Using Anki prior to starting content review?

[Vrubino]

Hey everyone, I’m currently a senior in undergrad planning on taking the MCAT in September prior to applying next may 2025. Currently, my plan is to begin studying about 2 weeks after I graduate from undergrad, and study full time until my test date. A premed advisor I’ve hired recently told me that it would be a good idea to start doing some anki (about 25 new cards a day) to get a head start on some of the content, even though I won’t actually start doing content review with any prep books or anything until the first week of June. If I do this I'll likely use the MileDown Deck, as I've heard the most good about it compared to others. I’ve already taken all of my prereqs and done well in them, my lowest grades out of them being B’s in both Organic Chem 1 and 2, with mostly A’s and an A- in Biochem. Does anyone have any experience or advice on this? TYIA

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[esob]

I was listening to a Divine Intervention podcast the other day (very popular for Step 2/3), and he mentioned that doing content review before questions was a good idea. I personally feel the same way about Anki. I tried to learn anatomy by blindly doing cards and it was miserable (though, everyone has different learning styles). What I have found, however, is that if you review cards by browsing them as a means of content review (and including filling in knowledge gaps), it bodes well for making your first pass at the cards very memorable.

At the end of the day, despite the fact that it is an unsatisfying answer, you will likely need to experiment and find out if it works for you. This is why I always recommend to pre-meds to figure out their anki routine before they actually need it.

 

[MateoGM416]

You're overthinking it, you *know* the content because you're about to graduate college having taken all of those classes. Whether you're able to recall and recite it on test day or when you just see the card is another thing. Starting them now would be helpful. 25 new cards a day is kinda low though

 

[haikuhero]

If you have the time, it's a great idea (I did similar)!

Yes, you will have dedicated study time, but that doesn't mean you can't make it easier, but basically doing 5% effort over 5 months to get something out of it.

For example, I did a single CARS passage every morning a year leading up to my MCAT date. Reading a passage for 10 minutes is super easy. Grade it, understand it, and move on with your day. I got a 131 on CARS.

Another example is you don't need to be actively studying to make sure you have your animo acids down. Get an animo acids anki deck and just have it squared away before you even start studying.

Other easy ones would be physics formulas, psych soc, some small organic chem stuff, and whatever else you think would help "anchor" your studying moving forward!

Honestly, 25 new cards per day might be a bit much, but if you have the time (maybe you have some boring clinical job or subway commute w/ lots of downtime, I'd say it would be perfect).

Word of caution, though... do not blindly memorize stuff you just don't understand. You can do it, but it would be like memorizing 500 random numbers. You can do it, but it would be much easier to memorize a sequence you understand:
See lecture for example start at 26:26 - 28:00 illustrates this perfectly!


Another word of caution: more importantly, please remember the MCAT is like 20% content. 80% of it is knowing how to play the game. Hell, 25% of it is literally a reading section. Know that this early studying will contribute to 5-10% of your MCAT score (mindset and discipline maybe more), but you decide if that's worth it for you!