LostInStudy's (LIS) Official Advice Thread

[LostInStudy]

Okay guys, here it is as promised. This isn't my 30+ post but it's something for the guys who PM asking about advice and such. This is eventually going to get replaced by my 30+ post but in the meantime this will have to do. These are all the posts that I think are pretty helpful. I've categorized these into General advice, Material advice, Practice advice, and Scheduling. Please read these then if you have any questions you can post them and I'll try to help as best I can.Please read this thread and limit ALL the questions regarding my MCAT advices in this thread. Only contact me if you have a personal question or a highly specific question that you are not comfortable to post because your MCAT is exceptionally low (e.g. low <= 25, personal/family sickness, and other info that you do not want to share on the internet). In all other cases, individualized questions should be made in separate threads for other members to help, the more opinions you get the better off you will be, I guarantee you that. Otherwise, I may or may not respond depending on my time situation. Anyway, I hope this helps and if you have any questions or comments or anything just post away. Also guys remember that this is just my opinion. What worked for me isn't going to necessarily work for you but I've done a lot of research on this site and spent a lot of time reading different study strategies so I can offer general advice about schedules too. This is just what worked for me and hopefully you guys can read this, the 30+ thread, SN2ed's advice + schedule, and BerkReviewTeach's advice and get a good idea for what you want to do. If anybody has any other advice please post or if you want my opinion on a certain idea or whatever it may be. As the most interesting man in the world would say "Stay thirsty my friends [for knowledge that is]."

Hopefully this will help you guys,

-LIS

General Advice:

#1

Wow, I've been kind of nervous all day and told myself I'd keep myself busy and check at the end of the day. Even though I thought I did around my averages I was still nervous for some reason. So anyway, my score is too long awaited after having my date canceled once already.

PS: 15
VR: 11
BS: 15
W: Q

Now that I think about it, this is around about my averages. I'm just so happy to finally have this over with. I'll post more later when I have time. This is such a relief to have this off my back. Just some general advice, If you prep appropriately and have confidence in your prep you will get what you deserve.

Good luck all. I'm too sleepy right now.

-LIS

#2

Yea, I think the best advice is to go over content review thoroughly the first time to make sure you understand and master everything and go back as needed according to your practice results.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#3

My argument has always been to do as much practice as you can without taking shortcuts. Me and another member on this forum named Mr. T had sort of a discussion about it a few months back whether a person should do the TBR O. Chem books or do TPR since their content is shorter. I basically said that you should cover TBR because you don't want to get stuck with a difficult O. Chem passage and want to make sure that you don't leave your BS score up to chance (hoping the more difficult concepts won't show up). I had a few difficult O. Chem passages on my MCAT so I definitely benefited from not taking shortcuts. By appropriate, I mean fully and thoroughly without any shortcuts. I've been reading the forums for quite a while and I'd say a good 70+% of people skim on their prep because of a lack of time or whatever other reason.

Also, when I said "you'll get the score you deserve" that's exactly what I meant. I took the MCAT before and voided because I didn't feel prepared enough. At that point I had done content review and a couple of practice tests. At that point I believe if I would have decided to score my test I would have gotten in the high 20's or low 30's. My content review wasn't that great, my VR skills sucked, and I hadn't taken many FLs so that is exactly what I deserved. After redoing my content review and doing all the practice problems I could get my hands on, I think I got the score I deserved. My score reflects the amount of work I put in and my understanding of the material. I think my September score would have reflected the same thing (not score but the score I deserved at that point in time).

You know in the very beginning I thought that only really smart people could score in the 35+ range but the more I practiced and studied the more I realized that it's possible with just hard work to get at least a 34 but more likely a 35 or 36. I've said this before and I'll say it again, a person with average college student intelligence can, with hard work only, get a score around 35 or 36 but most don't (< 3%) because most don't have the time, are too lazy, don't put the effort, etc. whatever the reason may be. The point is that very few people have the time I had to spend on the MCAT and even fewer do spend that amount of time. As far as amount hours go (~1600) and amount of FLs go (40), my preparation was in the top 1% and my score reflected that.

You're not the only one who says this but I'll just address it here. Yes there are people who bust their butts and can barely get over a 30 but these people are rare. Like I said, if you're an average college student then with hard work one should be able to get into the 35 range. Most people who do score in this range and decide to retake usually do significantly raise their score because the prepare better (or in my words appropriately) the second time around.

In summary what I'm saying is: Your score reflects your preparation.

Hope this clarifies or helps,

-LIS

#4

For the last 2-4 weeks before your test you should be doing exactly what you will be doing on test day. Wake up the same time, eat the same time, take breaks the same time, do your studying/review the same time. It's just a habit thing, not so much a morning person thing because you could just go to sleep early and wake up early and that wouldn't really make a difference as far as being groggy or tired go, at least it didn't for me.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#5

Take a deep breath whenever you get nervous and think about how long you've spent on your prep, your scores, all the hours you've put in. Then think about how you can do best in this test. For me the last part worked to best because I came up with a strategy on how to handle situations a week before hand. So for example, if I came across something difficult that I couldn't figure out right away I would move on, I wouldn't let myself get nervous or panic, I would move quickly, efficiently and carefully to allow myself some time to go back for the sciences. This may seem obvious but a lot of people abandon the simple principles once they get to the test center or when they start the test and see something that doesn't immediately click. By the time I got to my test center I had gone over my list of situations and how to respond about 10 times a day for 8 days. I had written them out and every time I got nervous thinking about the test I stopped and look over my list and really thought about everything on it in detail while trying to control my breathing and focus. It worked for me on test day so maybe it'll work for you. You'll see that soon you recognize yourself doing the bad habits on practice tests and correct them and by test day hopefully you'll be golden.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#6

I got a 15 on both sciences but I don't think that it's indicative of the company as it is more so of the student. Yes, TBR does help a lot with the studying but it does in no way guarantee a good score. I'm sure there are people who've done terribly with TBR as there are people who have thrived with EK and Kaplan.

How far up you go is up to the student. Not necessarily his/her natural ability but more of how much work you're willing to put into this thing. Over and over again I see people skim on their review and sometimes it works out for them but a lot of times it doesn't and they're often confused because they "worked hard" but don't realize that they went into the exam with weaknesses that could be exploited.

As a general note, the test is too unpredictable to have any "high yield" topics. Master and know everything you're supposed to (AAMC outline) and you'll do great. If not then I guess you should get comfortable with blind luck helping you out on one of (if not the most) important aspects of your application.

Hope this helps and good luck (if you need it that is),

-LIS

Material Advice:

#7

I did EK 1001 bio then TPR bio passages then TBR bio passages so for me they got progressively harder. As far as content goes, I think between TPRH and EK you have everything you need. I would spend my time reading TPRH and then read through EK as kind of a review. I actually ended up reading EK twice. The thing with EK is that it's short and dense. So while its short, you have to know EVERYTHING in the text, whereas in TPRH, it is longer but they spend time explaining concepts doing examples and asking questions and re-summarizing the info.

If you don't have access to TPR Science Workbook, then do both. Seriously practice drilling those concepts because its true that the test really only covers the basics but the test writers do a great job at pushing your understanding of them to the limit. The more times you see the concepts the better. I'll say it again just in case, the more time you see the concepts during your practice the better off you are.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#8

I'm not really sure which is better because they served different purposes for me. TBR bio passages are hard but if you're good at analyzing passages then you can score fairly well on them and they help develop that skill. On the other hand, TPR were a mixture of testing content and analyzing passages and they have passages varying from really easy to pretty hard which is more like what you'll see on the AAMCs. I think what you should do is do the TPRH science workbook bio and do the TBR in phases. So do the first third and all bio from TPR and keep moving. If you have time you can come back and finish the rest of TBR. You could even do half of TBR and then all of TPR bio passages and come back later to TBR if you have time.

I've been telling people for months to get on TPRH bio. That thing is amazing. Yes it is a little detail oriented but it explains things from the ground up and it asks you questions in the text. It doesn't take THAT long to read, like I did about 12-15 pages an hour (I think most chapters averaged out into the 30-35 range). Plus it's engaging, not like TBR (so dull for me) or EK (which if you don't know everything already then it's just a list of facts).

