In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Molly is joined by Usher (one of our Jack Westin CARS instructors) for a CARS Reading Skills Workshop using the Jack Westin Daily Passage: “Paul Cezanne”.Together, we go sentence-by-sentence and paragraph-by-paragraph to show you how to:✅ Track contrast words like “yet” (and why the MCAT loves them)✅ Spot the most repeated idea to lock in the main idea✅ Recognize when the passage keeps returning to the same theme✅ Map the passage so questions feel easier and faster✅ Avoid outside knowledge traps (even if you know the topic)✅ Improve elimination by repeating your core ideas before reading answer choicesKey theme in this passage: Cezanne’s work feels fresh by blending Impressionist techniques with older “old master” methods (new + old = the MCAT’s favorite kind of tension).Want to follow along?📌 Read the passage is here: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/paul-czanne📌 If not, the passage link is in the description so you can try the questions first.🎯 After listening, go attempt the 5 questions for this passage and practice applying the main idea under test conditions.

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast💻 Try our Chrome Extension (video solutions to every AAMC passage) https://tinyurl.com/4jw5pad8📚 Free Resources: https://jackwestin.com?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast🎓 Live Education Sessions: https://jackwestin.com/sessions?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast🙋 Tutoring: https://jackwestin.com/services/live-online-mcat-tutoring?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast📸 Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackwestinmcat?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast👥 Join our Facebook Study Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/freemcatprep?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

In this episode of the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast, Mike and Molly continue their MCAT brain anatomy series by tackling one of the most underrated topics on the exam: how the brain actually makes you move.

If you’ve ever thought “why are there so many brain parts just for movement?” this episode is your roadmap.

You’ll learn:

🧠 Motor cortex basics – where voluntary movement starts and why it lives in the frontal lobe

🚦 Basal ganglia as the gatekeeper – suppression vs initiation of movement, not just “on/off”

💊 Dopamine & Parkinson’s – substantia nigra, why dopamine loss causes bradykinesia, and why L-Dopa (not dopamine) works

🎭 Huntington’s disease – when the problem isn’t too little movement, but too much

🎯 Cerebellum & coordination – balance, smooth movements, and why alcohol messes it up

🔁 How these brain regions connect to motor neurons, muscle contraction, and earlier muscle episodes

📚 MCAT-style takeaways – what the test actually expects you to recognize in passages and questions

You’ll also hear:

How to think about initiation → coordination → execution of movement in a simple, testable way

How to use real life (walking, writing, sports, feeling off-balance, being sleepy) as built-in “flashcards” for MCAT physics, bio, and psych/soc

If motor cortex vs basal ganglia vs cerebellum all blur together for you, this episode will finally separate them in your head.

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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Struggling with MCAT CARS, especially when the passage is about something science-y you actually like? 🤯In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Molly and guest tutor Asher (4th year med student & CARS expert) walk you through the “Eco-Archaeology” CARS passage from January 14 sentence by sentence and show you exactly how to think while you read.You’ll see how they:🧠 Track the author’s argument & main idea across multiple paragraphs⚖️ Use contrast words like “however” to spot subtle shifts the MCAT loves to test🌲 Handle topic interest & personal bias so your outside knowledge doesn’t tank your CARS scoreThey also show how archaeologists, forests, fish bones, and “manmade ecosystems” all tie into a single main idea the MCAT expects you to recognize and how to use that understanding to crush the questions.Read the passage here first: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/eco-archeology

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast💻 Try our Chrome Extension (video solutions to every AAMC passage) https://tinyurl.com/4jw5pad8📚 Free Resources: https://jackwestin.com?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast🎓 Live Education Sessions: https://jackwestin.com/sessions?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast🙋 Tutoring: https://jackwestin.com/services/live-online-mcat-tutoring?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast📸 Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackwestinmcat?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast👥 Join our Facebook Study Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/freemcatprep?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

What the medulla oblongata actually does on the MCAT (besides sounding fancy)? In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Mike and Molly kick off a new MCAT brain anatomy series by starting with the structures that literally keep you alive: the brainstem and vital functions.

Instead of drowning you in neuroanatomy, they connect what you see in MCAT passages to how the brain actually works in real life.

You’ll learn:

🧬 How the neural tube develops into forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain (and which parts matter most for the MCAT)

🫁 Why the medulla oblongata is the “vital functions HQ” for breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure

😴 How the pons and RAS (reticular activating system) control arousal, sleep–wake cycles, and what happens in coma or under anesthesia

☕ How caffeine hacks adenosine receptors to keep you “awake” while parts of your brain are still tired

⚡ How the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic vs parasympathetic) actually uses these brainstem regions to run fight-or-flight and rest-and-digest

This episode is perfect if you:

🤯 Keep mixing up medulla, pons, and midbrain on MCAT questions

📚 Want a story-based way to remember brainstem functions instead of brute-force memorization

🧪 Like seeing how MCAT psych/soc and bio/biochem overlap in real physiology

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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In this MCAT CARS Reading Skills Workshop episode of the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast, Jack and Molly break down the Jack Westin Daily CARS passage “Old Folks Homes” (January 7) sentence by sentence and show you how to lock onto the author’s argument when the passage feels straightforward, but still testable.

