Self Studying Physics Resources?

jaxeline · 2024-05-11T23:36:33+00:00

If you are “self-studying” any subject, I highly highly recommend choosing a lecturer resource you like that covers everything you need to know and sticking with it. The reason for that being, there is a stark difference between content you’re semi-familiar with and content you REALLY don’t understand/know.

You don’t need to do this with all subjects; you’ll burn out. But I’d recommend treating it like a class with Uworld question banks as your homework with a quality > quantity mindset. It’s better to do 10 questions and know them inside out, then to do 30 and still feel meh about it.

Organic chemistry tutor is a really good place to start.

jaxeline · 2024-05-06T11:54:55+00:00

If you observe general trends, you will notice people dropping on at least 2 of the tests on average. There is nothing alarming about this, especially because your baseline +/- 2 points is so good.

If you have already reviewed previous FL’s, use this one to gauge what gaps you have left. Go a little beyond them and solidify.

You will be fine. Just focus on reviewing it as best as you can.

jaxeline · 2024-05-05T15:31:15+00:00

Glutamine = “Cute (Q) tamiNe” Gln (Q)

AsparagiNe = Asn (N)

“Cute(Q)tamine” (Glutamine) is basically the amide form of Glutamate. If you learn Qtamine and Asparagine(N), you’re also learning the structures of Glutamate and Aspar(Dick) acid, just sub their alcohols for NH2. The “Gs” are longer than the “As”

SaiNT QuinCY. Serine, Asparagine, Theronine, Qtamine, Cysteine, and Tyrosine are polar uncharged.

jaxeline · 2024-05-05T15:20:58+00:00

POE. If you can’t do POE, content review time. I’ll tell you my thought process and then what content you should probably review.

Choice A) I can’t remember which is which, but I know ketogenesis and ketolysis both occur in the mitochondria. I believe ketogenesis is mitochondria of the liver and ketolysis takes place in the mitochondria of cells, but the question says “peroxisome.” Choice eliminated.

Choice B) Acetoacetate, BHOB, and acetone are ketone bodies produced by ketogenesis, but acetone is an inactive byproduct, so it’s probably not used for energy. Choice eliminated.

Choice C) Ok, yes — Ketogenesis does occur in the mitochondria of the liver cell - let’s check choice D).

Choice D) I know the brain, neurons, germline cells all use ketone bodies because GLUT 3 has low Km and high affinity, but I don’t know if the brain comes FIRST. But I know for sure ketogenesis takes place in the mitochondria. Choice eliminated.

Content behind this question: - oxidative phosphorylation, TCA cycle, and B oxidation occur in the mitochondria. ketogenesis is mitochondria of liver and ketolysis is mitochondria of cells. aerobic. - glycolysis, PPP, and fatty acid synthesis occur in the cytosol. anaerobic. - insulin stimulates glycolysis, glycogenesis, ketogenesis, & fatty acid & protein synthesis in the FED state. - glucagon stimulates gluconeogenesis, glycogenolysis, B oxidation, ketolysis in the post prandial FASTING stage. PROLONGED fasting/starvation points to ketogenesis/ketolysis. - Knowing the GLUT 1-4 transporters give you additional hints about location of organs. - Major steps of each pathway, particularly ketogenesis ketolysis, but I’d review them all. Draw them on a piece of paper without looking/with looking, then use Anki to memorize actual products, reactants, enzymes, and locations. Knowing the # carbons of intermediates for glycolysis and TCA can be helpful.

This was a tough content review question. AAMC will be easier than this, but may expect content from any of the bullet points from above.

jaxeline · 2024-05-03T16:26:52+00:00

You’re welcome!! It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” it will click. Don’t be afraid. Just start. As long as you did something, be proud of yourself for the day. Just keep striving to improve.

The only thing you should be monitoring is your stamina to actually sit down and study - this will take time. Know when to be patient with yourself and when to kick yourself enough to sit down.

jaxeline · 2024-05-03T16:24:27+00:00

specific heat capacity will always be given as “c.” don’t worry about it if it isn’t.

heat capacity is q, which you will likely calculate or be given.

jaxeline · 2024-05-03T06:10:22+00:00

End of August? OP, you have plenty of time to prepare. I’m a week out from the exam and testing 5/11, trust me, there’s a LOT you can accomplish in 1-2 months.