I have to admit my science score is a bit of luck. On practices I was getting in the 13-14 range for both sections and on test day I got passages that suited topics that I was very familiar with. I was familiar with everything but some topics in organic I was a wiz at and those showed up. To me anything in the 38+ range is about the same. In the sciences once you get to the 13 range, you have a good shot at hitting the 15 if things can go your way.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#9

As long as we're talking about hours, I regularly hit 15 hours a day in the middle of my studying. Basically I did three 5 hour shifts to get used to concentrating for 5 hours straight. Of course I did break for 5-10 mins every 60-80 mins in those 5 hours.

Another piece of advice guys, if you're going to take short days then don't take them in the beginning or middle. Take them when you do FLs. FLs you can afford to get behind on because as legitboss said you can cut some extra ones out but if you get behind on content then you can get into a pickle really fast. So go through a subject hard (so if you don't rotate like I didn't then do a full subject) and then take a day to rest and re-energize your ambition, motivation, hatred, and will to beat this test. I personally used my days to catch up on chores and watch war/sci-fi movies. It's easy to tell yourself that "I deserve to take one day off" or "I'll catch up tomorrow" but don't get into the habit of it. Work hard and take a good rest after the war is over.

Oh MCAT, you were such an interesting romance. You left my life as suddenly as you came. I miss you sometimes...but then I remember how much work I put into us and am glad that such a selfish, time consuming, soul-eating, heartless woman is out of my life.

Good riddance you passive aggressive street walker,

-LIS

Practice Advice:

#10

Nope, very lightly. I don't think when you're learning the material you should time yourself strictly and I think even BerkReviewTeach has said it a few times. Just learn and master the material first. Once your problem solving skills and knowledge develop speed picks up. This doesn't mean I sat there and spent 10-15 mins on problems. I would work through at my own pace and if I couldn't solve something, moved on and came back in the end. If I couldn't figure it out at the end, I just guessed. I hated flat out guessing so that fueled my need to tear apart questions and learn everything I could from them.

Basically I looked at the clock when I started and finished. If I spent less than 8-9 mins on a passage, good and if I didn't then I just kept mindful of that for next time and tried to figure out why I spent so long. That's about it. The rest just picks up with practice and as you acquire skill.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#11

I used TPR heavily for content for Biology and Physics only (their 2 best content sections). For O. Chem content and G. Chem content I used TBR because they are simply the best, better than all the rest (like the song).

Here's my view on the whole do the passages one day and review them the next day thing: I wouldn't and didn't do it. Maybe for verbal but not for the sciences. The reason is that you have to treat the MCAT studying as two completely different phases. The first is where you learn and master the necessary material (content review) and the second is where you do everything else (learn to speed up more, learn to pace yourself, stamina, test taking strategies, etc) or basically the little things. With that in mind, you need to do your passages and practice the same day or within a day of your lecture review to make sure you've mastered it and hammered it in. Here's what I did as far as material since so many people seem to ask, I started with reading the lecture, then EK 1001 problems (getting the basics and subtleties down), then I did the TPR science workbook problems for that topic, then I did TBR phase I passages. I did that everyday during content review for about a month and a half. I've posted the phases for TBR passages in the Berkeley review discussion thread. I would then do all the phase II passages at the end of the week.

I would do the EK Bio 1001 questions first (because they're not TRULY passage based) and then I did the TPR bio passages, which were amazing by the way. Also I would encourage anyone else to respond, my way was an obvious yet unorthodox way to study for the MCAT and OP should get as many different opinions as possible to see what could work for you. My way worked for me, but I'm certain it won't work for everyone else. You have to evaluate what kind of student you are, what you know and don't know, and what you need. I think the self evaluation is the hardest part of it all. After you have the figured out, put on your blinders and charge full steam ahead.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#12

Yea agree with the above [about careless mistakes], it also goes away with more practice. After you've been slapped around, tripped, and laughed at a few times (usually 3 or 4 times) by those questions then you learn it and it becomes habit. If you forget after those times then a little voice inside your head says "nooo read the question/answer/calculation/passage again carefully." Kind of like mini-me from Austin Powers.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#13

Two things that helped me. I kept an excel spreadsheet with everything in it (FL scores, verbal scores, practice scores, hours, etc.) each separated by subject and the company I used. I could go in and see trends regarding hours studied, how my scores were going, which specific subjects I struggle with, basically everything I wanted to see a trend in. It helps color coding by scaled scores or percentages too and helps you see it quicker kind of like of Vihsadas did it. I think self analysis is crucial, especially when you get to the 35+ range where single questions start counting more. The spreadsheet helped me seek out and eliminate my weaknesses.

The second thing was that I did all my practice problems in a separate 5 subject notebook and split them up as all O chem, all Physics, all Bio, all Chem, all verbal practice problems and notes I made on particular subjects as I did those problems. For example, I saw on my spreadsheet that electrostatics was my worst section, when I went back I had notes for all the problems I had gotten wrong or guessed on from all the different materials I did. I also wrote down intricacies for each subject that I thought I would forgot later on so that when I came back I could have a quick read over and remember all that again.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#14

Doing one passage at a time then reviewing it is what I did for all of content review and it worked out excellently for me. First you master the content then you master the timing. Those are two separate skills that are hard to master at the same time.

It's like when you learn to throw a baseball, you learn to throw the ball properly and with accuracy first and then you work on adding power and speed, you don't just grab the ball and work on throwing it hard and accurately at the same time. You learn the mechanics and once you've mastered them you work on the power and speed. No use in finishing on time if you still get a lot wrong.

Maybe this helps,
-LIS

#15

For practice, yes. But the TPR is still an amazing resource that I think people shouldn't choose either one or the other but use both to compliment each other. TBR has only hard passages which can be good and bad because although it does prepare you for the hard stuff, that's not exactly how the test is. TPR does a better job at giving you the spectrum that you'll see on AAMCS and on the real thing. Not all of your passages are going to be TBR hard. A few will but some will be easy and some will be in the middle and that's exactly what TPR has.

Also as far as Bio goes: TPR>>EK 1001 Bio>TBR for passages. I think they all are used for different purposes. TPR tests content and passage comprehension and EK Bio 1001 tests mostly content and not much passage comprehension, TBR was sort of weird. They have passage comprehension but some questions are just sort of weird as hell in that it's not mentioned in the passage and they expect you to know minute details that aren't important. Detail wise, EK 1001 covers everything as far as facts you need to know. TBR is still decent practice though. If you have time do all 3 but if not stick with the top 2. That's just my personal suggestion though.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#16

Guys, don't be afraid to get questions wrong. You have to treat it like a learning opportunity and not a criticism. In the beginning you might be getting hammered by the passages and doing bad. A few weeks later you're doing slightly better or the same. A couple months later you rarely ever get any wrong. I'm a true and honest believer that if you practice and get hammered enough and get questions wrong while reviewing thoroughly then eventually you'll master the material. I know it sounds scary but you can seriously only make the same mistake 5 or 6 times before you never make that mistake again. That's why you practice, so you make it in practice and not the real thing.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#17

I'm not saying this to be rude or harsh but just to be honest with you so that you can improve, but if you got a score lower than 27 then that means that you're majorly lacking in the fundamentals. Go back to the drawing board and start over because you can't get any worse. Pick a prep company you're comfortable with (TPR hyperlearning is an excellent start) and read the books in each section carefully and do as much practice problems as you can get your hands on. That means EK 1001 books, TPR science workbook, and TBR sciences at the least. Don't worry about getting a ton of questions wrong, because I missed a lot but focus on learning the material and perfecting your understanding of it. I never cared about getting a question wrong during content review, I just cared about understanding the concepts and making sure I knew exactly why I got the question wrong and what I could do to get it right. Only worry about scores during your FLs. Taking the above approach should get you at least a 10 or 11 on each section or even higher depending on how much effort you can put into your prep. This test is all about training. You train to get good at answering questions about the sciences. Some people do well without much studying because they got that training throughout their education, other people have to make up for not having that training (like me) by practicing a crap load of problems until you are at that level. You should be asking yourself the same questions for every question you're not 100% sure about or you don't get right which are: why did I get the question wrong?, what didn't I understand?, what is my current understanding of the subject?, what is the explanation trying to tell me?, starting from the basics how should I have thought about this to get the question right?, did I get the question wrong because I didn't understand it because it was poorly worded or I didn't concentrate? Did I get it wrong because I forgot something I should have known? and on and on.

