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 think it was:
For the liver: PUSHDoG
P = Protein synthesis
U = Urea production
S = Storage
H = Hormone synthesis
D = Detoxification
G = Glucose and fat metabolism

I'm not much help kidney wise except for knowing the layers:
Cortex = outer layer
Medulla =middle layer
Pelvis =inner layer

The letters C M P follows the alphabet.
Let's beat the MCAT to a pulp guys,

mkitty


futuremd11 said:
Hi MCAT Ass Kickers:

Can anyone post the mnemonic they have for the function of the liver...i forgot how it goes...

Also if anyone has any mnemonics on the kidney that would be great as well.

Thanks Fellow Future Doctors! :D
 
gujuDoc said:
One more to add:

This should be basic enough anyhow. However, just in case you forget, to remember which RNA pol encodes which kind of RNA, I have the following:

1, 2, and 3 respectively = Road Map and Trails (rRNA, mRNA, and tRNA)

Also, for order of patterns of electronegativity in decreasing order:

F O N Cl Br I S H

The mneumonic for that is Phone Call Brandy IS Coming Home. My MCAT teacher taught me that one. Also the reason for Phone as a word, is because FON looks like Phone.


Bumping this for the new MCATers taking it in August.
 
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I figured that some of us had figured out ways to remember certain things. I posted two of them in the orgo thread. But I figured it may be nice to have a central thread. SOrry if this is repeated


For physics:

Work done BY a gas is +, work done ON a gas is -. Here is how I remember it.

WON (Work Ongas Negative)
 
[from the Q&A subforum]

Here is SilvrGrey330's extremely clever mnemonic to remember salt solubility rules.

C A S H n Gia

Read it as "Cashin' Gia"...how to remember that? well the story is...im a pimp...and gia is my hoe, and i need to get my cash from her. hence...Cashing from gia.

C is clorates, A is acetates, S is sulfates, H is halogens, n is Nitrates, and Gia is Group I A metals. ---> THESE ARE ALL SOLUBLE, XCEPT

for S: Ca, Ba, Sr.....just remember the tv network CBS
for H: Ca, Ba, Sr + Happy...whats happy? Hb Ag Pb ...mercury, silvr and lead...add a py to the end and all the first letters spell HAPPY

and if its not part of CASHnGIA...its insoluble.
 
Ok, I scanned through the thread and didn't find these, but I would like to add better versions for these mnemonics:

Pyrimidines vs. Purines;
Pyrimidines are CUT from purines. Better because it is easy, not bulky, and refers to their structure as well so you can visualize it.

Systematics;
Kings Play Chess On Fine Glass Steps. Better because it is rhymier (is that a word?), makes more sense, and you can visualize it.
 
My undergrad bio class taught it:

King
Phillip
Came
Over
From
Great
Spain.

for kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species.

Funny how many different ones there are.
 
well these are not that great, came up with them to help with the kidney:

The parts of the kidney and where they are-

Our Careers In Medicine:

Outer Cortex, Inner Medulla


and this is not that great but it works for me-

This is the flow of fluid in the kidney:

Be Prepared To Look Happy During mCat Testing

1) Bowmans, 2) Proximal Tubule, 3) Loop Henle, 4) Distal and Collecting Tubule


DP and AI sorry not mnemonic just memorize-

In reference to Loop of Henle:

Descending:permeable (to water) Ascending:Impermeable
 
Hormone memorization is good, but be sure to know their functions... As for physical Science equations, don't waste your time... You may need to know a very, basic equation, but, in general, any equation you need will be given...
 
For galvanic cells:

OA + e- => RA

OA=oxidizing agent
RA=reducing agent
 
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Soooo, this is nothing special but it definatley helps me remember everything.

I had this professor for biology whose name was Professor GANS and this lady was a really big PANE. It was weird that HER daughters name was LEO

GANS- Galvanic Anode Negative Spontaneous
PANE- Positive Anode Nonspontaneous Electrolytic
HER- High E* Reduced
LEO- Low E* Oxidized....


hope this cheeziness helps in this last week!!!
 
does anyone have a method of remembering the substituents nucleophilic strength order?
 
gujuDoc said:
One more to add:

This should be basic enough anyhow. However, just in case you forget, to remember which RNA pol encodes which kind of RNA, I have the following:

1, 2, and 3 respectively = Road Map and Trails (rRNA, mRNA, and tRNA)

Also, for order of patterns of electronegativity in decreasing order:

F O N Cl Br I S H

The mneumonic for that is Phone Call Brandy IS Coming Home. My MCAT teacher taught me that one. Also the reason for Phone as a word, is because FON looks like Phone.

to be complete, it should be more like: F > O > N > Cl > Br > I > S > C > H
and you can remember it by saying: Phone call (from) Brisch. :)
 
jtank said:
to be complete, it should be more like: F > O > N > Cl > Br > I > S > C > H
and you can remember it by saying: Phone call (from) Brisch. :)


My MCAT teacher taught it to us as

FON = Phone
Cl = Call
Br = Brandy
IS= Is
C = Coming
H = Home

He made that up based on the fact that he used to have a girlfriend named Brandy. I thought it was pretty brilliant and funny. :D
 
jtank said:
to be complete, it should be more like: F > O > N > Cl > Br > I > S > C > H
and you can remember it by saying: Phone call (from) Brisch. :)


Oops, I forgot to put the C before the H. But it was accounted for in the mneumonic. When I said Coming Home

For better explanation see the post right above this one.
 
burton117 said:
princessd3 said:
Or..

Kings Play Chess on Fiber Glass Stools


My favorite one for this one was..........

King Phillip Came Over For Good Sex

or you could substitute Sex for Spagetti.

