Spending too much time on Content over Practice

[basicallyno]

Hey guys,

I have a quick question. I feel like I am spending most of my MCAT study time on studying for the content, and very little time on doing practices, hence why I am always tricked by the questions. How do you guys balance your time? 1/2 review and 1/2 practice? Or more practice?

I am currently taking the TPR Classroom course.

Thanks!

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[Rolling_with_the_punches]

I did next to zero Content review. 95% passages/questions 5%review . I feel like content review is useless unless you are practicing it using problems. I did The Berkeley review passages for physics and chemistry. Got two 13's so far in aamc 7 and 8 PS. VERBAL on the other hand...

 

[GolfUSA]

Yeah, I felt the same way on SN2ed's Schedule, but reading the BR chapters was not a waste of time IMO. Just try to get it done as quickly as possible so you can be doing pure practice problems/ practice tests for a few weeks before the MCAT.

 

[theyellowking]

In my opinion, it really depends on your strengths/weaknesses for the subjects. I'm pretty good with physics, orgo, and general chemistry, so I don't review them as often (3/4 of my time is spent doing practice problems). However, I have extreme difficulties with biology, so I find myself spending a lot of time reviewing the topics from the books, looking up YouTube videos, checking out google, etc (1/2 time for content, 1/2 for practice).

 

[alexlex143]

I've been spending a lot of time on content review for subjects I took several years ago. I took the last quarter of gen chem almost 4 years ago for example. Needless to say, I've needed lots of review! But the practice problems have really been cementing the material for me.

 

[TheLionheart]

After taking the real thing and 7 practice exams, I'm of the opinion that the MCAT is less about what you know, but more about how well you can think and reason your way through the questions. Sure, discretes test random knowledge and you have to know some formulas/reactions, but, for example, my PS section had passages that only an astrophysicist would be able to totally understand. But that's the point--we were presented with some topic we most likely had zero exposure to, and had to apply the information provided to us to answer questions. Once I made the realization that I didn't need to know every little fact, studying became significantly better.

 

[LChristmas]

I think it is ok to have a bit of a sliding scale of focus through the course of your studying. At first it can be mostly content review/learning, and as you move closer to the test date it will become mostly practice problems and exams. The above post is correct too. I was surprised how much information was presented in the passages in PS and BS that just needed to be analyzed to find the answer. Your work in VR will pay off in all sections of the exam!

 

[basicallyno]

Thanks guys for the lots of input you gave! I got a general sense that while content is important, you spend the majority of the time on practice.

A follow-up question, which may sound really basic, but if I feel like I am not familiar with a certain topic, or is just taking a long time on the content study and is hampering my schedule, how do you guys deal with that?

For example, it took me 3 hours to study for the nerves/sensory organs (Chp 7 of TPR Bio). And that made me behind in my schedule, and this happens quite often as I feel like I have forgotten a lot of the stuff from the pre-med courses...

 

[Shirafune]

I tend to read a chapter and answer the review questions at the end of the chapter to try and solidify the information. Granted, for subjects I haven't taken classes in I will definitely get a lot wrong, but getting things wrong and reading the explanation helps with retaining it. I'll reread the chapter just very briefly a week later and then start applying my knowledge to passages.

With many passages, you will hopefully just remember most things from simply having gotten questions wrong or from reviewing with reading. Practice practice practice with problems!

For example, the physics course I am required to take at my school is crap and doesn't cover nearly as much detail as it should, compared to the MCAT anyways. So I started out getting tons of questions wrong, but after doing lots of practice questions, I could recall formulas and concepts a lot easier now.

 

[golfman7]

Buy the TpR science workbook and work thru every single prblem and understand why you are getting wrong answers. That got me a 11 in ps and 10 in bs . Berkley review is also good for ochem, physics, and Gen chem if you need more practice.

 

[basicallyno]

^Thanks. Do TBR books go well with TPR? I am thinking about buying TBR books for extra practice in addition to TPR course I am taking..

 

[IslandStyle808]

^Thanks. Do TBR books go well with TPR? I am thinking about buying TBR books for extra practice in addition to TPR course I am taking..

Not sure but I like the fact that for physics TPR hyperlearning book is math intensive and TBR book is more conceptual. So I feel I get the best of both world with these two books. I did the official guide to the mcat questions recently and felt the passages where a hybrid of the two books in physics.

For chemistry, I did almost exclusively TBR, just because there are more passage there than for physics. I think it has a good blend of calculations and is very conceptual.

For biology, I did TPR hyperlearning exclusively because I felt this was the closest to the type of problems you will see on the MCAT.

For ochem, I use TBR, but have not do much of the passages (since I feel okay with the topic as well as biology). TBR maybe a bit overkill for content, but it does have good passages.