Sorry this seems jumbled and unorganized but that's all I have time for right now.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#18

Personally, I think the best prep is through practice. I practiced my understanding of the material by doing a bunch of practice problems during content review with EK 1001 books, TPR Science workbook, and TBR books and a little kaplan stuff. Then I practiced combining the different concepts in a section and pulling out information quickly by practicing with FLs. When I took FLs, my knowledge base was solid, it was just that I had to get quicker at pulling it out and remembering equations and facts. Practice problems and FLs each serve a different purpose and I think each is essential for doing well on this test.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#19

I think first you have to look at how comfortable you are with the material. Personally, when I started FLs, I was extremely comfortable with the material because I had done all the EK 1001 books, TPR science workbook, online kaplan stuff, and TBR Phase I and II passages. Now, not everyone needs to do that but that's what I needed personally to feel comfortable. Once you feel comfortable you can move on to FLs. When you do FLs though, you need to really tear them apart. For me the motivation came from "well okay I made mistakes, so what do I need to fix and how do I do it" It irritated the heck out of me when I got a question wrong or even if I got one right but for the wrong reasons because I did the content so why didn't I get it right. The first thing is just to realize why you got the question right or wrong (was there something in the passage you missed, was there something you misread, did you just skim over some answers, did you not use POE, etc). Then the why behind it and that's when you need to dive into your prep books. Don't read the whole chapters, that's just not time efficient. Just read the parts that are relevant to your mistake. Now you have to be honest and ask yourself if you truly understand it. For me if it was something more than a simple calculation mistake then I would do a few problems just to help my conceptual understanding.

Also, I think THE BEST way to review any of the questions is to look at the questions you get wrong and try to do them again without looking at the explanation. Try to get them right on your second chance. So all you know is that you got the question wrong and you need to figure out what the answer is. If I got it wrong the second try to then that meant I really needed to go back and do some review on the material. Work on the question with your prep material and your notes and try to figure out the solution before you look at the explanation. Once you've done that and read the explanation, try to find another path to the solution (Was there a faster way, was there a different conceptual approach, etc). So I always tried to find two ways to do it. Usually there's one way that is fast and efficient (which is what you want to do during the test) and there is a longer drawn out way that uses the basics concepts to get to the solution (which you want to use on questions that are harder and you're not sure about). This way, you always have two ways of getting an answer so it'll be rare when you come across a problem that you can't solve one way or the other. So for example, in PS you can do a question by dimensional analysis or looking at units or degrees of magnitude of the answers or you can use some of the equations related to the concepts. I think TBR does a pretty good job or showing you this with their passages and explanations so definitely use those and spend time with them and not just gloss over the explanations. After I did each set of questions from practice I could tell you exactly what types of questions I got wrong and why. That's important because if you keep a track of those (written or mental) then you see patterns and know exactly which areas to target to improve.

So I hope I've helped and if you have anymore questions let me know,

-LIS

#20

To start off, I did do all those materials and them some with 40 FLs outside of those practice passages and questions. It's weird but I felt I had to do everything solely due to confidence because I felt like if I did all the material there was NOTHING else I could have done. But with your time (unless you're willing to postpone) I don't think you can finish everything...well you might since you don't have as many FLs to do.

What I did was I would read the chapter for whichever book I chose, then do the EK 1001 problems, then the TPR science workbook problems, and then the TBR passages.

As far as bio goes, I would say that if you feel very confident with bio then EK bio is fine but if not then just spend the time with TPRH bio because it isn't THAT long (trust me it looks long but its a fast read so even though it might be twice as long as EK, it reads twice as fast too). I think for bio both were necessary. You first need the necessary facts for bio to understand the concepts then you need to practice passages and not only solidify those facts but learn how to analyze and parse through passages.

As far as study habits ago, I just kept consistent and didn't let myself take more than a day off per week or week and a half. Work hard everyday on accomplishing set goals and don't let yourself waste the time. Get it done and kill it the first time. Immerse yourself in it. I started off with the attitude of I have to put in a lot of work to do well and changed to, man I've put in quite a lot of hours and it would be a waste to slack off now no matter how tired or how much is left, to i put in so much work it would all be ruined if i don't close this out strongly in the end. The hardest thing for me each day was getting started. Once I got started I was gone. After I finished my food I got up put up the dishes and didn't let myself touch my computer and make myself pick up my book instead and start reading. I did the same with breaks, those were the hardest to get restarted from.

If you have any more questions let me know,

-LIS

#21

[For Organic Chemistry] No, don't memorize. Just look at the general trends of each reactions. Memorizing is worthless in my opinion. After you practice the trends are easy to see as to where the electrons go. That's all that organic is, electrons moving around. Learn the concepts and trends and in my opinion this can only be successfully done by lots of practice.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

#22

A typical day was I would wake up around 8 or 9, then eat breakfast while either reading the forums or watching the news. That took me about an hour sometimes less, never more though. I did study everyday but I took breaks as needed. So I didn't do the once a week thing more like half a day a week or a full day off every two weeks because that's what worked for me. I don't tire easily and can go for long stretches without burning out. Then I would do three 5 hour sessions with breaks every hour or so. It really got be used to the stamina needed to take this test. My breaks were usually 5-10 mins each hour and then after the 5 hours I would eat and do errands for an hour or so, until I felt like working again. FL days varied depending on how I did and how much I got done the previous day but usually 1-3 days. I have about 2 days between FLs in the end to give myself sometime to rest up before the test.

-LIS

#23

Do the EK 1001 series first. Go through all four books. It took me about 6 days to do them. They test on the very basic aspects of the sciences and they will get your fundamentals down. No need to waste time re-reviewing. Do like 20-30 questions and then go back and review them. If you get something wrong, don't turn to the explanations (they suck anyway) and look up and review that material from your TBR books. So go through all 4 subjects in EK 1001.

Going through and eliminating all of your weaknesses will probably take anywhere from 4 days (if you work on them full time) to 10 maybe.

Then you are ready for the more advanced passages. If you get the TPR Science Workbook, then go through that whole thing which will probably take you a week or week and a half doing it full time. Again, if you get something wrong then go back and try to figure it out on your own without looking up the answer explanation and if you can't figure it out then use your TBR or TPR content material.

Then lastly, go through and do all the TBR Phase I passages.

Then you can start FLs and finish the rest of the Phases of TBR as you go along.

Basically that's what I did but I also had the Kaplan online course material. But what you have, if you include TPR, is DEFINITELY more than enough. Anyway, doing it that way worked out for me as far as practice AAMC FL scores go.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

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[LostInStudy]

Hey there LIS,

I'll be taking o-chem this fall semester and continue with o-chem for the spring semester. I also plan on taking the mcat during the spring semester. Thus, I was wondering how much of content review regarding o-chem should I integrete into my mcat study plan assuming most of the content learned in class is fresh in my mind. Any suggestions? I plan on following the SN2ed's study plan. I will be using Kaplan and EK for orgo.

Content wise, you'll most likely be more than fine but you still have to have practice or you'll be no better off than anyone else. You can throw out the EK 1001 Organic since you'll have the class and probably do as much passage practice as you can get your hands on/afford.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

 

[apc]

Umm, LIS already went over this. Read the posts throughly before you decide to ask a question . As for the revision of a FL, I'm sure his technique could be inferred based on what he has said in the past.

Yeah, read it and didn't find a specific answer...
but thanks anyways

 

[LostInStudy]

How did you review your FL?
Was the review done on the same day?
Thanks

Look at #17, 19, and 22 on the original post.

