4 answers
Alexis
Student
Round Rock, Texas
4
Questions
Updated
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Does anybody know what the questions in the MCAT are about in general?
#MCAT #admissions #medicine #doctor #healthcare #hospital-and-healthcare #med-school #testing
4 answers
Yasemin G.
Aspiring physician
635
Answers
Updated
Yasemin’s Answer
Hi Alexis, great question! So the MCAT is a medical college admissions test that takes about 7 hours. There are four sections on the exam and I listed them in how they occur:
Chemistry/Physical Foundations:
This section is 95 minutes long with 59 questions about chemistry and physics.
There are passages you read and questions based off of that and then there are discrete questions that do not have anything to do with a passage.
For this section the classes that you should take and are required to be accepted to medical school are General Chemistry I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, Physics I & II ( It can be University or College Physics; the only difference is University is more calculus based while College is algebra based).
CARS: Critical Analysis and Reasoning Section, this section is 90 mins long and has 53 questions, 9 passages with no discrete questions. If you have taken the SAT there is a critical analysis section on there as well, this is similar to that. However I advise to not take this section lightly because it can be time consuming to read and navigate the passages while answering questions about them. When you are studying for the MCAT no matter what, based on your practice scores and how well you do in this section you should complete 1-3 even maybe 4 passages per day to really practice and get your skills solid for exam day. I would recommend checking out Khan academy because it gives you much information about this section along with how to approach passages and the best part is that it is free. AAMC should be your number one go to for all MCAT practice but especially for this section. There are two CARS packets online from AAMC with 120 questions I believe (sorry took the exam last year and forgot the details of the materials purchased) that you should purchase and keep practicing. Even if you finish the online packet you can reset and redo them, which you should. Also make sure to practice your vocabulary, if you do not know a word make a notecard of it; usually they add up and you should keep practicing them each day because the more words you know the easier it will be to navigate the passages.
Biology/Biochemistry: This section is also 59 questions, 95 mins. Same as C/P section with passages and discrete questions. The knowledge is based off of your biology and biochemistry courses. That being said you are require to take Principles of Biology I and II and Biochemistry I for medical school while there are recommendations such as cell/molecular, anatomy and genetics. For this section I would highly advise to take biochemistry and as many other science courses you can. It makes it easier to navigate this section because you have more foundational knowledge. Khan academy is also helpful for this section along with C/P and the Psych/Socio section because they provide great videos and really go in depth. I would also purchase Kaplan books because the videos really align well and do a great job explaining detailed anatomy which helped me because I did not take anatomy before.
Psych/Socio: This section is also once again 59 questions, 95 mins, same as the other science, passage/discrete based questions. To be honest if you prepare well for this section at the end of the exam when you are feeling tired it becomes a blessing to end with this section. To really do well in this section, personally for me, it was knowing concept/theories because passages and questions really focus on the theories represented in both psych and sociology. If you don't know the details you can have a hard time and although it may not seem as difficult as the traditional above sciences it will hinder your score if you take this section lightly in studying. That being said I would advise once again Khan academy and Kaplan they do the best job in being able to review things in detail.
Check out AAMC.org as well they offer detailed explanations of the exam and give a further breakdown!
check out AAMC.org
Chemistry/Physical Foundations:
This section is 95 minutes long with 59 questions about chemistry and physics.
There are passages you read and questions based off of that and then there are discrete questions that do not have anything to do with a passage.
For this section the classes that you should take and are required to be accepted to medical school are General Chemistry I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, Physics I & II ( It can be University or College Physics; the only difference is University is more calculus based while College is algebra based).
CARS: Critical Analysis and Reasoning Section, this section is 90 mins long and has 53 questions, 9 passages with no discrete questions. If you have taken the SAT there is a critical analysis section on there as well, this is similar to that. However I advise to not take this section lightly because it can be time consuming to read and navigate the passages while answering questions about them. When you are studying for the MCAT no matter what, based on your practice scores and how well you do in this section you should complete 1-3 even maybe 4 passages per day to really practice and get your skills solid for exam day. I would recommend checking out Khan academy because it gives you much information about this section along with how to approach passages and the best part is that it is free. AAMC should be your number one go to for all MCAT practice but especially for this section. There are two CARS packets online from AAMC with 120 questions I believe (sorry took the exam last year and forgot the details of the materials purchased) that you should purchase and keep practicing. Even if you finish the online packet you can reset and redo them, which you should. Also make sure to practice your vocabulary, if you do not know a word make a notecard of it; usually they add up and you should keep practicing them each day because the more words you know the easier it will be to navigate the passages.
Biology/Biochemistry: This section is also 59 questions, 95 mins. Same as C/P section with passages and discrete questions. The knowledge is based off of your biology and biochemistry courses. That being said you are require to take Principles of Biology I and II and Biochemistry I for medical school while there are recommendations such as cell/molecular, anatomy and genetics. For this section I would highly advise to take biochemistry and as many other science courses you can. It makes it easier to navigate this section because you have more foundational knowledge. Khan academy is also helpful for this section along with C/P and the Psych/Socio section because they provide great videos and really go in depth. I would also purchase Kaplan books because the videos really align well and do a great job explaining detailed anatomy which helped me because I did not take anatomy before.
Psych/Socio: This section is also once again 59 questions, 95 mins, same as the other science, passage/discrete based questions. To be honest if you prepare well for this section at the end of the exam when you are feeling tired it becomes a blessing to end with this section. To really do well in this section, personally for me, it was knowing concept/theories because passages and questions really focus on the theories represented in both psych and sociology. If you don't know the details you can have a hard time and although it may not seem as difficult as the traditional above sciences it will hinder your score if you take this section lightly in studying. That being said I would advise once again Khan academy and Kaplan they do the best job in being able to review things in detail.
Check out AAMC.org as well they offer detailed explanations of the exam and give a further breakdown!
Yasemin recommends the following next steps:
Richard A.
physician
2150
Answers
Updated
Richard’s Answer
Subjects include:
Organic and inorganic chemistry.
Physics.
Biology.
Biochemistry.
Basis research methods and statistics.
Psychology.
Sociology.
Ethics, philosophy, cultural studies as well as population health, social sciences and humanities.
Organic and inorganic chemistry.
Physics.
Biology.
Biochemistry.
Basis research methods and statistics.
Psychology.
Sociology.
Ethics, philosophy, cultural studies as well as population health, social sciences and humanities.
Madison Buchman
doctor
112
Answers
West Hartford
Updated
Madison’s Answer
In general this is partly a science based test and partly an aptitude test. Look through the MCAT website, they offer lots of insight into the exam topics and overall format. Remember that the material on the exam/format of the exam may change each year and so you want to know ahead what version you are taking. The MCAT website will also offer resources for study material, practice exams and sometimes even online or in person review courses (one example is kaplan) but there are many of these out there. In general the exam is focused on physics, biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, sociology.
Douglas Ray, CMR, AMR
Sales, consulting, and marketing
52
Answers
Marietta, Georgia
Updated
Douglas’s Answer
The MCAT is a test that takes about 7 hours to complete, which means it is more comprehensive than most others. For this reason, suggest you ask the question online to get a better feel for what it entails. If you decide to take the MCAT, there are a few online prep courses available to assist you in your studies. Good luck.
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