MOST Common MCAT Concepts

[ragda26]

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Hi 😎

I wanted to know which concepts you think are most common and a favorite to come on the MCATs everytime or most often?

Can people who have already taken the MCAT help me by dividing the topics under eact section...

like PS: Physics and Chemistry

BS: Bio and Orgo

Thanks. 😀

 

[themadchemist]

It's hard to say...While I saw a definite trend amongst the 11 Kaplan practice tests I took (such as a Hemoglobin passage almost every time), I found that the AAMC practice tests (I took 4-7) neither corresponded to this trend nor exhibited a trend of their own. The best thing is to master the material, get your hands on a lot of practice tests and a lot of practice passages, and really get experience with being able to interpret concepts and data on the fly.

There's no way you'll be able to effectively hit the "old favorites" topics with such luck that you won't actually have to gather much from the passages presented to you. Knowing how to read and understand the passages, and how to extract necessary ideas from them, is just as important as remembering and comprehending the course material. A winning score requires a synthesis of both skills: There aren't really any shortcuts, the way I see it.

Of course, I took the test in August for the first time. It's altogether possible that my outlook earned me a stellar score of 3, in which case it might be best to ignore my ruminations.

 

[ragda26]

thanks for the reply, i will be taking kaplan soon and hopefully it will help me pull up my score with all the practice they provide.

did you think the kaplan course was worth it?

 

[themadchemist]

thanks for the reply, i will be taking kaplan soon and hopefully it will help me pull up my score with all the practice they provide.

did you think the kaplan course was worth it?

Absolutely! Make sure you take advantage of the wealth of practice materials Kaplan provides. I think the texts and the practice problems/tests are worth a lot more than the in-class instruction, but that's just me. It's nice to have a class schedule, though, if for nothing else but to keep your mind on the MCAT.

 

[bella_dottoressa]

hormones. there's always some sort of hormone question.

 

[Jon Davis]

I don't think using commercial prep tests are ANY kind of good inidicators what what to KNOW for the exam. I suggest you cover all the topics stated in the Student Manual. Definitely, there are "favorites" I think only because you can predict the response in the body to a change in hormone for example. Anywhere in BS where you can change a variable which can effect another area is usually a "favorite".
Common Areas:
-KIDNEY!!!! (thats HUGE)
-ALL hormones
-nervous system structure and function
But again, I stress that your best bet is to thorougly go through the AAMC topics.

 

[ragda26]

hi,
you are right, the student manual has many topics not necessairily covered in the test prep books..

thanks for the advice

for some topics i will need textbooks.

 

[ragda26]

Can someone please explian the two topics briefly:
😕
Repair of DNA

1.Repair of DNA during replication
2.Repari of mutations.

From Speciation

1.Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

From Mutations

1.Relationship of mutagens to carinogens.

Prokaryotic Cell:

1.Flagellar propulsion, mechanism

Muscular Control:

1. Spincter muscle


They are form the study guide and i cant find anything about them in my books. Please help out with any expalantions you have abt any of the above topics..

thanks... 👍 👍 👍 👍 👍 😀

 

[myodana]

ADH

Aldol Condensation

know them, love them.

 

[stinkycheese]

Can someone please explian the two topics briefly:
😕
Repair of DNA

1.Repair of DNA during replication

Look up the enzymes that scan the DNA molecule and repair mistakes; I think you'll rmember them better if you look them up themselves, but it is an enzyme.

2.Repari of mutations.

Again, look up how DNA is replicated, how mutations are discovered, and whether/how they are repaired.

From Mutations

1.Relationship of mutagens to carinogens.

How do carcinogens promote mutations? Free radicals do what to DNA?

Prokaryotic Cell:

1.Flagellar propulsion, mechanism

What is the structure of the flagellus? (Spindle structure!) Is that the bacterium's main form of motility?

Muscular Control:

1. Spincter muscle

What is a sphincter muscle? How does it regulate movement through a tract? Find out about the following: esophageal sphincter, pyloric sphincter, inner and outer anal sphincters.

They are form the study guide and i cant find anything about them in my books. Please help out with any expalantions you have abt any of the above topics..

I think you'll remember the answers better if you look them up yourself; even try an online search. I posted the questions above to get you pointed in the right direction.

 

[stinkycheese]

I don't think using commercial prep tests are ANY kind of good inidicators what what to KNOW for the exam. I suggest you cover all the topics stated in the Student Manual. Definitely, there are "favorites" I think only because you can predict the response in the body to a change in hormone for example. Anywhere in BS where you can change a variable which can effect another area is usually a "favorite".
Common Areas:
-KIDNEY!!!! (thats HUGE)
-ALL hormones
-nervous system structure and function
But again, I stress that your best bet is to thorougly go through the AAMC topics.

I agree that the kidney and nephron structure is high yield. Hormones can be high yield, but I didn't get a single hormone question on my test after spending a lot of time memorizing all of them, so I can't say it always shows up. For the nervous system, I think the most important to know is signal transduction along a neuron, structure of the neuron, how a signal is conducted along a axon (and what is myelin), differences between CNS/PNS, autonomic nervous system, symp/parasympathetic, etc. Brain structure is not high yield; neither are cranial/spinal nerves, although it can't hurt to know them.

Other high yield in biology:

molecular and mendelian genetics
protein synthesis
cardiovascular system and structure of heart, circulatory system
lung function
cell biology

High yield in organic:

SN1/SN2/E1/E2
nomenclature
acid-catalyzed reactions
aldol condensation
alcohol synthesis
alkyl halide synthesis

In general chem, pretty much anything is fair game and there aren't many subjects that stick out in my mind as being a much higher yield than others, so just know your ****.

High yield in physics:

kinematics/mechanics
pulleys
springs
electricity (fields, forces, right-hand rules)
magnetism (field, force, right-hand rule)
circuits
fluids: bernoulli's principle

 

[UCLAstudent]

I hear that it is good to be familiar with the Millikan oil drop experiment.

 

[ragda26]

Does everyone here go topic by topic form the AAMC study guide? It seems to me that some items have not been covered by Kaplan.

Thank you everyone with all the answers.

I agree aldol is a must for organic.

 

[tank you]

Yea, I already started going through the topics in g-chem and make notes of all I can find about it. I think this is the best way, because by writing it out, it gets ingrained in our head.

It takes a while to do, so just make sure you go slow and find all the information that you can.

 

[themadchemist]

I hear that it is good to be familiar with the Millikan oil drop experiment.

I've never seen a single MCAT question, practice or otherwise, relating in any significant way to ol' Bob's famous experiment. I'd say it has just about as much MCAT-utility as knowing acquisition protocols for path clamping hardware and software.