3 answers
pea
Student
Brooklyn, Michigan
1
Question
Asked
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How do I prepare for MCAT as a business student?
I graduated from university with a business degree and now want to become a doctor. I'm not sure where to start as I've not taken 'science' courses in college only in high school, would 1 year be enough to prepare for MCAT realistically? #healthcare #premed #medical #medical-school #medicine #doctor #MCAT
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3 answers
Andres Diaz
Student
1
Answer
Carteret, New Jersey
Updated
Andres’s Answer
So two things to consider.
(1) What courses you would need to apply for the medical school you are applying to, which can be found on individual school websites. But an example is:
English 2 semesters (or equivalent or successful completion of the English requirement(s) at your undergraduate institution)
General Biology with lab, 2 semesters (or equivalent)
Physics 2 semesters with lab (or equivalent)
General Chemistry with lab, 2 semesters (or equivalent)
Organic Chemistry with lab, 1 semester only (or equivalent)
Biochemistry 1 semester with or without lab (or equivalent)
This link has the required courses for Harvard Medical School: https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/admissions-prerequisite-courses
(2) What courses you would need to prepare for the MCAT may be more or less than what you learn in these. For example, even in the pre-med track at my university, I didn't learn as much physiology as I should have, such as hormones, but I got lucky because I studied a lot of psychology to prepare for the psychology and sociology sections of the MCAT. Taking a summer course with both in-person and online live lessons to prepare for the MCAT with Kaplan was worth every penny to make me a desirable candidate applying out of state. They give you all the required textbooks to read through, or you can find all them on a free trial of Scribd (don't forget to cancel it right away). https://www.scribd.com/search?content_type=tops&page=1&query=MCAT%20kaplan&language=1
These are the topics you will need to study: https://www.princetonreview.com/medical/mcat-sections
Let me know if you have any questions about this.
When you are accepted into medical school, get the First Aid textbook, Sketchy, and Pathoma to start studying for Step 1 right away. You can also start listening to Goljan audio lectures online but it may be too advanced and too soon right now. Students will have additional resources to share with you, and there are many quizlets. You can join the Student Doctor Network for more advice and resources.
Look through Reddit for opinions on what specialty to choose on r/Residency
(1) What courses you would need to apply for the medical school you are applying to, which can be found on individual school websites. But an example is:
English 2 semesters (or equivalent or successful completion of the English requirement(s) at your undergraduate institution)
General Biology with lab, 2 semesters (or equivalent)
Physics 2 semesters with lab (or equivalent)
General Chemistry with lab, 2 semesters (or equivalent)
Organic Chemistry with lab, 1 semester only (or equivalent)
Biochemistry 1 semester with or without lab (or equivalent)
This link has the required courses for Harvard Medical School: https://meded.hms.harvard.edu/admissions-prerequisite-courses
(2) What courses you would need to prepare for the MCAT may be more or less than what you learn in these. For example, even in the pre-med track at my university, I didn't learn as much physiology as I should have, such as hormones, but I got lucky because I studied a lot of psychology to prepare for the psychology and sociology sections of the MCAT. Taking a summer course with both in-person and online live lessons to prepare for the MCAT with Kaplan was worth every penny to make me a desirable candidate applying out of state. They give you all the required textbooks to read through, or you can find all them on a free trial of Scribd (don't forget to cancel it right away). https://www.scribd.com/search?content_type=tops&page=1&query=MCAT%20kaplan&language=1
These are the topics you will need to study: https://www.princetonreview.com/medical/mcat-sections
Let me know if you have any questions about this.
Andres recommends the following next steps:
Thank you so much! This is really helpful
pea
Yasemin G.
Aspiring physician
635
Answers
Updated
Yasemin’s Answer
Hi Pea! Andres gave an excellent answer! In addition you will need to think about your path as most likely you will be a career-change/non-traditional student therefore if you did not take the classes required you can spend some time taking in a community college or enrolling back into university (the latter may be longer and the former please check with a premed adviser or online if medical schools will take community college courses). You can prepare for medical school through these classes and also then spend time studying for the MCAT while also taking part in extracurricular activities. There are also career-change programs where you take premed courses and prepare for the MCAT, it is about 1-2 yrs and can save much time on applying to medical school by going a direct route. You obtain strong LORs as well as the opportunity to complete extracurriculars and shadow physicians. Some of these programs even have a conditional acceptance to their medical school. One career change program is John Hopkins. I will post the link below, but be sure to check out others- as a note they can be costly but some can offer financial aid!
I wish you the best!
https://krieger.jhu.edu/postbac/the-program/
I wish you the best!
Yasemin recommends the following next steps:
Madison Buchman
doctor
160
Answers
West Hartford
Updated
Madison’s Answer
First, so great and cool to have a major other than science. Remember when applying to medical school MOST schools have a specific set of MANDATORY pre-rec/pre-med science/related courses you HAVE to have taken to apply. Make sure you plan ahead for taking these in addition to the courses you need to satisfy your business major.
Other than taking the required pre-medical courses, make sure you take any extra classes that may help with the physcology/sociology section OR you could do a certified MCAT prep course either in person or online!
Prepare for what timeline you want to take the mcat in order to have your score back before the time you want to apply to medical school, it takes usually weeks (mcat website usually gives an estimate time frame) to get the scores back and you can't usually apply to schools until you have that number. You also want to allow enough time to potentially take the MCAT more than once if needed. Know that that is SO common and ok!!
ALso, when interviewing/applying to medical school, be prepared to talk about why you specific major makes you unique and how that will help you during/after medical school!
Hope this helps,
Madison
Other than taking the required pre-medical courses, make sure you take any extra classes that may help with the physcology/sociology section OR you could do a certified MCAT prep course either in person or online!
Prepare for what timeline you want to take the mcat in order to have your score back before the time you want to apply to medical school, it takes usually weeks (mcat website usually gives an estimate time frame) to get the scores back and you can't usually apply to schools until you have that number. You also want to allow enough time to potentially take the MCAT more than once if needed. Know that that is SO common and ok!!
ALso, when interviewing/applying to medical school, be prepared to talk about why you specific major makes you unique and how that will help you during/after medical school!
Hope this helps,
Madison