<p>Is the MCAT something where you study (1) test strategies or is it actually (2) mostly science content based? If my SAT scores in high school were good but not sensational, am I already at a disadvantage? I've heard that SAT is a good predictor of MCAT, any truth to that?</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/80275-mcats.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/80275-mcats.html</a></p>
<p>I’d imagine that if you got a good SAT score, you’re probably good at taking tests. I don’t think it necessarily means you’ll get a good MCAT score, but it probably tells something about your general test taking skills. As for the MCAT, the best way to study is to review all the material and then take practice exams. Most of the material will be things you’ve encountered in your college level classes, some of it will be new (we didn’t really do much anatomy in my bio courses in college). Most of the science content on the test isn’t hard persay. Your exams in all of your introductory classes required a very much deeper understanding of the material than the MCAT requires. The main hurdle is just the shear amount of information you have to remember for the test…you’re essentially asked to remember all the main topics from the entire of about 8 semesters worth of classes, which is a lot. </p>
<p>The MCAT is a knowledge test, but it largely expects this knowledge. What will really differentiate people is their ability to apply that knowledge in relation to passages, etc. that are presented. I’ve been studying for a few months now, spending my last month before the test taking practice exams like crazy. You definitely need to know the material- of tests I’ve taken so far, about a third to half the questions I get wrong are related to my forgetting a specific factual bit of information that is required for a question. This is easily remedied by going back and reviewing sections you’re weak on. Two thirds to an half of the questions I get wrong are test-taking things…not understanding a specific relationship between facts I know and the passage, or overlooking something in the passage that tells you the answer. </p>
<p>I think the orgo section of the MCAT is usually considered easier just because it expects very little basic knowledge of organic chemistry (it often gives you reactions, etc…so memorizing them is less important than is understanding how they work in a very general sense). I was never a great orgo student, but many orgo passages require understanding of very broad organic chemistry concepts. The only problem is there are always thrown in there some very specific organic chemistry questions that you’ll need to know much better.</p>
<p>If you need structure, i’d suggest a MCAT course. But you can probably study on your own with books more productively if you have the drive to. I’ve used ExamKrackers, which I’ve found helpful (especially because they don’t teach extraneous information that won’t really help you score better on the MCAT, and instead emphasize the basic facts you need to know).</p>