BIO advice needed!

[teenteen]

Hey guys!

Ok so I am about 5 weeks away from test day and I don't feel confident in the bio section at all. I'd like to think that I still have some time for the sake of not having a mental breakdown but I wanted to get your advice on this section. I am more than halfway through destroyer and I have gone over Feralis's notes almost two times. I have yet to take BC tests 6-10 though. I just don't find myself answering questions confidently and I spend time going over the material but I find myself forgetting things in like 2 weeks. Any advice!?

Thanks in advance

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[teenteen]

Have you tried flashcards? To practice with everyday so that you don't forget the material?

No, I take handwritten notes from my reviews or destroyer. I haven't gotten to reviewing those yet though

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Walk me through your memorization process. Are you reviewing old material periodically to reinforce it in your memory? Going back over old material on a very regular (ideally daily) basis is essential to retention.

 

[teenteen]

Walk me through your memorization process. Are you reviewing old material periodically to reinforce it in your memory? Going back over old material on a very regular (ideally daily) basis is essential to retention.

No I'm not. I wanted to finish destroyer once and then again go over everything but clearly I don't think it's working

 

[FeralisExtremum]

No I'm not. I wanted to finish destroyer once and then again go over everything but clearly I don't think it's working

I think it's best to approach Destroyer with a solid foundation in place already - i.e. you should have attempted to go through a first pass of memorization on the material before starting, that way you get a better feel for what areas you need to spend more time reinforcing and what areas are just completely new that you haven't been exposed to. Right now (as you're probably experiencing) you'll get stuff wrong that you've seen before only because it hasn't been committed to memory yet. I would absolutely try to memorize first, then approach the Destroyer - you have 5 weeks which still gives you plenty of time for both.

 

[teenteen]

I think it's best to approach Destroyer with a solid foundation in place already - i.e. you should have attempted to go through a first pass of memorization on the material before starting, that way you get a better feel for what areas you need to spend more time reinforcing and what areas are just completely new that you haven't been exposed to. Right now (as you're probably experiencing) you'll get stuff wrong that you've seen before only because it hasn't been committed to memory yet. I would absolutely try to memorize first, then approach the Destroyer - you have 5 weeks which still gives you plenty of time for both.

That's good advice thanks. How do you think I should approach the whole memorization process though? I don't really know where to begin and I was planning on starting bootcamp bio 6-10 tomorrow but I don't know if that's still a good idea

 

[Jaa_]

If I were you I would read Cliffs twice before going through Feralis's Notes. The notes are a great summary but Cliffs explains everything with complete sentences and is much easier to learn new things with. Destroyer bio is the perfect way to finish studying for the bio section because it exposes weak points and gives you some random facts you might miss from Cliffs or Feralis. I think it's very important to save it for last.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

That's good advice thanks. How do you think I should approach the whole memorization process though? I don't really know where to begin and I was planning on starting bootcamp bio 6-10 tomorrow but I don't know if that's still a good idea

Assuming you've read through each Cliff's chapter before reading the notes, you then want to use repetition. I would read a page, trying to focus as much as possible. Then I would cover everything on the page and try to recite back what a certain term was. For example, if I was going through the organelles, I would cover the explanation for mitochondria and try to repeat back what it was without looking at the notes, then check to make sure I got everything, then over on to the next item, etc. Once I got a page completely memorized, I would move on to the next page, and I could usually cover about 5 a day. Then I would go back to pages I had done previously (e.g. the chunk of 5 pages I had memorized yesterday) and I would try to go through those more quickly to make sure I could recall everything on those previous pages. This part was essential to retaining what I had done days/weeks earlier, otherwise it would definitely slip right out of my memory.

 

[teenteen]

Assuming you've read through each Cliff's chapter before reading the notes, you then want to use repetition. I would read a page, trying to focus as much as possible. Then I would cover everything on the page and try to recite back what a certain term was. For example, if I was going through the organelles, I would cover the explanation for mitochondria and try to repeat back what it was without looking at the notes, then check to make sure I got everything. Once I got a page down, I would move on to the next page, and I could usually cover about 5 a day. Then I would go back to pages I had done previously (e.g. the chunk of 5 pages I had memorized yesterday) and I would try to go through those more quickly to make sure I could recall everything on those previous pages. This part was essential to retaining what I had done days/weeks earlier, otherwise it would definitely slip right out of my memory.

Ok this sounds good thanks. There are a few chapters I have noted down that I definitely need to do this for.