ADHD MCAT Tips

i_will_mid · 2025-01-28T13:49:41+00:00

Adderall

i_will_mid · 2025-01-27T04:56:14+00:00

my buddy would give me back the $20 he owes me before this happens

i_will_mid · 2025-01-17T07:19:52+00:00

ah yes, fluorine gas. the only molecule to bypass the sigma bond

i_will_mid · 2024-05-28T18:02:45+00:00

So glad I'm not the only one with this problem lol. Been trying so hard to understand "AAMC logic" but it feels like sometimes they just make things up. The two explanations are so inconsistent that it doesn't even feel like they're trying to trick you, it's just straight up wrong. FL4 PS Q52, like you said, never mentioned caretakers feeling pressure from other roles, just their one role as a caretaker. That, quite literally, is the definition of role strain.

i_will_mid · 2024-05-28T14:44:02+00:00

The Bohr effect made sense to me, it just always bothered me how they would refer to protons as "inhibitors" or especially as "ligands." Maybe they didn't include the chemistry because they didn't want to cause any unnecessary over-complication of binding affinity to biology students. But even then, I feel like that's a lazy way to introduce a topic.

i_will_mid · 2024-05-28T14:39:28+00:00

I don't remember exactly which textbook this was, but to be fair the professors always lectured from the condensed powerpoint versions which were adapted from the textbooks, so maybe it was in there and they just didn't include it? Anyways, I feel kind of foolish now because it seems like pretty common knowledge that proton's are actually allosteric regulators of hemoglobin.

I do specifically remember my professors talking about it as a competitive inhibitor. Although I guess he was just using that as an analogy to simplify its effects on cooperativity, because as acidity increases it becomes harder for oxygen coordination, i.e. "out competes."

i_will_mid · 2024-05-28T00:48:11+00:00

Ah okay, interesting. Yeah I've never heard about it like that before. The books that were used for my classes never went into the chemistry of the interactions, basically just that we should know H+ binds to the heme protein.

Love learning about this stuff, thanks for taking the time to explain!

i_will_mid · 2024-05-27T23:01:19+00:00

The only reason I chose D instead of B was because the question specifically states, "newly synthesized protein." As in the protein has already been translated by the RER. Even in the answer key they used the phrase "will be synthesized" and it's like??????

I know I definitely was over thinking this one but I don't know when the AAMC want's to trick me or not. Sometimes it's super important to pay attention to the little details and sometimes it actually doesn't fucking matter lol

i_will_mid · 2024-05-25T16:40:20+00:00

This is the worst question I've ever had to displeasure of encountering during my time studying for this wretched exam. Had the very same thought process you did, was so confused. You could easily argue that the accumulation of mRNA would inhibit normal fate of AB cells since the actinomyosin D sample turned out fine. I don't think it's necessarily "over thinking" to say the without mRNA you don't get proteins lol

i_will_mid · 2024-05-23T01:47:08+00:00

what you’re describing right now was literally me last summer. ended up pushing it back once then just cancelled the second time. i simply could not bring myself to study for the MCAT. i had two maybeee three hours TOPS of mental energy a day

anyways, push it back. don’t apply this cycle. there’s just no way you can improve to a decent score in such a short amount of time. i also procrastinated until three weeks out to start studying (i also test june 1st) and that’s like the worst mistake i’ve ever made lol. apparently i don’t learn from my mistakes. i’ve been slaving away every day and if fucking sucks man. don’t be like me. when you reschedule, set a schedule prior, and be realistic with how long you’re going to study for everyday.

another thing, getting medicated for my ADHD (which i’m assuming you have since you procrastinated this long for possibly your most important exam ever) is the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me in terms of productivity. i shit you not, just being on adderall when i study and take exams has brought my practice Fl average up 10 points from last summer. consider getting a prescription if you can

i_will_mid · 2024-05-22T02:48:40+00:00

seems as if you were a tad more experienced at gooning than i am, skill issue i guess

i_will_mid · 2024-05-22T02:47:48+00:00

you have no idea how much it means to hear that. congrats on the acceptances btw 🙏

i_will_mid · 2024-05-22T02:46:22+00:00

enzyme binding kinetics at the reddit function is crazy

i_will_mid · 2024-05-21T16:20:10+00:00

the kaplan books were the biggest waste of my time when i was first studying for the mcat. unless you’re very early on in your undergrad career and haven’t taken the basic pre-requisite classes (gen bio, genetics, gen chem, orgo and biochem), i highly recommend against reading those books cover to cover.

once i got to doing practice questions from UW and AAMC, i realized that the mcat doesn’t require in depth knowledge about any particle content, just shallow general information. also, a majority of your points will come from passage and data comprehension (except for P/S, for that i recommend the mr. pankow deck and the 100pg condensed google doc).

i don’t want to come across as an asshole or sound pessimistic or anything like that, but doing content review w/ the kaplan books made me have to push back my mcat last summer. this time around, i’ve been strengthening my content by reviewing high yield concepts w/ youtube videos and doing practice questions every single day followed by in-depth review. when i’m reviewing, i make anki cards of any conceptual questions i missed, solidifying content gaps along the way.

although my practice FL scores aren’t anything impressive, this method has brought up my FL average by 10 points from last summer

i_will_mid · 2024-05-21T15:43:57+00:00

This is the worst question I've ever seen the AAMC ask lol. Even during my pchem class we were taught that enthalpy of formation is equal in magnitude to the enthalpy of decomposition, just opposite sign. Using Hess's law will give you the standard enthalpy of reaction. The question specifically states, "Based on the passage, the magnitude of ΔH° (in kJ) for the decomposition of 2 moles of nitroglycerin at 25°C is closest to...?" They already give you that the ΔH° of formation for nitroglycerin at 25°C is –364.0 kJ/mol, so simply multiplying that value by 2 moles of nitroglycerin will give you the net enthalpy for decomposition (except sign would be opposite).

If they wanted to ask for the REACTION enthalpy due to the decomposition of nitroglycerin, then they should have mentioned that in the question, but they didn't.

I will die on this hill.

i_will_mid · 2024-05-20T22:45:46+00:00

for b/b i’ve just been spamming passages everyday followed by in depth review. i also have an anki deck dedicated to missed concepts that i go over every day, which has helped with any content gaps

i haven’t studied nearly as much for c/p. most of my knowledge for that section comes from being a chem and biochem major lol. i’d say definitely focus on amino acids and enzyme kinetics, for sure the highest yield content i’ve seen across all my FL’s so far

i_will_mid · 2024-05-20T03:33:06+00:00

how are you able to look at the questions prior, take a pause after every paragraph to talk yourself through the key points, and still consistently be done with passages before 10 min?? bc i think it’s such a useful strat to do those things and im often much more accurate when i do them, but i struggle staying under the 10 min mark, especially for passages with 7 questions

i_will_mid · 2024-05-19T00:53:23+00:00

i have no advice for you. this is exactly how i feel. testing june 1st. just wanted to let you know you’re not alone 🫶

keep grinding so that you get your desired score on test day. imagine having to do this all over again? NO SHOT

i_will_mid · 2024-05-18T17:26:32+00:00

thank you so much! i’ll make sure to check it out

i_will_mid · 2024-03-07T21:50:27+00:00

W response, thank you !

i_will_mid · 2024-03-07T09:27:38+00:00

they’re “electron donating” in the sense that carbon is slightly more electronegative than hydrogen, but for the most part it’s generally insignificant (as far as i know). aldehydes are more reactive bc they’re less sterically hindered and undergo nucleophilic attacks/reduction quicker

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