I don't visit this board much (pretty much only 2+ years ago when I was interviewing to get into med school), and I don't know if anyone will particularly find this informative (especially now), but here's my experience.
Throughout the 1st two years, I pretty much did not study regularly and made it through by cramming for 2-3 days before each test...I did pretty well, above the average in all subjects except anatomy and microbiology (got a HP in all except anatomy, which I only passed).
By the time our 2nd year ended, I really felt that I knew very little; because I crammed and never studied regularly, I retained such a small amount. For that reason, I scheduled my test 7 weeks after our classes let out, planning to study everyday for 6-8 hours. I stupidly procrastinated as usual, over-estimating how much I knew and underestimating the amount I needed to learn, and squandered 5 weeks working out, watching playoff basketball, and studying maybe 1 hour a day, if that. A major problem was that I was just basically reading, without highlighting, without writing or re-copying things, and I would forget whatever I did study several days later. Pretty much, in that 5 weeks, all I had accomplished was one casual read through BRS Physiology.
I registered for Qbank 4 weeks before my test date and had been planning to use it extensively when I had finished studying everything once...but that never happened, and I only sparingly used it for behavioral/pathophysiology until I only had 2 weeks left...at which point I did a randomized set of 50 and got a 48%. I knew that was bad, and I started to feel hopeless and panicked. Partly because of all the 'stats' I read here, and partly because I just couldn't fathom learning enough to pass in just 2 weeks...so much of the material was stuff I was learning for the first time. I couldn't reschedule the test due to a trip I needed to take, too.
I decided to just cram as much as I could, in the hope of merely passing...at that point, I didn't care what I scored as long as I passed. I spent the first 4 days going through BRS Pathology...I highlighted what I thought I should remember, and did about 9 chapters a day, going through previous chapters and highlighting what I forgot with a different color...and then a different color for things I kept forgetting. That let me quickly review chapters by only paying attention to things I had repeatedly forgotten.
The next week, I focused on first aid almost entirely. I spent roughly 1-2 hours for each Embryo+Anatomy, Neuroscience, Biochem, and then would spend a couple hours on Pharmacology and microbiology. I used a couple of blank notebooks to write down anything I was learning for the first time...which was quite a lot..pretty much the entire pharm section, half of biochem, most of the micro, etc. If I had any energy left at the end of the day, I would review 3-4 chapters in BRS and 1/2 a chapter in BRS Physiology.
By the time I only had a few days left before the test, I felt I had a decent grasp with everything in first aid (sans Path + Phys, I pretty much only used BRS Path and BRS Phys for those). I started to forget stuff in BRS Path and Phys at this point, so I started to review those more frequently. I completely skipped anti-epileptics, protozoans, and anti-protozoals. I started getting mentally exhausted about 2-3 days before the test, and basically just reviewed what I had written in my notebooks, flipped through first aid, and tried to keep calm. I avoided doing questions (pretty much I did around 500 Qbank questions total in the first 6 weeks, usually doing 1-4 questions at a time. I looked at ones I got wrong, but skipped ones I got correct) because, as pathetic as this sounds, I would get extremely hopeless and depressed if I had less than 60% right.
On test day, I felt surprisingly nonchalant...maybe because I felt like nothing I was going to do would make a difference, that I was going to get a bad score regardless, if I even passed. I am pretty proficient at multiple choice tests, so it felt pretty mechanical. Being familiar with the format (b/c of Qbank) helped. I felt I had a crapload of stupidly pedantic and esoteric biochem and cell biology questions, and not enough path/phys/pharm...out of the 7 sections, there were 3-4 where felt I only got around 40% right, and overall I felt I would be lucky to average 50%.
I was always very accurate at predicting my class grades by keeping track of how many questions I wasn't completely sure of, so all this past month, I felt that I probably just barely passed. I thought I would be lucky to get beyond a 190 or 200. I got my scores today (as I said in the beginning), and it was a -222-. I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I knew so little, had to guess so much, and kept remembering questions I stupidly got wrong after narrowing them down to 2 choices.
Anyhow, that was a long story. My advice is probably just more of the same, but I think it's essential to at least doing as well as I did:
Tips:
1 - START !#$@ EARLY!
2 - Set a schedule and follow it. But don't just sit there and scan material without comprehending it, write stuff down/highlight and try to concentrate a bit. And if you can't figure out a good schedule, then at least focus on mastering Path/Phys/Pharm first, then spending whatever time left on the remaining subjects.
3 - Use BRS Path + BRS Phys, and on your first read, highlight what you think you should know (ignore what you already know). On your 2nd read, highlight what you forgot since the 1st read w/ a different color (or underline/checkmark/star etc.). Repeat for your 3rd.
4 - Know first aid -very well-. I skipped the Path/Phys sections, though.
5 - I felt practice questions were an inefficient use of time for me (as I had 2 weeks to cover everything) but if you start early enough (ie, 4+ weeks), they will probably be extremely helpful in strengthening your weak areas. I still wouldn't spend more than 2-3 hours per week on them, though.
6 - maybe this is elementary, or so widely known people don't even talk about it, but my writing things in notebooks helped a great deal. The majority of the pharm I was technically learning for the first time, and writing stuff down (sometimes repeatedly) helped me learn things the first time I covered it.
7 - START EARLY!
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Cliffnotes: Stupidly procrastinated 5 weeks, then crammed like a madman using BRS Path, BRS Phys, and First Aid for 2 weeks, freaking out nearly daily. Thought I failed, got a 222.
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