LIST: MCAT mnemonics and memory aids!

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Mnemonics are essential to survival in med school, and I think they would be useful on the MCAT as well.

Let's make a list of good MCAT mnemonics to help remember details!

Some of these may be too detailed but some may actually help us remember something thats always confused us. If it works we should get a good list of mnemonics to be able to print out so we can study the ones we like for the MCAT. Just click "thread tools" at the top of the thread and then "show printable version" :thumbup:

Some I know off the top of my head:

CUT Pye: Cytosine, uracil, and thymine are PYramidines.
Pure As Gold: Guanine and Adenine are Purines.

Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas:
Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, Monocytes, Eosinophils, Basophils

Maggie May Does Not Smoke: Hardy weinberg requires no:
Mutation
Migration
(genetic) Drift
Nonrandom mating
Selection

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maiko82 said:
PS meaning "physical sciences"?

This one from my old chem teacher is kind of silly, but I've never forgotten it.

MM of a gas is what a dog does outdoors. "Dirt over pee," or
MM=dRT/P (d=density, R=ideal gas constant, T=temp, P=pressure)

Yeah, awful. I'll post some better ones when I can think of them.
Click to expand...

Haha my high school AP chem teacher taught me a variation on that one. She said, in the afternoon, or during PM, there's always a lot of dirt! So thus, PM = dRT

:laugh:

heifetz. holy schmoly cow. thanks sooo much. *saves and prints*
 
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Non-polar
GAVLIMP TP
"a guy named Gavin is limping out of the bathroom cause he has toilet paper on his shoe"
-glycine, alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, methionine, proline, tryptophan, phenylalanine

Polar
"SomeTimes Cats Try A Growl"
-serine, tryrosine, cysteine, threonine, asparagine, glutamine

 Charged
"A Good Lawyer Aims High"
-Aspartate, Glutamate, Lysine, Arginine, Histidine


i just looked at the first letter of each of them after i grouped them into their respective groups. then came up with the mnemonic.
yes, i know its a bit involved! but because of that, it will help me remember that much easier. for instance, i actually knew a guy back in middle school whose name was Gavin. Only Gavin i have ever known in my life...and i feel sorry for him cause every time i think of the nonpolar amino acids, i think of him walking out of the middle school bathroom with toilet paper on his shoe!
im sure the second mnemonic could use some work...but i just cant seem to forget it for whatever reason.
and i am actually proud of the charged amino acids mnemonic. i should trademark it.

ps: thanks for bumping this thread! im reading everyone else's mnemonics and they are great!
 
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Not sure if this has been posted but my HS bio teacher tought me it and i've never forgotten since then

guaNINE and adeNINE are PURines

both have the word nine in them
Cats are known to have 9 lives
Cats are known to pur
Thus, whichever have the word "nine" = PURines
 
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MunnaMBBS said:
Or you can say it this way:

Kinky People Come Over For Good Sex.

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species


MY microbio prof. tols us that.
Click to expand...


Kings Play Chess On Fat Girls Stomachs

my ta told us this in lab, im assuming it is true
 
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MedKiddo said:
Kings Play Chess On Fat Girls Stomachs

my ta told us this in lab, im assuming it is true
Click to expand...

ive always heard:
"Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk"

i gotta admit though, that after a while, youre better off at just saying what they really stand for! i found myself repeating that damn mnemonic WAAY too many times in my zoology class.
 
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Here is one I found helpfull for Leukocytes including %'s!

Never (Neutrophils)
Let (Lymphocytes)
My (Monocytes)
Engine (Eosinophils)
Blow (Basophils)

60% , 30%, 8%, 3%, 0% These are aproximations there are ranges!

Now say the whole thing!
Never, Let, My, Engine, Blow, 60, 30 ,8, 3,0

Hope it helps!
 
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This is dumb but it certainly works! Thought of it myself.

"I Contracted a Cyst" - systole happens during contraction. Hope that helps someone get a point!
 
