MCAT Chemistry and Physics Section
Topics, Strategy, and Study Tips

Many students find themselves grasping content on the chem/phys section, but do not do as well on passage-based questions. This step-by-step algorithm is one we recommend to quickly assess and break down these passages to understand what you are expected to do. It’s exactly the strategy our 100th percentile scorers use to solve problems reliably.

1. Skim the figures first: We always recommend students skim any figures the passage has associated with it before reading a word of text. Usually, an experienced student can tell very quickly what specific topic the passage relates to based on the figure (e.g. if you see a lens diagram, you know you will likely need the lens equation). This primes the brain to think about whatever topics could be relevant to the passage in advance as well as what types of questions you are likely to see. This will make recalling the right strategy during the questions easier.
   
   
2. Do not move on without comprehending: This is relatively universal advice across MCAT sections; check in after each paragraph or block of text with yourself and make sure that you understand what the point of it was. There are several strategies for doing this. You could write down a short (half a sentence) summary of the main point of each paragraph, but one that is also helpful is to simply highlight the one sentence in each paragraph that was the most important; a sentence that, if every other sentence in the paragraph were removed, the most important point would still be preserved. The point of this is not to have notes, so much as it is to make sure that you understand as you read. One of the most common pitfalls we see is students getting confused by the new or useless information in passages and not understanding the main points. This strategy helps mitigate that.
   
   
3. Anticipate questions as you read: Certain questions have buzzwords associated with them. As you do more practice problems and exams, you should gain a sense of what phrases in an exam are linked to certain questions. Anticipating what you are likely to be asked is a great way to absorb only the most useful parts of these complicated passages. For instance, if a passage models a circuit in the final figure, you can basically be sure you are going to be asked to apply Ohm’s law to solve for either resistance or current. Understanding how the MCAT sets you up to ask questions is vital to this strategy, but once you can see these things, you are less likely to get overwhelmed as you read
   
   
4. Do not waste more time with figures than you have to: Although it is worth looking at first for a sense of what the passage topic is, on the MCAT, you are almost never going to need a figure to answer a question unless it explicitly tells you. Therefore, it is usually not interpreting a figure without the context of the question you are being asked. Oftentimes, the answer choices may even give you a clue as to how to interpret it anyway. Hence, we recommend not spending more than 10 seconds trying to read the figure on your first pass. Save the deeper analysis for when you are explicitly asked about them.
   
   
5. Learn when to move on: The chem/phys section is like an obstacle course rather than a marathon. Constantly switching mindsets, being asked to apply hard skills, and being tested more rigorously than virtually any other section of the test. Hence, if you are completely unsure of how to even begin solving a problem after looking at it for more than 15 seconds, flag it and move on, no matter what. Additionally, even if you started out with an idea, if it has been 90 seconds and you are still stuck on a problem, flag it and move on. The worst outcome that happens to students is they get over-committed to solving a question and then realize they spent 5 or 10 minutes on it. Each passage should be taking less than 9 minutes (ideally less than 7-8) to solve in total, so this is absolutely not a time sink you can afford. If you are really stuck, pick an answer before flagging it and then move on. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so it is always to your advantage to pick a guess in case you run out of time to come back to it.
   
   
6. Learn to eliminate based on impossible choices: This is an underrated skill, but sometimes you truly are stuck on a question. Start off by immediately eliminating choices that cannot be true. For instance, being asked about a spontaneous process? There is no chance that the right answer has positive Gibbs free energy. Eliminate answers with units that wouldn’t be compatible, no question about acceleration should have answers in m/s. Heuristics like that can make elimination in a time crunch much easier.

If you want a step-by-step approach to building a high-impact MCAT study plan, check out our guide here.