Material not Sticking

[bentonj002]

My test date is Nov. 7th 2014. I have been studying for about 2 months now (averaging about 5 or 6 hours a day). I have been following the SN2 method and haven't started taking any practice tests. All of the material is very familiar, but I feel like the majority of the material is not sticking from one day to the next. Is this a common feeling, or should I be doing something different? I have a little over 2 months left and I don't want to go about this the wrong way. Any suggestions?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[The Brown Knight]

You have a lot of time.
You can only assess whether the material is sticking or not by doing practice FLs or at the least practice passages. Have you been doing the latter?
If a specific topic doesn't stick, learn it in more detail using a textbook, khan academy, or youtube.

 

[bentonj002]

Yes, I have been doing practice passages from each chapter. I'm getting about 65%-70% of the questions right, but that's right after I've read the chapter. I take 1/3 of the chapter questions immediately after the reading and another 1/3 about a week later. The material just seems fuzzy after that week of studying all the other subjects.

 

[The Brown Knight]

Did you make your notes of the chapters you read? Not just chapter outlines, but your interpretations/understanding of the concept?
Secondly, I haven't used it a lot myself, but the Anki flashcard program is a great way to improve retention of the important concepts. Either make your own or you can find people who have made comprehensive decks share them on the Anki website.

 

[bentonj002]

No, I have not done that. Is that something I should do with all of the topics or just the major ones? Ok I'll check out the website. Can you print them off from there?

 

[The Brown Knight]

At the least, take chapter notes.
For the flashcards, you are better off doing them digitally (it also has a free phone app) because it's based on the concept of spaced repetition, which basically involves reviewing a card and if you get it right, the system won't display it again for another day or 4 days. If you get it wrong, the program can show it to you again within a minute or 10 minutes.
Some people use this in med school from what I've heard.

 

[bentonj002]

Ok. I've always got my phone on me so I'll definitely give the flashcards a shot. I didn't mean to imply that I don't take chapter notes. I meant that I haven't reviewed my interpretations from each chapter. I'll try to incorporate that in as well. Thank you for the tips.