Welcome back to the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast with Mike and Molly! This episode covers the single highest yield topic on the entire MCAT: amino acids. And no, memorizing structures is not enough. If you have ever known your amino acids cold and still gotten questions wrong, this episode is exactly what you need.

Mike and Molly go way beyond the list. They break down every amino acid by category, explain what makes each one chemically unique, and show you exactly how the MCAT connects amino acids to neurotransmitters, protein structure, acid-base chemistry, lab techniques, enzyme regulation, and more.

📌 Coming next episode: Protein structure, from individual amino acids to the incredible diversity of proteins they create.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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Welcome back to the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast with Mike and Molly! Last episode we broke down the neurobiology of language; Broca's, Wernicke's, split-brain patients. This episode we zoom all the way out and ask a question that's fascinated scientists for centuries:

Does the language you speak actually shape the way you think?

This is one of the most debated topics in MCAT psychology and one of the most fascinating. Mike and Molly break it all down, name by name, theory by theory.

📊 High-yield MCAT visual: Picture a number line. Thought on the left, language on the right. Every theory in this episode falls somewhere on that line — and knowing where is everything.

🔑 Names you MUST know for the MCAT:

Chomsky · Skinner · Vygotsky · Piaget · Sapir-Whorf

🎧 Next episode: Biomolecules — amino acids, proteins, enzymes, and DNA. The highest-yield topic on the entire MCAT. Don't miss it.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=podcast

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0:00 – Intro & recap of last episode (Broca's & Wernicke's)

3:30 – Why language theories matter on the MCAT

7:00 – Chomsky: Universal Grammar & the Language Acquisition Device

14:20 – Skinner: Language as operant conditioning

20:45 – Vygotsky: Social interaction theory of language

25:00 – Critical Period Hypothesis explained

30:10 – Genie Wiley: What isolation teaches us about language

36:00 – The thought vs language number line visual

40:30 – Universalism: thought determines language

44:00 – Piaget's cognitive development theory of language

47:30 – Vygotsky at the center: both matter equally

51:00 – Linguistic Relativity: language influences thought

55:30 – Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: language determines thought

1:01:00 – How to apply these theories on MCAT questions

1:06:00 – Coming up next: Biomolecules

Welcome back to the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast with Mike and Molly! In this episode, we're breaking down one of the most high-yield neuroscience topics on the MCAT, the biology of language and the brain areas behind it.

Ever wonder why some people lose the ability to speak clearly after a stroke, while others speak fluently but make zero sense? That's not random, it comes down to specific brain regions, and the MCAT loves to test exactly this.

🔑 High-yield MCAT tip: If you see broken, labored speech with intact comprehension → Broca's. Fluent speech that makes no sense → Wernicke's. Can't repeat phrases → conduction aphasia (arcuate fasciculus).

🎧 Next episode: Theories of language and language development — Chomsky, Whorf, and more. Don't miss it.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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In this episode of the Jack Westin CARS Podcast, Usher and Molly tackle one of the trickier philosophy passages in recent memory, "Moral Relations" from May 6th. If philosophy passages make you nervous on the MCAT, this one's for you.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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📖 This passage is linked in the description and available free on jackwestin.com as part of our daily CARS practice passages.

Is stress a bad thing? Not according to the science. In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Mike and Molly flip the coin from last episode's neurobiology of emotion to the psychology of emotion and stress. They walk through the major theories of emotion, break down eustress vs. distress, explain cognitive appraisal, and connect it to the MCAT study experience in a way that might actually change how you approach test day.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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Next episode: Language, thought, and aphasias

Did chimpanzees domesticate us? And if wild chimps don't exploit each other, why do captive chimps exploit humans? In this Jack Westin CARS Reading Skills Workshop, Usher and Molly break down the daily CARS passage "Chimpanzee Domestication" (April 29th), a surprisingly philosophical passage about the mutual relationship between humans and chimps that's way more nuanced than it first appears.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

💻 Try our Chrome Extension (expert solutions to every AAMC passage): https://tinyurl.com/4jw5pad8

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This is a great episode for anyone who struggles with passages where the same idea appears in slightly different forms across paragraphs, or who tends to over-complicate a passage that's actually more straightforward than it seems.

You got the acceptance. Or maybe you got the waitlist. Or maybe you're holding multiple offers and have no idea what to do next. April 30th is coming, and the decisions you make in the next few weeks can protect your seat or cost you one. In this Jack Westin Pre-Med Admissions Podcast episode, Dr. Anita Paschal (MD, double PhD, 35+ years on admissions committees) walks you through exactly how to navigate the final stretch of your application cycle.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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Whether you're celebrating an acceptance, sitting on a waitlist, or preparing for a possible reapplication, this episode gives you the admissions committee perspective on how to handle the most critical weeks of your cycle.

Why do you remember your most stressful moments so vividly but can't recall what you had for lunch last Tuesday? It's all about the limbic system. In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Mike and Molly break down the biology of emotion and stress, covering every limbic system structure, the HPA axis, cortisol, and general adaptation syndrome, plus how all of it directly applies to surviving your MCAT prep without burning out.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

💻 Try our Chrome Extension (expert solutions to every AAMC passage): https://tinyurl.com/4jw5pad8

📚 Free QBANK: https://jackwestin.com/qbank/?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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Next episode: The psychology of emotion and stress (theories, stages of experiencing emotion, and how we respond to stressors)

What do you do when a CARS passage gives you a laundry list of examples in one paragraph and then repeats the same idea with a new layer in every paragraph after that? You learn to recognize the pattern and stop over-mapping.

In this Jack Westin CARS Reading Skills Workshop, Usher and Molly break down the daily CARS passage "Ritual Failures" (April 22nd), an unusual passage that blends philosophy, anthropology, and speech act theory to explore why rituals go wrong. This one is packed with examples, parallel structure across paragraphs, and a rare gift-wrapped thesis statement that makes the main idea surprisingly clear if you know what to look for.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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This is a great episode for anyone who struggles with philosophy or anthropology passages, tends to over-map examples, or has trouble recognizing when paragraphs are just adding layers to the same core argument.

60% of med school applicants get rejected every year. Half of them had the GPA and MCAT they needed. They just applied to the wrong schools. In this Jack Westin Pre-Med Admissions Podcast episode, Dr. Anita Paschal (MD, double PhD, 35+ years on admissions committees) breaks down exactly how to build a strategic school list using real admissions committee insider knowledge.

Get started with our resources!

📌 Success Advising (get clarity on where you are and on what support and resources are necessary for your success): https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

💻 Try our Chrome Extension (expert solutions to every AAMC passage): https://tinyurl.com/4jw5pad8

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Whether you're finalizing your list this cycle or planning ahead, this episode gives you the admissions committee perspective on how to stop wasting money on schools that will never interview you.

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