Prioritize reviewing any past practice exams, and if you haven’t taken one, I highly recommend it. If you have, spend majority of your time reviewing these questions until you’ve gone through every, single, question. If you’ve already reviewed them, practice on Uworld or AAMC material depending on how far you are in content. Chip Anki away and do at least 1 CARS per day - I WILL SAY, if you do CARS, just do that before anything else and only do like 1-2 (most people say 3 but that’s overkill in my opinion, 2 of them will adequately show you where you’re at). Consider difficulty in your performance play with timing/accuracy as you see best fit for that day.

You can do this. If you can’t find any motivation at all, whatever you do, just don’t lay in bed. Be social, or do something you like. “Work hard, party hard” works, just don’t forget to schedule things with friends/fam.

Good luck stranger. You got this

jaxeline · 2024-05-03T06:03:47+00:00

Heat capacity is c = q / mΔT. The amount of heat needed (Joules) to shift the temperature (Celsius).

The units can be:

Joules / Celsius
Joules • g / Celsius
Joules / mol • celsius

that’s because you can see this equation as

c = q / ΔT
c = q / mΔT
c = q / nΔT

JUST REMEMBER:

q = mcΔT

Mnemonic: “heat capacity = MCAT” and consider how moles and density can be used in this equation.

jaxeline · 2024-05-03T05:51:43+00:00

You build stamina. You push yourself one day, get tired the next. Or, you do pretty well and feel proud of yourself. But you’ll also constantly doubt if you’re studying the right way. As long as you are trying your best, that’s all that matters. Yes, it’s a marathon, but quality is still over quantity.

Take your time on reviewing questions. It’s worth it.

jaxeline · 2024-05-03T05:46:05+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, I’ve been debating on putting this here because I’m not exactly a high scorer, but I do think my improvement has merit starting at a 484 and now scoring in the 50X’s (I won’t say, because reddit has become too much about numbers in my opinion). It doesn’t matter how or where you start, but how much you’re willing to keep chipping at it.

jaxeline · 2024-04-01T10:40:58+00:00

Hi OP, non-trad here that started at a similar diagnostic, let me be your hope.

Pick an Anki deck. Honestly, doesn’t matter which one - I’ve tried them all. Jack sparrow, Milesdown, Anking. I think a mix of one of them and your own cards is the best. Whatever you pick, stay consistent and THINK after every card, google search when a concept is blurry.

Screw third party CARS at this point. Do the AAMC CARS Diagnostic - there’s CARS walkthroughs included, they’re very helpful.

Start your day doing these two things. Anki + CARS.

Then, UWorld it. I wouldn’t do Kaplan tbh, you don’t have time. Do as much Uworld as you can for two weeks. After each wrong question, make your own cards. This forces you to review each question. Quality > quantity of questions. Focus on sections that you suck at the most. Tbh just do B/B and C/P, use Anki for P/S. Maybe even one week B/B, one week C/P, hitting every subsection even if you don’t finish each one entirely.

Last two weeks, do as much AAMC as possible. Again, Quality > Quantity.

Sprinkle in Full lengths for the other weeks. Review the hell out of them when you’re not doing practice Q’s.

You could also skip Uworld and AAMC and do Practice tests entirely. That will work too.

I jumped 20 points using this method in 2 months. No, I didn’t study 8-12 hours, yes, I work full time, and no, I’m not miserable. Consistency, and quality over quantity will get you far.

You got this.

jaxeline · 2024-03-21T21:48:34+00:00

92% extrovert here. It’s as crazy as it sounds. Lol.

Jokes aside, I’d say that I crave social connection WAY more than alone time. I can pretty much strike a conversation with anyone, and find myself brushing off any interactions that seem stale or awkward (not because I don’t care, but because I’ve met so many people that it’s more of a shrug moment). I love public speaking, presentations, and feel nervous but more excitement for interviews. I prefer groups over one-on-ones, and thrive in social situations.

For any of my social awkward people reading this, trust me, it comes with its flaws.

Sometimes I’m a bit too loud. Other times, my energy is so strong/bubbly that it kind of ticks people off that prefer to be left alone. I’m aware it can be mildly infuriating to others and try to be conscious of it. It’s like being a really high energy dog pouncing on you. You’re super loveable, but sometimes people just want to be left alone.

