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NBME Explanations

Classes you need BEFORE studying for the MCAT!!

Discussion in 'MCAT' started by mcatmax, May 3, 2016.

  1. mcatmax

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    A lot of people try and begin studying as soon as possible. While I think this is possible for some components of the MCAT, a lot of the exam is correlated to one another and is based on building blocks of knowledge that you develop throughout your undergraduate studies. The general consensus would feel that these are basically required:
    - General chemistry (1 year equivalent)
    - Organic chemistry (1 year equivalent)
    - Biology (1 year equivalent)
    - Biochemistry (1 semester)
    - Physics (1 year equivalent)
    - Psychology and Sociology (1 semester each)

    I will also add that taking an intro to physiology course would be very beneficial as it will provide some clinical correlation to the physics/biology that you learn. It likely won't give you any more correct answers on your test, but it will make the understanding of biology passes, for example, much easier. In addition, biology weighs heavily on cell pathways, and cell bio and/or immunology are great classes to take as you get close to your dedicated study period. I'll also make a post on how to maximize your study time.

    Expanding on each of these basic topics to provide more details

    General chemistry
    Your chemical reactions are very important here. As you will see when you do the AAMC practice exams (which everyone should be doing, along with others, found here), there is always some standard chemical experiment passage that you can easily answer once you understand the question style. Having a good background in general chemistry will make studying for these questions and ones in this section very easy. I took Gen Chem as a first year, so I had to relearn most of it, which was painful.

    Organic Chemistry
    This is the trickiest topic, I think. Not only is it one of the most challenging courses, the way it shows up on the exam he's also quite unpredictable. Honestly, when I think about it, it's hard for me to give great advice here. I will have to think about it and come back and edit this section.

    Biology/Biochemistry
    Most of what I learned my biology classes revolved around various species, and you not only pertaining to humans. Obviously annoying as I felt most of this was wasted time. For some reason feels like the exam makers love to ask about biologic pathways. There are a whole slew of them I won't mention here for now, but look into them. Knowing basic math will help you in this section to. There are some random questions here that are solely based on your knowledge and not much to do with your ability to read a passage.

    Physics
    I think this is the easiest section to raise your score. Memorize the equations, and understand the simple techniques as mentioned in your textbooks (which probably reviews all you learned in undergrad), and you can raise your score QUICKLY. An added trick with equations - learn to work them forwards and backwards. That way, when you get a question on a topic that involves an equation, you can solve it regardless of how they present it.

    Will continue to add more later...
     

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