I did review on the same day. I didn't want to waste the rest of the day so I did as much of the sciences as I could on the day I took the test. Also look at post #37 on this thread as to how many days I spent between FLs.

Hope this helps and post any other questions you have or if I didn't answer fully,

-LIS

 

[apc]

Look at #17, 19, and 22 on the original post.

I did review on the same day. I didn't want to waste the rest of the day so I did as much of the sciences as I could on the day I took the test. Also look at post #37 on this thread as to how many days I spent between FLs.

Hope this helps and post any other questions you have or if I didn't answer fully,

-LIS

Ok, thank you. My mistake...
And I looked at TPR Physics today, and I gotta say I enjoyed it. The way they break down each section is great. Thank you for this suggestion.
How well does each chapter in the books (TPR vs. TBR) correlate with one another? Did you have to go back and forth a lot?

 

[alexfoleyc]

Thank you for previous response, LIS!

 

[BlitzSleep]

What do you think of the "discrete" questions in the tprh scienceworkbook when it comes to bio physics and chem? Are they useful to do? Are they representative of the discretes on the actual mcat? Are they harder than mca discretes?

 

[apc]

And I think this will be useful info for your second post in the thread (Where you discuss each book, including TPR and EK for BIO)

How do I combine BR Bio's passages and EK Bio's content?

Slightly modified (By SN2ed) from doctoroftha313 post in this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/show....php?p=9660729

EK Lecture: Molecular Biology & Cellular Respiration
BR Chapter # - Passage #: 1-13, 6-3, 6-8, 6-9, 6-12, 6-14, 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4, 7-6, 7-7, 7-8, 7-9, 7-10, 7-11, 7-12, 7-13, 7-14, 7-15, 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-5, 8-6, 8-7, 8-8, 8-9, 8-10, 8-11, 8-12, 8-13, 8-14, 8-15

​

EK Lecture: Genes
BR Chapter # - Passage #: 6-13, 9-1, 9-4, 9-6, 9-7, 9-8, 9-9, 9-10, 9-11, 9-12, 9-13, 9-14, 9-15, 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5, 10-6, 10-7, 10-8, 10-9, 10-10, 10-11, 10-12, 10-13, 10-14, 10-15

​

EK Lecture: Microbiology
BR Chapter # - Passage #: 6-1, 6-4, 6-5, 6-11, 6-15

​

EK Lecture: The Eukaryotic Cell; The Nervous System
BR Chapter # - Passage #:
Eukaryotic Cell: 6-2, 6-6, 6-7, 6-10
Nervous System: 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 1-12

​

EK Lecture: The Endocrine System; Reproductive System
BR Chapter # - Passage #:
Embryo: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 4-8, 4-9, 4-10, 4-11, 4-12, 4-13, 4-14, 4-15
Endocrine: 5-7, 5-8, 5-9, 5-10, 5-11, 5-12, 5-13, 5-14, 5-15

EK Lecture: The Digestive System; The Excretory System
BR Chapter # - Passage #:
Digestion: 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, 3-6, 3-14, 3-15
Excretory: 3-7, 3-8, 3-9, 3-10, 3-11, 3-13

EK Lecture: The Cardiovascular System; The Respiratory System
BR Chapter # - Passage #:
Circulatory: 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4, 2-7, 2-8, 2-9, 2-10, 2-13, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 5-6
Respiratory: 2-5, 2-6, 2-11, 2-12, 2-14, 2-15, 7-5
Lymph: 3-12,

EK Lecture: Muscle, Bone, and Skin
BR Chapter # - Passage #:
1-14, 1-15, 3-1

EK Lecture: Populations
BR Chapter # - Passage #:
9-2, 9-3, 9-5

NOTE: "5-3" means BR chapter 5, passage #3.

 

[LostInStudy]

Ok, thank you. My mistake...
And I looked at TPR Physics today, and I gotta say I enjoyed it. The way they break down each section is great. Thank you for this suggestion.
How well does each chapter in the books (TPR vs. TBR) correlate with one another? Did you have to go back and forth a lot?

Yea, TPR is way awesome, especially in physics. Rarely but if it was sections like the Work, energy, momentum stuff that overlapped chapters in each book then I just did those chapters at once instead of one at a time. For example, electricity and magnetism I did both chapters (100 pages) in one days and started one of the TBR chapters that day. Next day I finished and started EK 1001, TPR, and TBR.

Thank you for previous response, LIS!

No problems guys. If you post it here I will get to it eventually, so don't be afraid of being ignored or forgotten.

-LIS

 

[LostInStudy]

What do you think of the "discrete" questions in the tprh scienceworkbook when it comes to bio physics and chem? Are they useful to do? Are they representative of the discretes on the actual mcat? Are they harder than mca discretes?

The discrete questions were good but not great. I thought the physics one's were great and the organic ones were good too, G. Chem and Bio didn't have many (<80 total for each section) so I just did them anyway. They were on the easier side compared to the real thing. They're not harder but they still test the information well and there's not enough of them (except for physics) to skip them so you mind as well spend the extra hour or two just doing them. Physics section has a lot of discrete questions but most of them were for learning the material, I wouldn't really compare them to the real thing. The passages were great all around though.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

 

[cdnwpg]

Hey LostInStudy,

For the dual benefit of myself and others, I have come up with some unresolved issues pertaining to your methodology that I hope you can clarify. By bringing this up, it will help further elucidate the mechanics of your preparation and make this thread more complete .

• I think I already know the answer to this but just to make things explicit: did you exhaust all of the EK1001 material which corresponded with the topic you were reviewing in one sitting? Or did you save some for later?
  
• As you know, TPRH has discretes and passages. Did you have a systematic method in which you approached these? So, for example, did you complete all (or some) the discretes and save the passages for a revision day? Or did you finish both in one sitting?
  
• Did you at any point go over TPRH passages in a timed format?
  
• I noticed in the past you said you had access to Kaplan Online. Did you answer QBank questions on the same day you reviewed a topic (including EK, TPRH, and BR questions? Also when did you fit in topicals and sectionals?
  
• This question is more specific to Kaplan...how did you employ their syllabus? Did you sit through the online workshops and lessons-on-demand? Did you incorporate their passage strategies in the sciences (i.e. break the passages themselves by the paragraph)?
  
• Kaplan recommends that people do discretes before passages on the actual MCAT. Did you follow this advice? If you did not follow the Kaplan method, how did you specifically attack your science passages and the science sections at large?
  
• Can you elabourate on your preparations in the final two weeks before your MCAT? How were you able to retain the mass of information without any form of notes? Did you just reread your highlights or did you revise by doing the remaining passages in BR as well as sectionals, topicals, etc from Kaplan?
  

Again, thank you for taking the time out to answer these. You are doing a very noble service for the rest of us.

 

[LostInStudy]

Hey LostInStudy,

For the dual benefit of myself and others, I have come up with some unresolved issues pertaining to your methodology that I hope you can clarify. By bringing this up, it will help further elucidate the mechanics of your preparation and make this thread more complete .

• I think I already know the answer to this but just to make things explicit: did you exhaust all of the EK1001 material which corresponded with the topic you were reviewing in one sitting? Or did you save some for later?

Yes I used it all at once. I didn't save any for later. For physics I did save just a tiny bit but as far as the EK 1001 books go, I did them all in one sitting after I had reviewed the chapter.

• As you know, TPRH has discretes and passages. Did you have a systematic method in which you approached these? So, for example, did you complete all (or some) the discretes and save the passages for a revision day? Or did you finish both in one sitting?

My system was just to do passages and discrete questions that related to the chapter I had read. Sometimes there were discrete questions where most of them was on the topic I covered but a few on the next chapter and I just waited to do those until I covered the next chapter. I did all the passages and discrete questions during content review.

• Did you at any point go over TPRH passages in a timed format?

Nope. Again this was similar to what I did with TBR. I just looked at the clock when I began, worked through them, then looked again when I finished. Some of the TPR passages are easy (~40%), some medium (~40%), and some very hard (~20%), so it varied on how much time I spent on each passage.

