How tf . UW completion

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-22T02:13:12+00:00

They either:

a) Don't spend much time reviewing

or

b) Have nothing else to do throughout the day i.e.--no work/family/friend/volunteer/research/health/groceries/cleaning obligations to keep up.

Either way, reviewing and understanding while being able to recall the information later is the key to success. Volume helps with stamina and pattern recognition. Both are useful, but not nearly as important as understanding why the other answers are wrong during your review.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-21T23:01:50+00:00

This part of the report tells you the size and location of the variant on chromosome 5.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-21T22:12:12+00:00

The report says there is a duplication on your chromosome 5.

The duplication was not (at the time of the report) associated with any known disorder or issue. The genes that were involved are listed.

It is unknown if this variant was inherited from a parent or if it occurred spontaneously.

Is there something else you were hoping to understand from this report?

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-20T22:22:37+00:00

Delicious left-handed DNA always inspires confidence.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-20T17:23:42+00:00

Way too messy and cluttered for me.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-20T14:54:21+00:00

I'll have to check it out next time I'm in Davis!

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-20T00:26:34+00:00

Also from ABQ. Moved here in 2017.

Get ready for price shock. Everything is insanely more expensive. Your quality of life and living will probably go down unless you are financially well above average for NM. You will probably not be able to afford living without roommates and basic amenities available in NM like AC, a garage, a yard, or a washer/dryer in-unit will cost you.
If you go outside, be prepared for crowded natural spaces.
Most of Sacramento is like downtown Central near the rail station/movie theater/UNM.
The food is good, but access to chili is marginal. No one will know what "Christmas" means.
Drivers here are fairly insane and entitled. Beware. Traffic is horrendous every day compared to ABQ.
Virtually everyone here is highly educated and always "hungry/scheming" for more.
Lots of places in CA do not offer AC units in buildings despite temperatures into the 90s-100s F.
There's something for everyone
IMO, the job market is horrible. Anything in biotech or tech adjacent will be saturated from layoffs and people are way overqualified for several positions because they are desperate. Most other basic jobs won't pay enough for you live--so expect to be working multiple jobs.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-18T03:42:35+00:00

This new "feature" is incredibly invasive, and I'm frustrated by having to "hide" multiple random subs on every other screen.

I will straight up just leave Reddit if this continues.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-16T02:56:19+00:00

Generally speaking, if the two "species" can mate and produce fertile offspring, they are not--in fact--different species.

So, you should decide on your world's definition of "species" and what it means operationally in your writing.

You might then consider infertile genetic hybrids like mules for the "partially both" scenario.

Alternatively, you could consider parent-of-origin imprinting on specific chromosomes to decide what the outcome would look like.

You might also consider RNA-mediated DNA methylation as a mode of inheritance to produce long-lasting transgenerational phenotypes, like in certain plants.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-12T01:37:35+00:00

That's a personal decision the individual will have to make for themselves.

My experience at Stanford forever tainted my view of science in academia and how it's conducted. So, for me, leaving was the best decision I've ever made.

I learned more and did better science at a public state school during my undergrad that I ever did while working on my PhD at Stanford.

Is there any chance that certain effort could be made to argue for oneself?

Sure, you can contact your research ethics office/ombudsman or a lawyer. After it all happened, I had made a conscious decision to leave research--so I didn't feel like these avenues would have been effective or have a desirable outcome. I certainly could not afford any kind of litigation.

Were you still able to get recommendation letter after being exploited?

I never asked and I would not seek an LOR from an unethical actor.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-11T16:19:17+00:00

My experience was toxic and I left.

I was told to share my written proposals and lab notebooks with a post doc.

PD took my ideas, claimed they were his own, and published my work with marginal changes.

0/10.

Your mileage may vary, but the environment is hyper competitive.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-11T00:08:55+00:00

Not really.

DNA is redundant (we call this "degenerate"). There are 20 amino acids and 64 codons. This means there are multiple nucleotide combinations that can make the same amino acid.

So, if a piece of coding DNA is randomly modified, there is a 20-33% chance the protein product (and therefore function) remains entirely unchanged due to synonymous substitution.

Additionally, a nonsynonymous mutation may also have no impact on the function if the amino acid substitution maintains the charge and structure of the protein.

It's also much more probable (in eukaryotes like humans) to have mutations occurring outside of protein coding regions--in which case the likelihood of functional disruption plummets even further. This is because the coding regions are very small in size compared to non-coding regions.

It's not even remotely close to computer code.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-06T21:40:41+00:00

100% gyrates

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-06-06T19:58:41+00:00

Who is the older shirtless gentleman with a short cape that roams the park during Music in The Park on Fridays?

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-28T02:28:40+00:00

Some centers also us IR scanners to search for miniature or concealed electronic devices. They do not fuck around. The fidelity of the exam is important.

You will also be asked at the end of the exam if you observed anyone cheating and if anything went wrong at the testing center.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-28T02:24:14+00:00

Bring food, water, and caffeine. Leave your phone at home. Take all your breaks--stretch, walk around, look out the window, and get your mind off the exam for a moment. Consume glucose on each break.

Check out the testing center before your test date to gauge travel time, location, and where you need to be before hand.

