Boosting grades

[fldoctorgirl]

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I started out M1 year struggling to pass my first 2 classes; I did fine in the end, but it was one of those situations where I bombed the first exams and then had to kill myself on the second.

We’ve now completed 3 classes and are on to our fourth and I have definitely seen an improvement in my grades (I’m not really worried about not passing anymore), but my grades still aren’t where I want them to be. I’m usually either right at average or a bit below it, with the exception of anatomy practicals where I am above average. I don’t go to lecture unless it’s mandatory, and my study schedule basically consists of watching lecture, making Anki cards, doing new cards + review cards for the day, and doing Zanki cards from the corresponding unit (just started Zanki last exam). I try and do practice questions the day or two before the exam. I'm just always second guessing my study methods and wondering if I should change them. I worry that Anki lets me get all the details down really well, but not the whole picture, and sometimes our exams have a lot of conceptual stuff on them.

Does anyone have any tips for boosting my grades a bit? I go to a school with traditional A/A-/B+/B/etc grades. Should I even care as long as I'm passing?

 

[Neopolymath]

I started out M1 year struggling to pass my first 2 classes; I did fine in the end, but it was one of those situations where I bombed the first exams and then had to kill myself on the second.

We’ve now completed 3 classes and are on to our fourth and I have definitely seen an improvement in my grades (I’m not really worried about not passing anymore), but my grades still aren’t where I want them to be. I’m usually either right at average or a bit below it, with the exception of anatomy practicals where I am above average. I don’t go to lecture unless it’s mandatory, and my study schedule basically consists of watching lecture, making Anki cards, doing new cards + review cards for the day, and doing Zanki cards from the corresponding unit (just started Zanki last exam). I try and do practice questions the day or two before the exam. I'm just always second guessing my study methods and wondering if I should change them. I worry that Anki lets me get all the details down really well, but not the whole picture, and sometimes our exams have a lot of conceptual stuff on them.

Does anyone have any tips for boosting my grades a bit? I go to a school with traditional A/A-/B+/B/etc grades. Should I even care as long as I'm passing?

First, let's get the negative talk out of the way: maybe you are just an average person in med school and you will never do better even if you study a lot more. That's completely ok. It's just a possibility that gets ignored on SDN, but it needs to be said because at the end of the day you could try 100 things to improve and get nothing but poor mental health out of your quest for improvement. Perspective is important. I'm not saying to not try or quit pushing yourself to be ambitious!

Now on to the actual advice: Whenever someone I know in any schooling says they are doing the right things (not going to class, spaced repetition, practice questions), the first thing I suggest is to examine your test -taking. Are you reviewing your exams? Are you changing answers? Are you missing a certain type of question? Are you misreading questions for some reason? Are you approaching questions systemically? Are you able to rule out answer choices(working backwards) if you get stumped by a question stem? Have you historically been a good test-taker? Are you identifying the stupid professor writing your questions and picking the answer they want you to pick because sometimes that's just how PhD bs works? Do you routinely eliminate answer choices right after reading the stem due to your global understanding of the subject matter? Are you taking the exams quickly and not marking 1/3 of the damn test? On questions you are getting correct, do you immediately know the answer cold right when you see the answer choices? There are a lot of things going on here to think about. You certainly don't have to speak to any of us about it, but you should think about what is going on during the test because it is even more important than memorizing the information beforehand. We all know people at school who study like mad and get mediocre grades because of this. This type of stuff is fixable though!

Anki is a very powerful tool. You obviously get that. That said, it's important not to neglect UNDERSTANDING and the big picture as your said. Anki will not get you questions right that are reasoning based. It just gives you the variables to solve the puzzle. Your cards will become higher quality as you progress through your curriculum and your grades will slightly improve because of that. They might not be great right now. I recommend a very superficial pass through material to get the big picture. Some people like to look at lecture first. Some people like to watch an outside video first. You can do either, but I recommend trying to make a super basic concept map in your head (writing takes too long and has no added utility imo). When you answer cards you need to take more time and really try to think of everything you can about the cards to make those integrations. This will pay off a little in the beginning, but is mostly important for second year. I cannot stress getting in this habit enough. I would also recommend doing practice questions a bit earlier. You don't have to know everything about everything to start doing questions. Obviously review all questions and all answers for said questions. That is where the real jump is made in performance. If you don't review every aspect of a question, it's a waste.

