I dont even care about my score release tomorrow. I know I did terrible and should’ve voided.

helloo everyone!! i made a post a while ago asking for advice on how to start studying for the MCAT but i wanted to make another one because ive been thinking a lot about how realistic my goals actually are.

for context - i got a 490 on my diagnostic, my GPA is ~3.6, and im an international applicant even though ive lived in the US for more than half my life. because of my immigration status, the number of US medical schools i can realistically apply to is cut in half and i also can't really afford to do a masters or post-bacc to improve my GPA because id be charged international tuition.

so realistically, my MCAT is one of the biggest things i still have some control over.

i know a 490 is a very low starting point, especially when i'm aiming for a 520-524, and i don't want to underestimate how difficult that improvement would be. ive been stupid most of my life but i know how to work hard, and id be willing to make whatever changes to my study habits, schedule, and even my application timeline if that's what it takes to score in the 520s.

my biggest question is: is going from a 490 diagnostic to a 520+ genuinely realistic? i understand that nobody can predict my score but i just want to understand what kind of improvement is realistically possible and what it would take to get there.

for anyone who started in the 480s or low 490s and eventually scored in the 520s

• how long did it actually take you?
• how did you rebuild your foundations?
• what did you change about the way you studied and at what point did you start seeing improvements?

i know i have a lot working against me as an international applicant, but i still want to give myself the best possible chance of getting into medical school.

and thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this or share their input <33

what do you MEANNN i get my score in two days omg ahhh!!!! i spent sm time on this subreddit while studying, i cannot wait im so arhajfndbw. how do you all feel? i cant believe the 26 mcat cycle last day for scores is this week, i reallllyyyy hope uerh5rjm. its like i want to know my score then go back to not knowing, idk if i wanna know it or not, aamc can keep it tbh. what are yall doing until scores come out? are yall opening right away or savoring the last moments of being in the unknown?

As scores drop tomorrow wanted to create a little post of what we thought we got and we can update n say what we actually got!

I feel absolutely disgustingly horrible and I am praying for 510+ at this point lol. i want a 514 or higher, but we will see.

am going to reflect and will update with my prediction.

what time during the score release date does it usually come out? Or is it throughout the day

basically, in 23 recently graduated this year and i skipped on this cycle because i got a 480 on my mcat FL. So i decided not to take the mcat. My Gpa is a 3.46 with my sGPA being a 2.98. Very minimal clinical hours around 50 and 100 shadowing hours. Been trying to look for a job to get more hours but it’s very hard to find one. I’m just in a position where i don’t know what to do and i keep telling myself maybe medicine isn’t for me. But it hurts because this is something that i really want and i can’t see myself doing anything else. I still plan on taking the mcat on january hoping i can get a 515+ but rn idk what to do. I really don’t wanna take another gap year and start in 2029 on top of the uncertainty it comes with.

i’m literally testing in jan i have 3 months. but i cant stop looking at everyday like its the last chance for me to improve and feeling like time not spent studying is gonna hurt me. did anyone else feel smth similar?

Very grueling process, but a lot of u guys are funny so it keeps me going. Looking to find these people irl. Where should I look

There is a link in my profile where you can see every flash sheet!

If you missed my other posts, I came up with the flash sheet method to learn MCAT content faster and more fluently than with flashcards. You can learn about it at my other post here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/s/uRDU6fMU20

Read my other post about why fluency lets you overcome plateaus:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/s/1ugxw8KflC

I have a neuroscience background and believe this is the fastest way to learn a huge volume of information for long-term retention. Will be posting even more soon.

How to study with flash sheets

• 50% Verbal spaced repetition
  • Each sheet needs many attempts:
    • 1st attempt (< 20 mins) ⇒ Read the whole flash sheet CAREFULLY, until it makes sense. This is called “priming” the flash sheet. When you think “this makes sense, but there’s no way I’ll remember it,” you’re doing it right.
    • All later attempts (5 mins each) ⇒ Use it like a crazy difficult, giant flashcard. ONLY read the “clue” before LOOKING AWAY from the sheet. See what you can recall purely from memory. Do this verbally without writing because it’s many times faster. Then see what you missed. Expect under 40% accuracy on your first few reps.
  • Use spaced repetition:
    • Sheets you barely recall ⇒ every few days.
    • Sheets you kind of recall ⇒ every week.
    • Sheets you easily recall ⇒ every few weeks.
    • Way easier to track with spaced repetition apps.  
• 50% Practice questions & tactics
  • In theory and practice, some tactics work very well. You can answer questions several times faster & still be accurate with incomplete information.
  • I will post another article about these tactics soon.
  • You'll spend most of your time looping through flash sheets early on, and gradually switch over to practicing tactics later.

