Studying Strategy Review

[ubiqituos_suffering]

Brief Intro (you can skip this if you want, my problem is down below)

I am scheduled for the Jan 23rd exam, and about halfway done with content review (i started prep on November 12th, so roughly 9 weeks total prep time) i have about 5 weeks on the dot to go, and the concepts are just not there. I took the actual MCAT in September 17th with no prep, didnt even read one page and scored a 22 (BS:6, V: 10, PS: 6). I was doing medicine for my parents and just didnt care. I have recently evoked a passion for a field (shadowing and volunteering at hospitals and clinics, its late I know)

I have a cgpa 2.7, and sGPA of 3.0-3.1. I have been out of my pre-reqs for a few years now. I am shooting for a 30+, i have absolutely no obligations so i can study 12-15 hrs every day, and apart from Chads videos I have all MCAT prep material. My friend recently did the PR course but never used their online content so I have access to their online makeup lessons, amplifiers, passages, aamcs,and the PR Fls he gave me the SWB and the VWB as well so I have all the books as well PR, BR, EK, Kaplan.

I have 37 days left, by my calculations I can finish content review by the 8th if I do 2 chapters a day. I do 5 passages of VR everyday. This leaves me precisely 2 weeks of just practice tests, I can give 2 days per test and get most if not all aamc's done by the time MCAT comes.

*******

My problem is this when I am doing the content review, the material isnt sticking, I am trying to memorize every line of the content, instead of getting the concepts. I keep wasting time deciding on how to study and what to study, for example I cant decide whether I should learn Bio from EK or Princeton, should i watch PR online lectures or Khan academy or should i watch Chads. For Physics should I do PR or BR (because alot of you guys recommend doing BR for the PS), again whose video should i watch. Should I Just do 1 reading of the material and go straight into the BR passages or should I give another reading? Do i even need to watch lectures? etc. I keep spending time on what to study instead of actually studying because i want to do as well as I can on the MCAT. I understand I am asking for a near impossible feat given the fact that I am a weak student and I have a limited amount of time, but I still want to give this a shot. I have no qualms with putting in 15 hours a day if I have too. What should I do? How are Chad's videos? How do I effectively study?

Any help would be appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[azor ahai]

Make Anki study decks. It's really the silver bullet to memorizing a massive amount of information and retaining it.

As for what to study, just use the AAMC topic list. Mark it off as you go through it. The level of detail you need to retain will become more apparent as you do practice problems.

 

[ubiqituos_suffering]

Make Anki study decks. It's really the silver bullet to memorizing a massive amount of information and retaining it.

As for what to study, just use the AAMC topic list. Mark it off as you go through it. The level of detail you need to retain will become more apparent as you do practice problems.

Thank you so much for your response, I would like to apologize if I was rude to you on your earlier thread. Do you recommend a specific prep review for Biology, the PR is just coming off a bit dense for me and I dont know whether this will be beneficial or not in terms of scoring on the passages well.

Thank you so much for the response.

 

[azor ahai]

Thank you so much for your response, I would like to apologize if I was rude to you on your earlier thread. Do you recommend a specific prep review for Biology, the PR is just coming off a bit dense for me and I dont know whether this will be beneficial or not in terms of scoring on the passages well.

Thank you so much for the response.

LOL I didn't even realize that was you. No worries, man. I'm here to help.

No single MCAT bio prep book covers all of the topics, so I supplemented it with Saladin Anatomy & Physiology. I hope you're savvy enough to not actually buy these books, cause here's the Saladin.

TBR is excellent for everything. Its bio and orgo can be dense though, so bear that in mind if you're strapped for time. Great for PS though.

 

[ubiqituos_suffering]

LOL I didn't even realize that was you. No worries, man. I'm here to help.

No single MCAT bio prep book covers all of the topics, so I supplemented it with Saladin Anatomy & Physiology. I hope you're savvy enough to not actually buy these books, cause here's the Saladin.

TBR is excellent for everything. Its bio and orgo can be dense though, so bear that in mind if you're strapped for time. Great for PS though.

I only have the PR books that I bought a year back, apart from that everything I got online. Thanks for the link

 

[TheRhymenocerous]

I find it helpful to physically write things down as I'm going. When something clicks, I just write out that relationship/concept in a way that makes sense to me on whatever paper I'm scribbling on or next to the problem I got wrong. I should probably compile those notes somewhere, but for me just the act of thinking it through and writing it down somewhere helps solidify things.

I've read through every chapter of the Berkeley Review books but I only started to feel like I was understanding things when I started doing passages and applying it. I think I was initially hesitant because I didn't want to do passages too early and 'waste' them but I think I actually understand the things I got wrong better than anything because it makes me go back and try to really understand those questions. So I think you should start on the passages and then refer back to the chapter when you come across things that are unclear to you.

 

[azor ahai]

I only have the PR books that I bought a year back, apart from that everything I got online. Thanks for the link

Word, you know how to do it right. I can't believe people spend hundreds of dollars on buying prep books and practice tests that you can just download. Oh well.

I think I was initially hesitant because I didn't want to do passages too early and 'waste' them but I think I actually understand the things I got wrong better than anything because it makes me go back and try to really understand those questions. So I think you should start on the passages and then refer back to the chapter when you come across things that are unclear to you.

I did the same thing. I saved all the passages and most FL's until now. It could be said that I focused too much on content review, but I had to being out of school for 4 years. I had to re-learn everything. It took a LOT of time, but had its benefits. "Beginner's Mind" as Zen Buddhists call it.

I don't know if I regret it. I took notes in sketchbooks and drew things out. I'm very visual so this was the best way for it to make sense to me. I even bought colored pencils to get it all right. I usually remember things by remembering placement on the page or things like that. Now that I have an overwhelming amount of practice to do I sort of regret it, but there's no way to tell if going over the content now is easier to digest without having first gone over it with a fine-toothed comb. Oh well.

 

[faith hopelove]

I agree just diving into the passages and questions. That will keep you know the content more than trying to read and re reread a chapter to get the content down. Also I wouldn't worry about what book is best or what online video to watch. I would say if you dont like dense material go with EK. I liked TPR book and I stuck with it. Also Khan is too long in his videos. I only go to him if I am really stuck on understanding something. And I watch him on 2x speed to save some time. But the best thing you can do is start doing passages and questions because that is how you know you got it or not. And reviewing why you got it right or wrong will help you remember the information for next time. They always say you learn more from your mistakes.

 

[SN2ed]

Whether reading content review books or watching videos helps more, only you can know. Also, the goal is never to use brunt memorization, especially for the MCAT. You absolutely need to focus on understanding the concepts and build a strong foundation. Simply memorizing a formula can kill you on a test when you can't apply it to new situations because you don't grasp the underlining concept.

 

[ubiqituos_suffering]

Whether reading content review books or watching videos helps more, only you can know. Also, the goal is never to use brunt memorization, especially for the MCAT. You absolutely need to focus on understanding the concepts and build a strong foundation. Simply memorizing a formula can kill you on a test when you can't apply it to new situations because you don't grasp the underlining concept.

Thank you so much for the response. I was wondering if you can offer any advice on the retainment of content, especially with the PS where I feel like If a couple of days go by, the material doesnt stay as sharp. You mentioned "brunt memorization", do you recommend any strategies on how I can prevent myself from trying to memorize every line of the books, because I find myself getting caught up in trying to take down or understand every little detail. Also for BS, I have been simply reviewing the notes I have been making subsequently. Is this the optimal strategy for retaining as much as I can, or should this not be focus at all as I move along from chapter to chapter.