This passage is a great example of how clear tone and repeated contrasts point directly to the main idea if you know what to track. We treat this like a live CARS tutoring session, reading carefully, flagging tone shifts, and mapping how the author builds a case against institutionalized elderly housing in favor of residential, community-focused design.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

🧠 Identify the main idea when the passage feels “easy” but still hides traps

🎯 Track strong tone words that signal the author’s opinion early

🔍 Separate background criticism from the author’s real argument

🧭 Follow how ideas repeat and evolve across paragraphs

⚖️ Understand the key contrast between institutionalized healthcare and residential housing with services

🚦 Recognize when a contrast word (but) signals emphasis not a change in direction

What we cover using the “Old Folks Homes” passage:

- Why the author views modern elderly housing as a “depressing wasteland”

- How treating seniors as a “monolithic group” creates design failures

- Why architects are urged to rethink zoning, healthcare codes, and assumptions

- How repeated expert opinions reinforce the passage’s core claim

- How MCAT CARS rewards tracking arguments, not memorizing details

Read the passage first: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/old-folks-homes

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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In this Jack Westin MCAT Podcast episode, Mike and Molly continue the reproductive story, picking up right where the menstrual cycle left off. This time, they walk you through what actually happens after fertilization, from zygote to blastula to the three germ layers, focusing only on what the MCAT really cares about, not med school level detail.

Instead of memorizing random diagrams and timelines, you will learn the logic and sequence behind early embryonic development so you can handle any MCAT passage or discrete that touches fertilization, implantation, stem cells, or germ layers.

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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🎓 Live Education Sessions: https://jackwestin.com/sessions?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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Start the new year by finally making peace with MCAT CARS. In this CARS Reading Skills Workshop episode of the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast, we walk through a full Jack Westin Daily CARS passage called “Standardized Tests” (posted on December 31) and show you exactly how to think while you read.

We treat this like a live CARS tutoring session: reading sentence by sentence, talking through confusion, and mapping the author’s argument so main idea questions feel way less mysterious.

In this MCAT CARS episode, you’ll learn how to:

🧠 Understand what the author actually believes about standardized tests

🧩 Separate background / history (Thorndike, criterion-referenced tests, etc.) from the real argument

🎯 Spot the author’s subtle skepticism about “objective” testing and statistics

🧾 Use validity and reliability the way this passage defines them (not your psych/soc memory)

🧭 Track when the passage shifts from standardized tests to criterion-referenced tests and why that matters

⚖️ Recognize when an author is questioning “objectivity” and hinting at subjectivity and judgment

Read the passage here first: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/standardized-tests

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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👥 Join our Facebook Study Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/freemcatprep?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

In this episode of the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast, Mike and Molly break down one of the most confusing and heavily tested topics in MCAT Biology: the menstrual cycle.

Instead of memorizing hormone charts and phase names, we focus on understanding the story behind the cycle so you can answer any MCAT question, even when it’s asked in an unfamiliar way.

We cover:

🧠 Why the menstrual cycle is really two parallel cycles (ovarian vs uterine)

🔁 The follicular phase, ovulation, and luteal phase—and what actually drives each one

📈 How estrogen switches from negative to positive feedback

⚡ The LH surge and what truly triggers ovulation

🟡 The role of the corpus luteum and why progesterone matters

🧬 How the ovarian cycle “calls the shots” for the uterine cycle

🚫 Why memorization fails on MCAT hormone questions

🧪 How the AAMC tests this topic using passage-based reasoning

If hormone graphs blur together for you, or you’ve ever missed a question because you knew the facts but didn’t understand the why, this episode will help everything finally click.

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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In this MCAT CARS episode, we walk through a full Jack Westin Daily CARS Passage called “Nativity Ode” (originally posted on December 24) and show you exactly how to read, interpret, and track the author’s ideas for tougher humanities passages.

You’ll see us go sentence by sentence and break down:

📌 How to identify the subject vs. the author’s point

🖼️ Why familiar, domestic nativity paintings matter to the argument

✒️ How Milton’s nativity poem contrasts with those paintings

🤫 What the author really means by an “uncluttered” poem focused on silence

🧩 How to tell when a paragraph is just example/support vs. a new argument

🎯 How to extract the main idea without understanding every dense sentence

🌀 What to do when a CARS paragraph feels esoteric, abstract, or confusing

This episode is perfect if you’re:

❓ Struggling with MCAT CARS main idea questions

📚 Unsure how to handle art/literature passages

🔁 Over-rereading and still not “getting” what the author wants to say

🎧 Looking for guided CARS practice you can follow along with in real time

🔗 You can find the original Jack Westin Daily CARS passage “Nativity Ode” here: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/nativity-ode

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

🙋 Tutoring: https://jackwestin.com/services/live-online-mcat-tutoring?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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👥 Join our Facebook Study Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/freemcatprep?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

You can enjoy the holidays and still make real progress on your MCAT prep. This episode walks through how to balance family time, rest, and intentional studying so you don’t burn out or lose momentum.

We talk about:

🎄 How to handle MCAT studying during the winter holidays without guilt

😴 Why rest is required for score growth, not a “reward”

🧱 What a “maintenance phase” looks like if your MCAT is still a few months away

🎯 How to study intentionally instead of half-studying all day

📅 Why consistency matters more than intensity over the holidays

📚 How often you should do CARS passages so you don’t “lose” your skills

🃏 Smart ways to use Anki, practice questions, and review without grinding 8+ hours

📆 What to do if your MCAT is in January vs later in the year

✅ Quality over quantity: doing less, but doing it better

If you’ve ever felt like the MCAT is hanging over your shoulder when you’re trying to relax with family, this conversation is for you. You deserve focused study time and focused rest.

Want to learn more? Shoot us a text at 415-855-4435 or email us at [email protected]! 📱

📌 Free Academic Advising: https://calendly.com/academic-advising-4/jack-westin-academic-advising?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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

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

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👨🏻‍🏫 Courses: https://jackwestin.com/courses?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast

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