NextStep 100 Days to MCAT Success: March 9 - June 17

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PostGanglionic

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This Thread will cover my experience doing the complete 100 day 2015 MCAT program put together by NextStep Tutors. (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...e-mcat-2015-100-days-to-mcat-success.1101251/)

I will do my best to cover my Experiences/opinions of all the material. If anyone is doing this program please feel free to join this thread so that we may expand on the program together.

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Thanks, I appreciate that. My best advice for when you get behind is take your time catching up. I rushed through the last section of thermodynamics and nearly missed all the in chapter questions. Reread and took notes on it today and aced it. I think doing the x.2 x.3 before other stuff on the daily schedule has made the day go by much smoother.
 
Thanks, I appreciate that. My best advice for when you get behind is take your time catching up. I rushed through the last section of thermodynamics and nearly missed all the in chapter questions. Reread and took notes on it today and aced it. I think doing the x.2 x.3 before other stuff on the daily schedule has made the day go by much smoother.

Thanks for the advice. I was just reading through your posts again and you had mentioned that you're going to continue concept mapping for bio. Could you expand on that a little for me ir direct me to a useful resource that will help?
 
On the 9th of this month I posted a link that gives a example of how it works. I'm on my phone so it's difficult to track down the link and post it. How it works is similar to an outline but you you put the main point at the top of a blank paper and branch down as you read about that point. Once you have created a map you look to find connections between the different branches on your map. Its a great way to be interactive with the chapters as you read them. Has been extremely helpful in all the subjects sense I started.
 
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On the 9th of this month I posted a link that gives a example of how it works. I'm on my phone so it's difficult to track down the link and post it. How it works is similar to an outline but you you put the main point at the top of a blank paper and branch down as you read about that point. Once you have created a map you look to find connections between the different branches on your map. Its a great way to be interactive with the chapters as you read them. Has been extremely helpful in all the subjects sense I started.

Thank you for the link. If possible, tomorrow when you're posting your update could you also post a pic of one of the concepts map you've made so I can see a sample of how you used it. I'm the type of girl that outlines but as website said I often miss connections and patterns. I'm interested in trying this out but don't know how to get started
 
Insulin and Glucogon Concept Map.jpg
Glucose Concept Map.jpg
Concept map of Glucose from chapter 1 Bio and Insulin and Glucogon reactions from chapter 3 Bio
 
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my best advice for anyone studying is take practice exams often. buy next step, gold standard and AAMS practice Qs (Kaplan if u can). Non stop practice is what will cause you to do well. Actually let me revise, its the REVIEW of those exams that will make u do well.
 
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Day 33- 38 Update + Added week of catching up

Bio 1: 3.3
Bio 2: 1.1,1.2 (128)
Chem: 3.3, 4.2 (127)
Psy: 3.3
LL: Reviewed up to three time. I have around 600 bullet points.

TPR FL 1 My Results:
Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 125
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 122
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 124
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior 123
Total 494 (National Average 500 (Goal 510)) 16 Points to go
"Slowly but surely climbing to the top of that bell curve then its just down hill from there"

Catch up week:

Today:
Chem 3.3,4.3
Phys: 3.3,4.3,5.1,5.2

"You want something to happen it takes awhile, but don't distract yourself. Stay focus on your goal every single moment of every single day no matter how hard it gets." - PostGanglionic

Tomorrow:
Psy 4.3,5.1,5.2
Bio 4.3

Starting week 6 fresh on Monday with Kaplan FL 2 (Got 2 extra Full lengths from Kaplan).


Changes:
Starting day with In chapter questions and chapter exams then work my way to the daily reading. Divided my lesson learned journal into ten page divisions with tabs (Take 2 minute break every ten page set). I tend to start in the middle when reviewing it and loop back around.

Chem Chapter 4 Thermodynamics:
Rushed through this chapter last week and missed nearly all the in chapter question. Instead of getting frustrated I put the book away picked it back up this week and read through the chapter slowly and discovered not only why I was missing questions from the chapter questions but the ones I have been missing on the full length tests. I need to remind myself to let the learning take its course and not force it.

