Will biochem help for the MCAT?

[NRAI2001]

Hi,

How was wondering how beneficial would it be to take a biochem course before the MCAT? My roommate told me it would help tremendously, but other people have told me that a prep course will go over all the biochem u will need for the mcat.

I was thinking about taking biochem this summer in addition to TPR mcat course. Is this too much for the summer? The biochem course would last about half the summer.

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[raom_dtpi]

I've also heard thay there is some biochem on mcat. But it doesn't require that you take a course to answer it. Kaplan and other prep courses would address the required info. A lot of people that i know didn't take Bio Chem before MCAT. Although, some took it after MCAT to show schools that theey have taken a med-school type of class. If you are through with premed classes and have time to study, it won't hurt, but I don't think it is needed.

Examkrackers Biology covers quite a bit of biochem in the first few chapters.

Good Luck!
Scout

 

[NRAI2001]

cool thanks a lot

anyone else have any opinions on this?

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

Biochem will give you practice doing titrations, protein structure, and biosynthetic pathways, all of which have been known to occur on the MCAT.

So yes, it will help, but not as much as genetics. You're guaranteed to have genetics on the MCAT.

 

[CaptainJack02]

Biochem will give you practice doing titrations, protein structure, and biosynthetic pathways, all of which have been known to occur on the MCAT.

So yes, it will help, but not as much as genetics. You're guaranteed to have genetics on the MCAT.

Oui. Last August, there was an INSANELY dificult genetics passage with 4/5 questions. dont remember exact number, but it was damn hard. i dont remember any biochem q's that you couldn't answer with basic chem knowledge.

 

[Arsenic]

I found my biochem courses EXTREMELY helpful for the MCAT.

For example, I had a passage on my MCAT dealing with different biochemical reaction sequences. As part of the sequences, the word "kinase" was shown over some of the reaction arrows. If I hadn't taken Biochem courses before the test, I would have probably freaked out because of something so unfamiliar. Biochem was actually the only section of the Biological Sciences review book that I thought Kaplan was weak in presenting material for the MCAT... not a good thing considering I feel the chemistry on my MCAT BS section was more Biochem than Orgo chem, i.e. questions involving sugars, proteins and enzymes rather than aldols or chirality. If you dont have time for a formal Biochem class this summer then get a review book that does give you a solid Biochem review, not just sugars and proteins but also the role and function of different biochemical enzymes. There are lots of different forms of the MCAT BS section during every administration, you need to have your bases covered just in case you land with the biochem heavy form. Good luck with the test!

 

[N-toxicologist]

TPR will give you all the biochem you need to know. I remember a few biochem discretes on my MCAT, maybe a passage, but I agree, Genetics is much more important. Personally, I would make sure to take Physiology before the test, also. Hold off on biochem. It's much too amazing and complex to take in the summer, anyway.

 

[DOin2007]

My advice would be don't take biochem until your senior year. Think about the big picture here... For the small amount of biochem on the MCAT, taking a full biochem course is unnecessary. However, taking biochem right before matriculating into med school (i.e. in your senior year) and having it fresh in your mind during your 1st year biochem course is invaluable.

 

[ajnak182]

I found biochem incredibly helpful. I took the MCAT in August and had finished the course the previous spring. For questions dealing with hemoglobin, metabolism and protein structure, I felt that the course allowed me to find difficult MCAT questions fairly easily. However, I have not taken genetics, and do to the large amount of genetics on the test, I could definitely see that class being very helpful as well. Possibly more helpful. Good luck

AJ


PS: Anyone know whatever happened to the whole kamra business? I'm personally happy it's gone, but I never heard anything about its prompt removal. Late

 

[Anka]

Do you need it to do well on the MCAT -- NO! (I got a 13 on BS w/o it). Just know the Kaplan big book really well, and be prepared to do a lot of physio type questions. But, like anything, it'll give you context -- it's one more set of questions you'll be familiar with and won't have to think too hard about; it's one more thing you won't have to try to get out of Kaplan. So, if you've got time and energy you want to spend, go for it. At the very least, it'll help out in med school.

Good luck on your MCAT.

Anka