Home of the Although medical schools vary by what pre-med classes they require and which classes they simply recommend, it is important to understand how your pre-med classes will help you attain pre-med success. The MCAT doesn’t just test you on your ability to memorize countless scientific facts. It expects you to be able to use your science background to answer challenging questions in a logical manner. For this reason, the stronger your science background the better prepared you will be for the MCAT.
Many students wonder if they need a certain pre-med class before taking the MCAT. The truth is that you don’t need to take any classes before taking the MCAT. But, I highly recommended that you take as many pre-med classes as you can before taking the MCAT in order to build a solid science background. Even if a certain science class doesn’t explicitly cover a large volume of MCAT content, it can still be useful in building your scientific reasoning skills. Although a good rule of thumb is to finish all your pre-med classes before taking the MCAT, I would make sure to pay special attention to these three classes in order of priority:
- Biochemistry – Many top MCAT scorers report that Biochemistry is heavily tested on the new 2015 MCAT. You will want to take careful notes during this class, making sure to really master the metabolic pathways.
- Physiology – The MCAT wants to see if you can apply the basic sciences (chemistry, physics, etc) within the context of the human body. Physiology is where abstract subjects such as pressure and resistance take on a whole new meaning as they are applied to a real life context.
- Biology – The MCAT loves to see if you understand the dogma of molecular biology (DNA to RNA to Protein). My professor really pushed us to understand experimental protocols relating to this topic which helped immensely on the MCAT’s dense science passages.
Additional classes that will help expose you to MCAT content are as follows: Cell Biology, Physics, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Psychology, Sociology, and Genetics. Now, if you are unable to get all your pre-med classes done before you take the MCAT, don’t give up hope. If you are dedicated and work hard you can learn almost anything on your own. Our Free MCAT Prep Course covers every single MCAT concept as listed by the AAMC. Whether you need to learn the intricate details of a certain topic that you won’t be taking a class on or you just need to brush up on a topic that you recently took a class for, you’ll find that our eCourse meets your unique needs. If that’s not enough, consider signing up for a tutoring package with one of our Elite tutors!
And if you need help customizing your studying to your unique needs, be sure to reach out for a FREE consultation. I’m here to help!
Warm regards,
Andrew George
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