Bio 2 Chapter 1 Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes, and Viruses:

Went into this chapter feeling I already knew most of it. Oh, how wrong I was! I learned many new things about Cellular Structures and Virus Genetic Material.



"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact:Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you" -Steve Jobs
 
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Quick Update:

Kaplan Full length 2

123- Physical Science
123 - Verbal
125 - Biology
123 - Psychology

Slowly Climbing! Still need to review last chapter of Physics, 3 Chapters in Chem, and nearly all of BIO 2
 
UPDATE:
Still working on catching up should be all up to date on Monday. Spent two days reviewing KAPLAN FL 2. Been spending extra time getting my lesson learned journal together. Been writing questions for each bullet point on the back of each page. Writing the answers down on the white board and repeating over and over until I get them right. Takes about 2 hours per ten pages. Going to do KAPLAN FL 3 on Monday. For today and Saturday going to finish up physics and BPS.

"Do what you can with what you have and never be satisfied with yourself!"-Les Brown

"Behind every fear is the person you want to be. If you're not facing your fears you are not living" - Greg Plitt
 
I am going by Sections in their books, not topics. I think the new MCAT take much longer to prep for than the old exam. 100 days is a loooong time for MCAT prep. I figured 12 weeks ~ 84 days so 100 days works for me. With the schedule I find that having a clear goal and deadlines prevents you from feeling that it is going too slow because you know when you are scheduled to complete major milestones (e.g. completing one of the content books)

I gave myself 1-3 days to complete each section. When the books are a bit light on detail I go to the Khan videos (1 set of books is good enough for me).

The Bio systems section (Bio book section 4) took me the longest, with all the A&P. That was a full 4 days. Otherwise the material is pretty good. Not pretty book, but solid enough, especially with the Khan videos right there to fill in any cracks for FREE!!.

I'm on day 55, and I want to spend all of days 81-100 having nothing left but Full lengths, practice sections, and review of missed problems.

I do like their strategy books cause they offer a bunch of strategies for the test and not just 1 like Kaplan or TPR. Right now I highlight in science and note-take in CARS. CARS I can't keep track of arguments via highlighting alone.

I noticed there is not much biochem/genetics in the books, you guys notice the same?
 
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I am going by Sections in their books, not topics. I think the new MCAT take much longer to prep for than the old exam. 100 days is a loooong time for MCAT prep. I figured 12 weeks ~ 84 days so 100 days works for me. With the schedule I find that having a clear goal and deadlines prevents you from feeling that it is going too slow because you know when you are scheduled to complete major milestones (e.g. completing one of the content books)

I gave myself 1-3 days to complete each section. When the books are a bit light on detail I go to the Khan videos (1 set of books is good enough for me).

The Bio systems section (Bio book section 4) took me the longest, with all the A&P. That was a full 4 days. Otherwise the material is pretty good. Not pretty book, but solid enough, especially with the Khan videos right there to fill in any cracks for FREE!!.

I'm on day 55, and I want to spend all of days 81-100 having nothing left but Full lengths, practice sections, and review of missed problems.

I do like their strategy books cause they offer a bunch of strategies for the test and not just 1 like Kaplan or TPR. Right now I highlight in science and note-take in CARS. CARS I can't keep track of arguments via highlighting alone.

I noticed there is not much biochem/genetics in the books, you guys notice the same?

How is the note taking method working out for you in verbal? Are you doing the lessons learned journal? I agree Bio 1 chapter four had a lot of procedures and reactions to learn. The Khan Academy videos have been an amazing resource for my Psych reviews. I feel sometime the EK psy goes through the topics too briefly.
 
I absolutely love the sounds and waves section in the new EK books. Makes learning the topic so much easier to grasp with new figure's, easy to understand explanations, and just the right amount of material . They did an amazing job applying the section to biological topics.
 
How is the note taking method working out for you in verbal? Are you doing the lessons learned journal? I agree Bio 1 chapter four had a lot of procedures and reactions to learn. The Khan Academy videos have been an amazing resource for my Psych reviews. I feel sometime the EK psy goes through the topics too briefly.


