<p>I've heard that there isn't much Physics on the MCAT.</p>
<p>Is that true?</p>
<p>how would you break down the MCAT subject-wise and percentage-wise?</p>
<p>Bio
Chem
Ochem
Physics
??
??</p>
<p>This is OLD data, so I don’t know the most current breakdown</p>
<p>In 2004ish when I took the MCAT, the Biological Sciences section was 50/50% bio/ochem, and the Physical Sciences was 50/50 general chem/physics.</p>
<p>I believe when they went to computer based testing, they decreased the Ochem portion to 35%. The PS section remained the same.</p>
<p>There is a new revision to the MCAT underway that’s supposed to include more modern biology topics, but I’m not really up to date about where the process actually is.</p>
<p>I will say that of the components on the MCAT, I actually use physics most directly on a day basis in the ICU. Cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology is all about physics - doing the math isn’t the important part, but using the equations to understand the relationships is. Peds cardiology in particular is all about pressures, flows, and electricity. Yes, bio and the rest is important but in actually pulling directly from pre-med and placing into my current practice, physics is far ahead of the rest.</p>
<p>With the new MCAT coming, all of this is probably obsolete, but when I taught as an MCAT teacher a few years ago it was stated that the physical sciences were 50/50 gen chem and physics, the biological sciences were 70% bio and 30% ochem.</p>
<p>The kids taking the MCAT this year will be taking the current version, that’s why I asked.</p>
<p>My son was wondering if there was much Physics on the exam.</p>
<p>Substantial. 50% of physical science. Electromagnetism and some of the easier parts of physics 1 are big.</p>
<p>Wow…50% of that part is Physics?</p>
<p>So, if you were taking the MCAT in April, how would you split your focus on Bio, Chem, OChem, Physics, and (fill in the blank)…percentage-wise?</p>
<p>a huge part of it is going to depend on how strong you are in each of those to begin with.</p>
<p>For example, I got a C and a B in orgo, so even though it was only 25% of the bio section, I probably spent just as much time on that as I did on physics where I got an A and a B, both of which were more than what I spent on the chemistry where I got an 800 SAT2, 5 on the AP, and an easy A in the one semester I had to take. Bio has a fair amount of memorization required but I also had a strong background (770 SAT2, 5 AP, As in like 7/8 courses), so while it may have gotten the most time, it definitely didn’t get 1.5x as much time as physics (which would be the split based on the test’s proportions). I don’t remember how much I spent on verbal other than I know I had one week that was exclusively verbal in addition to whatever system I had for splitting up the studying, but I also didn’t actually improve my verbal very much so maybe I didn’t approach that subject well.</p>
<p>The kaplan course that I taught gave each topic the exact same 9 hours of course time although the reading material was different lengths for each.</p>
<p>The physics portion has a number of formulas that have to be memorized…although if you have a decent background you can often recreate formulas via analysis of the units rather than rote memorization.</p>
<p>Thanks! There’s more Physics than I thought!</p>
<p>yes, sorry, my post was poorly worded, I did not mean that physics has no memorization, it’s just that I felt like memorization alone took me much further with the biology than it did with physics.</p>
<p>D. though that Orgo was about 25% of her MCAT (2011). In regard to Bio itself, she thought that only higher level of Bio classes (Gen., Physiology) were on MCAT, but at her UG, taking them without first Bio was not advisable. Hard to tell about Chem/Physics, as D. did not have to prep. Chem. for MCAT as she was an SI for Chem prof.<br>
I would say that everybody’s opinions would be different depending on their personal perception and UG program.</p>
<p>I would say that “how would you split your focus on Bio, Chem, OChem, Physics, and (fill in the blank)…percentage-wise?” will depend on what score you are getting for each section on practice tests.</p>
<p>Would getting AP Bio be enough? Or should one retake intro to biology?</p>
<p>It depends on your school’s policies (how your school records AP credits on your transcripts), how well you scored on the AP (generally anything less than a 5 means you need to retake intro bio), whether you’re a bio major and will be taking additional bio credits to fulfill the bio lab requirements, and what med schools you’ll be applying to.</p>
<p>There’s no universal answer.</p>
<p>"Would getting AP Bio be enough? Or should one retake intro to biology? "
-Do what is advised at your UG. Some do not advise to skip it. D’s first Bio went thru AP material in first 2 weeks. D.had 5 on AP and also took HS Honors Bio that used the same text book as her first college Bio. Skippin g first Bio was NOT recommended at her UG. There was no official policy.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I will take biology then X.X</p>
<p>MiamiDAP
Senior Member</p>
<h1>I would say that “how would you split your focus on Bio, Chem, OChem, Physics, and (fill in the blank)…percentage-wise?” will depend on what score you are getting for each section on practice tests.</h1>
<p>Good point! </p>
<p>That said, it does interest me that your D thought that Orgo was 25% of the exam. From what it sounds, your D has a very good memory, so I trust her estimate.</p>