Important things to know

don't get overwhelmed with the small details, those details are important, but understanding the big picture is so much
more important, because the MCAT is full of application

try to ask yourself "why" questions while studying; "why" is this path preferred in starvation mode, "why" does the Km
value change

try to think of its applications into other sections: how might this pathway lead to a psychological disorder if misregulated,
how might changing this hydroxyl group change the way it reacts with other compounds

Going section by section:

Amino acids

Know these hardcore; there are so many sites that quiz you on your amino acids by looking at them, 3 letter codes, 1 letter
codes etc

I would say know that "major" distinctions; ex. valine is nonpolar, isoleucine is nonpolar, but don't worry too much about,
'well Tyr has an OH group, but it's aromatic, which group does it belong to'

best thing you can do it memorize memorize memorize

Protein Structure

again, memorize the major classifications here: primary sequence = amino acid code, secondary = arrangement into alpha
and beta structures as dictated by hydrogen bonds, etc.

I would try to understand the hydrophobic effect; solvation layer is something that I think a lot of pre-meds miss out on
really understanding; how does the entropy change?
Enzyme kinetics:

For the love that all that is holy - MEMORIZE THE INHIBITION GRAPHS; you know, line-weaver burk, what information does
it tell us, does vmax or Km change for these types of reactions etc.

Understanding the broad classification / working of an enzyme is a huge help; if you see ligase, you know it's joining two
things, if its a carboxylase its adding a COO- to it, etc.

know a typical reaction mechanism diagram; does delta G of the reaction change, does activation energy change; how do
enzymes achieve this?

cooperativity- not tested hugely AFAIK; but an important concept to wrap your head around; google a hemoglobin example
in order to think through how it works, compare this to the myoglobin curve

Know how enzymes can be regulated; feedback, feedforward, allosteric, covalently modified, zymogens
Chromatography - pretty simple to understand, viewing some videos on youtube of the process actually happening will help you
wrap your brain around it if you haven't done it in a lab yet

learning protein sequence by different methods; not hugely tested (again), but Edman degradation, protein assays; try to
think "what is the purpose of this assay", not "we add x amount of y reagent and it does blah blah to indicate blah blah"
Sugars

know your simple sugar structures - glucose, glyceraldehyde, dihydroxyacetone

how do they cyclize? what is an anomeric carbon? if you understand what an anomeric carbon is, you'll understand how you
can tell if a sugar is reducing or non-reducing

what kind of linkages exist; what is an alpha vs beta linkage (googling pictures will be your friend here)
Vitamins

Know your mnemonic; I've seen "ADEK in that fat ass" posted here recently to help memorize fat-soluble vitamins
Lipids

try to think of them in terms of what they do: some are built for storage (what properties do they have that lend
themselves to easy storage), and some for signalling
DNA Replication

watch videos if you still don't know this

think about this in terms of what happens if something goes wrong

misregulation of the cell cycle, protooncogenes, etc

recombination, what is it's purpose

RNA

know the three types

know it's process of transcription and translation

for post-translational modifications know the big 4: phosphorylation, carboxylation, glycosylation, prenylation

know how to control gene expression: operons, and inducible vs repressible systems (high yield on my MCAT)

histones, acetylation, DNA methylation and how that affects whether or not we can transcribe DNA; where does this come
into play in the cell cycle?
Membranes

knowing movement was way more important that structure for me

what are they ways things can cross the membrane

Carb metabolism

know glycolysis, CAC etc, but know these things more:

which steps are irreversible and what enzymes catalyze them

which steps yield energy

where do the processes occur within a cell

which tissues have different enzymes and why (liver vs muscle tissue)

what type of energy molecule does each tissue prefer, and how and when do we make it (brain likes glucose, but will use
ketone bodies in starvation mode, how do we do this?)

NADPH = anabolic, building reactions, NADH = primarily important in the catabolic, breakdown reactions
Lipid/Amino acid metabolism

same as above: know the paths, and where it occurs, and the important enzymes
Regulating metabolism

try to learn this in the context of each pathway: ex. insulin acts on GLUT4 but not GLUT2 transporter, this