 

[basicallyno]

Not sure but I like the fact that for physics TPR hyperlearning book is math intensive and TBR book is more conceptual. So I feel I get the best of both world with these two books. I did the official guide to the mcat questions recently and felt the passages where a hybrid of the two books in physics.

For chemistry, I did almost exclusively TBR, just because there are more passage there than for physics. I think it has a good blend of calculations and is very conceptual.

For biology, I did TPR hyperlearning exclusively because I felt this was the closest to the type of problems you will see on the MCAT.

For ochem, I use TBR, but have not do much of the passages (since I feel okay with the topic as well as biology). TBR maybe a bit overkill for content, but it does have good passages.

Ah, thanks. Did you send them a check via mail? The shipping process seems tedious...

 

[IslandStyle808]

Ah, thanks. Did you send them a check via mail? The shipping process seems tedious...

From what I remember, I think I did money order (this felt the safest). Yeah the process is tedious. Especially if your not living in the continental United States, it gets more expensive and takes a longer time.

 

[golfman7]

^Thanks. Do TBR books go well with TPR? I am thinking about buying TBR books for extra practice in addition to TPR course I am taking..

Yes, TBR is pure gold for Gen chem and physics. Very challenging passages but I'm convinced that to break a 10 on PS you must use TBR. Their Gen chem and physics passages are very similar to the real mcat.I thought their ochem book, especially part 2 may have gone into too much detail. But definitely focus on the lab techniques chapter in book 2 and focus on the content and passages in book 1

 

[basicallyno]

Dang, now you guys have really made me want to buy it. TBR books are so pricey though! I'm considering Physics, Chem, and verbal.

What's you guys' opinion on their verbal? I certainly need practice on verbal...

 

[csx]

Yes, TBR is pure gold for Gen chem and physics. Very challenging passages but I'm convinced that to break a 10 on PS you must use TBR. Their Gen chem and physics passages are very similar to the real mcat.I thought their ochem book, especially part 2 may have gone into too much detail. But definitely focus on the lab techniques chapter in book 2 and focus on the content and passages in book 1

What if you tried the passages and you just get wrecked...?

 

[golfman7]

What if you tried the passages and you just get wrecked...?

Nova physics is very helpful, when I was struggling with Berkley physics I found their questions to be alot easier and their content was also pretty good. Exam crackers 1001 is also really good practice if you need help in certain topics. And I would not worry about getting 50 percent or less on Berkley physics as long as you are learning and using other resources.

 

[DocKingh]

Dang, now you guys have really made me want to buy it. TBR books are so pricey though! I'm considering Physics, Chem, and verbal.

What's you guys' opinion on their verbal? I certainly need practice on verbal...

TBR verbal is considered their worst book. I don't recommend it at all. It is not representative of the real test. For verbal you should get TPRH verbal (if you can find it because it's tough to get a hold of). EK 101 is also good (not as good as TPRH in my opinion, but still good practice). However, TBR verbal will definitely be a waste of money (there are much better verbal books out there).

 

[basicallyno]

TBR verbal is considered their worst book. I don't recommend it at all. It is not representative of the real test. For verbal you should get TPRH verbal (if you can find it because it's tough to get a hold of). EK 101 is also good (not as good as TPRH in my opinion, but still good practice). However, TBR verbal will definitely be a waste of money (there are much better verbal books out there).

other books by TBR you would suggest? I want to order all at once to save on shipping..

 

[IslandStyle808]

other books by TBR you would suggest? I want to order all at once to save on shipping..

Most of us would suggest just buying TBR Chem, Physics, O Chem.

For Biology you can buy either EK Biology or TPR Biology (I would recommend TPR Biology, more detail). Buy the TPR Science Workbook for Biology practice.

For Verbal buy EK 101 and TPR hyperlearning verbal.

Well buy whatever your wallet can stand.

 

[bambam92]

I was doing this for a while…almost all my time on content instead of practice, not good. Now, I review the content quickly using chads/TPR then jump into TPRH SW for the respective problems. I think the ideal setup is do the TPRH SW first as it has a bunch of discretes and really continues to hammer the content even thru its passages. Whereas BR is more conceptual and has more "out there" problems, lol. So wait on the TBR until after doing the problems in TPRH SW; I really think this is a good set up. At first I was just doing TBR passages, mhmm holy bruised ego. If you do a **** ton of practice passages and discretes you learn the content thru the problems I am convinced--this is especially true for the PS topics I feel.

 

[DocKingh]

other books by TBR you would suggest? I want to order all at once to save on shipping..

I agree with IslandStyle808. TBR Physics, Chem, and OChem have pretty good practice passages. TPRH SW is better for Biology (it has more experiment based passages which are common on the real thing).

 

[basicallyno]

Ah thanks guys. TBR Ochem, Phys, and GChem it is then. Aaaaand my printer broke so I can't print out the order form. Great, and it's sunday