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

:clap:
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I have remembered this one since 9th grade, and it has come in handy, particularly in discretes.

Purines vs. Pyrimidines:

CUT the PY.

Cytosine, uridine, and thymine.
 
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The 12 cranial nerves:
motor sensory or both:

Some say marry money but my brother says big boobs matter most

Names:

oh oh oh to touch and feel very good velvet ahh heaven

I Olfactory nerve (s)
II Optic nerve (s)
III Oculomotor nerve (m)
IV Trochlear nerve (m)
V Trigeminal nerve (b)
VI Abducens nerve (m)
VII Facial nerve (b)
VIII Vestibulocochlear nerve (s)
IX Glossopharyngeal nerve (b)
X Vagus nerve (b)
XI Accessory nerve (m)
XII Hypoglossal nerve(m)
 
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si3ntli8t said:
The 12 cranial nerves:
motor sensory or both:

Some say marry money but my brother says big boobs matter most

Names:

to touch and feel very good velvet ahh heaven

I Olfactory nerve (s)
II Optic nerve (s)
III Oculomotor nerve (m)
IV Trochlear nerve (m)
V Trigeminal nerve (b)
VI Abducens nerve (m)
VII Facial nerve (b)
VIII Vestibulocochlear nerve (s)
IX Glossopharyngeal nerve (b)
X Vagus nerve (b)
XI Accessory nerve (m)
XII Hypoglossal nerve(m)
Click to expand...

...good to know if you're studying anatomy. but this won't be tested in any way on the mcat. you have to know what the vagus and optic nerve do though.
 
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I don't know if this is already on here somewhere, but here's how I remember a-glucose and b-glucose.

In organic, Z isomer is on the same side, E is on the opposite.

b-glucose C-1 hydroxyl is on the same side (B-Z), a-glucose C-1 hydroxyl is on the opposite side (A-E)
 
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Hello everyone,

Im new to this website so please forgive if I'm not using the correct protocol. Does anyone know of any mnemonic that shows the priorities of nomenclature in organic chemistry? If not it would be nice if anyone could post one or come up with one. They are from highest to lowest: carboxylic acids, ester, acyl halide, amide, nitrile, aldehyde, ketone, alcohol, thiol, amine, imine, ether, sulfide, halide, nitro, azide, and diazo. This would be really helpful for naming compounds on the MCAT. I really appreciate it
 
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fgcubioman91 said:
Hello everyone,

Im new to this website so please forgive if I'm not using the correct protocol. Does anyone know of any mnemonic that shows the priorities of nomenclature in organic chemistry? If not it would be nice if anyone could post one or come up with one. They are from highest to lowest: carboxylic acids, ester, acyl halide, amide, nitrile, aldehyde, ketone, alcohol, thiol, amine, imine, ether, sulfide, halide, nitro, azide, and diazo. This would be really helpful for naming compounds on the MCAT. I really appreciate it
Click to expand...

Probably won't have to know this for the mcat.
 
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rCubed said:
for the hormones secreted by the anterior pituitary gland

FLAT PIG

F- FSH
L- LH
A- ACTH
T- TSH

P- Prolactin
I - (ignore)
G- GH
Click to expand...

I also memorized this with a strange one: "A Turtle Flung Low Grabs Penises"

the weirder the better when remembering these.
 
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I made one up for remembering all the organs that arise from the endodermal layer.

Wikipedia Republicans generally favor lower taxes and dislike unions. So.....
(Stupid Or Smart...) 'Publicans Lower Taxes and Love Broken Unions

S-Stomach
P-Pancreas
L- liver
T-thyroid
L-lungs
B-bladder
U-urethra
 
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SaintJude said:
I made one up for remembering all the organs that arise from the endodermal layer.

Wikipedia Republicans generally favor lower taxes and dislike unions. So.....
(Stupid Or Smart...) 'Publicans Lower Taxes and Love Broken Unions

S-Stomach
P-Pancreas
L- liver
T-thyroid
L-lungs
B-bladder
U-urethra
Click to expand...

Don't forget trachea and thymus.
 
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Atoms that are diatomic in nature.

H N F O I Cl Br

"Have No Fear Of Ice Cold Beer"
 
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Redox is Red+ox.
That's how it works when you're doing the potential calculation.

meghaneuron said:
I have remembered this one since 9th grade, and it has come in handy, particularly in discretes.

