The Official August 2015 MCAT Thread

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vsantav

vsantav

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Registration opens up sometime today so I thought I'd go ahead and make this thread. Anyone else taking it in August?
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I'll give it a shot @moesman777

Social constructionism = Microtheory that discusses our social understanding of the world around us. It jointly rationalizes experiences of people/individuals and other people into a reality that we have constructed. Humans rationalize our social world by constructing models to explain them. Language is the most critical social system through which these realities are constructed.

Symbolic Interactionism = Microtheory that discusses how symbols take on shared meaning through social interactions. It allows for smooth interactions because we agree on how we act towards objects, symbols, ideas, and labels.

Functionalism = Macrotheory by Durkheim which talks about how society is separated into distinct factions, working like a machine to maintain a social equilibrium.

Conflict Theory = Macrotheory by Marx where distinct factions/groups act according to self interest. These social groups have conflict when their interests collide (i.e. scarcity and political/social power).
Opposite of Functionalism
 
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jeep1010 said:
I'll give it a shot @moesman777

Social constructionism = Microtheory that discusses our social understanding of the world around us. It jointly rationalizes experiences of people/individuals and other people into a reality that we have constructed. Humans rationalize our social world by constructing models to explain them. Language is the most critical social system through which these realities are constructed.

Symbolic Interactionism = Microtheory that discusses how symbols take on shared meaning through social interactions. It allows for smooth interactions because we agree on how we act towards objects, symbols, ideas, and labels.

Functionalism = Macrotheory by Durkheim which talks about how society is separated into distinct factions, working like a machine to maintain a social equilibrium.

Conflict Theory = Macrotheory by Marx where distinct factions/groups act according to self interest. These social groups have conflict when their interests collide (i.e. scarcity and political/social power).
Opposite of Functionalism
Click to expand...

This was very useful. With that Im going to read for a little (for fun, not MCAT bs) and go to bed. Good luck everyone, how bad do you want it?
 
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Saving Private Ryan first scene...that's us right now.

@moesman777 You try Khan? Personally I feel like these are terms that are pretty self-explanatory, so I haven't put a ton of effort into studying them. With functionalist theory, everyone in society has a function (duh), and the main point I remember here is that the term "function" is a positive term describing someone doing something to better/further society, whereas a "dysfunction" is someone doing something to hinder the goals of the greater society. Social (or symbolic) interactionism is basically we shape our understanding of the world through interactions with others, which we internalize, and then kind of spit back out (kind of goes with the looking glass self, I think) -- which kind of perpetuates the chain reaction of others then seeing us doing something, which they internalize, and then spit back out etc. The "symbolic" part, I believe, emphasizes on a micro level the different meanings we might assign to certain symbols and how we use that to interact with each other and our environment (thumbs up vs. middle finger).

I like jeep's explanation of social constructionism. I mainly just view it like we create these realities through our interactions with each other. Look at SDN - a creation made out of social interaction between people, right? A university is built out of the interaction between Vygotsky's MKOs (professors) and the students, during the ZPD (younger part of our lives, where our ability to absorb info is supposedly at its best). Mind you here I'm just using Vygotsky's terms with abandon - it actually isn't necessarily associated with this theory, but you can overlap different theories this way. I even think social interactionist theory is closely tied with social constructionism, as if it's the mechanism by which we are able to construct these realities. If we didn't internalize our interactions with others and use it to create meaning out of our existence, I don't think we would be able to create all of the socially-defined institutions that we have.

Social interactionist theory is more micro than social constructionism, from what I understood. @jeep1010 do you have anything else to say on that point?
 
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StudyLater said:
Saving Private Ryan first scene...that's us right now.

@moesman777 You try Khan? Personally I feel like these are terms that are pretty self-explanatory, so I haven't put a ton of effort into studying them. With functionalist theory, everyone in society has a function (duh), and the main point I remember here is that the term "function" is a positive term describing someone doing something to better/further society, whereas a "dysfunction" is someone doing something to hinder the goals of the greater society. Social (or symbolic) interactionism is basically we shape our understanding of the world through interactions with others, which we internalize, and then kind of spit back out (kind of goes with the looking glass self, I think) -- which kind of perpetuates the chain reaction of others then seeing us doing something, which they internalize, and then spit back out etc. The "symbolic" part, I believe, emphasizes on a micro level the different meanings we might assign to certain symbols and how we use that to interact with each other and our environment (thumbs up vs. middle finger).

