<p>I know that in 2015 the MCAT will have a behavioral sciences section. I took AP Psych back as a sophomore and I received a 4. Quite honestly, I have forgotten almost everything. Should I take PSYCH 101 next year, or should I just take an upper level PSYCH class (such as Biological Basis of Behavior PSYCH 301) as a sophomore or Junior?</p>
<p>Unless you want to make sure you get in as many big-lecture classes as you can get, probably not remotely worth taking it again. Upper level class would be much better, and if you’re worried when you’re preparing for MCAT, read through a psych 101 textbook for fun reading.</p>
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<li>short answer, no * :)</li>
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<p>I agree with astrophysicsmom…plus the pysc class you mentioned sounds a lot more relevant. It is more important to understand how serotonin levels are related to depression (ie biological basis of behavior) since physicians have to determine the appropriate medications when patients present with symptoms. Are the symptoms incidental due to environmental issues (anxiety associated with a death, for example) or more chronic (and therefore potentially biological in origin)? Also, it sounds like the class at least touches on addiction and as a physician, it is important to know the red flags. There is no one face of an addict (pain meds, and certain anti-anxiety/sedatives in particular) and I’ve seen it all (I work in a physician’s office) - the nicest people are some of the slickest, and there is no age limitation - I won’t give details of how I caught people, for obvious reasons, but suffice it to say, it is a problem.</p>
<p>So, again the description of psyc301 sounds like it would be more helpful for MCATs…and I would take it no later than the semester before you plan to take MCATs…you might want to take it two semesters beforehand because the semester before you may not get as much out of the class because you will be more anxious when prepping for the MCATs.</p>