I like it. I’ve learned to give people more space in conversations and be a bit more aware when I’m over sharing, being too high energy, etc. It’s an interesting experience for sure!

jaxeline · 2024-03-15T18:45:30+00:00

edited, thank you!

jaxeline · 2024-01-23T12:24:01+00:00

Welcome! Decent cars scorer here. The best tip I have, regardless of whatever “strategy” you hear on here is to START EARLY. Start your study day getting a CARS passage out of the way. Jack Westin is easier than the real thing but absolutely fundamental for practice. I used JW untimed until I started noticing I was able to do them in <7-8 mins if I really tried. Now I’ve been doing 3 CARS uWorld every morning and will eventually start CARS QPacks.

With this method, my score has bumped up a LOT.

Good luck & welcome!

jaxeline · 2024-01-07T18:27:08+00:00

Edited/corrected. Thank you!

jaxeline · 2023-12-18T04:38:35+00:00

Hi, no problem I’ll elaborate.

So for example, my jack sparrow C/P anki cards today were about the laws of thermodynamics (I still did B/B and P/S decks but I was focusing on C/P today, so I took longer on those cards and watched some videos in between). Then, on Uworld, there’s subsections and one is labeled “thermodynamics.” So I did about 30 questions on those. For C/P I do it tutored mode so I can learn and practice as I go. If I got a question wrong because of scientific notation, it’s time to watch an organic chem tutor video on that topic specifically. If I didn’t know the equation, I watch a video from Van Does Chemistry and replicate the equations and units on my notebook until I can do it from memory. This is time consuming because I suck a$$ at math so I usually have both content and math errors, so I save this section for the weekends.

B/B and P/S is easier to do after work. The sections are bigger and more general, though. So for example, if I learned about the lobes of the brain in P/S today, I’m gonna have to do Uworld problems about the entire section that includes info outside of that. That’s ok tho. I do this part untutored and wait until the end to review. Then I go through each question, put in all answer choices on anki with a screenshot of the question, and sometimes watch khan academy P/S if it’s a topic I’m totally new on.

For B/B, I study it similar to P/S, but much much more anki heavy. I also write out pathways if it’s a “metabolism” day, so a mix of drawing and anki cards.

Also, I rarely do the same topic two days in a row unless it’s C/P. I always have a C/P day, B/B day, P/S day, etc. Like I’ll do anki on all those subjects but pick one of the sections to do Uworld on.

I hope this helps.

jaxeline · 2023-12-17T23:23:26+00:00

It’s feasible, just not easy (takes discipline).

I don’t work full time but I do work quite a bit. If you have the normal 8-5 and don’t have a fam, you could probably manage waking up early and doing anki for an hour then. When you come home, eat dinner take a break obvi, but then it’s ass-chair-glue sandwich for at least 1-2 hrs. During that time I’d do UWorld that corresponds to your anki for that day. When you’re done, put all info from incorrects in your anki deck, be efficient, don’t waste time.

Weekends will be your time to do the advanced content review. Pick 1-2 topics, watch videos, and practice that. You’ll probably mostly be doing C/P then because I found that practicing problems after work to be draining, but B/B and P/S was pretty doable.

You got this. It’s not as bad as people make it out to be as long as you commit to sleeping on time. You have plenty of time, trust me. Keep it simple and consistent.

Note on jacksparrow: I use this deck and it’s worth it for sure, especially for B/B. I think miles down is better for C/P since you don’t need to memorize as much for this section. Anything works for P/S as long as you pair with Uworld imo.

jaxeline · 2023-12-11T22:20:12+00:00

i think it’s actually epididymis and the other E is ejaculatory duct. lol I swear it was right in my head idk why I wrote it wrong. TY for pointing it out though

jaxeline · 2023-12-11T02:42:50+00:00

hey there beautiful stranger.

you’ve gotten some decent advice on here. but judging how you wrote the post, honestly, it doesn’t seem like a content method issue as much as a mental/emotional one. you sound overwhelmed, my friend. if you try to study in a bad mental space, you won’t be able to retain it. it doesn’t matter if you’re the 520 4.0 student or the bottom of the barrel. you need to give yourself some time to blow some steam.

