Psych/Soc has officially changed… and most students are still studying it the old way. 😬

In this episode, Mike & Molly break down the NEW strategy you need to crush MCAT Psych/Soc, without drowning in flashcards or memorizing the whole Khan Academy doc.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

✅ Why Psych/Soc now feels like CARS

✅ How to analyze research-style passages (not just terms!)

✅ High-yield psych + soc topics the AAMC LOVES

✅ How to build the Psych/Soc Doc for real mastery

✅ Why memorization collapses on test day when you’re mentally exhausted

✅ How to apply terms to real-world examples (just like the test!)

Plus, we preview next week’s Learning & Conditioning deep dive… one of the most tested topics on the whole MCAT.

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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Sharpen your CARS instincts with a full walkthrough of an AAMC-style “History & Literature” passage. We’ll map the argument, separate author vs. viewpoint voices, and dismantle common trap answers so you can move faster without sacrificing accuracy.

What you’ll learn:

Passage mapping for humanities texts (thesis, tone, shifts)

Timing & pacing: when to skim vs. slow down

Question strategy by type (main idea, author attitude, inference, function)

Wrong-answer patterns (extreme, outside scope, flip choices)

Read the passage first: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/history-and-literature

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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In this episode we connect genetics + central dogma to the next big step: how cells copy DNA and what happens when it goes wrong.

What you’ll learn (MCAT-high yield):

Semi-conservative replication: why each daughter DNA has one old + one new strand

Origins of replication & replication bubbles

Key enzymes: helicase, SSB proteins, topoisomerase, DNA pol III & I, primase, ligase

Leading vs. lagging strands and Okazaki fragments

Proofreading & repair: exonuclease activity, mismatch repair, nucleotide excision repair (UV/thymine dimers)

Mutation types: silent, nonsense, frameshift (+ why location matters)

Where this shows up in cell cycle, cancer biology, and classic experimental set-ups (knockouts)

Perfect for MCAT Bio/Biochem passages that love replication, mutations, and repair pathways.

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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DNA doesn’t “do", it instructs. In this episode of the Jack Westin MCAT Podcast, Mike and Molly walk through the central dogma, how we go from DNA → RNA → protein—and the regulation that makes different cells, well, different. Perfect for MCAT Bio/Biochem: we hit transcription, RNA processing, translation mechanics (A–P–E sites), start/stop codons, eukaryote vs. prokaryote differences, and multi-layered gene expression regulation (chromatin, transcription factors, miRNA/siRNA, ubiquitin, & more).🔑 What you’ll learnCentral dogma overview (DNA → RNA → protein)Transcription: promoter, template vs. coding strand, initiation/elongation/terminationEukaryotic RNA processing: 5′ cap, splicing (introns vs. exons, alternative splicing), poly-A tailTranslation: AUG start (Met), codons/anticodons, tRNA charging, ribosome A–P–E sites, stop codons (UAA/UAG/UGA)Eukaryotes vs. Prokaryotes: 40/60/80S vs. 30/50/70S ribosomes, coupled transcription–translation, operons (lac/trp)Regulation: heterochromatin vs. euchromatin, histone acetylation, DNA methylation, transcription factors, miRNA/siRNA silencing, post-translational mods (ubiquitin, phosphorylation)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=youtube&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

Join Molly and Jack for a CARS Reading Skills Workshop as they unpack Susan Sontag’s “Reflective Art”. Learn how to spot main ideas, separate concrete from “wishy-washy” lines, and use author tone and repetition to navigate dense prose. We also dive into why Sontag highlights emotional distance, postponed gratification, and filmmaker Robert Bresson and how these themes show up in CARS questions.

What you’ll learn:

How to find the main idea when the writing is abstract

“Concrete vs. wishy-washy” sentence filter (what to cling to vs. skim)

Why detachment changes emotional responses in reflective art

How labels like “cold” vs “hot” art can be traps

Practical CARS habits: stay engaged without importing your own opinions

Try the passage & 5 questions:

👉 Reflective Art – Oct 15 Daily Passage: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/reflective-art

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

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Science-heavy CARS passages got you zoning out? In this Jack Westin CARS Reading Skills Workshop, Molly and Jack unpack the “Urban Species” passage, showing how to track scientific tone, spot the author’s stance, and separate data from argument without overreading.