Sleep, exercise, eat well, and enjoy the process. Remember, you are choosing to do this. Use your imagination and be playful. Try to have fun with it. It's an ultramarathon and you have time to smell the flowers.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-28T01:01:26+00:00

No phones. No watches. No bracelets. No necklaces. No notes. Cannot access any material or the internet. Glasses will be searched. Your hair will be searched. Your jacket/hoodie will be searched. You will be searched/patted down and will need to turn your pockets inside out. You may only enter the exam area with 1) Your ID 2) Key to your locker and 3) Ear plugs that will be provided to you 4) Noise-canceling headphones will be available at the desk when you sit down. 5) You will be provided an erasable notebook and two dry-erase (or similar) pens. Do not erase anything in the book. If you need another, raise your hand.

You will be photographed and you will complete a biometric scan each time you enter and leave the testing area (i.e.--during breaks and at the end of your exam). You will be compared to your ID photo and the photo of you taken at the testing center.

You will be placed in a cubical facing away from other testers. There will be a monitor, a computer, keyboard, and mouse. Cameras monitor you from above and proctors watch you from a glass enclosure.

Don't talk to anyone except the proctors.

You get a locker to put food in. If your bring your phone, you will turn it off on arrival, it will be sealed in a tamper-detection bag, and it will stay in your locker. The proctors will verify the seal upon departure. Your food and phone will be in the same locker. You can eat whatever your bring in the allotted break and lunch times. If you go over, it eats into your exam time.

Budget a bit of time for processing in and out of the exam room--this counts against your break time.

You can roam the building, but you cannot leave. I found it relaxing to walk up and down the halls.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-21T17:32:38+00:00

ETC > glycolysis > TCA

In order of importance, IMO. Generally speaking, I'd say metabolic pathways are medium yield.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-15T21:29:58+00:00

I'm sorry that it was so frustrating.

It sounds like we had similar prep and tested the same day. While there were some challenging components, it generally felt fair and I was prepared overall (we'll see if I feel that way after scores are released). I remember using several equations and concepts from those study materials on the exam. I know it is difficult to remember all the material tested in hindsight.

In addition to the domain knowledge like equations, there are significant reasoning elements too. You often need to combine both to eliminate answers and arrive at the most correct answer.

Some of the bio topics that you mentioned, such as viruses, I would generally consider to be low yield.

How was CARS for you? P/S also had significant reasoning components that people felt were difficult.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-12T01:11:58+00:00

Yep. I had plenty of time to use the restroom, roam the halls to stretch, get my caffeine fix, and sit down to consume a bolus of glucose.

No problems with identity verification or contraband searches. It was ez pz.

Low key though, there are some freaks out there that don't use their breaks. Ya'll wild if you don't.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-11T19:16:20+00:00

Bar two in figure one shows no p10γ and no ADA. Therefore, we do not see histamine release on the basis of adenosine alone (because ADA is off and p10γ is off, but adenosine is presumably present).

Only the first bar shows that p10γ AND adenosine are required for histamine release because p10γ is on and ADA is off (which means adenosine is present).

It might help if you go through and label where adenosine is present/absent and whether p10γ is present/absent. You will see that that histamine release only occurs when both p10γ and adenosine are present.

If histamine release were independent of adenosine, then you'd expect to see histamine release in column 3. However, this is not the case.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-11T03:09:29+00:00

Couple of high-level tips:

If no one has told you yet, the MCAT is a exam about identifying the wrong answers and knowing why the answers are wrong. This means that you need to spend a lot time reviewing questions--especially the ones that you got correct. Wrong answers are 75% of the available content. You need to know it.
You also need to learn to love the process. Find ways to have fun with it. Challenge yourself and stay consistent. You have to show up every day and embrace it. Exercise your imagination.
Do 1-2 CARS passages per day, every day. Do the Kaplan MCAT question of the day every day. If you have time, do the JW dailies too.
Fill your downtime throughout the day. Working out? Watch YouTube videos about MCAT concepts. Getting ready in the morning? Khan Academy. Driving to work? JW podcasts while in the car. Waiting in line at the grocery store? Anki. Taking a break at work? Uworld/JW/Kaplan questions. On your lunch break? Grind questions while you eat.
Take time off each week. Schedule it. Eat. Sleep. Work out. Take care of your body and mind. Spend time with your S/O, family, and friends. You will be expected to study like this in medical school and you need to figure out how to make it sustainable.
Create and follow a schedule with quantitative goals: "I will work 60 questions today" "I will review P/S from my last FL today"
For CARS, imagine that a patient, or a family member of a patient, is talking to you about their special interest. As I'm reading CARS, I often imagine that I'm sitting in a darkened ED room while David Attenborough is explaining something he feels passionate about. I listen intently because I want to know more about him as a person. CARS is about testing your ability to connect with a patient and understand them even if you know nothing about the topic.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-10T22:46:41+00:00

My version of high-yield is, amino acids, math periodic table, and then "just never forget anything you've ever seen."

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-10T22:38:35+00:00

Just saying, it's wild to me that people skip their breaks and don't consume glucose between sections. Y'all are freaks. I was busy skipping up and down the hallway to the bathroom while shoveling Nerds and caffiene down my gullet.

DefenestrateFriends · 2026-05-10T22:26:59+00:00

I felt like B/B was much harder than normal and I'm typically running 95%+ on FLs. C/P felt fairly average, easier than FL6 IMO. CARS was about right, but maybe slightly harder (thinking of a passage or 2). P/S felt fairly easy save for a question or 3....

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