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The student and I spent the session first finishing up biology concepts, and then reviewing later general chemistry concepts. We began with the renal system, first describing the anatomy and function of the different components of a nephron. We also thoroughly discussed the major hormones active in the kidney. After this, we explored Mendelian and molecular genetics, discussing crosses and mutations, and practicing the application of these principles with several practice passages. We then moved back into general chemistry topics. Beginning with kinetics, we described the proper method for determining rate laws and rate constants from both experimental data and reaction equations. We finished with thermodynamics material, detailing the major equations and their applications, and practicing with a couple of targeted MCAT-style passages.

Today, the student and I started our conversation by discussing aromaticity as related to amino acids. In keeping with our usual Socratic method of digging deeper and touching upon related concepts (e.g., acid/base definitions, nucleophilicity/electrophilicity, and electronegativity), we realized that he struggles less with individual definitions and concepts than with "connecting the dots" and choosing the correct answer with enough confidence to not second-guess himself. I implored him to think about his own weaknesses in light of his many strengths and to focus on specific areas that regularly give him a hard time. He was very receptive to this idea and is definitely very motivated to dig deeper and analyze his previous attempts for improvable skills and concepts to reach his target score.

Today, we began reviewing the biology material the student went through this week, including enzyme kinetics. I answered questions and went through the material in more detail, particularly the graphs. We then did a timed passage to reinforce the material. Then, we did two timed CARS passages that we subsequently reviewed.

The student and I spent today's session reviewing the quant section of his last practice exam. He is still scoring consistently on quant. Next session is our last before the exam. I have assigned a few hard quant sets for homework, asked him to finish the verbal section of the practice exam, and will email him a couple of hard verbal practice sets.

Today we finished up with Geometry, covering surface area and volume of solids, then coordinate geometry, including the slope-intercept form, the distance formula, etc. After outlining the topics bit by bit, we then did about a half dozen new practice problems together to further solidify the concepts.

We started off the session with a few verbal questions. The student's analysis is good, but he needs to work on his vocabulary. He is doing so by going to English classes, and keeps a notebook of words that are important. His quant skills are pretty good. Once again, it's mostly the vocabulary that gets him. We will work on both in future sessions.