Any of you guys did this method and thought it paid off or anything? I've been out of the pre-reqs for quite some time now, and I have the Kaplan 7 Book set, and I am starting off with Bio and Gen. Chem. I've just been reading them straight through so far...and feel maybe I should start taking notes and start making outlines for each chapter? I remember better when I write...but would this be a waste of time? I'm also thinking about maybe purchasing TBR because I think I need some really good content review. What did you guys do? Just read the chapters straight then do practice questions, or did you guys take notes while reading?
Making chapter outlines or taking notes while going through the review books?
- Thread starter OneGoal
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This depends on time constraints, but in my opinion, here's the best way to take notes:
First, read the chapter straight through, as you've been doing (or even slightly faster). Get a sense of what's important, what's familiar, what seems totally new.
Then, go back and take notes on that same chapter. This actually saves a lot of time. If you try to take notes as you're seeing a chapter for the first time - even if you know the material - you'll end up taking lots of notes on minor points, organizing it in a less-than-optimal way (especially if you're making outlines), etc. It's so much more productive to know how the chapter is structured before starting to write things down. Often, MCAT books will come back to an earlier point later in the chapter, and if you're writing without being aware of this, you'll end up with notes that seem scattered. Also, reading the whole chapter first helps you see what's important (in their opinion, at least). Maybe they spent a whole paragraph on one topic, and you wrote down every detail because that seemed important, only to find out that they devote several pages to the next point and what you wrote down isn't nearly as valuable as you thought.
First, read the chapter straight through, as you've been doing (or even slightly faster). Get a sense of what's important, what's familiar, what seems totally new.
Then, go back and take notes on that same chapter. This actually saves a lot of time. If you try to take notes as you're seeing a chapter for the first time - even if you know the material - you'll end up taking lots of notes on minor points, organizing it in a less-than-optimal way (especially if you're making outlines), etc. It's so much more productive to know how the chapter is structured before starting to write things down. Often, MCAT books will come back to an earlier point later in the chapter, and if you're writing without being aware of this, you'll end up with notes that seem scattered. Also, reading the whole chapter first helps you see what's important (in their opinion, at least). Maybe they spent a whole paragraph on one topic, and you wrote down every detail because that seemed important, only to find out that they devote several pages to the next point and what you wrote down isn't nearly as valuable as you thought.
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