📚

Essential MCAT High Yield Topics Guide

May 17, 2025

MCAT High Yield Topics Overview

Introduction

  • Aim to study every topic on the MCAT.
  • Focus on "high yield" topics - more likely to appear on the exam.
  • Each MCAT is different; high yield topics are efficient to study first.
  • Lists provided are non-exhaustive and not guaranteed to be on the exam.

Biology/Biochemistry Section

  1. Amino Acids
    • Know names, structures, polarity, charge.
    • Understand electrophoresis movement and protein structure substitution.
    • Resources: Online amino acid quizzes.
  2. The Central Dogma of Biology
    • DNA transcribed to RNA, translated into proteins.
    • Know details of transcription/translation, involved enzymes, start/stop codons.
    • Locations of processes within the cell.
  3. Enzyme Kinetics
    • Understand enzyme functions, thermodynamics, catalysis.
    • Familiarize with enzyme inhibition and Michaelis-Menten charts.
  4. Metabolic Pathways
    • Master glucose pathways, ATP production, electron carriers (NADH, FADH2).
    • Know rate-limiting steps and main/glucose side pathways (nucleotide, protein, lipid).
  5. Additional High Yield Topics
    • Aerobic metabolism, oxyhemoglobin curve, nervous system, action potentials.
    • Hormones, endocrine system, cell mitosis, meiosis.

Chemistry/Physics Section

  1. Equations and Units
    • Memorize for effective problem-solving, even without full comprehension.
  2. Physics Focus Areas
    • Electronic structure, periodic trends, atomic decay, fluids.
  3. Chemistry Focus Areas
    • Acids and bases, thermodynamics, electrochemical cells, chemical equilibrium.
  4. Organic Chemistry
    • Functional groups, nucleophilic substitution (SN1 vs. SN2).
  5. Lab Techniques
    • Extraction, distillation, chromatography, electrophoresis.
    • Importance due to 20% exam weight on experimental design.

Psychology/Sociology Section

  1. Theories of Emotion
    • Processing theories: James-Lange, Schachter-Singer.
  2. Stages of Development
    • Theories: Piaget, Freud, Erikson, Kohlberg.
    • Compare, contrast, and stage identification in models.
  3. Social Processes and Group Behavior
    • Behavioral differences in groups; common on tests.
  4. Attribution Theory
    • Perception of behavior: dispositional vs. situational causes.
  5. Associative Learning
    • Classical conditioning (Pavlov's dog) and operant conditioning.

Conclusion

  • These are the bare minimum high yield topics.
  • Aim to know every detail about high yield topics and more.
  • High yield topics are a strategic starting point.
  • Good luck! 🙂

Full transcript