• I noticed in the past you said you had access to Kaplan Online. Did you answer QBank questions on the same day you reviewed a topic (including EK, TPRH, and BR questions? Also when did you fit in topicals and sectionals?

Yea, I had access from a friend who had bought it but didn't really use it and decided not to take the MCAT this year, so I just used his stuff. The sectionals I did right after I finished all my content review. The topicals and Qbank were done as I did FLs for topics I felt weak on or when I just wanted to do practice.

• This question is more specific to Kaplan...how did you employ their syllabus? Did you sit through the online workshops and lessons-on-demand? Did you incorporate their passage strategies in the sciences (i.e. break the passages themselves by the paragraph)?

Didn't really look at their syllabus. I already knew what I wanted to do so I didn't really pay attention to what they had advised. No, I felt I was somewhat strong in content review and never really utilized anything other than practice questions. Nope, never used any of their strategies.

• Kaplan recommends that people do discretes before passages on the actual MCAT. Did you follow this advice? If you did not follow the Kaplan method, how did you specifically attack your science passages and the science sections at large?

No, I didn't follow any of Kaplan's advice. I just did the questions as they came, it didn't help me either way if I did discretes first or not. I found it more helpful just to know how the next few passages were presented (how many questions were there, any discretes in between, stuff like that), just so I would know what was coming up and what to expect.

• Can you elabourate on your preparations in the final two weeks before your MCAT? How were you able to retain the mass of information without any form of notes? Did you just reread your highlights or did you revise by doing the remaining passages in BR as well as sectionals, topicals, etc from Kaplan?

It was mostly by kaplan topicals and TBR phase III stuff. I also went through all of the AAMC outlines and filled out everything I knew from them every week or so during FLs. So I would print out the outline and then write in what I knew. If I didn't know something or struggled I just looked it up. There's not use in re-reviewing topics you know well, the end is all about efficiency and maximizing your time and output.

Again, thank you for taking the time out to answer these. You are doing a very noble service for the rest of us.

Nope problem. Hope this helped,

-LIS

 

[coach55]

Thanks LIS

 

[cdnwpg]

Thanks for the clarification LIS. That helped a great deal and I now feel like I'm finally ready to launch into my own preparations. I will be definitely incorporating your advice into my own study plan and I am sure others will too.

 

[LostInStudy]

Yep, that's the best way to do it. Look at a lot of different opinions, figure out what you think will work for you and then get started on your own schedule. Although I think SN2ed's schedule offers a good base, you just have to tweak it to what you think will work for you.

Also, I hope other people can chime in too. Whether you agree/disagree/ or have slightly different opinion on anything I've posted. I'm curious to see what people think of the way I studied or any advice I give.

-LIS

 

[ACSheldor]

Ohh, fancy thread. Does this mean I have to stop messaging you too? Thank you, there's a lot of useful information here.

 

[Don Draper]

Also, I hope other people can chime in too. Whether you agree/disagree/ or have slightly different opinion on anything I've posted. I'm curious to see what people think of the way I studied or any advice I give.

-LIS

Well, you know my opinion.

Best MCAT advice on SDN.

 

[LostInStudy]

Ohh, fancy thread. Does this mean I have to stop messaging you too? Thank you, there's a lot of useful information here.

Sure man, I've invested too much time helping you to lose contact now. When are you taking it, I know you've changed it a bit but I think your blog said July 8thish?

Well, you know my opinion.

Best MCAT advice on SDN.

Thanks,

-LIS

 

[ACSheldor]

It's July 8th for now but we'll see how things go. I'm thinking of the 16th as a back up if I get behind in the next week or so.

 

[Excelsius]

Yea, finding what works for you is the important part. What worked for him didn't for me but I still picked up a lot from him as far as reviewing and how to attack this test goes. I picked things from here and there and put them into one strategy and went full speed ahead.



So I did 8 AAMCs, 11 Kaplan, 10 GS, 4 TPR, and 7 TBR. I also did the passages in the AAMC Official guide which were approximately a bit more than a FL. I didn't really do the verbal for GS because I never heard great things about it. The TPR tests were old that came with my TPR set in a book. They had good sciences but I didn't really like the verbal so I didn't do any after the first one. The rest I did as normal FLs. Obviously I think the AAMCs were the best. The Kaplans were good but some of the later ones after 6 weren't too great (with maybe the exception of 9). They got crazy in a weird (read: not good) way. I liked the TBR tests, they had pretty great science sections in my opinion and their verbal wasn't anything special but it wasn't terrible either. The only thing that sort of annoyed me was consistency not only from test to test but passage to passage. However, I think that feeling was good because it was similar to what I felt during the real thing. The GS had good sciences but not amazing. My personal ranking would be AAMC>>TBR>Kaplan (1-7ish)>GS>TPR. GS and TPR weren't bad, they just didn't click with me as much as the others did. I know not everyone can get Kaplan, that's why I think GS would be a nice replacement for them.

I don't think I could have gotten any higher on VR. That's why I don't give VR advice too much. My average was closer to a 10 and I got the test on a decent day and got an 11.

As for the sciences, I think once you're over 13 you're there. It's hard to fine tune that last piece and I think I just got lucky because I got topics I was great at.



Lorelei, one of my favorite posters who's longgg gone, got a 15 on verbal way back when this forum was first started. There is a thread here that you might find useful.

I honestly don't think there is one way to succeed in verbal. I don't know jack about verbal but I spent plenty of time practicing and that definitely helped me. I think everyone comprehends information in a different way that's why there are so many different types of strategies. Also, Rabbit36 made a 14 and I'm pretty sure QofQuimica (the person who started the MCAT forum) who scored a 43 probably got 13 or 14 in verbal. But yea, I'm not the guy to go for verbal advice and I freely admit that. I struggled just as much as everyone else does on this section, you just have to find a way to make it work for you. But yea, basically verbal is a bitch.

Hope this answered some of your questions,

-LIS

I didn't know about lorelei, but I can see that his/her advice is one of the best I have seen around here about VR. He/she even recommends journals and several authors that have been my favorites for years. Most people here who recommend LAT or NYT don't realize that the level of language used therein is hardly beyond high school grade. I will peruse that user's other posts. Thank you for the introduction.

 

[LostInStudy]

I just finished reviewing O-chem again that I did back in Feb. and biology I haven't touched since march/april so I want to spend a few days going over that again. For TBR I usually get over 13 on OChem/GChem/Physics on Phase I and II. I've done no verbal yet though. I'm planning on 7 TBR, AAMC 3-10, and maybe Kaplan 1-5 but I don't know if I should keep kaplan or not.

AC: I'll just answer your question here since I can't keep my threads/PMs straight because I'm in a hurry.

I think you're doing good. Only review the bio if you feel like you did forget a lot. As far a Kaplan goes, I can't say one way or the other, I think it just depends on how much time you have and how you're doing on the other FLs and if you need the extra practice. Get on that verbal though, some people don't need much practice and others need a ton.

Good luck,

-LIS

 

[Don Draper]

I didn't know about lorelei, but I can see that his/her advice is one of the best I have seen around here about VR. He/she even recommends journals and several authors that have been my favorites for years. Most people here who recommend LAT or NYT don't realize that the level of language used therein is hardly beyond high school grade. I will peruse that user's other posts. Thank you for the introduction.

VR is overrated. I like the NYT, simple direct language is better than flowery circuitous nonsense.

LIS's 11 is just as good as a 15 in my book. We are future doctors, not English professors. Not to say a proficient use of the English language isn't to be desired, but 10+ VR is all the same in my book.

We spend our whole lives studying, I would never add lots of reading as a recreational activity. I would rather exercise or do something social (something outside, not sitting in a chair).

I'd rather learn from LIS's 15/15/11 than from the guy who just hit 15/13/13 (15 VR). Why? Because I bet LIS would hit 15/15 again, I'm not so sure if that 15 VR is repeatable.

 

[NickNaylor]

VR is overrated. I like the NYT, simple direct language is better than flowery circuitous nonsense.

LIS's 11 is just as good as a 15 in my book. We are future doctors, not English professors. Not to say a proficient use of the English language isn't to be desired, but 10+ VR is all the same in my book.

