Rach Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 My Kaplan books do not cover the essential amino acids at all, but I have heard people say that it's important to know the structure of those AAs, know which ones are polar, which ones have basic or acidic side chains, etc. I haven't taken biochem so that stuff would be completely new to me. Should I just go by the material in Kaplan, or is it worth finding a book (or website) that would teach me these things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 Hmmm, I'm gonna say no. It would probably be good to know their basic structure (such as that they have a nitrogen in them - I recall seeing a question that required that knowledge), but don't bother with the polar-non-polar junk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I highly doubt you will see any of that. Would probably be useful to know the charged ones, but not a biggie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericl Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 I would say know which are acidic, basic, polar, hydrophobic. I say this because I had a question asking for which amino acid is basic on my mcat. Overall, not that important since there won't be there'll be one question on it out of the 52? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted May 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Thanks guys. I probably won't bother studying that unless I happen to have extra time, but that's not looking likely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowplay Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 I think you're just supposed to know basic structure (with "R" as a side group). Also make sure you know what a zwitterion is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted May 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 Do we need to memorize the values of certain constants (speed of light, coulomb's, avagadro's, planck's, etc)? Or are these always provided on the test? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sv3 Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 for what its worth TPR said to remember the speed of light but not the others you mentioned. Your best bet might be to check out a previous AAMC to see what was provided or not. I don't think its that important to remember constants as opposed to some key equations...... .........but you'll kick ass anyway right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted May 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 for what its worth TPR said to remember the speed of light but not the others you mentioned. Your best bet might be to check out a previous AAMC to see what was provided or not. I don't think its that important to remember constants as opposed to some key equations...... .........but you'll kick ass anyway right? I'm trying to stay positive (hoping that the law of attraction really works, hah)! thanks, guess I'll find out soon enough with practice tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjaface Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 If law of attraction holds in this context, wouldn't being positive attract negative results? I would say that memorizing all the amino acids would get you a single point question at most. If there are any other topics you still have trouble understanding, I would focus on those before blowing a couple hours on rote memorization of amino acid structures. It's not going to be what makes or breaks your score, that's for sure; a "low yield" topic if there ever was one. Speed of light is the only constant they say you need to know, and they'd probably give you that one too. Good luck! And don't write it until your practice tests are around 30 or above - they are valid indicators (the AAMC ones anyways), but you may need to subtract a bit off your practice average if you think you will be prone to test day anxiety or sleeplessness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xi88 Posted May 29, 2009 Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 I had a question about AA structures on my MCAT, but there was a passage with all the structures listed as a figure. The question tested whether or not I could infer properties from the chemical structures, not if I had memorized what they were. The MCAT tests understanding and comprehension, not memorization skills (which is what is tested in undergrad classes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rach Posted May 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2009 If law of attraction holds in this context, wouldn't being positive attract negative results? I would say that memorizing all the amino acids would get you a single point question at most. If there are any other topics you still have trouble understanding, I would focus on those before blowing a couple hours on rote memorization of amino acid structures. It's not going to be what makes or breaks your score, that's for sure; a "low yield" topic if there ever was one. Speed of light is the only constant they say you need to know, and they'd probably give you that one too. Good luck! And don't write it until your practice tests are around 30 or above - they are valid indicators (the AAMC ones anyways). Well I'm hoping the law of the attraction that applies in this case is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Attraction Guess I've seen one too many of Oprah's episodes. Thanks for the info on the AAs and constants. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can get a few practice tests around 30 before my test date! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldnk Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 It's trivia. It doesn't accomplish anything by having you memorize them right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 I had a question about AA structures on my MCAT, but there was a passage with all the structures listed as a figure. The question tested whether or not I could infer properties from the chemical structures, not if I had memorized what they were. The MCAT tests understanding and comprehension, not memorization skills (which is what is tested in undergrad classes) Exactly, it always helped me to remember the spirit of the test was to make you think, not to make you memorize. You should know the properties of any common chemical group presented to you I think - that really helped me on the test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 My Kaplan books do not cover the essential amino acids at all, but I have heard people say that it's important to know the structure of those AAs, know which ones are polar, which ones have basic or acidic side chains, etc. I haven't taken biochem so that stuff would be completely new to me. Should I just go by the material in Kaplan, or is it worth finding a book (or website) that would teach me these things? I highly doubt that you need to memorize the amino acids and their structures/properties. But I would suggest that you be familiar with it since a passage could come up with those things on it. You should know things like, polar AA's are usually on the exterior of proteins while nonpolar ones are in the interior, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavp Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 To add to great plethora of comments above: MCAT is a time-management skill test: you have too much information to master and not enough time. Thus, you choose what to study. I see this as a prime example of such dilemmas: to study bond structure of every amino acid or to find the pattern (acidity/basicity/hydrophobicity) that you could identify without even knowing what amino acid is it. It's your call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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