The notes taking for me is def slower for me than highlighting, but when I do it my accuracy goes way up. So much of cars is just translating what the passage is saying into something useful, so to me my notes do that in 1 step. I read a half-to full paragraph, depending on size, and then I jot down a sentence or less about what I think the take away is.

It doesn't help me anticipate Qs much, but I do always have an idea of what the answer might be or where to find info for the answers, via my notes.

EDIT:

Yes, I am doing the LLJ, but just for CARS, not science. The sciene is usually obvious why I got something wrong but for cars, it makes me think more about how I diverged from the authors intent and thus, how to read/think better the next time.
 
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@PostGanglionic, as I'm gearing up to begin the 100 day program for the Aug. 25th exam, reading through this entire thread has provided some excellent insight into what to expect during this time... Sounds like a beast, but I'm happy to see it help others improve! Happy studying!
 
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On exam days 8 hours and on study days I think about 6-10 hours.
For chapters it's usually about three hour minimum each section then 1-1.5 hours on the second time through doing all the questions.
 
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On exam days 8 hours and on study days I think about 6-10 hours.
For chapters it's usually about three hour minimum each section then 1-1.5 hours on the second time through doing all the questions.

Just did my first day of ".1's" and it took me about 3 hours per EK lecture... Going to take me a few more times to feel out the process and find what's most effective
 
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Just did my first day of ".1's" and it took me about 3 hours per EK lecture... Going to take me a few more times to feel out the process and find what's most effective
Honestly it usually does take ~2.5hrs for me to do it, and thats after some fine tuning, and even then I'm pressed for time on big chapters that I don't understand well. Most of my studying I have to supplement with Khan academy too so it becomes arduous
 
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Honestly it usually does take ~2.5hrs for me to do it, and thats after some fine tuning, and even then I'm pressed for time on big chapters that I don't understand well. Most of my studying I have to supplement with Khan academy too so it becomes arduous

Just wrapped up 1.1... definitely spent a lot less time clearly writing out definitions that I know are a part of my core knowledge. Going to bust out my diagrams now.

Happy studying!
 
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Nice, reviewing NS FL 2 physical science section. What a nightmare! By far the hardest physical science Mcat I have taken to date. Lots of drawn out calculations and tons of acid base chemistry. Going to go take a break and head to the gym to relax.
 
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Nice, reviewing NS FL 2 physical science section. What a nightmare! By far the hardest physical science Mcat I have taken to date. Lots of drawn out calculations and tons of acid base chemistry. Going to go take a break and head to the gym to relax.

Exercise is a great balancing tool! I'm a runner, and when I go on distance runs it's a great time to both relax and think about concepts I learned about earlier!

The ".2s" today were a great break from the ".1s" I did earlier this week...

Happy studying!
 
@mcatjelly made a really nice google doc that corresponds Kaplan, EK, and TBR chapters with each other. It's such a time-saver. If anyone else is wanting to supplement EK with one of those books, here it is!


This is brilliant! Can someone please add in the corresponding NS Biochem chapters as well? I'm on a budget. Also how come it doesn't specify the chapters from bioII for EK?
 
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This is brilliant! Can someone please add in the corresponding NS Biochem chapters as well? I'm on a budget. Also how come it doesn't specify the chapters from bioII for EK?

Mind clarifying what you mean by that last sentence?
 
Sorry, it was kind of vague! what I mean to say is how come there is no mention of whether the EK bio chapters pertain to the the BioI book or BioII book?
Haha, s'all good.

Pretty sure the answer is: laziness. But their books are split into physiology (II) and molecular biology (I), so it shouldn't be too difficult to deduce that "3.7 Reproduction and Development" is from their physiology book.
 
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Haha, s'all good.

Pretty sure the answer is: laziness. But their books are split into physiology (II) and molecular biology (I), so it shouldn't be too difficult to deduce that "3.7 Reproduction and Development" is from their physiology book.
LOL Fair enough! Thank you for clarifying!
 
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