We spend our whole lives studying, I would never add lots of reading as a recreational activity. I would rather exercise or do something social (something outside, not sitting in a chair).

I'd rather learn from LIS's 15/15/11 than from the guy who just hit 15/13/13 (15 VR). Why? Because I bet LIS would hit 15/15 again, I'm not so sure if that 15 VR is repeatable.

Haters gon hate.

I agree with your analysis to some extent, but I do think VR is important. If it wasn't important, it wouldn't be included on the test. Though the passage-based question in BS/PS do require reasoning abilities, I think the VR section requires those abilities to a much greater degree. The ability to think critically about material is just as important as knowing the large corpus of material in the BS/PS sections IMO.

At the same time, though, I think PS/BS performance also has a fair amount of luck in it. Not as much as VR because VR is so subjective, but there's definitely some. If I got a different set of questions that happened to ask about material I had a strong grasp on, I may have gotten a better score. Obviously if I studied more I would increase my chances of doing well since I would know all of the material to a better extent, but I don't think there's any amount of preparation that can guarantee you a 15 in the science sections.

I'm not trying to defend myself by any means. I'm the first to admit that I have no idea how I managed a 15 in VR. I mostly just laughed at the bolded comment.

 

[LostInStudy]

Yea, I don't know how important verbal is or not but I would take Cole's or my score any day. We both got great scores and I don't think there's any use in arguing which is better or not, the point is we both worked hard in way that suited us and got a score that puts us in great position for an acceptance. Still have long way to go for that first acceptance though.

-LIS

 

[apc]

Hey LIS,
I finished the TPR physics first chapter
It was MUCH better than TBR (IMO at least)
I did the EK problems, but it seemed like TPR and TBR didn't go into vectors the way EK did...
Anyways thanks again. It was great help

 

[Don Draper]

Haters gon hate.

I didn't put you down, I actually commended you multiple times on your score. You did an amazing job.

I agree with your analysis to some extent, but I do think VR is important. If it wasn't important, it wouldn't be included on the test. Though the passage-based question in BS/PS do require reasoning abilities, I think the VR section requires those abilities to a much greater degree.

I agree with your analysis also to some extent. I didn't say it wasn't important, I just said that you need verbal proficiency (10+) rather than VR domination (15). We both know, 15 is hard to repeat on VR.

The ability to think critically about material is just as important as knowing the large corpus of material in the BS/PS sections IMO.

I wonder if this is true. I actually enjoy thinking, but the more I talk to medical students and people in medicine, the basic conclusion is that a tough undergrad degree (e.g. Physics/engineering) will do much more critical thinking than a medical student. I.e. studying medicine is mostly memory and little critical thinking.

At the same time, though, I think PS/BS performance also has a fair amount of luck in it. Not as much as VR because VR is so subjective, but there's definitely some. If I got a different set of questions that happened to ask about material I had a strong grasp on, I may have gotten a better score. Obviously if I studied more I would increase my chances of doing well since I would know all of the material to a better extent, but I don't think there's any amount of preparation that can guarantee you a 15 in the science sections.

I agree that PS/BS can add luck because if testing/prep material is over 1,000 things then the actual MCAT only tests 100 things. So depending on your test, you may hit the right 100 things sometimes.

I'm not trying to defend myself by any means. I'm the first to admit that I have no idea how I managed a 15 in VR. I mostly just laughed at the bolded comment.

You are a pressure performer. This is a great thing.

I'd rather learn from LIS's 15/15/11 than from the guy who just hit 15/13/13 (15 VR). Why? Because I bet LIS would hit 15/15 again, I'm not so sure if that 15 VR is repeatable.

The bolded comment is explained immediately afterwards. I've read a lot of people practice AAMC scores, you sometimes see people average 14+ on sciences but I rarely see people average 14+ in VR. I think LIS's prep made his 15s predictable. It is harder to make VR predicatable.

And again, I like critical thinking. Yet, VR can sometimes be deliberate obfuscation with esoteric language (a particular skill I don't find interesting). Some who speak English as a second language struggle with VR but they are far from unable to critically think.

 

[Don Draper]

Yea, I don't know how important verbal is or not but I would take Cole's or my score any day. We both got great scores and I don't think there's any use in arguing which is better or not, the point is we both worked hard in way that suited us and got a score that puts us in great position for an acceptance. Still have long way to go for that first acceptance though.

-LIS

I never said one score was better than another. 36+ is probably all the same to adcoms.

What I did say was I would rather have one score over the other, and that I would rather learn from one person over the other. Both are a personal preference.

 

[Excelsius]

VR is overrated. I like the NYT, simple direct language is better than flowery circuitous nonsense.

LIS's 11 is just as good as a 15 in my book. We are future doctors, not English professors. Not to say a proficient use of the English language isn't to be desired, but 10+ VR is all the same in my book.

We spend our whole lives studying, I would never add lots of reading as a recreational activity. I would rather exercise or do something social (something outside, not sitting in a chair).

I'd rather learn from LIS's 15/15/11 than from the guy who just hit 15/13/13 (15 VR). Why? Because I bet LIS would hit 15/15 again, I'm not so sure if that 15 VR is repeatable.

Well, someone clearly doesn't like VR. While the test itself might not be the best because those who make up those subjective questions sometimes are not the best judges of the original author's works, the importance of critical thinking and reading comprehension cannot be overemphasized. You don't have to read philosophy to use these skills - even a scientific article or a textbook easily gives in to this analysis and your comprehension is better as a result. Same applies when you are trying to have a conversation with a colleague or understand your patient.

I am not sure reading books for the sake of MCAT is worth it or even useful. I read because I like it and VR is a like challenge. People read NYer not because it is more sophisticated than NYT, but because the articles are very interesting and often funny. For someone who reads a lot, it might actually be easier to do better on the VR than on the sciences given the same amount of preparation. The reason why most people can't get a perfect 15 on the sciences is not because of luck, as you correctly mentioned, but rather because not everyone can spend three months studying full-time and especially overtime at 15 hours/day like Mr. LIS, perhaps not even if you study as threesome with Ritalin and Adderall. Now verbal score is much more prone to luck, but likely only as far as scores above 13 are concerned.

Let's also not forget that philosophy is the progenitor of every science existing today. Aristotle was the first physicist, astronomer, and psychologist. Newton was a philosopher. If you're still not convinced about the importance of verbal skills, just remember, medschools care about your VR scores.

 

[Excelsius]

Haters gon hate.

I agree with your analysis to some extent, but I do think VR is important. If it wasn't important, it wouldn't be included on the test. Though the passage-based question in BS/PS do require reasoning abilities, I think the VR section requires those abilities to a much greater degree. The ability to think critically about material is just as important as knowing the large corpus of material in the BS/PS sections IMO.

At the same time, though, I think PS/BS performance also has a fair amount of luck in it. Not as much as VR because VR is so subjective, but there's definitely some. If I got a different set of questions that happened to ask about material I had a strong grasp on, I may have gotten a better score. Obviously if I studied more I would increase my chances of doing well since I would know all of the material to a better extent, but I don't think there's any amount of preparation that can guarantee you a 15 in the science sections.

I'm not trying to defend myself by any means. I'm the first to admit that I have no idea how I managed a 15 in VR. I mostly just laughed at the bolded comment.

I thought you were joking since your scores are exactly what Don mocked above (13/13/15), but you seem to be an SDN regular. What were your VR averages for the practice tests (EK, TPR, AAMC)? Unless you were extremely lucky, I am sure you do have some idea how you received a score above 13 (unless you're joking).

 

[NickNaylor]

I thought you were joking since your scores are exactly what Don mocked above (13/13/15), but you seem to be an SDN regular. What were your VR averages for the practice tests (EK, TPR, AAMC)? Unless you were extremely lucky, I am sure you do have some idea how you received a score above 13 (unless you're joking).

No, I really have no idea how I scored that well. I was scoring 11-12 average on VR on the AAMC FLs. I think I got a 13 once, and I spent essentially no time practicing or preparing for VR (except for the FLs). It was a total fluke.

