The Official 4/26/13 MCAT Thread

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In lieu of the other threads popping up, I thought it'd be good for those of us taking the test to identify ourselves 👍

I'm not planning on following a rigid study schedule until January, but I think I'm going to watch a single video off of wikipremed daily to lightly review.

Good luck to everyone... we will crush this exam..
 
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You guys should be getting off SDN soon.

It's very very counterproductive towards a clear mindset going into the exam tomorrow. You don't need to see people freaking out about the exam tomorrow nor do you need to see people asking questions that may cause you to panic if you aren't that versed on that topic. Go over old R exams, go over your formula sheet, go over to mcat-review.org for a quickie and then you're done.

Just take a deep breath, get off SDN, go relax and spend time with yourself or your hands.

Good luck everyone and you'll all do as well as you're prepared to do + a few luck points. 🙂

#intentionalinnuendo
 
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Hey I hope someone is still here... I have a question

Item 118 BS... What happens in the Epididymis that makes sperm motile and capable of fertilization? I thought they were fully functional sperm once they completed maturing in the semniferous tubules?

This information is not in my TBR or EK books!
 
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tinylilron said:
Hey I hope someone is still here... I have a question

Item 118 BS... What happens in the Epididymis that makes sperm motile and capable of fertilization? I thought they were fully functional sperm once they completed maturing in the semniferous tubules?

This information is not in my TBR or EK books!
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought sperm matured and gained motility in the Sertoli Cells and then travels to the epididymis where mature sperm is stored.
 
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tinylilron said:
Hey I hope someone is still here... I have a question

Item 118 BS... What happens in the Epididymis that makes sperm motile and capable of fertilization? I thought they were fully functional sperm once they completed maturing in the semniferous tubules?

This information is not in my TBR or EK books!
Click to expand...

Spermatozoa formed in the testis enter the caput epididymis, progress to the corpus, and finally reach the cauda region, where they are stored. Sperm entering the caput epididymis are incomplete - they lack the ability to swim forward (motility) and to fertilize an egg. It stores the sperm for 2–3 months. During their transit in the epididymis, sperm undergo maturation processes necessary for them to acquire these functions.[4] Final maturation is completed in the female reproductive tract (capacitation).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epididymis

So the answer should be the vagina, really? Because it is the acid in the vagina which helps the acrosomal enzymes become activities for fertilization
 
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I'm going to be upset tomorrow if I miss a silly question because I cannot remember a formula.
 
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tinylilron said:
apparently it does not complete its maturation until it is in the epididymus
Click to expand...

Yea I just looked it up as well. Sperm are produced in the seminiferous tubules, where they are nourished by Sertoli cells. They then travel to the epididymis where they fully mature and gain motility?.
 
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Technorino said:
You guys should be getting off SDN soon.

It's very very counterproductive towards a clear mindset going into the exam tomorrow. You don't need to see people freaking out about the exam tomorrow nor do you need to see people asking questions that may cause you to panic if you aren't that versed on that topic. Go over old R exams, go over your formula sheet, go over to mcat-review.org for a quickie and then you're done.

Just take a deep breath, get off SDN, go relax and spend time with yourself or your hands.

Good luck everyone and you'll all do as well as you're prepared to do + a few luck points. 🙂

#intentionalinnuendo
Click to expand...

You sir (mam maybe, but I'm guessing male from the "ino" ending) are an awesome soul. You post many insightful and helpful comments.

To everyone taking the exam tomorrow, best of luck! Get a good night's sleep and do great.
 
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tinylilron said:
I think it is 9.5... let me check though
Click to expand...

you are correct 9.0-9.8 is the aldehyde region.
Carboxylic acids are in the 10-11 osprey.

osprey099 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought sperm matured and gained motility in the Sertoli Cells and then travels to the epididymis where mature sperm is stored.
Click to expand...

sperm are fully developed and then released into the lumen of the ST, however, they do not become motile because they dont have an energy source. I got the question wrong as well because I thought the fructose would come from the glands in the prostate, but apparently its the epididymis
 
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BerkReviewTeach said:
You sir (mam maybe, but I'm guessing male from the "ino" ending) are an awesome soul. You post many insightful and helpful comments.

To everyone taking the exam tomorrow, best of luck! Get a good night's sleep and do great.
Click to expand...

Thank you Sir/Ma'am. I just saw my laptop had a Centrino processor back in the day and I liked technology so I just conducted a metathesis reaction.

Centrino(aq) + Technology(aq) <--> (Techno2)rino(aq) + (Cent(Ology)2)(aq)

Initial charges:
rino 2+
Cent 2-

Techno 1-
nology 1+

So in this case the Techno goes from an oxidation state of -1 to an oxidation state of -2.
So we can say that a reduction has taken place by gaining electrons.

The nology goes from +1 to +2 so an oxidation has taken place via loss of electrons.
The rino goes from +2 to +2.
The Cent goes from -2 to -2.

Am i doing this right?

Also I need to thank Berkeley Review for consistently increasing my 7's and 8's in PS to 11's and 12's. You guys do something marvelous with your answer explanations and cheesy comedic bits 🙂

Last word of advice for tomorrow: Go in there feeling like you are the boss and you will do well. Also, do NOT get stuck on a question for more than a minute.25 seconds because you are asking, just aaassking for a reduction in time for the rest of your questions and you don't know if they will be hard or not. Just guess and move on. I wish I had known this the first time instead of spending 5 minutes on one physics formula problem...
 
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Technorino said:
Thank you Sir/Ma'am. I just saw my laptop had a Centrino processor back in the day and I liked technology so I just conducted a metathesis reaction.

