Reading mcat books like novels

[WaxEarplugsFTW]

So, my Kaplan 7 book set just came in the mail.

I've been studying for about a year (almost entirely focused on verbal though which started at basically as low as it gets. Even a 4 is an overestimation haha). But after months of reading a passage and having absolutely NO CLUE what the passage is talking about, I am improving finally.

Now, I am shifting some attention to everything else.

I was wondering, did anyone find reading the mcat books as if it were Harry Potter helpful in review?
While reading them, I would make a quick outline of the book of all the concepts, terms, and definitions.
Then go directly to practicing questions.
Then, return only to the parts where I have trouble.

How would you describe your depth of focus with regards to detail while reading?

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[doapplicant2015]

By the time I took my test I had read every page of every book atleast 2-3 times with notes in the margin on almost every page, highlights, diagrams, etc. Go ahead and start reading and taking notes, but keep in mind you will likely be going back through these pages numerous times over the next few months.

 

[SN2ed]

At least for me, the way I read for fun is completely different from when I read to learn something. When I'm reading to learn, I try to understand exactly what is going on. If there's a term I don't know or a concept I can't grasp, I will hone in on that until it makes sense and I feel like I could teach the topic. There are even times where I'll think out how I would teach something and what kinds of questions someone else might have on the subject. Now when I'm reading a typical book, I'll occasionally skim to get the gist of what's going on and will rarely re-read sections.

 

[DrTurtle]

I'm reading my Kaplan MCAT books for the first time and I read them as @SN2ed does with respect to "reading to learn, I try to understand exactly what is going on. If there's a term I don't know or a concept I can't grasp, I will hone in on that until it makes sense."

But this is taking me way too long. I just finished Gen Chem after over a month, and I see that @nzhu and @doapplicant2015 are right in terms of having to go back again later to re-learn no matter how well you read or take notes the first time...

So, how do I read faster the first time around? I've tried not taking notes at all, but then I zone-out way more and stress over not having noted important things; I’ve tried noting only important things, but end up noting too much… I want to take the MCAT in two months and ideally spend the next month primarily reading (Bio, Organic, Biochem, Physics, and Psych/Soc), and the next month practicing @ 1- 1.5 tests a week, while reviewing and going back to books as needed.

That would require about 2 or more chapters a day! My current best is 1 chapter every two days @ 8 hours a day (at the library, phone away, 15 minute break every 2 hours, 1 hour break every 4 hours, eating right, etc.). One of my MCAT classmates said he read all the books in about a month, @ about 3 chapters a day! How do I read faster?

 

[aldol16]

You shouldn't be reading like you read a novel but you shouldn't be meticulously taking notes on every little thing either. That's not a very high-yield idea. It'll take you a very long time (and if you have that time to spare, then by all means) and in the end, you'll still need to know how to apply that knowledge. So instead, you should read those books with the goal of understanding the concepts presented in each chapter. Don't put too much emphasis on memorizing obscure equations - use equations as a tool for understanding how variables relate to each other and why. The new MCAT does not emphasize "plug-and-chug" at all. It emphasizes relationships between variables, between body systems, etc.

So in short, you should be trying to grasp every concept and understand why the world is so when you read those books. For example, instead of just memorizing the Graham's law for effusion, understand that a molecule that's heavy will move slower and have a harder time of getting out of a small hole. Thus, if you have two molecules that differ in molecular weight, the rate of effusion of the small one will be bigger.

 

[hopefulERdoc251]

Make a quick hits sheet! That's what I did (albeit for the old MCAT). On one page (mostly front, sometimes back), I would make notes of major concepts.

For instance, say chapter 10 was about Immunology. On that sheet I would map out the B/T cell activation, and some tidbits that worked with the system. For endocrine, I'd map out the general pathway of things released from Hypothal -> ant pit -> target organ for the key hormones and same with post pit. Then maybe at the bottom, write out if there were any weird exceptions to the rules or clinical relevance to help me remember. Expand this to the other subjects and that way you'll be able to go back and reference the key points and hopefully that might also trigger recall of some nitpicking details!

 

[salemstein]

Word on the street is this new test focuses less on details and more on data given to you. I'd prolly spend more time on the practice problems at the end of each chapter than rereading every line (though you kinda have to understand the chapter to do the probs).

 

[theonlytycrane]

MCAT != butterbeer and triwizard tournament

 

[aldol16]

Word on the street is this new test focuses less on details and more on data given to you. I'd prolly spend more time on the practice problems at the end of each chapter than rereading every line (though you kinda have to understand the chapter to do the probs).

The problems at the end of the content review book chapters (for Kaplan at least) are not helpful for the MCAT at all. You should be taking actual FLs and doing actual passages. The problems at the end of the chapters are designed to test your understanding of the material presented in the chapter and are thus necessarily specific. The MCAT does not test on specifics. You should use those questions to gauge how well you understand a concept, but you should not be using those as representative practice. For real practice, take a look at the Section Bank or at FLs.

 

[DrTurtle]

Thank you so much for the advice @aldol16, @hopefulERdoc251, and @salemstein! I will definitely take your advice!

 

[frosted_flake]

Thank you for asking this question/bumping this thread. I was wondering the exact same thing. I will have a strict 4 month study period and I am so overwhelmed already by those Kaplan books. I just don't want to miss something important... you know???

 

[frosted_flake]

The problems at the end of the content review book chapters (for Kaplan at least) are not helpful for the MCAT at all. You should be taking actual FLs and doing actual passages. The problems at the end of the chapters are designed to test your understanding of the material presented in the chapter and are thus necessarily specific. The MCAT does not test on specifics. You should use those questions to gauge how well you understand a concept, but you should not be using those as representative practice. For real practice, take a look at the Section Bank or at FLs.

I feel like Kaplan asks the most off the wall questions following the chapter... and I get so damn frustrated when I get about 1/3 of them wrong because it is asking about a minuscule detail that I swore would not be important.

 

[TheRealCookieMonster]

If you have lots of time and want to take a nice thorough tour of the MCAT study life, reading is great. However if you need to get it done and are on a timeline then you need to forget undirected CONTENT REVIEW.
--->***imo***<--- The best way to prepare for this test is rigorous practice and focused review. Put the books down and break out the practice questions (or turn to that page in your book) like not 10 or 100 but thousands of questions. Build yourself quizzes and tests or buy them and practice (libraries have them). Then after you go back and correct, use the questions you get wrong to focus your content review. Study those questions and how the solutions should have been reached (book reading, video watching, whiteboard diagrams w/e you like just make it stick) and then mark them for a return later and test them again. I you get them right don't bother with that question again. It feels unnatural to just go attack a random set of questions but it works. Our (most people's) brains are focused around problem solving and emotions... not leisure science reading and note taking. But again this is just what I have found to make people successful. glhf
And remember.... "C is for Cookie"

 

[aldol16]

Thank you for asking this question/bumping this thread. I was wondering the exact same thing. I will have a strict 4 month study period and I am so overwhelmed already by those Kaplan books. I just don't want to miss something important... you know???

I feel like Kaplan asks the most off the wall questions following the chapter... and I get so damn frustrated when I get about 1/3 of them wrong because it is asking about a minuscule detail that I swore would not be important.

The end-of-chapter questions are in fact too detail-oriented and are not representative of the MCAT. They just test your general understanding of certain concepts. If you miss a few detail-oriented questions, you shouldn't worry about them. If you miss all of them, you should worry. The reason is that if you miss a single detail, chances are you're not going to remember it on the MCAT anyway and so it's very low-yield and likely would not occur at all.