Finally, these subjects just might be your weak points. I know several people who vastly improved once we got to second year. The pathology is just much better for them than the first year topics. Stay the course. Don't do anything rash and let things naturally progress. You have done like 3 months of school and have plenty of time to improve and things to click. You are doing fine. Chill.

Edit: Also, if your school is like mine, you will have people who completed masters or previous coursework that is sometimes identical to the first few months of med school so the average is inflated by people frankly repeating classes especially if they were in your school's own masters program. Don't worry. These people always regress to the mean and then you see a real representation of how you are doing compared to your peers.

 

[futuredoctor1995]

Hey!! I am literally right here with you on this. I do well but I am always at the average which is nice now since we are not below it anymore and we don't have to worry about passing. I do feel the struggle that I put so much effort in and then we just make the average. Maybe we are just average students? I really want to know what the other students are doing differently in our class.

 

[ciestar]

Start doing practice questions earlier than the day before.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

First, let's get the negative talk out of the way: maybe you are just an average person in med school and you will never do better even if you study a lot more. That's completely ok. It's just a possibility that gets ignored on SDN, but it needs to be said because at the end of the day you could try 100 things to improve and get nothing but poor mental health out of your quest for improvement. Perspective is important. I'm not saying to not try or quit pushing yourself to be ambitious!

Now on to the actual advice: Whenever someone I know in any schooling says they are doing the right things (not going to class, spaced repetition, practice questions), the first thing I suggest is to examine your test -taking. Are you reviewing your exams? Are you changing answers? Are you missing a certain type of question? Are you misreading questions for some reason? Are you approaching questions systemically? Are you able to rule out answer choices(working backwards) if you get stumped by a question stem? Have you historically been a good test-taker? Are you identifying the stupid professor writing your questions and picking the answer they want you to pick because sometimes that's just how PhD bs works? Do you routinely eliminate answer choices right after reading the stem due to your global understanding of the subject matter? Are you taking the exams quickly and not marking 1/3 of the damn test? On questions you are getting correct, do you immediately know the answer cold right when you see the answer choices? There are a lot of things going on here to think about. You certainly don't have to speak to any of us about it, but you should think about what is going on during the test because it is even more important than memorizing the information beforehand. We all know people at school who study like mad and get mediocre grades because of this. This type of stuff is fixable though!

Anki is a very powerful tool. You obviously get that. That said, it's important not to neglect UNDERSTANDING and the big picture as your said. Anki will not get you questions right that are reasoning based. It just gives you the variables to solve the puzzle. Your cards will become higher quality as you progress through your curriculum and your grades will slightly improve because of that. They might not be great right now. I recommend a very superficial pass through material to get the big picture. Some people like to look at lecture first. Some people like to watch an outside video first. You can do either, but I recommend trying to make a super basic concept map in your head (writing takes too long and has no added utility imo). When you answer cards you need to take more time and really try to think of everything you can about the cards to make those integrations. This will pay off a little in the beginning, but is mostly important for second year. I cannot stress getting in this habit enough. I would also recommend doing practice questions a bit earlier. You don't have to know everything about everything to start doing questions. Obviously review all questions and all answers for said questions. That is where the real jump is made in performance. If you don't review every aspect of a question, it's a waste.

Finally, these subjects just might be your weak points. I know several people who vastly improved once we got to second year. The pathology is just much better for them than the first year topics. Stay the course. Don't do anything rash and let things naturally progress. You have done like 3 months of school and have plenty of time to improve and things to click. You are doing fine. Chill.

Edit: Also, if your school is like mine, you will have people who completed masters or previous coursework that is sometimes identical to the first few months of med school so the average is inflated by people frankly repeating classes especially if they were in your school's own masters program. Don't worry. These people always regress to the mean and then you see a real representation of how you are doing compared to your peers.

Thank you for this super detailed response!!

I am 95% okay with being average. I started med school with the mindset that I wasn't going to kill myself to get the perfect grades, but that's easier said than done for someone who finished undergrad with nearly a 3.9. I am working on getting myself 100% okay with it, because at the end of the day I would like to start prioritizing my own sanity as opposed to just acing everything, and I'm not interested in anything uber-competitive.

