Does Correctly Answering The Physics And Biology Questions Depend On Knowledge Of Those Topics?

[MZ1000]

I've heard that the physics and biology questions don't actually test knowledge of those topics. Rather they test thinking skills by asking questions about those topics.  (By analogy: It doesn't take any knowledge of highway navigation to answer high-school algebra questions about travel times correctly.) 

 

Is there any truth to that?

[medschover30]

From the practice questions and tests that I've been doing in preparation, it seems that you definitely need to know the basics in these subjects.  I have no background in Physics and have had to do a lot of studying in this area, including memorization of formulas etc.

[rmorelan]

The mcat is more a thinking test than a memorization test. Still you need to know basics or you don't have the tools to reason out the problem.

 

Taking a look at one of the free practise tests would help get you the idea

[km2kenne]

The thing is if you're the smartest, best test-taking in the world, and you weren't working on a time limit, you can almost certainly do fairly well on these MCAT sections with minimal knowledge. Every bit of knowledge you have makes the section easier (though even if you knew everything that wouldn't guarantee 100% of the questions). By analogy, I'd say if doesn't take any knowledge about the surface area of a coke bottle, just calculus, but it's way faster and easier if you already know the surface area. 

[thatonekid]

The mcat is more a thinking test than a memorization test. Still you need to know basics or you don't have the tools to reason out the problem.

 

Taking a look at one of the free practise tests would help get you the idea

Exactly. You need the basics, but you don't have to be the best at these subjects to do well on the MCAT. There's a reasoning component involved when it comes to answering the questions.

[rmorelan]

Exactly. You need the basics, but you don't have to be the best at these subjects to do well on the MCAT. There's a reasoning component involved when it comes to answering the questions.

 

which is why I should add that taking more courses beyond the associated introductory courses for the mcat at university doesn't really help you as much as you might think. That originally surprised me a bit about the mcat.

[medhope15]

Don't overanalyze passages.

That was my biggest "learning point" from the mcat. Become familiar with what is being tested on the mcat and learn those concepts. Eg. the mcat website clearly states that mitosis and meiosis are on the exam. You must know what these are and the differences between them. The passage (no matter how complex it may seem) is just being used as an analogy to test a simple concept. E.g. biology - there might be some super complicated passage about genetically engineering some animal cell or something, with diagrams and complex cell names, but they just want to test that you understand the stages of meiosis and how genetic material is passed on. So read the passage, then think "what are they trying to ask me". You definitely would need to know those basic bio concepts and the passage itself will not help you to answer the questions if you do not understand haploid vs diploid. So people who say, "it is easy and you can reason out the answer from the passage" I think are assuming you at least know the basics of bio. The questions will be framed around the passage itself but the underlying concepts are basic, so don't overanalyze.

[Jaybird]

You only need 100-level (and 2xx orgo chem) science for the MCAT. A talking point I like to use a lot is a passage on one of my practice tests about aerodynamics. I don't know shit about planes, but I know Bernoulli's law. 

[chronicconic]

From the old MCAT, fact-based questions were mostly important for the PS section and the discrete questions in the BS section.