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Pre-Med Prerequisites for Taking the New MCAT

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Pre-med students incorporate the new MCAT prerequisites and content areas into theier schedules.

Content areas to study in your pre-med curriculum for the new MCAT

New pre-med requirements for passing the MCAT

The upcoming changes to the new MCAT also mean a change to the typical pre-med prerequisite courses we are accustomed to advising students to take.

For many years, the “traditional” pre-med prerequisites have been a year of general chemistry, a year of general biology, a year of physics, and a year of that old fan favorite, organic chemistry.

But with the new MCAT exam, which will first be administered on April 17, 2015, additional content knowledge in upper-division biochemistry, introductory psychology, and introductory sociology will also need to go on your list of requirements.

 

Same ol’ pre-med requirements for med schools

At this point, however, most med schools are not changing their pre-med coursework requirements. In other words, you won’t necessarily need to take these classes to apply to medical school, but you will need the content knowledge in these areas to prep for the new MCAT.

For that reason, it is advisable to incorporate these courses into your pre-med schedule, as they will help immensely in providing you with in-depth study of the subject matter.

 

Specific prerequisites for MCAT 2015

It’s important to note is that not all upper-division biochemistry, intro psychology, or intro sociology classes will qualify as MCAT prerequisites or cover content tested on the new MCAT. Rather, the AAMC has defined very specific content areas and has grouped them into 31 categories, under 10 foundational concepts, for the new exam.

So your first step as a pre-med who will be taking the new MCAT is to consult with your pre-med advisor and see which classes at your school cover the new pre-med prerequisite material. You can also do this exercise yourself by consulting the AAMCs guide to the new MCAT.

 

Can’t take more prerequisites?

If you don’t have the time to take three additional semesters of coursework, like most pre-meds, or if you’ve been out of school and are now planning on going back to medical school, Kaplan has a solution that will fulfill your content needs.

We call it MCAT Foundations. Our MCAT Foundations program is a 15-session intensive live online course designed to give you the extra three semesters of content you need to be adequately prepared for the new MCAT. You will receive comprehensive instruction on the precise material that will be tested on the new exam—no more, no less!

Regardless of how you acquire the new content knowledge on the exam, keep in mind as you are learning this material (as well as the traditional requirements) that success on the MCAT is not about how much you know. High scores come from applying what you know, developing strong critical thinking skills, mastering the pace of the exam, and building your test day endurance!

If you had to take the MCAT right now, how would you score? Find out with a free Kaplan MCAT practice test. You will not only get an idea of how you’d score on the real exam, but you also get a full breakdown of your strongest and weakest content areas.


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