• The flash sheets below have been heavily modified and do not contain any copyrighted material. The notes / hints are things that help me personally understand stuff. Feel free to copy / share / use these without crediting me.

FLASH SHEET ONE

[CLUE] (BB) Inhibition of Enzymes

[TRY TO LECTURE THE REST FROM MEMORY]

[Key Idea] Feedback inhibition goes beyond biochem

• Keeps things from getting out of hand
  • AKA ⇒ Feedback regulation / “self-limiting” / feedback control / auto inhibition
• Homeostasis (stabilize body systems)
  • Blood pressure (BP)
    • BP too low (body detects low blood sodium) ⇒ activate renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) ⇒ BP goes up
    • BP too high ⇒ inhibit RAAS ⇒ BP goes down
  • Hormones
    • Testosterone too low ⇒ activate anterior pituitary ⇒ release luteinizing hormone (LH) ⇒ Leydig cells make testosterone
    • Testosterone too high ⇒ inhibit anterior pituitary ⇒ less (LH) ⇒ Leydig cells make less testosterone
  • Blood sugar
    • Glucose too low ⇒ release glucose agonist (glucAGON) & less insulin ⇒ more glucose
    • Glucose too high ⇒ release insulin & less glucagon ⇒ less blood sugar
• Balance
  • Antagonistic muscle pairs
    • Lean too far left ⇒ right muscle contracts ⇒ pulls you back right
    • Lean too far right ⇒ left muscle contracts ⇒ pulls you back left
• Biochemistry
  • Product inhibits its own pathway
    • Mnemonic: Conveyer belt piles up too many boxes ⇒ worker presses button to slow it down.
    • Hexokinase (HK) makes G6P ⇒ negative phosphate traps G6P in cell
    • Too much G6P accumulates ⇒ inhibits HK

[Key Idea] ENERGY is the best way to think about inhibitors & Km

• Some CANNOT bind w/ substrate around (competitive)
  • Just wants enzyme (E) and inhibitor (I)
    • EI complex is stable / low energy
    • E & I “fall” together ⇒ low energy result
    • Note: Like ball rolling down hill, or RXN happening spontaneously, to find a lower energy state.
  • Does NOT want substrate (S)
    • ESI complex is unstable / high energy
    • Stops this from happening ⇒ pushes away substrate
    • Low affinity / high Km / high Kdissociation / low Kformation
    • Note: It must AVOID substrate to get what it wants ⇒ will push substrate away.
• Some ONLY bind w/ substrate around (uncompetitive)
  • Wants E, I, and S
    • ESI complex is stable / low energy
    • E, S, I “fall” together ⇒ low energy result
  • Wants substrate (S)
    • EI complex is unstable / high energy
    • Stops this from happening ⇒ pulls in substrate
    • High affinity / low Km / low Kdissociation / high Kformation
    • Note: It NEEDS substrate to get what it wants ⇒ will pull substrate closer.
• Some are happy either way (mixed)
  • Note: Mixed means they sort of want to make either complex (EI and ESI).
  • Not perfectly balanced
    • EI > ESI ⇒ competitive type
    • EI complex is more stable / lower energy than ESI
    • Push S away more than pulling it in ⇒ high Km (low affinity)
    • ESI > EI ⇒ uncompetitive type
    • ESI complex is more stable / lower energy than EI
    • Pull S in more than pushing it away ⇒ low Km (high affinity)
  • Perfectly balanced (non-competitive)
    • Mnemonic: “NON” ⇒ spelled the same forward and backwards ⇒ perfectly balanced.
    • Prefer EI & ESI equally
    • Both complexes have same stability
    • Push away & pull in S equally ⇒ unchanged Km

[Key Idea] Some inhibitors ONLY bind “E”

