Taking the MCAT without taking O-chem?

[the Undergrad]

Hi guys,

I was just wondering if its a good idea to take the MCAT w/o any O-chem (but completed other prereqs) at all? Do Med schools have issues with that (taking mcat w/o any ochem)? Has anyone here done this before?

Thanks guys...I really need some input on this.

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[ASDIC]

when i took the mcat this april, they had like 2 passages of organic chem...i mean they put very less emphasis on organic chem compared to genetics, biochem, molecular bio, evolution and physiology.

If I were you, I would just go through the kaplan's organic edge, it provides a quick review of the entire organic chem u need to know.

 

[CaptainZero]

Take O-chem first. You'll have enough to study for on the MCAT without having to learn O-Chem from scratch without any formal instruction...

 

[Groove]

Take organic chemistry first.

 

[ChemMN]

You should take O-Chem first. If you get a lot of organic on the MCAT and do poorly as a result, you will have wasted a lot of your own time and money. Some past MCAT exams have had substantial organic sections...

 

[medic170]

At least take the first semester of o-chem. There were only a few questions on second semester stuff on my MCAT, but you have to at least take first semester, preferably both.

 

[liverotcod]

At least take the first semester of o-chem. There were only a few questions on second semester stuff on my MCAT, but you have to at least take first semester, preferably both.

I had the opposite situation - mostly carbonyl chemistry, amino acids and carbohydrates on the real MCAT and on practice tests. At my school, these were definitely second semester topics, and verging on biochem.

 

[EvoDevo]

Why would you do this to yourself? There's no rush, really. I took it waaaaaaaaay back in '99 *without* having had Ochem II and *any* physics. I still nailed a 29, but oh lord imagine how well I would have done had I been patient and waited until I'd had the classes!

Seriously. Don't do it. You will regret it...

 

[traumamonkey]

med schools don't care when you take organic (provided it is before you matriculate) but they might care about a lower score on the bio section of the MCAT...
unless you've got some compelling reason to rush, you should probably put the MCAT off until next year, when you've had time to take the course.

that being said, i'm sure you could survive (and perhaps do well) without formal instruction, especially with the new format being so much bio...but you've got to take it at some point anyway, so why not before?