Hello. Parent here. My son is a college freshmen and has completed the following courses with 4.0 GPA. I know he is not ready to take the full MCAT practice test. Wondering whether he is ready to take any of the SPECIFIC SECTIONs of the MCAT practice test. Thank you for your attention and assistance.
Introductory Biological Sciences (High Sch Credit)
Calc-1 (High Sch Credit)
Calc-2 (High Sch Credit)
General Biology
General Biology Lab
Intro to Pshychology
Chemistry For The Biosciences I
One correction. I should say it as “AP Credit”. Not the “High Sch Credit”.
There are no section practice exams available (only full tests); however, your son may be able to get a feel for the type of questions asked in each subtest by purchasing subject-specific review books published by the various test prep companies (Kaplan, Princeton Review, etc)
I would suggest he work not on B/B test questions until he’s completed biochem since ochem & biochem make up a substantial portion of the knowledge base tested. Likewise, he shouldn’t work the C/P subtest subjects until he’s finished college physics since 35-50% of the questions are devoted to physics.
There is also a substantial risk of burnout if he starts to prep for the MCAT too soon.
Hello @WayOutWestMom. Thank you so much. Yes. We have bought the Princeton Review MCAT Subject Review Complete Set(6 Books of OrgChem, GenChem, Eng, Psychology/Sociology; Phy&Math, and Bio&BioChem). My question is whether we can attempt/practice at home on the “Princeton Review MCAT” book practice questions.
(1) C/P? Does it mean General Chem and Physics Sections?
I assume B/B is Biology&BioChem.
(2) Also, my son has already completed the following high school courses
I think I got answers to my 1st question on “What is C/P?”
Link https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/whats-mcat-exam/ shows 5 MCAT sections
Looks like this specific forum is not having active users. I see the last update on July 2015. Hmm. That was 5 months ago. Should I post this questions in other places? Please advice. Thank you.
Unless it’s changed, Kaplan does offer practice section tests. I think there are better uses of your son’s time than doing single section MCAT practice tests freshman year.
But don’t you have to buy a full Kaplan’s prep class pkg to to get the section exams?
If so, this is a very premature expense to be taking.
To answer your other questions--
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AP-Chem (Is this enough to cover MCAT Gen Chem?)
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No
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- AP-Stats
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Possibly enough depending on how well he scored in the AP exam. Anything below a 5 mean he has gaps in his knowledge base.
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- AP-Phy (I assume College Physics will cover more than AP-Phy)
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College physics covers more topics than are covered by AP Phys B or AP Phys C
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- OrgChem
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High school Ochem? Or a full year of college-level OChem?
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- BioChem
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High school biochem? Or a full semester of college level Biochem?
High school level coursework is not sufficient to have a college-level competence
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- Sociology
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Maybe. It depends on the course content. See AMCAS for a list of topics he needs to be conversant with.
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Right now your son's focus needs to be on earning a strong GPA. If his academics are good, then he needs to be working on developing the ECs expected of med school school applicants. (Leadership positions, research experience, teaching/coaching/tutoring, clinical exposure. physician shadowing, community service)
ECs are every bit as important as a good GPA and a good MCAT score. Thank you. Thank you. OrgChem, BioChem and Sociology are part of his high school courses. Not college. We will make a note of your suggestions. Thanks again.
Hello @WayOutWestMom and @iwannabe_Brown. Merry Christmas to you, your family and friends.
We have one Math related question. Based on below list, does he need to take any more Math courses in college for “MCAT EXAMS”?
My S has taken the following courses as part of his HIGH SCHOOL curriculum.
1) AP Calc AB (Also took AP exam and scored 5. Received the college credit already.)
2) AP Calc BC (Also took AP exam and scored 5. Received the college credit already.)
3) Vector Functions/Partial Derivatives
4) Multiple Integrals/Vector Flds
5) AP Advanced Statistics (DID NOT take AP exam for this)
They had an “on-line materials only” package that you could buy back in my day. Basically included all the “at home” stuff and none of the “class room/teacher access stuff.”
Pretty much any MCAT prep in my opinion is premature at this point, but if OP/OP’s son really wants to, they can buy kaplan materials. Like you said, getting good grades, laying the groundwork for leadership positions later on, and gaining perspective on what a career in medicine actually entails are far better uses of time as a freshman.
@esgpet, merry christmas to you too.
I don’t believe he needs any more math for the MCAT, but I would defer to WOWMom since I haven’t kept up with the new MCAT (I took it back in 2008). Certainly that was more than enough math for the old MCAT. For med school though, unless he has actual, listed on his transcript credit for a full year of math, he’ll need to take math. I’d recommend statistics because it’s actually useful mathematics for any physician.
Agree with IWBB. There’s not that much math on the current MCAT; the emphasis is on the use of statistics in data analysis and its application to real life situations.
Since your son didn’t take the AP stats exam and doesn’t have credit on his college transcript for stats, he needs to take a college statistics or biostatistics class. Many med schools now require a stats as a pre-req for admission.
Thank you @WayOutWestMom and @iwannabe_Brown. If we were to take both “College statistics” and “biostatistics” classes, which one should be taken 1st OR can both be taken in the same semester? Thank you.
He needs either college statistics OR biostatistics; he doesn’t need to take both.
Sure. Thank you.