Purines vs. Pyrimidines:

CUT the PY.

Cytosine, uridine, and thymine.
Click to expand...

Angels and Gods are Pure.
 
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For the EM Spectrum, my mneumonic is:

Ronald Mcdonald Is Visiting Ur X Girlfriend (with increasing frequency)

so, by increasing frequency: Radio, Micro, IR, Visible, UV, X, Gamma
 
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OsteoBlasts Build bone

Oh My Such Great Apple Pie!
For Dicarboxylic Acids
Oxalic Acid
Malonic Acid
Succinic Acid
Glutaric Acid
Adipic Acid
Pimelic Acid
 
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akwizeguy said:
Physics- Equation for Frequency in simple harmonic motion:
FucKs/Min-----****s per min-----freq= cycles per sec

F=(1/2ii)*(sq.rt.K/M)

easier to remember if k or m is in the numerator.
Click to expand...

even better: f=over to fu*ck me (1/2pi sqrt (f/m)

period (aka T) =menstruating

haha.
 
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Type of cell that forms the myelin sheath in respective part of the nervous system

COPS:
CNS- Oligodendrocytes
PNS- Schwann

OR

SPOC(k) (Star Trek):
Schwann- PNS
Oligodendrocytes- CNS

+ Star Trek logo upside-down: V, because only Vertebrates have myelinated axons.
 
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I think this thread deserves a bump. I know they aren't mnemonics but they are easy ways to remember concepts.

I have two things to add.
In physics , when something has a lot of potential it is because it is far from where it wants to be, so when someone is far from where they want to be instead of saying they have a long way to go or that they aren't being proactive towards their goal, just tell them they have a lot of potential.

In biology,I use to get parasympathetic and sympathetic confused.. then I remember parasympathetic is relaxing because para and Paris start with par and when you are in Paris you are relaxing OR para and pear sound the same and when you are eating a pear you are relaxing and your digestion system is working.
 
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^lol at the parasympathetic reasoning above.

Here's a cool one. Kings Play Chess On FU*KING GOLD SEATS!
= Kingdom/Phylum/Class/Order/Family/Genus/Species

Just don't say that out loud during your actual test lol.
 
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I usually try to make my own ridiculous mnemonics because its just easier to remember if they're self made and immensely nonsensical (it's so stupid I tend to remember it better). Like for polar/hydrophilic amino acids I wrote

Tyrone got a Cyst on his Gluts while eating Three Asparagi with Serena.

Tyrosine Cysteine Glutamate Threonine Asparagine Serine
 
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Myopia is nearsighted vision.
So a person with myopia would say

Come near me, so I can see you.

And hyperopia is far sighted vision, since hyper means above or beyond you know they can only see above and behind normal distance.
 
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I made one up, everybody get in on this action :D


Eukaryotic Transcription in the nucleus:

"RooMaTes in the nucleus"

The 3 types of Eukaryotic RNA polymerase make:
RNA pol I- rRNA
RNA pol II- mRNA
RNA pol III- tRNA
 
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maybemed2013 said:
In biology,I use to get parasympathetic and sympathetic confused.. then I remember parasympathetic is relaxing because para and Paris start with par and when you are in Paris you are relaxing OR para and pear sound the same and when you are eating a pear you are relaxing and your digestion system is working.
Click to expand...

Sympathetic: sym- (with) pathos (suffering). With suffering comes a fight or flight response.
Parasympathetic is then the opposite, because of the addition of para-.
 
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Actin = Act Thin (thin filaments)
Myosin = Mayonnaise, because fat people love eating mayonnaise (thick filaments)
 
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I haven't seen this one but it must be here somewhere

Boil Pus is Vile


Boyle's Law gives the relationship of Pressure and Volume
 
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Something I learned in Paramedic School

TPMA- "Toilet Paper My Ass"

RA/Tricuspid/RV

Pulmonary

LA/Mitral/LV

Aorta

:thumbup:
 
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Early Embryonic Stages:

Zack Contested My Brother Getting Good News

Zygote

Cleavage

Morula

Blastula

Gastrula

Germ Cell Layers (Endoderm, Mesoderm, Ectoderm)

Neurula
 
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Pathway of Air in Respiratory Tract

New People Let Their Boys Be Auspicious

Nasal Cavity

Pharynx

Larynx

Trachea

Bronchi

Bronchioles

Alveoli
 
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