I reviewed an exam with a learning specialist at the beginning of the year and found that I was changing a lot of my answers. I completely stopped doing that unless I remember an actual reason why changing the answer makes sense, and I think that had a large role in improving my scores. I should point out that since the beginning of the year, they have gradually been decreasing our time for exams until they've hit the time we will have on boards-- this last exam was the first one to hit that mark. It was 100 questions in 2 hours, and when I was reviewing my exam afterwards (we have a post-exam review for 30 minutes right after the exam where you can see what you got wrong) I noticed that I got a bunch of questions wrong that I actually did know, I think I just started going through the questions too fast/burning out by the end. Literally, one question was 0 application, just a fact-- that I knew-- and I got it wrong. I do think a large part of it is my test-taking ability-- I'm a decent test-taker (scored well on SAT, ACT, decently on MCAT, whatever) but I think undergrad conditioned me for mostly first and second order questions, while many of the questions on these tests seem to be purely third or fourth order. I just don't know how to improve on that.

Is watching the lecture consistent with a first pass, or do you recommend going through the lecture myself just reading it before watching it?

I get nervous doing questions too early on, because it just makes me feel like I don't know anything. Since we have such limited resources, I try and save them till right before. If you think doing them early would be more helpful, I can definitely try.

Thank you for the positive words. I know in my head that I'm doing fine as long as I pass, because I've always heard that pre-clinical grades aren't a big deal, but I can't seem to fully embrace that.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Hey!! I am literally right here with you on this. I do well but I am always at the average which is nice now since we are not below it anymore and we don't have to worry about passing. I do feel the struggle that I put so much effort in and then we just make the average. Maybe we are just average students? I really want to know what the other students are doing differently in our class.

This exam was so stratified. I had friends who normally score far above average who scored in the 60s. Then I heard of people getting 80s+, although the vast majority of people I spoke to were unhappy with their grades. I was honestly expecting the average to be lower.

I spoke to one person who scored above average about their study methods, and they said they do a first pass of the lecture the night before with friends, then go to lecture/watch it, then do another pass with friends again afterwards. So, basically they're teaching each other. Then, 3-4 days before the exam, they do another pass. I typically don't like studying with others because I feel I'm more productive on my own, but it's an option to explore for sure. I'll tag him in here in case he has any feedback he wants to add: @Magus5454

 

[Neopolymath]

Thank you for this super detailed response!!

I am 95% okay with being average. I started med school with the mindset that I wasn't going to kill myself to get the perfect grades, but that's easier said than done for someone who finished undergrad with nearly a 3.9. I am working on getting myself 100% okay with it, because at the end of the day I would like to start prioritizing my own sanity as opposed to just acing everything, and I'm not interested in anything uber-competitive.

I reviewed an exam with a learning specialist at the beginning of the year and found that I was changing a lot of my answers. I completely stopped doing that unless I remember an actual reason why changing the answer makes sense, and I think that had a large role in improving my scores. I should point out that since the beginning of the year, they have gradually been decreasing our time for exams until they've hit the time we will have on boards-- this last exam was the first one to hit that mark. It was 100 questions in 2 hours, and when I was reviewing my exam afterwards (we have a post-exam review for 30 minutes right after the exam where you can see what you got wrong) I noticed that I got a bunch of questions wrong that I actually did know, I think I just started going through the questions too fast/burning out by the end. Literally, one question was 0 application, just a fact-- that I knew-- and I got it wrong. I do think a large part of it is my test-taking ability-- I'm a decent test-taker (scored well on SAT, ACT, decently on MCAT, whatever) but I think undergrad conditioned me for mostly first and second order questions, while many of the questions on these tests seem to be purely third or fourth order. I just don't know how to improve on that.

Is watching the lecture consistent with a first pass, or do you recommend going through the lecture myself just reading it before watching it?

I get nervous doing questions too early on, because it just makes me feel like I don't know anything. Since we have such limited resources, I try and save them till right before. If you think doing them early would be more helpful, I can definitely try.

Thank you for the positive words. I know in my head that I'm doing fine as long as I pass, because I've always heard that pre-clinical grades aren't a big deal, but I can't seem to fully embrace that.

A lot of what you mentioned will get better as you go through school and adjust to the question style and timing. Luckily this is just something that will be improved with practice as you progress through school. Being aware of your timing can really help and you will get that figured out too. It will allow you to take a mental pause during the exam to think straight because you will know you have time to work with. Everybody makes mistakes on exams occasionally, but taking 30 seconds every once in a while can help you relax and recenter yourself when you are amped up. Nothing to worry about there!