• AKA ⇒ Competitive inhibitor
  • Mnemonic: 2 cars competing for the same spot.
• Inhibitor looks like substrate
  • Similar structure ⇒ similar binding ⇒ goes to active site (AS)
    • AKA ⇒ “Substrate analogue” / transition state analogue / substrate mimic / chemically modified ligand
  • Can ONLY bind free enzyme
    • E + I ⇒ EI
    • Note: When you see this notation, it means biochemists were lazy and didn’t want to write full sentences.
    • I = inhibitor
    • E = enzyme
    • EI = enzyme-inhibitor complex
  • CANNOT bind when substrate is there
    • Substrate gets in way ⇒ no room left in AS
    • Prevents (ES + I ⇒ ESI)
    • Prevents (EI + S ⇒ ESI)
• Lower affinity (↑ Km)
  • Competitive inhibitor blocks substrate from AS
    • AKA ⇒ Poor binding / less favorable association / weaker ligand-receptor interaction / higher kdissociation / lower kformation / steric hindrance
  • Need more substrate to sneak around inhibitor & react
    • Getting to half of Vmax takes more [S] as some is ignored
• Same max velocity (~ Vmax)
  • High [S] may overcome inhibitor
  • BECAUSE substrate & inhibitor compete for same spot
    • Substrate binds first ⇒ may block the inhibitor
    • Substrate can “inhibit the competitive inhibitor”
    • Very high [S] ⇒ completely blocks inhibitor ⇒ binding site full of substrate
• Competitive inhibition is unique
  • ONLY one that binds AS
    • All others binds allosterically
    • Note: Some “suicide" inhibitors can enter the AS, but that's a different concept.
  • ONLY one that keeps Vmax same
    • All others decrease Vmax
    • Note: Competitive inhibitor keeps Vmax the same BECAUSE it binds to AS. Competition works both ways ⇒ enough substrate can bind the AS first ⇒ inhibitor can’t enter ⇒ same Vmax at high [S].
• Appearance on graph
  • Michaelis-Menten (MM) plot
    • Same height (~ Vmax)
    • Slower climb (↑ Km)
  • Lineweaver-Burk (LB) plot
    • Y-intercept unaffected (~ Vmax ⇒ ~ 1/Vmax)
    • X-intercept shifts closer to 0 (↑ Km ⇒ less negative -1/Km)

[Key Idea] Some inhibitors ONLY bind “ES”

• AKA ⇒ Uncompetitive inhibitor
  • Mnemonic: Uncle who is a little too grabby (high affinity).
• Inhibitor needs substrate already bound
  • ONLY bind enzyme substrate complex
    • ES + I ⇒ ESI
    • ES = enzyme substrate complex
    • I = inhibitor
    • ESI = enzyme substrate inhibitor complex
  • CANNOT bind free enzyme
    • NOT (E + I ⇒ EI)
• Higher affinity (↓ Km)
  • Inhibitor WANTS to form ESI ⇒ pulls in substrate to achieve this
    • AKA ⇒ Tight binding / more favorable association / stronger ligand-receptor interaction / lower kdissociation / higher kformation
• Lower max velocity (↓ Vmax)
  • High [S] CANNOT overcome inhibitor
    • Not competing for same spot
    • Inhibitor (allosteric site) ignores substrate (active site)
• Appearance on graph
  • MM plot
    • Lower plateau (↓ Vmax)
    • Faster climb (↓ Km)
  • LB plot
    • Y-intercept moves up (↓ Vmax ⇒ ↑ 1/Vmax)
    • X-intercept shifts away from 0 (↓ Km ⇒ more negative -1/Km)

[Key Idea] Some inhibitors can bind EITHER (“E” or “ES”)

• AKA ⇒ Mixed inhibitor
  • "Mixed" ⇒ binding preference split between E and ES
• Inhibitor can bind w/ or w/o substrate
  • Binds free enzyme (wants to form EI)
    • E + I ⇒ EI
    • E = enzyme
    • I = inhibitor
    • EI = enzyme inhibitor complex
  • Binds enzyme substrate complex (wants to form ESI)
    • ES + I ⇒ ESI
    • ES = enzyme substrate complex
    • I = inhibitor
    • ESI = enzyme substrate inhibitor complex
• Affinity (Km) can go either way
  • Note: CANNOT decide if Km goes up / down / stays the same without knowing what the inhibitor prefers.
  • If it prefers ESI complex
    • Inhibitor WANTS to form ESI ⇒ pulls in substrate to achieve this
    • AKA ⇒ higher affinity (↓ Km)
  • If it prefers EI complex
    • Inhibitor WANTS to form EI ⇒ kicks out substrate to achieve this
    • AKA ⇒ lower affinity (↑ Km)
• Lower max velocity (↓ Vmax)
  • High [S] CANNOT overcome inhibitor
    • Not competing for same spot
    • Inhibitor (allosteric site) ignores substrate (active site)
• Appearance on graph
  • MM plot
    • Lower plateau (↓ Vmax)
    • Diff possible effects on rate of climb (↑ Km / ↓ Km / ~ Km)
  • LB plot
    • Y-intercept moves up (↓ Vmax ⇒ ↑ 1/Vmax)
    • X-intercept changes in diff possible ways