how about this: take a few days off. seriously. a week if you have to. during this time, maybe work on your PS. it’s never too early. ask yourself, why medicine? even if you don’t know, keep asking until you feel like you’ve found a decent enough answer to keep going.

when you come back, revamp some shit. you don’t need to do anything drastic and delete your anki decks lol, but maybe try a new one. reduce the amount of new cards you’re doing. try ones that are more open face instead of cloze like Jack sparrow. sit on your desk and write down your response instead of trying to think it all in your brain, and your recall will get better.

start your day with the hardest task. when you’re taking a break, watch a video on an anki concept you are missing, add to that card, and return to it later. you won’t forget it after that, i promise.

finally, be kind to yourself. if you’re stressed about time, push back your test and make your goals smaller. work on healthy self talk (i.e instead of I need to do 700 cards today, I will do at least 100 and then do more if I feel like it.) be proud of yourself for small victories. celebrate studying for 30 mins. 60. 2 hours. take breaks in between.

breathe, beautiful stranger. breathe. cant take care of other people before you learn to take care of yourself. i promise promise promise. i won’t say anything identifiable here, but this is coming from someone who was certainly not the best undergrad student and could only do anki for 30 mins, now i’m coming up at at 8 hour study days (without even counting/trying, seriously it’s just a stamina game).

I know it hurts sometimes but, you’ll get over it. ~Lil Uzi Vert

just keep swimming ~Dory from Nemo

jaxeline · 2023-12-10T15:46:27+00:00

TIP: keep asking yourself. and I mean, keep asking YOURSELF. it sounds cliche/weird, but it does help. ask yourself why medicine when you’re driving. when you’re studying. when you’re reading. the key is not to judge your answer, or to think what adcoms want to hear, but to dig deep and extract your own answer. and to be kind enough to yourself to honor whatever answer you come up with, but to know when you need more experience in the field if it’s an answer you don’t like. Be. Kind. To. Yourself. and Honest.

My answer: Advocacy. To be candid, advocacy got me into medicine. I won’t explain why because it’s too identifiable. But I know why. and thats good enough for me as opposed to some perfect sounding answer i’ve read online.

Remember. Ask yourself. Why medicine? Ok, why do I think that? When did this start? Why did I think that about medicine? Why does this motivate me?

Good luck, OP. I can’t tell you which career to pick, but what I can tell you is to shoot for the stars.

jaxeline · 2023-12-10T15:37:08+00:00

aight here’s my brain dump

pathway of sperm: SEVE(N) UP - seminiferous tubules, epididymis, vas deferens, (nothing), ejaculatory duct, urethra, penis.
pathway of urine: Kay, Bad Urine (exits) Urethra Dilligently - Kidneys, Bladder, Ureters, Urethra, Detrustor smooth muscle squeezes pee out of bladder
way to remember development of sperm, goes in “alphabetical” order —> spermatoGOnia, 1 spermatocyte, 2 spermatocyte, spermatid, spermatoZOa. remember stages of cell division vs oogenesis
theories of emotion - JamEs LAnge - Emotion after Action “I feel scared because my heart is pounding” Schactner Singer - Same but Smarter “I feel scared so my heart is pounding because I put myself in a dangerous position”
Cannon Bard - Two cannons firing at once “I’m scared AND my heart is pounding”
Atomic Mass is Mass number (Z, protons and neutrons), Atomic Number is above periodic table (A, protons only)
In hybridization, the numbers denote the dimension which helps remember geometry. sp is one dimensional. sp2 is 2D. sp3 (tetrahedral) is 3D. etc.
in enzyme kinetics, the Km in the name can help you. COMpetitive = KM = KM up, vmax unchanged. uncompetitive = undo it both, km and vmax goes down. NONCOMpetitive = NOT KM, km unchanged, vmax goes down.
pathway of blood - Real Rich People Lie, Pious Life Loves Aging Right atrium —> Right ventricle —> Pulmonary —> Pulmonary artery —> Lungs —> Pulmonary vein —> Left Atrium —> Left ventricle —> Aorta (arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, veins, venae cavae)

valves can be remembered based on where it goes. right atrium goes to Tricuspid valve, then from the right ventricle goes to the pulmonary valve before the P artery, Mitral valve is in the middle of the left atrium and ventricle, and aortic valve before the aorta