 

[Excelsius]

Ok. Your avatar certainly doesn't help and can be misleading. It is interesting to note though if you get to 13 on practice passages, all you have to do is be lucky on just two questions and you'll get a 15. I guess the same thing that makes it tough to get a perfect VR score also increases your chances if you get close enough.

Still, congratulations! Pretty rare. It will probably come up in your interviews and you might get questions about whether you read a lot.

 

[ACSheldor]

AC: I'll just answer your question here since I can't keep my threads/PMs straight because I'm in a hurry.

I think you're doing good. Only review the bio if you feel like you did forget a lot. As far a Kaplan goes, I can't say one way or the other, I think it just depends on how much time you have and how you're doing on the other FLs and if you need the extra practice. Get on that verbal though, some people don't need much practice and others need a ton.

Good luck,

-LIS

Okay, thanks. I'll post that in my date thread and see if I can get any more responses.

 

[Don Draper]

Well, someone clearly doesn't like VR. While the test itself might not be the best because those who make up those subjective questions sometimes are not the best judges of the original author's works, the importance of critical thinking and reading comprehension cannot be overemphasized. You don't have to read philosophy to use these skills - even a scientific article or a textbook easily gives in to this analysis and your comprehension is better as a result. Same applies when you are trying to have a conversation with a colleague or understand your patient.

I am not sure reading books for the sake of MCAT is worth it or even useful. I read because I like it and VR is a like challenge. People read NYer not because it is more sophisticated than NYT, but because the articles are very interesting and often funny. For someone who reads a lot, it might actually be easier to do better on the VR than on the sciences given the same amount of preparation. The reason why most people can't get a perfect 15 on the sciences is not because of luck, as you correctly mentioned, but rather because not everyone can spend three months studying full-time and especially overtime at 15 hours/day like Mr. LIS, perhaps not even if you study as threesome with Ritalin and Adderall. Now verbal score is much more prone to luck, but likely only as far as scores above 13 are concerned.

Let's also not forget that philosophy is the progenitor of every science existing today. Aristotle was the first physicist, astronomer, and psychologist. Newton was a philosopher. If you're still not convinced about the importance of verbal skills, just remember, medschools care about your VR scores.

You're right, I don't care for VR. If I get an 11 or a 15, I will not feel any better about myself because I don't value the ability to read silly philosophy diatribes talking about nonsense. I'd rather someone just briefly say what is important. I enjoy high quality, clear, science writing. Atul Gawande is a great writer for example. Some of the writers in VR passages make me want to vomit.

I've never said VR isn't important, my argument from the start has been VR skills above 11 are of no interest to me. It would be like if you asked Bill Gates what the difference between having 1 million dollars or 10 million dollars, he would probably say "not much, thats pretty much equivalent". Even though we might say, "wow, 10 million is a lot more." Well, I think 11+ or so is all the same (not because I'm good at VR, I'm just average at it).

 

[Don Draper]

Ok. Your avatar certainly doesn't help and can be misleading.

Racist anyone? I heard Lil' Wayne scored a 43 on his MCAT before pursuing a Fine Arts degree at the Julliard.

 

[rjns11]

Ok. Your avatar certainly doesn't help and can be misleading.

I have to agree. I'm new on this forum, and when I first read a post from ColeOnTheRole I thought, 'How does Lil Wayne get internet access in jail?' Then, after I saw his MCAT score, I thought, 'Ahh, no wonder he can freestyle so well, he's a genius!'

Judging from my diagnostic, if he's Lil Wayne, I'm Fat Joe.

By the way, thanks to ColeOnTheRole, LIS, Vihsadas and SN2ed for all the tips you've shared for studying. They have helped me build a study schedule which would otherwise have been much less effective.

 

[Don Draper]

I have to agree. I'm new on this forum, and when I first read a post from ColeOnTheRole I thought, 'How does Lil Wayne get internet access in jail?' Then, after I saw his MCAT score, I thought, 'Ahh, no wonder he can freestyle so well, he's a genius!'

Judging from my diagnostic, if he's Lil Wayne, I'm Fat Joe.

By the way, thanks to ColeOnTheRole, LIS, Vihsadas and SN2ed for all the tips you've shared for studying. They have helped me build a study schedule which would otherwise have been much less effective.

Too bad, Cole is just a white rapper like Eminem, I believe there is a slang name for this but it has slipped my mind...

Application Cycles: 6/2/2010
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Home State: Texas
Last Activity Date: 6/2/2010
SDN Handle: ColeOnTheRoll

 

[TheMightyBoosh]

I think the opposite. If you're looking at skills as an MC, Lil Wayne would be the kid who who got the really low MCAT score/GPA but for some strange reason was really liked by the AdComs and got into medical school anyway.

Not sure why he is so popular... To me, his flow sounds like a lot of moaning and unnecessary auto-tuning.

No disrespect to Cole though, we all have our own tastes.

 

[LostInStudy]

How did we got from talking about MCAT to rappers?

Anywho, anybody have any questions/comments/suggestions/or anything else they are wondering about? Doesn't matter how silly or insignificant it may be.

-LIS

 

[rjns11]

Yeah...I made a bad joke that apparently turned into a serious debate. I don't even know what 'his flow' means.

One silly question: you commented that you focused on one subject at a time. Does this mean you focused on biology one day and physics the next? -or biology until you finished the entire TPRH book, then physics until you finished the entire TPRH book?

 

[LostInStudy]

I finished one subject completely. I didn't rotate from day to day. I think maybe I should have I don't know. There's advantages/disadvantages to both ways. If you're going to take within a 3 month or so period then yea I would just do one at at time but if it's longer then I would rotate.

-LIS

 

[rjns11]

I finished one subject completely. I didn't rotate from day to day. I think maybe I should have I don't know. There's advantages/disadvantages to both ways. If you're going to take within a 3 month or so period then yea I would just do one at at time but if it's longer then I would rotate.

-LIS

Thank you.

I had to laugh when reading, "I think maybe I should have I don't know." As a reminder, you could not have scored even one point higher on the science passages. I doubt you should have done anything differently.

 

[TheMightyBoosh]

Yeah...I made a bad joke that apparently turned into a serious debate. I don't even know what 'his flow' means.

Wasn't looking to start a debate about anything... just had to take the opportunity to vent my thoughts on Lil Wayne.

And flow, according to the urban dictionary, refers to "A rappers ability to vocalize in a rhythmic yet complex string of rhymes that fit together in a logical and seamless manner."

Hope this helps

 

[LostInStudy]

Yea, I guess so. I just said that because after I had finished content review I did have to go back and review biology and G. Chem a lot because those were the one's I did first. Also it seems like someone who's doing a similar strategy (AC) is having to review his first two subjects too (Organic). But when I think about it, I don't really get how rotating would help because it's going to take you the same amount of time to review/practice, so stuff you did in the beginning is still going to end up getting pretty fuzzy. I guess a lot comes down to preference and boredom.

Hope this helps,
-LIS

 

[Don Draper]

I picked up some tips from USMLE prep individuals. Which is much more arduous.

Rotating is huge, especially as you need to increase efficiency.

I've learned that you should never cover content then do passages afterward because it wastes time. Of course, when people have 3 full months to cover the MCAT efficiency isn't really that crucial (The MCAT in the end isn't a lot of material, many say this post-test especially compared to USMLE).

Example: Reading and learning about Equilibrium, then doing equilibrium passages... of course you will do well but you inflate your score because you just spent a lot of time reading about it. Instead, you read about it then do passages on them maybe 5-7 days later. This way, as you go through the passages you have spaced repetition and are not relying on short term memory. You will probably do worse on the passages, but this is a true test of your skill because it isn't relying on what you read recently. The way the human mind works, spaced repetition > condensed repetition.

Sample
Mon - read topic 1+2
Tue - read topic 3+4
Wed - read topic 5+6
Thr - read topic 7 + passages topic 1
Fri - read topic 8 + passages topic 2

Etc. Obviously that is why content is more front loaded at the beginning. This also works for rotating physics/gchem/ochem/bio (in that you can read physics and do bio passages same day). I do passages from all 4 subject areas everyday.