I like jeep's explanation of social constructionism. I mainly just view it like we create these realities through our interactions with each other. Look at SDN - a creation made out of social interaction between people, right? A university is built out of the interaction between Vygotsky's MKOs (professors) and the students, during the ZPD (younger part of our lives, where our ability to absorb info is supposedly at its best). Mind you here I'm just using Vygotsky's terms with abandon - it actually isn't necessarily associated with this theory, but you can overlap different theories this way. I even think social interactionist theory is closely tied with social constructionism, as if it's the mechanism by which we are able to construct these realities. If we didn't internalize our interactions with others and use it to create meaning out of our existence, I don't think we would be able to create all of the socially-defined institutions that we have.

Social interactionist theory is more micro than social constructionism, from what I understood. @jeep1010 do you have anything else to say on that point?
Click to expand...

I appreciate it, that really helped. Just finished breakfast, about to go pick up a coffee, then hop in a cab. LETS GO
 
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i'm sure this has been posted before but i don't care. good luck everybody.
maxresdefault.jpg
 
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i wish we could talk about the exam after we take it :/ i would like to hear how people felt about it, for those taking it today!

best of luck everybody!
 
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for question 16 in the sample exam, can someone explain why sucrose isn't a hemiacetal? i cant see it
 
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cougariffic said:
Cougar on the prowl, now tired and resting :joyful:

See y'all on the other side, we can do this!!! I don't think my brain can absorb anymore, gonna call it a night :wideyed:
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Ah nice. She looks comfortable.

fleur64 said:
for question 16 in the sample exam, can someone explain why sucrose isn't a hemiacetal? i cant see it
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The anomeric carbon is attached to two alkoxy groups, right?
 
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Actually I guess it has to be the left, if we're talking specifically about the anomeric carbon. There's two OR groups on that carbon, right?
 
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I think that the carbon you need to be considering is actually the one that belongs to the ring on the right in sucrose (because that's where the free aldehyde or ketone would be). A hemiacetal is attached directly to an OR group and an OH, which doesn't apply here.
 
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ausernamegoeshere said:
I think that the carbon you need to be considering is actually the one that belongs to the ring on the right in sucrose (because that's where the free aldehyde or ketone would be). A hemiacetal is attached directly to an OR group and an OH, which doesn't apply here.
Click to expand...


Okay, im def going crazy. If i am looking at that ring, doesnt it have a OR and OH (this is the O in the bond right?)
 
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upload_2015-8-21_12-10-26.png

^ That's a hemiacetal; note that the carbon in the ring is connected to the O in the ring (equivalent to an OR group) and an OH coming off of the ring.

structure20of20sucrose.gif



^ Sucrose. In the five membered ring in sucrose, there is no carbon that's directly attached to an OR and an OH, so it has no hemiacetal structure and thus can't be a reducing sugar.
 
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Am I at a disadvantage for not having watched EVERY single Khan video for Psych/Soc? In the last couple days, I've gone through my entire 100-page expanded Psych/Soc outline, reread sections of TPR w/ addendum, a list of notes I extracted from my P/S practice passages, watched all KA videos in FC 9 and 10 (my weak areas since no soc background) and some from FC 7 and 8. I really want to avoid encountering unknown terms as much as possible.
 
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FauxBlue said:
7AM??? What number do they call you by? Did your exam status change online as well????
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I think it's a little crazy for them to have us start early. I have no idea what's going on :/
And no, I checked my status online right after they called but nothing has changed on there.
 
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I started at 7:30am. I'm an east coaster and the got there quite early so I was allowed to start at 7:30am. Didn't take a full lunch. I think I took about 3/4 of the 10-minute breaks. In comparison to the practice test online, this one was significantly more difficult. Going to cry now, my city could use another river.
 
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I wasn't expecting that. I think everyone should start at the same time. I had ear plugs, but if I didn't I would have been distracted by the arrivals and chatter of the proctor with each incoming student.
 
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DHtoM said:
I started at 7:30am. I'm an east coaster and the got there quite early so I was allowed to start at 7:30am. Didn't take a full lunch. I think I took about 3/4 of the 10-minute breaks. In comparison to the practice test online, this one was significantly more difficult. Going to cry now, my city could use another river.
Click to expand...
:barf:
 
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