I'm a nontraditional student who majored in Political Science. Currently, I'm using my time to prep for my prereqs, which I plan to take next January. I want to pick up some good study habits in the meantime. How did some of you nonscience majors do really well in your premed coursework? How did you do relatively well on the MCAT?
How to do well in Prereqs for Nonscience nontrads?
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Read the textbook, go to office hours, do all assigned problems and then some, go to office hours, look things up online, go to office hours, go to the schools tutoring service, ask myself "what if..." analysis questions about the material, go to office hours...rinse and repeat. Also, commit everything to your long-term memory (via constant, repeated studying). Don't do what the trad kids are doing (cram and purge).
Once I got past the first semester or two this way, the rest was cake. It all builds and if you remember what you learned last semester or last year instead of relearning the same material for every class, then you'll be solid once you get your feet under you.
Once I got past the first semester or two this way, the rest was cake. It all builds and if you remember what you learned last semester or last year instead of relearning the same material for every class, then you'll be solid once you get your feet under you.
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1. Watch these videos for whatever you are studying in class: http://www.freelance-teacher.com/videos.htm
2. Ace every test.
I personally find textbooks and office hours completely useless. Textbooks include too much useless information that disallow students from really understanding how to solve scientific problems. Going to office hours really depends on your professor. I find most professors to be really nice people, but not "good teachers." They throw a bunch of information at you and maybe give you a few practice problems. However, they don't have the time to really "teach" you how to approach questions in the correct fashion. This is especially true at larger universities.
2. Ace every test.
I personally find textbooks and office hours completely useless. Textbooks include too much useless information that disallow students from really understanding how to solve scientific problems. Going to office hours really depends on your professor. I find most professors to be really nice people, but not "good teachers." They throw a bunch of information at you and maybe give you a few practice problems. However, they don't have the time to really "teach" you how to approach questions in the correct fashion. This is especially true at larger universities.
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Really? I think going to class is useless. Give me the textbook I'll ace the test...
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I agree with not going to class as well. Lecture is such a waste of time. The only time it is worthwhile is when you can get a feel for the types of questions a professor would ask on an exam.
Some people can learn from textbooks quite well (i.e. you!). For me, I prefer to learn from videos and workbooks (Klein's Organic Chemistry as a Second Language was a lifesaver, for instance).
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I was a history major in my previous incarnation, so you're right to expect a different learning experience. As you have probably gleaned from this thread, everybody has their own learning style, so the first thing is to recognize yours so you can cater to it. There are a lot of tools out there, so explore them to find what works for you. That said, I was always a get-plenty-from-the-readings kind of person, but as you move into chem, organic chem and physics, practicing the problems over and over is the key to really grasping the concepts. I actually attend lecture pretty religiously, since it gives me the chance to ask questions as they occur to me. Study groups can really help, as long as they don't devolve into goof sessions. Also, get help early and often--don't wait till the day before an exam to try to diagnose why you don't understand torque.
A few resources to start with, in no particular order:
https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse Fun videos to explain some of the big picture concepts in the sciences. Nerdfighters FTW.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry (and pretty much any other science)
http://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/ Great resource, some of it's for purchase. Can you tell ochem was my weakness?
A few resources to start with, in no particular order:
https://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse Fun videos to explain some of the big picture concepts in the sciences. Nerdfighters FTW.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry (and pretty much any other science)
http://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/ Great resource, some of it's for purchase. Can you tell ochem was my weakness?
My best piece of advice being that it worked for me is to go to class super focused. Pay close attention the entire time. Don't take notes. Then go home and go through the powerpoint lecture annotating the slides with your own information based on what you learned from being super focused in class. Supplement using the book only when you don't understand something. Stay in scope of what the professor is teaching, don't waste time learning an entire textbook if the professor only focuses on specific components of each chapter.
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I do anki flashcards for bio, a little bit of chemistry. The rest is all notes, working through assigned problems solo, and definitely supplementing material covered in lecture with khan academy videos. I try to do the khan videos ahead of lecture, but it doesn't always happen. I'm in the camp that attends lecture religiously and doesn't crack a book unless it contains hw assignments. I take some wild notes, and I'm still plugging the Surface Pro 3 with OneNote like they pay me a commission.
