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MCAT Study Roadmap

Your MCAT review, mapped

The full MCAT curriculum as a guided path — every content area, broken into its topics, with rapid-review checkpoints and progress tracking. Tap any stop to see the topics it covers. Your place is saved on this device.

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Try 3 real questions

Straight from the Progress Note question bank, each with a cited explanation. No account needed.

Coenzyme A (CoA) plays a central role in metabolism, most familiarly as acetyl-CoA. What is its primary function?

A student adds a catalyst to a reaction mixture. Which thermodynamic and kinetic parameters are immediately affected?

In a DNA double helix, the two strands are described as 'antiparallel.' What does this mean?

Full MCAT curriculum outline

Every stop on the roadmap above, in order — 46 study guides and tools across 10 sections. Open any guide to study it; your progress is tracked on the map.

Orientation Get set up

  1. Study Timeline — Build a realistic 3–6 month plan and pace content, practice, and full-lengths.
  2. Best Resources — Assemble your books, question banks, and Anki — and the order to use them.

General Chemistry Chem/Phys · Foundation 5

  1. Gen Chem: Start Here — How general chemistry is tested and how to study it across the section.
  2. Atomic Structure — Subatomic particles, quantum numbers, electron configuration, and atomic spectra.
  3. Periodic Trends — Atomic radius, ionization energy, and electronegativity from effective nuclear charge.
  4. Chemical Bonding & VSEPR — Ionic vs covalent bonds, Lewis structures, VSEPR geometry, and polarity.
  5. Chemical Kinetics — Rate laws and order, activation energy, catalysts, and the energy diagram.
  6. Chemical Equilibrium — The equilibrium constant K, reaction quotient Q, and Le Chatelier’s principle.
  7. Acids & Bases — pH and pOH, strong vs weak, buffers, Henderson–Hasselbalch, and titration curves.
  8. Thermochemistry — Enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy and spontaneity, and heating curves.
  9. Electrochemistry — Redox, galvanic vs electrolytic cells, cell potential, and the Nernst equation.

Organic Chemistry Chem/Phys · Foundation 5

  1. Functional Groups — The functional groups the MCAT tests and how they drive reactivity.
  2. Reactions & Mechanisms — Nucleophiles and electrophiles, SN1/SN2, E1/E2, carbonyls, and redox.
  3. Stereochemistry — Chirality, enantiomers, R/S configuration, meso compounds, and optical activity.
  4. Spectroscopy & Lab — IR, NMR, and mass spec for structure ID, plus separation and purification.

Physics Chem/Phys · Foundation 4

  1. Physics: Start Here — The physics you must know cold, with the equations to memorize.
  2. Kinematics & Forces — The equations of motion, projectiles, Newton’s laws, and free-body diagrams.
  3. Work, Energy & Fluids — Work–energy theorem, conservation of energy, pressure, buoyancy, and Bernoulli.
  4. Electricity & Magnetism — Coulomb’s law, fields and potential, circuits, and the magnetic force.
  5. Waves, Sound & Optics — Wave properties, the Doppler effect, reflection, refraction, and lenses.
  6. Chem/Phys Rapid Review — The physics equation sheet plus gen and organic chemistry, on one cram sheet.

Biochemistry Bio/Biochem · Foundation 1

  1. Biochem: Start Here — Amino acids and proteins, enzymes, and the metabolic pathways — how they’re tested.
  2. Amino Acids & Proteins — Amino-acid structure, the peptide bond, the four levels of protein structure, and pI.
  3. Enzymes & Kinetics — Catalysis and the active site, Michaelis–Menten, inhibition, and regulation.
  4. Metabolism & Bioenergetics — Glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, and ATP yield.

Biology Bio/Biochem · Foundations 1–3

  1. Biology: Start Here — The largest content area — cells, molecular biology, genetics, and organ systems.
  2. Cell Biology — The fluid-mosaic membrane, organelles, membrane transport, and the cell cycle.
  3. Molecular Biology — DNA structure and replication, transcription, translation, and the genetic code.
  4. Genetics & Heredity — Mendelian inheritance, Punnett squares, meiosis and variation, and pedigrees.
  5. Nervous & Endocrine — The neuron and action potential, synapses, and endocrine feedback loops.
  6. Organ Systems — Homeostasis and feedback, circulation, and the nephron across the organ systems.
  7. Bio/Biochem Rapid Review — Amino acids → metabolism → molecular biology → physiology, on one sheet.

Psychology Psych/Soc · Foundations 6–7

  1. Psychology: Start Here — From sensation and learning to personality, development, and behavior.
  2. Sensation & Perception — Transduction, thresholds and signal detection, and bottom-up vs top-down processing.
  3. Learning & Memory — Classical and operant conditioning, reinforcement schedules, and the memory stages.
  4. Cognition & Consciousness — Problem solving, heuristics and biases, intelligence, and the stages of sleep.
  5. Personality & Development — The Big Five, psychoanalytic and humanistic theories, and Piaget/Erikson/Kohlberg.
  6. Psychological Disorders — The biopsychosocial model, anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders, and the neurochemistry.

Sociology Psych/Soc · Foundations 9–10

  1. Social Structure & Inequality — Theoretical perspectives, institutions, stratification, mobility, and health inequality.
  2. Culture & Socialization — How culture and socialization shape behavior across the social world.
  3. Demographics & Change — Demographic structure, social change, and population processes.
  4. Psych/Soc Rapid Review — Every high-yield theory and term on a single cram sheet.

CARS Critical Analysis & Reasoning

  1. CARS Strategy — Reading passages for argument and tone, and attacking each question type.
  2. CARS Strategy Sheet — The reading approach, question-type playbook, and answer-trap list.

Test Day The home stretch

  1. Test Day Tips — Logistics, timing, and managing nerves so your score reflects your prep.
  2. Score Percentile Tool — See what your target score translates to in percentile — and set a goal.

More MCAT review: Rapid-review cram sheets · Best resources · Knowledge Hub

Original educational material · Progress Note · progressnote.us.com