CLIMBING the Curve of the MCAT

This page is NOT for the know it all pre-meds. You know who I am talking about... This page is for the students who are fighting for their chance at a place in the medical field.  This page is for people who need a little help, want to work hard, and sometimes need a boost of encouragement on the way to their dream.  Good luck, and remember, YOU ARE ENOUGH. 

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Life is short- Be grateful

Never take for granted that life is short and we only have a specific amount of unspecified days ahead of us.  Be bold, go after what you really want in life.  Do not let anything hold you back.  Be kind to people, because you never know what they might be going through on any particular day.  Never take for granted your opportunities, and be thankful in all situations.  

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Trig Table!

Hi there. If you saw my last post it goes into more detail about this concept of trig on the MCAT.  If you want a quick reference to memorize after watching that video this is going to be your go to pic! :) 

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Trig without a Calculator

This is something that has stressed me out.  When I took the MCAT the first time I know this was one of my major downfalls.  I kind of swept this issue to the side and focused on other topics to gain points. Thanks to a video linked below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx_QZN-nxaE . I am able now to confidently navigate trig without a calculator.  

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Don’t forget to memorize the types of systems and examples of them.  

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The 4 LAWS of Thermodynamics as compared to Newtons 3 LAWs of Kinetics

Don’t forget that these are not the same! Also do not forget that there is a ZEROTH law in thermodynamics.  

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Common Units for Physics

If you don’t remember anything for physics on the MCAT, remember these! 

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Vector Addition/Multiplication

Vectors are pretty cool.  There are a few things you want to remember.  

1. The addition of vectors is a commutative function meaning that it doesn’t matter which order you perform the function.  

2. The subtraction of vectors is not a commutative function.  You must pay attention to the direction.  Ultimately you will have the same magnitude despite rearranging, but you will not have the same direction, so be CAREFUL! 

3. Multiplication of vectors is wonky.  There are 2 types of multiplication with vectors scenarios.  

4. A vector multiplied by a scalar is just whatever the function is, and you must take the sign of the scalar into account for direction for the final product.  

5. The MCAT is set up for us to know the direction of vectors using the right hand rule.  Luckily there are only 6 directions the Mcat can test on so don’t be intimidated. 

                          1. Into the page 

                          2. Out of the page 

                          3. Up ( + Y )

                          4. Down ( - Y)

                          5. Left ( - X )

                          6. Right ( + X ) 

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Chemical Kinetics- Rate Law

Rate law describes how fast a reaction will take place.  You can distinguish rate law from equilibrium because it only takes into account the reactants in the equation.  You must also note that the superscript x and y in rate law are not synonymous with the stoichiometric coefficients in the written reaction unless it meets a few conditions.  These conditions are: that reaction is perfectly balanced, is only one step, or includes all of the information such as the rate limiting step.   The MCAT typically only focuses on zero, first, second and third order reactions.  The order of the reaction is determined by the sum of the x and y superscript values. 

Remember that the values k, x and y in the equation are only determined experimentally. 

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Simplifying Periodic Table Trends

Remember when you are on Test Day to write this little table on your first sheet of paper on the Chem/Phys Section.  You can use it as a quick reference for any periodic trend questions that may come up.  

Ultimately there are 8 trends you need to remember

TOP TO BOTTOM: 

-Atomic radius goes up

-Ionization energy goes down

-Electron Affinity goes down 

Electronegativity goes down 

LEFT TO RIGHT: 

-Atomic radius goes down 

-Ionization energy goes up 

-Electron Affinity goes up 

-Electronegativity goes up  

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Quantum Numbers- General Chemistry/Physics

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WHAT is your favorite thing about Science?

Tell me a little bit about your favorite topic in science.  

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What the heck even is pH? Well I will tell you.  pH is simply just a measure of the concentration of H+ ions floating around in a water solution.  pH is incredibly important, but how does it relate to pKa? 

When you are testing a molecule you might want to know the pKa to determine how that molecule will behave in specific solutions that have low or high H+ ion concentrations.  

The formula to relate this is the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.

PS: I think  It sounds a lot like an ex- quarterback. 

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Knowing the relative pH of the amino acid side chain can be a life saver in an MCAT question.  

First you will want to remember that all the alpha carboxylic acids have a relative pH of 2 while the alpha amine groups hover around 9-10.  

Then you will want to know that there are 7 key Amino Acids with significant side chain pH’s.

*Note these are approximations of the actual value.  

1. Tyrosine = 10

2. Cysteine = 8

3. Glutamic Acid = 4

4. Aspartic Acid = 4

5. Arginine = 12

6. Lysine = 11

7. Histidine = 6 

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Here is a breakdown of the Amino Acids Abbreviations.  Notice the 3 letter and above the structure and the 1 letter beside each structure.  

Glycine- G- GLY 

Alanine- A- ALA 

Valine- V - VAL

Leucine- L- LEU 

Isoleucine- I- ILE 

Methionine- M- MET

Proline- P- PRO 

Tryptophan- W- TRP 

Phenylalanine- F- PHE 

Tyrosine- Y- TYR 

Glutamine- Q- GLN 

Asparagine- N- ASN 

Cysteine- C- CYS 

Serine- S- SER

Threonine- T- THR

Glutamic Acid- E- GLU 

Aspartic Acid- D- ASP 

Arginine- R- ARG

Lysine- K- LYS

Histidine- H- HIS 

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Here is a little Amino Acid Poem.  The poem is sequenced in the order of the side chain’s grouping. The first letter of each word represents one of the 20 amino acids.  My friend and I wrote this poem back in 2016.  

Galloping Across Vast Lands I Make Progress

Tirelessly Pushing Through

Gasping And Crying So Terribly 

Gone Away 

And Losing Hope

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A breakdown of the amino acids in 5 categories based upon their side chains.  

1. Non-Polar, Non- Aromatic

2. Aromatic 

3. Polar 

4. Acidic 

5. Positive