saltandpepper Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 hi everyone! I tried googling, went through this forum, but failed... people use the term high-yield topics like one should just know what they are but i have no clue. where can I find a list of high yield topics for each mcat sections, chem, physics, bio and ochem? any help would be much appreciated... thanks and happy studying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 I'd be interested in this too! I've heard Kaplan does a good job of identifying high-yield topics, so could someone who's using Kaplan point out a couple? From what I've gathered from doing a few of the AAMC exams, it seems like the following are on every single test: - rate laws (kinetics) - Kinematics questions - Electricity - NMR spectroscopy - hormones (that's a given though) Could anyone suggest a few more/modify mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bahar1 Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 I bought KAPLAN REVIEW books (I do not strongly recommended them because they talk a lot and tried to be funny instead of condensing material. MCAT review book should be short and condense not long with lots of unnecessary stories.) But they have 5 book set, in each section they rate out of 6 who frequently the subject appeared on the MCAT. So let say they rate Humoral immunity 4 out of 6 Kidney 6 0f 6 Birth and gestation 3 out of 6 Their book also include a summery section called "high yield problems" you may want to borrow their book from a library to get an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lekarza Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 I have done all of the aamc tests and I have definitely found some high yield topics that reappear constantly. Here's a breakdown of what I have found: Physical: -snells law (I found 3 questions on 2 tests that were almost the same word for word) -wave equation (velocity=wavelength X frequency) -kinematics (one of the big five equations) -aamc loves solution chemistry and stoichiometry -acids and bases -force and gravitational motion -fluids and solids Biological: -ulcers (almost every test I have done has had a passage on this) -I found most of the passages to be on the physiology of some system (mainly circulatory or lymphatic, digestive or excretory) and then a passage on some disease (micro) and then one or two on orgo reactions -a fsq genetics question -a couple of fsq question asking about general eukaryotic cells (ex. where ribosomes are produced) -dna and protein synthesis -oxygen containing molecules I am probably leaving some stuff out but that is all I can think of right now. If you buy the practice aamc tests just go to the end where they give you a score breakdown and look at the sections that consistently have the highest number of questions. These will be your highest yielding sections. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Things I noticed: Chemistry & Physics: Wave equation (as stated) Stoichiometry Oxidation numbers Qualitative understanding of doppler effect Biology: Prokaryote VS eukaryote VS virus - know the differences. Bones and calcium balance Focus on the differences in systems - ex. the differences between smooth, skeletal and cardiac muscle, endocrine vs. nervous, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkentm Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 regarding ulcers... my review books dont really go over them. can someone provide me with a general idea of what the mcat expects us to know about ulcers? just off the top of my head, im guessing ulcers are from a lack of mucous covering the inner lining of the stomach? thus, hcl produced by the parietal cells start to autodigest the epithelial lining, which causes the ulcers. and perhaps a possible treatment would be to inhibit the release of gastrin by the pyloric glands? im just making stuff up so if anyone can help me out it would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lekarza Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 regarding ulcers... my review books dont really go over them. can someone provide me with a general idea of what the mcat expects us to know about ulcers? just off the top of my head, im guessing ulcers are from a lack of mucous covering the inner lining of the stomach? thus, hcl produced by the parietal cells start to autodigest the epithelial lining, which causes the ulcers. and perhaps a possible treatment would be to inhibit the release of gastrin by the pyloric glands? im just making stuff up so if anyone can help me out it would be appreciated Sorry I should have been more clear on that statement. You aren't expected to know anything about ulcers. I just happened to come across two tests that had passages explaining what ulcers were and you had to know the basics for the digestive system and what not to answer the questions. It is like any bio passage in which they discuss a random disease and then you have to apply basic science knowledge in order to answer the questions. I just found it weird that they used the example of ulcers so many times on tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Ulcers are caused by an h. pylori (bacterial) infection. Ulcers are nifty, because they are a clear case of a disease that is caused by a pathogen that people used to believe was caused by stress. The fellow who discovered this won a Nobel Prize. This is somewhat recent (1980's?) research that made a pretty big impact. I assume that is why the example comes up fairly often (plus it is a good way to ask about various biology concepts). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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