning and believe it or not, most things on the MCAT are entirely logical (besides perhaps things like the names and functions of hormones)! Know the definitions (in a math sense), the axioms, assumptions, and basic building blocks of MCAT science and build off of them in a logical way. Keto-Enol Tautomerization as an example, is named for a particular reason, and understanding this reason allows me to remember the reaction long after I wrote the MCAT! Keto refers to ketones (=O in the middle of the compound), Enol refers to alcohols (-OH branching off the compound), tautomers are a type of constitutional isomers obtained by substitution of a double bond (or rather, follow the electrons, as you do in the typical orgo sense).

Hence, X-(C=O)-Y-H <=> X-(C-OH)=Y is the formula for a Keto-Enol Tautomerization.

Of course I'm not saying this to somehow impress you with my knowledge or memory or anything of the sort, I'm trying to show that if you play to your strengths as a math student, you can understand the material to a very deep level: I didn't 'memorize' keto-enol tautomerization at all.

 

Now, allow me to return to your specific question - what level of depth is required when picking up a review book? I would say none is required, but the more the merrier! The more times you've been exposed to a certain idea, the easier it becomes to process and re-learn. I'm sure you've experienced the 'math-phenomenon' where you struggle and wrack your brain trying to understand a concept for a final exam, only to have the idea seem so absolutely elementary when you revisit it in an advanced course, despite having not thought about it at all since.

Your level of exposure is more than enough for the pre-req sciences at least. There is one other myth I'd like to dispel, and that is that you should spend the majority of your time cramming and memorizing facts. This is a trap/mind game set by the AAMC, the MCAT absolutely does not favour the memory-heavy biology major (in fact it seeks to trip them up as they are the most common type of pre-med!). The majority of your time should be spend completing sample materials, tests and passages. You should then supplement any gaps in knowledge with further study in that particular area.

 

Sure you have a certain baseline of things you absolutely need to memorize (like the list/function of the hormones, particularly their involvement during the menstrual cycle, or nomenclature/functional groups in orgo), but the majority of 'obscure' things you need to know will be provided to you in the passage prompt. In fact in almost every orgo passage I've ever done from the AAMC, it was either SN1, SN2, E1, E2 (assume these are memorized), or a more obscure type of reaction whose pathway was explicitly given shown. So long as you have the skill of analyzing (hint hint: math major) the pathway and following those electrons (nucleophiles, electrophiles), then even the most complex of pathways will yield its secrets to you. IMHO the toughest orgo question I ever had was determining the missing steps in a rather complicated pathway, and this had to be inferred from the picture immediately before and after the gaps and following those electrons.

 

So the take home point: If it's going over your head while having taken an entire organic chemistry course, it's probably going over everyone's head at an equal level. Of course if it's just a word or phrase that you're stuck on there's no reason you can't look it up.

Good luck!

[MathToMed]

Sorry one additional point that's so important it merits its own post: Don't try to skimp on the prep materials. If you have to, you may need to buy two sets of books, or more (I had TPR and Kaplan myself), as well as absolutely all of the AAMC practice tests that are available. These will help infinitely more than Khan Academy.

Khan Academy seems to be needlessly confusing with certain areas - but I did use their organic chemistry videos (Non-MCAT) to help understand how to follow electrons through an organic pathway. Prep books will be 100 times better, and more accessible.

[math_head]

Thanks for the handy advice! I'll make sure to study extra hard off some prep books, then. Cheers!