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i think that's too detailed for the mcat, to be honest. i mean, i guess most ppl just are familiar with it anyway? i didn't thoroughly cover that stuff till physiology...definitely not in intro bio
 
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drwannab said:
i think that's too detailed for the mcat, to be honest. i mean, i guess most ppl just are familiar with it anyway? i didn't thoroughly cover that stuff till physiology...definitely not in intro bio
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking too... but I came across a couple EK 1001 bio questions that rely on your knowing the definition.
 
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Yeah, you DEFINITELY want to know systole and diastole. It seems to come up frequently.
 
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dude! thank you! i always had such a huge problem remembering which was which. Although I never came across it when studying for the MCAT or taking it!!! I think i can now remember :)
 
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drwannab said:
i think that's too detailed for the mcat, to be honest. i mean, i guess most ppl just are familiar with it anyway? i didn't thoroughly cover that stuff till physiology...definitely not in intro bio
Click to expand...

It's definitely not to detailed for the MCAT. Knowing the basic events of the cardiac cycle is definitely required

wizenedone said:
Please post any new useful mnemonics in this thread:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=42149

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yup. Merging with the mnemonic thread. This thread needed a good bump anyway. :)
 
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I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this mnemonic for memorizing the purines and pyrimidines, but my AP Bio professor told me and I've used it ever since.

You CUT and place each brick on the pyramid ONE at a time.
(therefore: Pyrimidines = Cytosine, uracil, thymine, 1 rings)

PURe clothes from GAP are TWICE as expensive.
(therefore: Purines = Guanine and Adenine, contain 2 rings)
 
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Anyone have anything for enantiomer, diasteriomer, and conformer? More orgo shortcuts would be appreciated.
 
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Pathway of the Kidney

Good British People Lose Dry Crumpets

Golmerulus, Bowman's Capsule, Proximal Tube, Loop of Henle, Distal Tubule, and Collecting Duct.
 
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Or:

Cindy
Is
Kinky
So
She
Fornicates
More
Often.



AStudent said:
Those are the intermediates in the krebs, in order. It reads as one long sentence.


Citrate
Isocitrate
Alpha keto gluterate
Succinyl CoA
Succinate
Fumerate
Malate
Oxaloacetate


krebs.png
Click to expand...
 
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SoFlaKnight said:
Ester vs. Ether used to confuse me, also...

For Ester would say: Ester loves the COC(k) and then I draw the C-O-C w/ the double bonded oxygen on top of the carbon...the 2 Carbon (balls) and the Oxygen attached by a 'long' double bond looks like a...well you get the rest :D

...don't judge me :laugh:
Click to expand...

All these mneomonics are so dirty. I love it!
 
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I base my life around mnemonics. I specifically scheduled my MCAT writing for August as a mnemonic aid to the start codon for translation. I was still having trouble remembering the amino acid though, so I also got myself addicted to methamphetamines. I heard there is a bunch of other stuff on the test too though, and am not quite sure what to do about that. Do you think you are allowed to dissect yourself in the test center? Some visual aids for anatomy recall would really help...
 
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I ran into this one when taking bio last fall. I doubt it will ever help anyone on the MCAT, but I really love it anyway. It's a mnemonic to remember all the intermediates of the Krebs cycle:

"Can I Keep Selling Sex For Money, Officer?"

(=Citrate, Isocitrate, alpha-Ketoglutarate, Succinyl coA, Succinate, Fumarate, Malate, Oxaloacetate). I think it's strangely appropriate that the only step where ATP is made directly is the "sex" step (succinyl coA -->succinate).

There's a "clean" version of this mnemonic but it's really boring, IMO.
 
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I kinda stole some of it from someone (sorry :p) but I changed it a bit to include the nonpolar, polar, acidic and basic amino acids.

Non-polar

GAVin LIkes Peeing Patting and Tapping
Glycine
Alanine
Valine
Leucine
Isoleucine
Proline
Phenylanaline
Tryptophan

Polar
Sometimes Tom Comes To Make A Glitch
Serine
Threonine
Cysteine
Tyrosine
Methionine
Asparagine
Glutamine

Acidic
Like the PURINES in DNA A and G
Aspartic Acid
Glutamic Acid

Basic
Love Also Heals
Lysine
Arginine
Histidine
 
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heifetz said:
Have at it!