If you ask how to do your passes through the material you will get 13 answers from 12 people as they say. Even if superficially, the consensus is that the more times you view material the more you will retain. However, how you go about getting those passes in is completely up to you and by experimentation. Each block will probably need slight adjustments as well based on professor or subject. I only made a suggestion to really try to step back and see the big picture because of your concern about anki. I don't think there is a wrong way to do this as long as you don't just go straight to memorizing tiny details. Don't let anyone tell you details aren't important or low yield. It's hard to discern what will come up again later so just try your best to learn everything even though you can't possibly do that. They are what separates the top of the class, but those facts will be meaningless if you can't figure out how to start making integrations with the material for more difficult questions. This is why I think you should do practice questions earlier. I think that they allow you to make integrations and notice nuances while you are still learning the material. I think it helps you learn the material better. I honestly don't see the point in doing them AFTER you have learned material because at that point you are just using them to notice weakness to review. I think you get more out of them if you use them to learn too. Others will disagree for sure.

Put things into categories: learn for life as a physician, learn for test, learn for boards. Focus on learning things in a way that will allow you to recall them 2 short years from now. You will be better for it if you study with the intention of long term recall and understanding things than some of your classmates who will go super hard with the details but can't recall **** even 1 term later. That's why anki is awesome. You get the best of both worlds. Also, yeah preclinical grades can tell you a lot, but they aren't the end all be all. Just run your own race and remember that it's not about this block but 2 years from now for you all.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

A lot of what you mentioned will get better as you go through school and adjust to the question style and timing. Luckily this is just something that will be improved with practice as you progress through school. Being aware of your timing can really help and you will get that figured out too. It will allow you to take a mental pause during the exam to think straight because you will know you have time to work with. Everybody makes mistakes on exams occasionally, but taking 30 seconds every once in a while can help you relax and recenter yourself when you are amped up. Nothing to worry about there!

If you ask how to do your passes through the material you will get 13 answers from 12 people as they say. Even if superficially, the consensus is that the more times you view material the more you will retain. However, how you go about getting those passes in is completely up to you and by experimentation. Each block will probably need slight adjustments as well based on professor or subject. I only made a suggestion to really try to step back and see the big picture because of your concern about anki. I don't think there is a wrong way to do this as long as you don't just go straight to memorizing tiny details. Don't let anyone tell you details aren't important or low yield. It's hard to discern what will come up again later so just try your best to learn everything even though you can't possibly do that. They are what separates the top of the class, but those facts will be meaningless if you can't figure out how to start making integrations with the material for more difficult questions. This is why I think you should do practice questions earlier. I think that they allow you to make integrations and notice nuances while you are still learning the material. I think it helps you learn the material better. I honestly don't see the point in doing them AFTER you have learned material because at that point you are just using them to notice weakness to review. I think you get more out of them if you use them to learn too. Others will disagree for sure.

Put things into categories: learn for life as a physician, learn for test, learn for boards. Focus on learning things in a way that will allow you to recall them 2 short years from now. You will be better for it if you study with the intention of long term recall and understanding things than some of your classmates who will go super hard with the details but can't recall **** even 1 term later. That's why anki is awesome. You get the best of both worlds. Also, yeah preclinical grades can tell you a lot, but they aren't the end all be all. Just run your own race and remember that it's not about this block but 2 years from now for you all.

Thank you! This is all really helpful and I'll definitely try to incorporate more passes of the big picture + start questions earlier.

 

[Goro]

I started out M1 year struggling to pass my first 2 classes; I did fine in the end, but it was one of those situations where I bombed the first exams and then had to kill myself on the second.

We’ve now completed 3 classes and are on to our fourth and I have definitely seen an improvement in my grades (I’m not really worried about not passing anymore), but my grades still aren’t where I want them to be. I’m usually either right at average or a bit below it, with the exception of anatomy practicals where I am above average. I don’t go to lecture unless it’s mandatory, and my study schedule basically consists of watching lecture, making Anki cards, doing new cards + review cards for the day, and doing Zanki cards from the corresponding unit (just started Zanki last exam). I try and do practice questions the day or two before the exam. I'm just always second guessing my study methods and wondering if I should change them. I worry that Anki lets me get all the details down really well, but not the whole picture, and sometimes our exams have a lot of conceptual stuff on them.

Does anyone have any tips for boosting my grades a bit? I go to a school with traditional A/A-/B+/B/etc grades. Should I even care as long as I'm passing?

