Content Review taking EXCESSIVELY Long

[altitude]

Since the content review books like EK and TBR and packed with information, it's been taking me excessively long to work through the chapters (> 6 hours/chapter). I've completed all the pre-reqs, so I've seen most of the material before, but at the pace I'm going to read through the content, I'll never finish in time.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anyone have a similar problem and have any useful techniques to speed up content review?

I'm using EK for bio, and TBR for the rest. I'm not taking notes (which would probably take me too long), so I find myself reading the material slowly or re-reading sentences/paragraphs sometimes.
Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[railgun]

I think you're focusing too much on details. Read to understand the major concepts and memorize stuff required (mitosis/meiosis/hormones etc) - I would take notes on these things. Most on the stuff on the mcat requires a understanding of the concept and then applying that to specific cases. For example, you may have a orgo passage with a crazy looking molecule but you really don't need to understand everything about that molecule to answer all the questions correctly.

 

[MiscKing]

6 hours per chapter WITHOUT notes? That seems extremely excessive. Are you at least getting 7/7 on the passages? Yeah, definitely don't read everything in TBR word for word, as some of it is fluff/irrelevant. I know a few chapters are pretty long, but on average, at least for gen chem and physics, I get through them + a few passages in about 2 or so hours, maybe 3 for a long chapter. And how is EK bio taking you 6 hours too? The entire book can probably be read in 6 hours lol

 

[railgun]

To add to the discussion: You should speed up your reading bcuz otherwise you're f'd for the verbal.

 

[titleist975j]

how far have you gotten? whens ur test?

i take a long time as well. some time wasting by taking breaks and all but it still takes me a good 4-5 hours on a PR section. around 73 days till my exam and i have 10 sections to do in the PR books as well as 6 EK 101 tests. not a speed reader here but just do what works. but at the same time dont memorize every single word. just try to be a bit more efficient. getting through the content review is sort of tiring. but im planning to be done with content review with 60 days to spare for the practice exams.

 

[altitude]

how far have you gotten? whens ur test?

i take a long time as well. some time wasting by taking breaks and all but it still takes me a good 4-5 hours on a PR section. around 73 days till my exam and i have 10 sections to do in the PR books as well as 6 EK 101 tests. not a speed reader here but just do what works. but at the same time dont memorize every single word. just try to be a bit more efficient. getting through the content review is sort of tiring. but im planning to be done with content review with 60 days to spare for the practice exams.

I started the content review mid last week. Test is at beginning of August- do you think I'll be short for time?

I don't mind putting in 7-8 hours/day and then up to 10 hours in July, but it's frustrating when it feels like nothing is sinking in, and I need to constantly re-read things.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[titleist975j]

what date in august? 80 ish days till then. IMO its good to be done with content review and leave yourself plenty of time for practice exams. go hard at that stuff and get it done. if you think u need more time, reschedule for a later date.

 

[bananaz]

I had that issue is well, and I'm typically a very fast reader. Eventually I found that just skimming through for key points and making flash cards as I went along was a more effective use of my time than trying to read and digest every sentence. Doing practice problems also helped highlight my weak spots, so then I could go back and focus my intensive review on those areas instead of trying to tackle the whole subject at once.

I'll also say that since you have taken the pre-reqs you need to have some faith that the content is still in your head. I think I struggled with a lot of the study materials because they took totally different approaches to concepts I had already learned, which only confused and discouraged me. If TBR or EK's coverage of a particular topic isn't working for you then it might be worth revisiting your old class notes on the subject instead, or using online resources like WikiPremed that may offer a different perspective.

Good luck!

 

[altitude]

I had that issue is well, and I'm typically a very fast reader. Eventually I found that just skimming through for key points and making flash cards as I went along was a more effective use of my time than trying to read and digest every sentence. Doing practice problems also helped highlight my weak spots, so then I could go back and focus my intensive review on those areas instead of trying to tackle the whole subject at once.

I'll also say that since you have taken the pre-reqs you need to have some faith that the content is still in your head. I think I struggled with a lot of the study materials because they took totally different approaches to concepts I had already learned, which only confused and discouraged me. If TBR or EK's coverage of a particular topic isn't working for you then it might be worth revisiting your old class notes on the subject instead, or using online resources like WikiPremed that may offer a different perspective.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! I'm going to try making flashcards and see how that works out.

You mentioned your "intensive review." So, did you skim through the material a first time, then review everything with more focus on your weak spots?

 

[TXKnight]

Since the content review books like EK and TBR and packed with information, it's been taking me excessively long to work through the chapters (> 6 hours/chapter). I've completed all the pre-reqs, so I've seen most of the material before, but at the pace I'm going to read through the content, I'll never finish in time.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Anyone have a similar problem and have any useful techniques to speed up content review?

I'm using EK for bio, and TBR for the rest. I'm not taking notes (which would probably take me too long), so I find myself reading the material slowly or re-reading sentences/paragraphs sometimes.
Thanks!

practice after each section and then practice some more. Until your eyes bleed. Read->Practice->Review->Read... that's the karmic cycle for the mcat for real. It took me just as long on some passages, in th end I feel I understood the material. Don't have my score yet though...maybe I got a 23 (LOL..just like my diagnostic) and then you can trash my suggestions.

 

[bananaz]

You mentioned your "intensive review." So, did you skim through the material a first time, then review everything with more focus on your weak spots?

Yeah, after skimming and then doing practice passages/problems I would revisit the content areas I was struggling with and work through them in more detail. I think doing targeted studying like that was a much more efficient use of my time and brain power than trying to force myself to absorb every bit of every chapter, especially since I already had a lot of the material in the back of my head.