"SEVEN UP"

Seminiferous tubules
Epididymis
Vas deferens
Ejaculatory duct
(Nothing)
Urethra
Penis
Menstrual Cycle


"RIVUXGa"
Click to expand...



is that so! didn't realize there were people out there with penises and menstrual cycles :)
 
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B.E.N. Grabbed Luke's Tiny Balls Like M&M's

Basophil, Eosinophil, Neutrophil (Granular Leukocytes) T and B (Lymphocytes), Monocyte/Macrophage.
 
Last edited:
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uffda said:
SAME DAVE - for spinal cord nerve origins ( I hope I remember the meanings correctly)

sensory - afferent
motor - efferent
dorsal - afferent
ventral - efferent

mneumonic curtesy of EK materials
Click to expand...


this one is awesome!
 
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"He Is Likely Killing Me For The Wrong Values"

Histidine (H)
Isoleucine (I)
Leucine (L)
Lysine (K)
Methionine (M)
Phenylalanine (F)
Threonine (T)
Tryptophan (W)
Valine (V)

Sissy Tranny
CisZy TranE

cis Z
trans E
 
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Mnemonic: "Never Let Monkeys Eat Bananas" (In order of % composition)

Neutrophils > Lympocytes > Monocytes > Eosinophils > Basophils

Granulocytes: BEN
Agranulocytes: L-MO (ELMO)
 
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I don't know if this counts as a mnemonic, or if it has been mentioned.. but for the values of sin, cos, tan of 30, 60, 45 degrees, I just remember two triangles.. For the 30/60 triangle, I just remember the short side as 1, and long side (hypotenuse) as 2, then the 3rd side would be sqar(3) if you do a quick pythagorean. As for the 45 degree triangle, just see the two sides as 1 and 1, so the hypotenuse would be sqar(2).
being familiar with these values helps me get the sin, cos and tan of these three angles very quickly.
Also, remember sqar(2) is 1.4, and sqar(3) is 1.73.
 
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I have way too many dirty Mnemonics but I will share this one.

Officer
Can
I
Keep
Selling
Sex
For
Money

--------------

Oxaloacetate
Citrate
Isocitrate
Alpha Keto gluterate
Succinyl CoA
Succinate
Fumerate
Malate

Nanon said:
Or:

Cindy
Is
Kinky
So
She
Fornicates
More
Often.
Click to expand...

Edit: I just noticed someone already posted this :(
 
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BloodySurgeon said:
I have way too many dirty Mnemonics but I will share this one.

Officer
Can
I
Keep
Selling
Sex
For
Money

--------------

Oxaloacetate
Citrate
Isocitrate
Alpha Keto gluterate
Succinyl CoA
Succinate
Fumerate
Malate



Edit: I just noticed someone already posted this :(
Click to expand...

do you even need to memorize these for MCAT?
 
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I use the mnemonic "BEARS" to remember the periodic trends. On the periodic table, write a B (top left) E (top right) A (bottom right) R and S (bottom left)

B E

R A
S

B=increasing Basicity
E=increasing Electronegativity, ionization Energy, Electron affinity
A=increasing Acidity
R=increasing atomic Radius
S=increased Shielding effect

:)
 
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hahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
 
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I'm surprised SOH CAH TOA has not been used, although it's not useful on the MCAT.

I have one to add for heart circulation. If you can't remember which one is the tricuspid or bicuspid valve between the atrium and ventricle, remember that you "TRI before you BI." When buying a new car, you will "tri" it out before you "bi" it.
 
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Because when they have the position, they don't have the momentum.

And when they have the momentum, they don't have the position!

Good old Heisenberg's uncertainty principle... Never have forgotten this one.
 
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LeChatlier's principle -
When the heat is on the French will forfeit ANYTHING - even sacrificing their own god-forsaken equilibrium constant- to reestablish equilibrium.. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DONT CHANGE THE EQUILIBRIUM CONSTANT!!!!! WHICH ONE OF US IS NEXT?
:scared::scared::scared::scared:

Wtf?
 
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