Berkeley Review Carbohydrate Chemistry

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TheBoneDoctah

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How in depth do we need to know this. I was trying to do the questions but it is really really tough. I feel as though it's way too in depth.

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The topics for the Carbohydrates section are:

1) General Nomenclature (aldose, hexose, etc...)
2) Fischer Projections
3) The Five Common Monosaccharides (Glucose, Mannose, Galactose, Ribose, and Fructose)
4) Epimers and Anomers
5) Haworth Projection (How to easily convert between Fischer and Haworth projections)
6) Disaccharides and Linkages
7) Four Reactions (Nitric Acid Oxidation, Osazones, Kiliani-Fischer Synthesis, and Ruff)
8) Biological Applications (Blood Types and Glycolysis Overview)

I'm curious what topics you feel fall into the too in depth category. It's safe to say that every topic there is part of AAMC's official list and nearly everything there is found in their released materials. I actually think this is one of the better chapters because of so many useful shortcuts and visual aids.

If it's the passages that are causing a challenge, that's part of the learning experience. They are meant to be challenging so you learn to apply the information. Some of the passages are quite easy and some are quite difficult. If you read through the MCAT threads here, you see that people after their MCAT will say the same thing about organic chemistry on their MCAT; it's either really easy or really hard. The passages gear you up for both experiences.

I'd suggest you take a day to regroup and then go after the passages with a mentality that you'll use the first phase as a learning tool (not worrying about score or difficulty) and then use the second phase for timing and exposure to the material as applied to biology and organic chemistry. Worry about the difficulty in Phase III, once you've reviewed.
 
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