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I was a polsci major myself. My method for doing well was a combination of a modified Cornell note taking format with flash cards for certain concepts. This was how I obtained a 3.84 my final year in school taking only upper division biology classes concurrent with my pre-reqs. I failed to make A solid in 14/42 credits earning 6 B+ and 8A-. These might have come from the load itself, taking pre-reqs with upper divisions via special permission, or sloppiness in performance on my part. But hey, I got my biomedical science degree with my pol sci so it worked out just fine for me.
Modified Cornell Method: Take printer paper, fold the right corner such that if you folded the left you'd have thirds. Draw a line. The outer section is for either your homework questions or questions you make up based on the notes you took. The top side of the flap is to mark page number, lecture content headings if provided, and formulas. Open your flap. On the right of the line you drew, your notes will go here. This will enable you to backwards engineer the questions you would anticipate in biology if you are meticulous about making questions based on your notes. In terms of chemistry and physics, this method works as a good way of working out sample problems and being able to revisit them later because the solution is under the flap and provides a working example when you are studying. These are great to reuse when prepping for the MCAT, PCAT, or DAT.
I used flashcards for stuff like developmental biology, diversity of life, ecology, differentiating SN1/2 or E1/2, generalized reaction rules, named reactions, orbital stuff, specifics about obtaining certain isomers, really anything that seems convenient to be able to mentally recite.
If your professor provides the power point in advance, it's nice to do 3 slides on the left, notes on the right of each slide. Still bring blank paper in case of diagrams or for problem solving.
I didn't take the MCAT but I got a 23TS (composite score made of gchem, ochem, bio) on the DAT which in 2009 was a 98.3%ile (when I took the DAT, it no longer provided percentiles). Given the way the scores have been edging up it's probably a 97th or so now. If you take the MCAT close to your pre-reqs, you probably won't need to dedicate 8 weeks to studying to do well. You can probably get away with doing one test section per day and once in a while take the full test for a feel of the timing in the weeks leading up to the MCAT.
Modified Cornell Method: Take printer paper, fold the right corner such that if you folded the left you'd have thirds. Draw a line. The outer section is for either your homework questions or questions you make up based on the notes you took. The top side of the flap is to mark page number, lecture content headings if provided, and formulas. Open your flap. On the right of the line you drew, your notes will go here. This will enable you to backwards engineer the questions you would anticipate in biology if you are meticulous about making questions based on your notes. In terms of chemistry and physics, this method works as a good way of working out sample problems and being able to revisit them later because the solution is under the flap and provides a working example when you are studying. These are great to reuse when prepping for the MCAT, PCAT, or DAT.
I used flashcards for stuff like developmental biology, diversity of life, ecology, differentiating SN1/2 or E1/2, generalized reaction rules, named reactions, orbital stuff, specifics about obtaining certain isomers, really anything that seems convenient to be able to mentally recite.
If your professor provides the power point in advance, it's nice to do 3 slides on the left, notes on the right of each slide. Still bring blank paper in case of diagrams or for problem solving.
I didn't take the MCAT but I got a 23TS (composite score made of gchem, ochem, bio) on the DAT which in 2009 was a 98.3%ile (when I took the DAT, it no longer provided percentiles). Given the way the scores have been edging up it's probably a 97th or so now. If you take the MCAT close to your pre-reqs, you probably won't need to dedicate 8 weeks to studying to do well. You can probably get away with doing one test section per day and once in a while take the full test for a feel of the timing in the weeks leading up to the MCAT.
What I wish I would've done more of as a pre-med: Anki, Khan Academy, lots and lots of Practice Q's. Also, don't be afraid to ask for help from the professor and be sure to do some research or something so you can get to know a few of them so you can get good letters.
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Add the fact that you have to waste time traveling to class to hear an audible version of the textbook for 3 hours then drive back....fun...I agree with you, if they drop hints I am going....
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