About the Book
No potential pre-med student should be without this book. Based on the format of First Aid for the USMLE , Insider's Guide to the MCAT provides a helpful introduction to the MCAT, a thorough but concise overview of topic areas that will help students assess their strengths and weaknesses, and a review of MCAT study guides currently on the market
Table of Contents:
Part 1 Exam preparation: stop worrying! - what is the MCAT? how do I sing up for the MCAT? is the MCAT expensive? when should I take the MCAT? what should I buy right away? what is the format of the MCAT? -verbal reasoning, physical sciences, writing sample, biological sciences; scoring - how is the MCAT scored? who gets the scores? what do I need to score on the MCAT? should I retake the MCAT? should I apply to medical school even if I have weak scores? should I release my scores? if so, when? minority and foreign students - what if I am a member of a minority group? what if I am a foreign student? course work - what courses do I need for the MCAT? what if I've already graduated from college? when should I start preparing for the MCAT? year before, month before, three weeks before, one week before, one day before; day of the exam - administrative mechanics and what to expect on the test day. Part 2 High-yield MCAT facts: verbal reasoning - introduction, time allotment, general principles and strategy, mental preparation, approaches to verbal reasoning passages, types of questions that appear in the verbal; section; running out of time, parting words; writing sample - introduction scoring, writing strategies, pace yourself, more writing strategies, parting words of advice, sample essay with critiques, practice writing sample topics; introduction to the physical sciences; physics - kinematics; projectiles; forces and Newton's Laws, inclined planes; springs, Hooke's Law, and simple harmonic motion; work and energy; collisions -momentum and energy; Torque and equilibrium, sounds and light, optics, sound, fluids and heat transfer, electrostatics and electromagnetism, electricity, circuits, resistance, and capacitance, right-hand rule; electromagnetic energy, nuclear physics, radioactive decay and half-life, essential physics formulas; inorganic chemistry - periodic trends, bonding - intramolecular versus intermolecular forces, moles and stoichiometry, quantum numbers, ideal gas law, Dalton's Law of partial pressures, morality, molality, and normality, colligative properties, equilibrium - general concepts, Le Chatelier's Principle, phase equilibria, solubility - equilibria, precipitation, and the common ion effect, calorimetry and heat transfer, thermodynamics, enthalpy - heat of formation, bond energy, and Hess's Law, chemical kinetics, redox reactions and voltaic/ electrolytic cells, redox, Nernst equation, and free energy, acid-base definitions, acid-base chemistry; introduction to the biological sciences; organic chemistry - IUPAC nomenclature and functional groups. (Part contents).
