<p>i'm a sophomore IB major that is possibly premed. mcb 102 is not required for my major, but is a premed prereq. because i'm still unsure as to whether i am premed, i am tempted to put off mcb 102 until my last semester at berk to avoid taking it unnecessarily. </p>
<p>question: would having a year between taking bio1a/chem3b and taking mcb 102 (assuming i forget a lot of info) severely affect my performance in 102? </p>
<p>thanks for your input!</p>
<p>It’s not something to worry about. You need to know your bio1a/chem3b for the MCAT anyway, so you’re going to have to review it at some point. You do need to know the things you learn in chem 3b like aldol reactions, carbonyl chemistry and acid/base stuff. Bio1a would be useful to take it closer because a lot of the glycolysis and TCA cycle are reviewed in mcb 102.</p>
<p>There is some overlap, but the stuff that you do need to know is easy enough that you should be able to relearn/remember without too much trouble.</p>
<p>i think it would if you didn’t learn those 2 well. you need a lot of bio 1a knowledge and some chem3b to do well in 102.</p>
<p>oh damn. lol i’m taking it in the fall. any tips?
I literally don’t remember anything from chem 3b anymore. 1a is shaky, but that material is a hell lot easier to me than ochem (or at least, time-wise, I could crunch in 1a material whereas 3b…) </p>
<p>To the OP: I don’t want to give you false information, but I feel like most schools dealing with some type of health/human science will want you to take a biochem class, so you may end up having to take it anyway whether pre-med or not.</p>
<p>MCB 102 requires more bio 1a knowledge than chem 3b. I didn’t really remember much from chem 3b, and did pretty well in the class.</p>
<p>that’s good to hear. did you take it in the fall? 
The thing about bio 1a I feel is that the information has been drilled into my head since AP Bio. Hell we’ve been using that same book (different editions by 1 I guess) since high school.</p>
<p>that was super helpful! thanks!!</p>
<p>I’m taking mcb 102 without bio 1a…I got a 5 on the AP test back in sophomore of high school…am i screwed? Of course I plan to try to study tons…but am I still screwed?</p>