It was one of the mneumonics a microbio teacher told me years ago. :laugh: :laugh:
 
gujuDoc said:
burton117 said:
My favorite one for this one was..........

King Phillip Came Over For Good Sex

or you could substitute Sex for Spagetti.

It was one of the mneumonics a microbio teacher told me years ago. :laugh: :laugh:

my 10TH GRADE bio teacher taught us:

kevin puts condoms on for good sex :laugh:
 
This isn't really a mnemonic, I don't think...but the letters BSGLC help me remember the strata of the epidermis (basalis, corneum, etc.).
 
For the Bio section, the section on RNA/DNA, I've found a helpful way to remember the functions of RNA polymerases. Since there are 3 of them, you can make it into a rhyme:

One, Two, Three, r,m,t--> which means RNA pol I transcribes rRNA, etc.

*Just a way to get them straight so I remember which one does what.

Another scenario I made up is a way to remember how DNA leads protein synthesis. If you use the Princeton Review books, it would be under the Genetic Code section (I'm not sure of the page number, since I'm writing from what I have in my notebook). Normally:

1. The info in DNA is copied into mRNA
2. mRNA goes to the cytoplasm where it 'meets' the ribosome.
3. the ribosome makes the polypeptide acc. to DNA's original orders.

*This can get confusing, so (you may think its lame, but whatever works) ...

DNA= a customer
mRNA= a caterer
cytoplasm= restaurant
ribosome= a chef

The customer gives the caterer the order; he then goes to the restaurant and 'meets' with the chef. The chef then makes the order acc. to the customer's original order!

I hope this helps you guys...I know I'll remember this..keep the posts coming cuz theyre great!
 
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parasympathetic vs. sympathetic:

sympathetic: i sympathize with your pain (because symapthetic is fight or flight etc)

then by default para is the rest and relaxation one
 
"Oh, Oh, Oh To Touch And Feel A Girl's Vagina, Ahh Heaven"

Oh - Olfactory
Oh - Optic
Oh - Oculomotor
To - Trochlear
Touch - Trigeminal
And - Abducens
Feel - Facial
A - Accoustic
Girl's - Glossopharyngeal
Vagina - Vagus
Ahh - Accesory
Heaven - Hypoglossal
 
Fred Overhears Nancy CLashing w/ BRian In SCHool
most Electronegative elements to least:
Fluorine
Oxygen
Nitrogen
Chlorine
Bromine
Iodine
Sulfur, Carbon, Hydrogen
 
I Put My Apple There
interphase, prophase, meta, ana, telo.


There are ton of these but..
King Phillip came over for group sex
 
Nikki2002 said:
Arsenic said:


Kinky People Cry Out Phor Great Sex

For the muscles, I came up with this one.

For the thin filaments, use AT&T to make a call:

Actin
Troponin
Tropomyosin

For the sarcomere:

Z-line denotes the BoundareeZ of the sarcomere
M-line is in the Middle
H is a THICK letter so it is only the THICK filament
I is a THIN letter so it is only the THIN filament
A band is made up of the thick And thin filament

Myosin comes over and asks Troponin is Actin can play. Troponin says you Can (Ca2+ binding) moving Tropomyosin to move over and allow myosin to bind with Actin. (kind of cheesy I know but it should work)
 
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smc927 said:
I found a couple of interesting sites that have useful and creative mnemonics to help memorize various pieces of info for the MCAT. I just did a google.com search for "mcat mnemonics".

This was probably the most useful and thorough of the first 20:

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/5092/mnemMCAT.html

Just thought those of you trying to stuff your brains with all the info you can during this last week (like me) might find it useful.


The website link really helps. thank you.
 
Thank you all for the help!! I feel alot better and definetly will put these to use!

Exigente :love:
 
Gen. Chem: Ideal vs. Real gases: Things are always greater in the ideal world. (Ideal values are always larger.)
 
My only ever personal mnemonic:

Pyrimidines = cytosine, thymine, uracil

K(c)ing TUt's pyramid

ackward, but it worked for me.
 
Pyrimidines: CUTe as Pie (Py) ......Cysteine, Uracil, Thymine
Purines: Pure As Gold .....Arginine, Guanine
 
you know what's really funny?? This time last year I didn't know any of this stuff even for the MCAT (I got a 25 after all). Now, after nearly finishing my first year of medical school I know all of it (or at least recognize it)!!! Guys, you really will use this stuff!
 
Maybe repeats (big thread)

Oil Rig -
Oxidation is loss (of electrons)
Reduction is gain (of electrons)

SOH CAH TOA - (I use this one a lot)
Sin = opposite / hyp
Cos = adjacent / hyp
Tan = opposite / adjacent
 
HOFBrINCl, or "Hofbrinkle"
--> the elements that exist as diatomic molecules
 
Kings Play Chess On Fat Girls Stomachs.

(kingdom, phylla...) learned this in 9th grade..will never forget it.
 
Maybe I missed this one :
SEVEN UP

Pathway of sperm
Seminiferous tubules, Epididymis, Vas deferins, Ejaculatory duct, (Nothing)

Urethra Penis

Oh and the "Pevert" equation

PV=nRT (or perv-nert)
 
Remembering orgo stuff... also somewhat dirty... hehe but I think this seriously made orgo fun...


Sn2's like it in the ass.

Alcohols are HOR's

Gabriel synthesis of primary amines is like using bondage... You use this huge molecule to hold the N down so you can stick stuff to it.

I was a huge orgo dork-- we made up stuff like this all the time.
 
Electrochemistry
CAR
Cathod anything Reduces

therefore, oxidation must happen at that anode.
 
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