You’ll learn how to:


✅ Identify when examples (like species adaptation or ecology studies) support vs. distract from the claim

✅ Stay focused when scientific details feel overwhelming

✅ Build a clear main idea from subtle cues and contrast words

💡 Practice the “Urban Species” passage here:

👉 https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/urban-species

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

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

Most MCAT students waste time memorizing Punnett squares and ratios without really understanding probability. That’s why genetics feels overwhelming.

In this episode, Molly and Mike break down Mendelian genetics for the MCAT: the truth about dominant vs. recessive, how to use Punnett squares correctly, the probability errors that cost students points, and how to master classic ratios (3:1, 9:3:3:1) without rote memorization. You’ll also learn how linked genes and independent assortment show up on test day.

📌 Resources Mentioned:

Free Trial Session → https://jackwestin.com/sessions

Free MCAT Question Bank → https://jackwestin.com/#daily-passages

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

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

Sports fan? Careful, your background knowledge can hurt you in CARS. In this Reading Skills Workshop, Molly and Jack walk through the Oct 1 Jack Westin Daily (“Soccer Fans”) and show how to read a familiar topic without injecting assumptions. You’ll learn to spot the author’s claim, track competing themes (losing yourself vs. rationality/good citizenship), and use clear sentences as anchors, fast.

What you’ll learn

Don’t fill in the blanks: How to stop your outside knowledge from hijacking the passage.

Anchor on clarity: If a point is important, there’s usually a clear sentence you can cling to.

Author stance vs. trivia: Track how the author uses Critchley (support) and pushes back on Orwell.

Two coexisting themes:

Fandom can make us lose ourselves / escalate aggression

Fandom can foster fairness, rational analysis, and identity

When language gets flowery: Keep reading to the next testable, explicit claim

Referenced ideas & examples

Simon Critchley on phenomenology & soccer experience

“Lose yourself” vs. “best selves” (fair play, rationality)

Liverpool as a case study (extremes, yet desire for fairness)

Orwell’s “war minus the shooting” — why the author says he missed the point

Try the passage:

Read the Oct 1 “Soccer Fans” then do the questions to stress-test your reasoning: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/soccer-fans

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

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The BioBiochem section has the hardest passages on the MCAT, packed with experiments, pathways, and overwhelming detail. But with the right strategies, you can decode them and gain confidence.

In this episode, Molly and Mike break down why BioBiochem is so difficult, the 4 main passage personalities, and strategies to stay engaged, use scratch paper, and avoid common mistakes. You’ll also learn the most high-yield topics, like amino acids, enzymes, metabolism, and cell signaling, that show up again and again on test day.

📌 Resources Mentioned:

Free Trial Session → https://jackwestin.com/sessions

Free MCAT Question Bank → https://jackwestin.com/#daily-passages

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

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

Art-history CARS passage got you spiraling? In this Reading Skills Workshop, Molly and Jack break down the Sept 24 Jack Westin Daily, “Late Turner,” and show you how to read dense, abstract prose without panicking.

What you’ll learn:

- Anchor on clear sentences: If it’s important, there’s a clear line you can cling to.

- Track the author’s stance: The passage sets up “Turner = abstract” and then challenges it.

- Main idea: Turner’s late work isn’t free-form abstraction; it’s formal reinterpretation of classical myths.

- Follow the structure: Evidence → counterpoint → author’s claim → examples.

- Use examples as support, not trivia: Apollo & Daphne, Regulus, Mercury, Bacchus & Ariadne all illustrate reinterpretation.

- Stay focused in dense writing: When sentences get murky, keep reading for the next clear, testable claim.

Before you watch:

Read the Sept 24 “Late Turner” daily passage: https://jackwestin.com/daily/mcat-practice-passages/cars-practice-passages/late-turner

Want more guided practice?

Join our free weekly sessions (CARS, science strategy, 516 planning, admissions) and tap into our free CARS QBank, practice exams, and CARS textbook: https://jackwestin.com/sessions

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

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