Repetition drive learning.
Do as many practice questions as you can
Always go see your Faculty if you have any blank spots that need filling in

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Repetition drive learning.
Do as many practice questions as you can
Always go see your Faculty if you have any blank spots that need filling in

Thanks Goro! I went to meet with a learning specialist yesterday and they basically recommended what everyone here has: more repetition of the big picture as opposed to strictly flashcards, and doing practice questions far earlier. I'll definitely be trying it before our next exam 🙂

 

[aprilfools]

Not to derail the thread or criticize any advice anyone has given (not my intention at all), but the whole "flashcards cant help you get the big picture" is something I really have trouble understanding. This is coming from someone who is top ~5 in my M2 class from doing ONLY Anki for our local-in class material (i literally never even look at the powerpoint again after i convert it to anki cards while wathcing lecture) + board prep material. If you get creative with how you make Anki cards, I have found that I am able to make cards to test every type and every level of detail. What are some types of things that you (anyone who feels that flashcards cant be used for "big picture ideas") find aren't amenable to making Anki cards?

 

[mehc012]

Not to derail the thread or criticize any advice anyone has given (not my intention at all), but the whole "flashcards cant help you get the big picture" is something I really have trouble understanding. This is coming from someone who is top ~5 in my M2 class from doing ONLY Anki for our local-in class material (i literally never even look at the powerpoint again after i convert it to anki cards while wathcing lecture) + board prep material. If you get creative with how you make Anki cards, I have found that I am able to make cards to test every type and every level of detail. What are some types of things that you (anyone who feels that flashcards cant be used for "big picture ideas") find aren't amenable to making Anki cards?

THANK YOU

 

[workaholic181]

Not to derail the thread or criticize any advice anyone has given (not my intention at all), but the whole "flashcards cant help you get the big picture" is something I really have trouble understanding. This is coming from someone who is top ~5 in my M2 class from doing ONLY Anki for our local-in class material (i literally never even look at the powerpoint again after i convert it to anki cards while wathcing lecture) + board prep material. If you get creative with how you make Anki cards, I have found that I am able to make cards to test every type and every level of detail. What are some types of things that you (anyone who feels that flashcards cant be used for "big picture ideas") find aren't amenable to making Anki cards?

I agree with your sentiment but I think it's key to point out that you make your own Anki cards.. A lot of people just use pre made decks and as such never really engage with the material other than memorizing the cards. Making your own decks forces you to organize the material in your head to some degree. I think the other poster may have just been alluding to people who download pre made decks and cram. Making cards is a huge step towards understanding the material IMO.

 

[Neopolymath]

Not to derail the thread or criticize any advice anyone has given (not my intention at all), but the whole "flashcards cant help you get the big picture" is something I really have trouble understanding. This is coming from someone who is top ~5 in my M2 class from doing ONLY Anki for our local-in class material (i literally never even look at the powerpoint again after i convert it to anki cards while wathcing lecture) + board prep material. If you get creative with how you make Anki cards, I have found that I am able to make cards to test every type and every level of detail. What are some types of things that you (anyone who feels that flashcards cant be used for "big picture ideas") find aren't amenable to making Anki cards?

I was specifically referencing something OP brought up about how she felt after her exam review. Of course you don't need to do that with good cards and some people just have no trouble with a global view either. Hell, I just do the zanki cards for a topic and it's all there and I don't even waste time making cards... it clicks by the end for sure.

 

[aprilfools]

I was specifically referencing something OP brought up about how she felt after her exam review. Of course you don't need to do that with good cards and some people just have no trouble with a global view either. Hell, I just do the zanki cards for a topic and it's all there and I don't even waste time making cards... it clicks by the end for sure.

Yeah I totally understand your response in the original context. I meant my question in more of a general sense. Was just genuinely curious about specific examples that people who feel this way could come up with as to what they feel is difficult to learn in the form of anki card(s).

 

[fldoctorgirl]

Not to derail the thread or criticize any advice anyone has given (not my intention at all), but the whole "flashcards cant help you get the big picture" is something I really have trouble understanding. This is coming from someone who is top ~5 in my M2 class from doing ONLY Anki for our local-in class material (i literally never even look at the powerpoint again after i convert it to anki cards while wathcing lecture) + board prep material. If you get creative with how you make Anki cards, I have found that I am able to make cards to test every type and every level of detail. What are some types of things that you (anyone who feels that flashcards cant be used for "big picture ideas") find aren't amenable to making Anki cards?

So yeah, as mentioned above, I think this is definitely a big issue for people who don't make their own cards.

I think what I meant more was that I need more practice actually integrating the material all together, which is why it was recommended to me to do practice questions earlier on. I was told that practice questions are the way to integrate all that I've learned from the flash cards to see if I've truly learned the material. I 100% love flashcards all the way-- it's been my study method since undergrad.