Centrino(aq) + Technology(aq) <--> (Techno2)rino(aq) + (Cent(Ology)2)(aq)

Initial charges:
rino 2+
Cent 2-

Techno 1-
nology 1+

So in this case the Techno goes from an oxidation state of -1 to an oxidation state of -2.
So we can say that a reduction has taken place by gaining electrons.

The nology goes from +1 to +2 so an oxidation has taken place via loss of electrons.
The rino goes from +2 to +2.
The Cent goes from -2 to -2.

Am i doing this right?

Also I need to thank Berkeley Review for consistently increasing my 7's and 8's in PS to 11's and 12's. You guys do something marvelous with your answer explanations and cheesy comedic bits 🙂
Click to expand...

i especially love the dude who does the chemistry answers!:laugh:
 
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Br chemistry answers were hilarious.


Good luck tomorrow, everyone. Relax, have fun, and enjoy the ride. It'll end up what you make of it, so if you embrace it you'll do well. Good thoughts to you all.
 
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Today, I'm totally out of it. Can't study or do anything. Just retook AAMC 11 verbal and got the same exact score. I did better on some passages and worse on others.

I think I'm gonna do a light review and call it a day. There's nothing I can do at this point except relax, think positive, and PRAY!
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
I have a very weird way of remembering this. Ortho-para directors are electron donors because Ortho surgeons have lots of money 😀
Click to expand...

Para is easy to memorize (opposite side). For those of you who watch basketball, I memorize meta as "metta world peace" aka ron artest and you don't want to be near metta world peace so meta is the one that's not directly next to the substituent.
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
How sure are you?
Click to expand...

You don't need to know any benzene chemistry. It is not in the topic list the AAMC provides. It's good to know the basics thought (i.e. aromatics are not soluble in water, aromatics are weak bases because of resonance, etc)

Edit: the only topic in the AAMC outline that deals with aromatics/benzene is knowing the "effect of substituents on basicity of aromatic amines" so knowing how electron withdrawing (F, Cl) or electron donating (CH3) groups near the aromatic amine increases/decreases its basicity
 
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osprey099 said:
You don't need to know any benzene chemistry. It is not in the topic list the AAMC provides. It's good to know the basics thought (i.e. aromatics are not soluble in water, aromatics are weak bases because of resonance, etc)

Edit: the only topic in the AAMC outline that deals with aromatics/benzene is knowing the "effect of substituents on basicity of aromatic amines" so knowing how electron withdrawing (F, Cl) or electron donating (CH3) groups near the aromatic amine increases/decreases its basicity
Click to expand...

and the reason that directors/activators come into play is because they can increase or decrease basicity.

also, do you know if the NBS reaction is tested?
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
and the reason that directors/activators come into play is because they can increase or decrease basicity.

also, do you know if the NBS reaction is tested?
Click to expand...

Idk what that is lol. But directors/activators aren't related to basicity itself. They are not going to ask you to identify the position of a new substituent using the original substituent; at least I hope not.
 
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osprey099 said:
Idk what that is lol. But directors/activators aren't related to basicity itself. They are not going to ask you to identify the position of a new substituent using the original substituent; at least I hope not.
Click to expand...

its low yield anyways.

grignard reactions form primary and secondary alcohols with aldehydes and tert alcohols with ketones right?
 
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Just wanted to say thank you, 4/26ers. I look forward to an obnoxious month of waiting with all of you!


Also:
Does anyone have a useful list of IR absorbances to keep track of? My knowledge of them is pretty barebones, and that would be a rough thing to miss a point on.
 
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IR Spec isn't bad if you ignore the fingerprint region.

1640-1680 C=C in alkenes
1700 +/- for C=O carbonyl stretch
2100-2260 for alkyne and nitrile triple bond stretch (nitrile further left)
2700-2800 for aldehydes (note additional 1700 stretch for carbonyl group)
Look just to the right of 3000 for C-H stretch in alkanes
Look just to the left of 3000 for C-H stretch for alkenes and a little further left for C-H stretch for alkynes
3250-3400 for N-H stretch in amides/amines (note amides will have corresponding 1700 carbonyl stretch)
3200-3500 broad stretch for O-H in alcohols
2500-300 very broad stretch for O-H in carboxylic acids. Will also have a 1700 carbonyl stretch. This is a very broad dip and your 3000 C-H stretches will usually poke through the bottom.
I don't think you have to worry about the aromatic ring/substitutions stretches.
 
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I have a question.

I'm reading through mcat-review.org and came across this statement:

"Pushing an object at constant speed up a frictionless inclined plane involves the same amount of work as directly lifting the same object to the same height at constant speed"

I understand that lifting an object x amount of distance require mgx work. However, wouldn't pushing an object at constant speed produces zero force, since there is not acceleration. Also, since the force is zero, shouldn't work must also be equal to zero?
 
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Your pushing is countering gravitational force in the vertical direction, so such a force exists. since you aren't counteracting a HORIZONTAL force, the amount of work is the same as lifting.

EDIT: used the wrong 'you're'. Man, this test must really be getting to me.
EDIT #2: turns out I used the correct 'your.' meaning it really is getting to me!
 
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I'm going to watch Chad's Electricity and Magnetism videos 1 last time as those are the formulas I always struggle remembering, then it's either a movie or read before bed.

Best of luck everyone! I look forward to lamenting about the test with you tomorrow.

Everyone go to the gym, run, bike, swim...do something active afterwards. You all will be charged and physical exercise will be a great way to decompress.

Remember the struggles 3/23 and 4/4 had after their test. Don't disclose questions/answers in the thread. It's okay to generally talk about each section, but no specifics. Don't want anyones careers here to be jeopardized because you broke the NDA you signed with AAMC.
 
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Alright guys/gals, I'm done with my review (mcat-review.org) and will relax and watch tv. I will try to hit the bed at 10 and wake up at 6:30. I wish you all and myself the best of luck. Over and out!
 
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