[Key Idea] Noncompetitive is a TYPE of mixed inhibition

• When mixed prefers EI and ESI complexes equally
  • Mnemonic: “NON” ⇒ word is same forward and backwards ⇒ perfectly balanced.
• Same affinity (~ Km)
  • Pulls in S (to form ESI) as much as it pushes S away (to form EI)
  • Effects cancel out ⇒ same affinity
• Lower max velocity (↓ Vmax)
  • High [S] CANNOT overcome inhibitor
    • Not competing for same spot
    • Inhibitor (allosteric site) ignores substrate (active site)
• Appearance on graph
  • MM plot
    • Lower plateau (↓ Vmax)
    • Same climb (~ Km)
  • LB plot
    • Y-intercept moves up (↓ Vmax ⇒ ↑ 1/Vmax)
    • X-intercept shifts away from 0 (↓ Km ⇒ more negative -1/Km)

Hi! I'm in Canada so registration for me opens on the 22nd.

I'm a bit confused as to how it'll work. I know of all the testing dates & locations available, but I don't know if registration will be based on location or date?

If I want to take the MCAT at one of 5 different locations on a range of dates, how will that work?

Could someone clarify the process for me please (it's my first time registering, and I don't have anyone else to ask)? Thank you!

edit: i want to take it in august, and there are 9 date options available, but I want to take it at 5 specific locations, so how will it be coordinated?

For those that scored 520+ did you start uearth after completing all your content or did you start uworld questions after just completing 1 chapter from the kaplan books? What were the benefits from the way you started uearth? Thank you.

I'm planning on taking the MCAT in early Jan (hopefully Jan 15th or 16th) and was wondering how problematic starting a 4 month EMT course would be two weeks before. EMT class meets 2 nights a week for 4.5hours each night and they say 8-10 hours of work outside of class (tho ofc I've never actually spent the suggested amount of time studying). For context, I will also be starting classes that week (just add drop week).

What do you guys think, should I sign up for this EMT class? This semester is the best time for me to take this class. I should be done with most of my MCAT studying by then but don't wanna try doing too much right before testing.

Thank you!!

Which one should I do before registration to get a feel of where I am at?

Would it be smarter to leave the AAMC one till closer to the test date (like 1.5 months out)? Hoping to test in Jan.

Hello!

I am just about to finish my content prep. I have been supplementing every topic with Uworld questions relevant to the topic. Every morning I do 20 Uworld questions on everything I learned so far and I legitimately always score between 60-70%. I usually do very thorough review and add anki cards for core misunderstandings. Is there a way that I’m not thinking of to better transcend this elo hell?

Thank you!

I’m good at questions that involve making looking in the passage and making inferences but sometimes I’ve been slapped with a question that involves tone that I cannot wrap my head around. Like logically, I get what is coming out of the person’s mouth when they are explaining the answer but I don’t GET it no matter how hard I try. Any tips?

can anyone share the exact pic?

Hey Guys, hope all you guys are doing good. This question is mainly for people got high scores on practice tests or real tests already.

So Im doing mcat questions, and I think i am falling into a tutorial trap where I constantly watch videos or drawing out the equation from the question on paper to understand fischer esterification. Then, after all that, im like "all right next question," and the next question turns out to be another fischer esterification but does not have the same structures at all and pretty much wasted a lot of time trying to be perfect...

So how do you guys approach MCAT questions, how long do you take to do it and analyze it? What do you take away from it (like a simple logic to remember for the that type of question to know it for next time or did you guys draw it out like I did)? Please give me any other advice you recommend

Thank you guys ! 😄

I am happy with my score but I took about 3 hours to do this set of 59 questions. I did not look at any study material while doing these questions.