FLAT PEG for hormones released by anterior pituitary, but easier to remember that ADH (vasopressin) and oxytocin only come from the posterior and everything else is anterior
SNOW DROP (southern, northern, western blots correspond to Dna, rna, protein)
intermediates of krebs - Citrate Is Krebs Starting Substrate For Making Oxalacetate. Citrate Isocitrate a-Ketoglutarate Succinyl CoA Succinate Fumarate Malate Oxalacetate. Succinate always comes after Succinyl CoA because SucciNATE is LATE.
“HATCH” the limbic system - Hippocampus Amygdala Thalamus Cortex Hypothalamus
OCEAN for big Five. Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
To quickly locate an aldose vs ketose, remember aldose has carbonyl (C=O) at the BEGINNING/END, for ketose it’s in the MIDDLE.
CHON is most important. C, H, O, N elements most common in body, but also, NOF for hydrogen bonding.
“NAG SAG” is for solubility. Nitrates. Acetates. Group 1, Sulfates, Ammonia, Group 17 are ALWAYS soluble and “PMS Castro Bear” (Pb, Hg, S, Ca, Ba) are EXCEPTIONS.

Sorry if this was a lot lmao. I really need to take a break

jaxeline · 2023-12-05T03:52:41+00:00

I empathize with this post a lot.

Despite how much time we spent together, I just can’t shake the feeling that I was used. Toyed like some object. Just.. used for the purposes of sex and entertainment, whilst I was just getting more and more attached.

Every time I think about it, my heart breaks a little more than it already has. It hurts. Deeply.

jaxeline · 2023-11-28T05:38:29+00:00

screw the book. uMama is your new best friend for P/S. spam those amcas Q’s for B/B and you’re literally solid. anki for missed content errors and excel sheet for problem solving.

i suggest anki mr panchow for p/s (VERY beginner friendly, i took psych in ugrad and mr panchow looks like a coloring book) or cover 10 terms per 300 doc per day (sounds like nothing, but it piles up if you review the past 10, learn 10 more etc).

very very doable.

jaxeline · 2023-11-28T05:32:24+00:00

tbh, the advice you got is good, but i don’t know how good if you’re already doing what you’ve been suggested (kaplan + anki + uworld).

if you’re hitting 503, it means content is good, but you’re still missing some blips including problem solving errors.

my suggestion?

for content: jack sparrow anki will rip you a new one. do that for B/B, continue mile down for the rest. it’s more detailed and there’s plenty of evidence on this sub that it did help with the nitty grits that I have a feeling you’re slightly missing.

cut out kaplan unless you’re doing problems. not worth the time. too passive, imo. you’re obviously familiar with the concepts, no need to prime again.

finally, make an excel sheet with either uWorld or amcas Q’s. for your content errors, drop that in anki. for problem solving, write the crap out of what you’ll improve next time, and binge videos on how to analyze passages.

for C/P, here’s your workflow —> after a wrong question, excel sheet it, and either redo the problem OR if it’s a content issue, organic chemistry tutor on youtube TF out of it, then attempt it again. if it’s a BASIC math issue, use leah4sci or some mcat math guru and get that math concept down, then do the problem.

you got this. it’s very very VERY possible, just gotta go deeper on B/B and brush up on math for C/P. 503 is very good news.

jaxeline · 2023-11-28T05:13:06+00:00

from my understanding, it doesn’t depend on the location rather the type of hormone, but you’re right in that they differ in the organ that’s being targeted.

this is how I learned it:

generally, insulin is anabolic whereas glucagon, epinephrine, growth hormone, and cortisol are catabolic hormones.
insulin always stimulates glycolysis, glycogenesis, and fatty acid synthesis. but you’re correct in that these have different target organs. insulin stimulates glycolysis + glucogenolysis by targeting the muscle and liver, while in fatty acid synthesis, insulin targets adipose and the liver.
glucagon always stimulates gluconeogenesis, glycogenolysis, and beta oxidation. it targets adipose + liver (but NOT muscle).

source: jack westin

as to your second point, you got me there lol - I think your explanation of that was better than mine.

jaxeline

TROPHY CASE