The same with biology. Biology followed by biology, followed by biology is all very similar and related. You will tend to get into a flow for bio and start to do really well. But then when you switch to physics for a few weeks, your entire biology momentum will be disrupted. Now you will need to come back to speed on bio before the exam.

I have a love of efficiency. But like studying during the semester, there are a lot of tools you can use to become an excellent student that are unnecessary to get a 4.0 (cramming is horrible, but lots cram to a 4.0). So my thoughts on this in the end aren't of any consequence to most. But they will be important come Step 1.

 

[Don Draper]

How did we got from talking about MCAT to rappers?

Anywho, anybody have any questions/comments/suggestions/or anything else they are wondering about? Doesn't matter how silly or insignificant it may be.

-LIS

Sorry to disrupt the professionalism of the thread.

 

[apc]

LIS,
When you were practicing with BR/PR/EK, what did you do when you ran into a question that you weren't familiar with? So let's say a certain topic that was asked in the passage wasn't covered in your content material. What specific outside source did you use?
For the EK1001 problems, did you go back and read the EK content books (if you owned them)? Or were the one sentence explanations enough for you?
Thanks a milli

 

[apc]

I picked up some tips from USMLE prep individuals. Which is much more arduous.

Rotating is huge, especially as you need to increase efficiency.

I've learned that you should never cover content then do passages afterward because it wastes time. Of course, when people have 3 full months to cover the MCAT efficiency isn't really that crucial (The MCAT in the end isn't a lot of material (many say this post-test especially compared to USMLE).

Example: Reading and learning about Equilibrium, then doing equilibrium passages... of course you will do well but you inflate your score because you just spent a lot of time reading about it. Instead, you read about it then do passages on them maybe 5-7 days later. This way, as you go through the passages you have spaced repetition and are not relying on short term memory. You will probably do worse on the passages, but this is a true test of your skill because it isn't relying on what you read recently. The way the human mind works, spaced repetition > condensed repetition.

Sample
Mon - read topic 1+2
Tue - read topic 3+4
Wed - read topic 5+6
Thr - read topic 7 + passages topic 1
Fri - read topic 8 + passages topic 2

Etc. Obviously that is why content is more front loaded at the beginning. This also works for rotating physics/gchem/ochem/bio (in that you can read physics and do bio passages same day). I do passages from all 4 subject areas everyday.

The same with biology. Biology followed by biology, followed by biology is all very similar and related. You will tend to get into a flow for bio and start to do really well. But then when you switch to physics for a few weeks, your entire biology momentum will be impeded. Now you will need to come back to speed on bio.

Makes perfect sense. But at the same time you could also split the passages (SN2ed's schedule). Doing passages right away does help to master the material, but I also agree that you should come back to it at a later date.

 

[Excelsius]

...I've learned that you should never cover content then do passages afterward because it wastes time. ...

Example: Reading and learning about Equilibrium, then doing equilibrium passages... of course you will do well but you inflate your score because you just spent a lot of time reading about it. Instead, you read about it then do passages on them maybe 5-7 days later. This way, as you go through the passages you have spaced repetition and are not relying on short term memory. You will probably do worse on the passages, but this is a true test of your skill because it isn't relying on what you read recently. The way the human mind works, spaced repetition > condensed repetition.
...

That's not true. If you read what is generally said here is that passages are very important to reinforce the memory. When people do content review, they think they mastered it, but the initial problems turn out incorrect. LIS also mentioned this in the initial posts where he got 80% wrong after content review. In fact, one important point he made was doing problems untimed, while you're still absorbing the material. This is why you must do passages/problems to make sure that you really understood the material at the same time while you are still learning it. Then you do additional problems later and FLs in the end to take care of the memory issue.

This is not surprising given memory and LTP. The stronger the initial stimulation, the more you will remember.

 

[Don Draper]

That's not true. If you read what is generally said here is that passages are very important to reinforce the memory. When people do content review, they think they mastered it, but the initial problems turn out incorrect. LIS also mentioned this in the initial posts where he got 80% wrong after content review. In fact, one important point he made was doing problems untimed, while you're still absorbing the material. This is why you must do passages/problems to make sure that you really understood the material. Then you do FLs to take care of the memory issue.

This is not surprising given how memory works by LTP. The stronger the initial stimulation, the more you will remember.

We'll have to disagree. I respect your opinion though. It's funny that you say that my ideas are "not true". As if there is a true and false here.

Learning/memory is one of my favorite topics. I've purchased/read through probably 7-10 books on the subject. The stronger the initial stimulation, the more you will remember is overshadowed by repetition. Obviously this isn't true in once in a lifetime situations, your memory will be very strong in a traumatic experience (i.e. your brother dies), but as for reading content with doing passages vs just reading content, I would have to disagree. My content is done largely in Berkeley Review which is very conceptually strong and includes in chapter problems.

The problem often with content is what is being read: EK's style of fact/fact/fact will not improve problem solving but is ok if you are already strong (i.e. it's your major). You need conceptually strong material if you are weaker in a topic.

I assure you that reading a specific area, followed by doing passages on it is not an efficient means of learning. Your argument is that the initial stimulus will be greater by doing passages, my argument is that spaced repetition of concepts will exceed doing everything in a single day. I think if you truly study this idea, you will see that spaced repetition is a greater tool for long term learning.

My advice stems from USMLE prep strategies. What you're talking about is people reading content and doing poorly on passages afterward (we don't know how focused or active they were in the learning, if they were trying to learn from a prep book as a primary source as opposed to a review book, etc).

 

[LostInStudy]

Okay, so here's my opinion on the current topic. I sort of did that. TBR suggests you do that by splitting up your phases. I didn't do it for G. Chem or bio (the subjects I had reviewed again) but I did for O. Chem and Physics.

Here's the problem with doing no problems, you have no idea if you learned it properly or mastered it, so you have to practice to make sure you learned it the first time. What I did was all the EK, TPR, and TBR Phase I to make sure I learned it then at the end of the week I did TBR Phase II, so I did space them out and do them periodically. I think Excelsius and Don are saying somewhat the same thing. You have to learn the material first but you also have to space some of it out to keep it sharp. I had a lot of material so I could do much of it after I learned it, but some of you may not so that would be different.

So basically, I did a lot initially to make sure I got the topic down, then I came back to it at the end of the week and did more practice on it. Then at the end of content review I did all the practice I had saved (~10%) on all the topics at once to refresh it a third time, then I did FLs. I don't really know if it inflated my scores or not because I never really worried about numbers in the content phase. I think you HAVE to do passages initially to make sure you've got the correct concept and assumptions down. You don't have to/shouldn't use all your material because even though I did do a lot at once I didn't do it all. I did a lot because I had a lot. So the only changes to my method I would make would be maybe doing EK 1001 the day I do the review with TBR Phase I. Then at the end of the week do 1/3 TPR and TBR Phase II, then two to three weeks after that do 1/3 TPR, then after you finish all of your content review do TPR last 1/3 and TBR phase III, while rotating topics.

Thanks Don, excellent idea and discussion.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

 

[LostInStudy]

LIS,
When you were practicing with BR/PR/EK, what did you do when you ran into a question that you weren't familiar with? So let's say a certain topic that was asked in the passage wasn't covered in your content material. What specific outside source did you use?
For the EK1001 problems, did you go back and read the EK content books (if you owned them)? Or were the one sentence explanations enough for you?
Thanks a milli

I meant if it was a problem I didn't know how to do, whether I covered it in content review or not. I had the EK set, TPR, and TBR books and if I didn't know the topic then I would go from EK to TPR to TBR until I understood it. Most times I understood it after looking at EK. If I couldn't find it there then I would look online or wikipedia for more information, but this was rare. Those EK one liners weren't really useful. Usually I would just try to figure it out on my own before looking at their explanation in the method described above. However, sometimes I found that EK had simply made a mistake, but that wasn't very often either (maybe 5-10 questions for every 250).

Hope this helps,

-LIS