Anki vs Quizlet

[myrealname]

Can someone provide the reasons why premeds prefer anki to quizlet for the mcat?? I get the spaced repetition thing but I feel like anki lets me be lazy way easier ("Oh yep i know this" even when I don't) vs quizlet having modes that force you to interact with the material (the Learn mode specifically). I'm really debating whether or not to just switch to quizlet and drop anki but I know people swear up and down by anki so if anyone knows what the benefits are I'd love to understand!!

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[Sky138]

There’s pros and cons for everything but it’s the spaced repetition and forced reviews that make the difference. You’ve just studying for the mcat so do whatever works best for you but if and when you hit medschool, anki will be your best friend

 

[highlander11]

Anki, Anki, Anki. There is no better study tool. It is especially helpful to utilize the card functions such as cloze deletions.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

As others have mentioned, anki has more powerful tools for creating cards- cloze and image occlusion are my most commonly used. It's also easier to handle a higher volume of information on anki because you're not repeating cards that the algorithm's decided you've learned. This might not matter as much in undergrad; I probably study for about 3-7x as many hours as I used to. Today (OMS-I) I went over 370 anki cards. If I were using quizlet, it would have been ~1,000 cards, which is my whole deck for this block. That's 2 hours vs 5. Of course I could have just picked 370 cards instead of doing 1,000 but I wouldn't know if I was studying the "right" material and it would necessitate the use of a pass tracker to ensure I was going over the material evenly. If you truly can't resist "cheating" on anki cards then you're doubling your study time and making things a lot more complicated for yourself.

There's an anki add-on that lets you convert quizlet decks into anki decks just by copying and pasting the URL if that would help your transition.

 

[myrealname]

As others have mentioned, anki has more powerful tools for creating cards- cloze and image occlusion are my most commonly used. It's also easier to handle a higher volume of information on anki because you're not repeating cards that the algorithm's decided you've learned. This might not matter as much in undergrad; I probably study for about 3-7x as many hours as I used to. Today (OMS-I) I went over 370 anki cards. If I were using quizlet, it would have been ~1,000 cards, which is my whole deck for this block. That's 2 hours vs 5. Of course I could have just picked 370 cards instead of doing 1,000 but I wouldn't know if I was studying the "right" material and it would necessitate the use of a pass tracker to ensure I was going over the material evenly. If you truly can't resist "cheating" on anki cards then you're doubling your study time and making things a lot more complicated for yourself.

There's an anki add-on that lets you convert quizlet decks into anki decks just by copying and pasting the URL if that would help your transition.

This makes sense except that quizlet has the "learn" function that while it lacks spaced repetition, it still has an algorithm that assesses your understanding and only shows you new or familiar cards. The learn function is a blend of traditional flashcards, typing answers, and multiple choice. I think my hang up about anki really is the fact that I can be lazy and pretend I know the answers and still get by

 

[JimKimSlim]

I think both methods have their own merits. I preferred Anki because I could just pull up my Anki decks quickly wherever I was, including on the road during busy traffic.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

This makes sense except that quizlet has the "learn" function that while it lacks spaced repetition, it still has an algorithm that assesses your understanding and only shows you new or familiar cards. The learn function is a blend of traditional flashcards, typing answers, and multiple choice. I think my hang up about anki really is the fact that I can be lazy and pretend I know the answers and still get by

The typing is time-consuming! Even if you type 100wpm you can think of the answer faster than you type it. Obviously it’s your prerogative but if you find yourself getting buried down the road, I recommend anki.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

It's purely preference. While I love Anki's algorithm, it might be the most mind-numbingly boring to study, of all time. If you're able to make Quizlet work efficiently for you, then use Quizlet.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors