Examkrackers study group for July MCAT?

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Deanis

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Hey everybody.

I am going to be going over the examkrackers 10-week study schedule starting on around mid-April in preparation for writing the MCAT in July (The 18th). I was wondering if there is a study group for July, particularly for examkrackers.

I think it would be pretty sweet because if people are all on roughly the same schedule, then it would be fairly straightforward to help each other out.

Anyone else into this idea?

Do it. Do it.... do it.

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i'm doing exactly that, and i take it on july 18th, but i don't know where you plan to study .. i'm in PA...
 
A little far for me to travel for a study group (I live in BC, Canada) :)

But I was thinking that if some people are going over the same material at the same time, we'd probably be able to help each other out study accountability, encouragement and especially with very specific material. We could post on a particular thread and keep connected that way.
 
Sweet. I finish my smester this Friday and begin my MCAT studies the following week, so that should work out just about perfect.
 
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I'd be on board for that. I'm taking it July 18th and primarily using EK to study. I have all the lecture texts and the 1001Qs set.

PM me if you guys are starting a group!
 
I'm in even if there are only a couple people. I'd like to start next week some time. I've got the EK complete study package plus I bought 1001 questions in physics, 1001 questions in chemistry, and 101 verbal passages. So I have almost everything - definitely enought to start studying.

So let's do it. If you're in then PM me or just post here saying you're in. I can post the 10 week schedule a week at a time and we can go from there.

Alright. I need to study fo rmy Orgo II final tomorrow!
 
For those of you who are interested.

Week 1


Sunday (6—8 hours)
-Take a full length MCAT—Practice Test 5R from AAMC.

Monday (2 hours)
-Pre-read Lecture 1 Biology; Lecture 1 Physics; Lecture 1 Verbal and The Intro Lecture (in the EK verbal book).

Tuesday (1—2 hours)
-Read Intro Lecture (EK Verbal Book) and work through all the exercises.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Intro Lecture.

Wednesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 1 Biology with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 1 Biology.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 1 Biology. Review it.

Thursday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 1 Physics with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 1 Physics.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 1 Physics. Review it.

Friday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 1 Verbal with highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 1 Verbal.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 1 Verbal. Review it.

Saturday(2—3 hours)
-Do every third problem in the 1001 Physics Book for Lecture 1, and every third passage in the 101 Biology Book for Lecture 1. (optional)
-Take a full length Test from 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning. (optional)
-Do mini-MCATs corresponding to week 1 (from mini-MCAT book).
 
I'm on board too:) I'm taking mine July 18th as well. I started studying a couple of weeks ago. The EK home study schedule is super nice but at least for me, it's very hard to stick to it accordingly if you are also doing the 1001 books. They take FOREVER but they are pretty helpful. Just wanted to let you guys know in case you might want to a lot some extra study time:)
 
Thanks msw. I definitely want to study the 1001 books as well. I'm wondering how accurate the time estimates are for the HSS (home study schedule). Any thoughts?
 
Yeah the HSS is what I was referring to when I said it takes quite a bit longer than you'd think to stay on the schedule, because I think they slightly underestimate the time it takes to read and take notes. This is especially true if you want to complete the 1001 books.

Here is what I found so far to be the most efficient method of study (I tweaked the HSS a bit):

I read/highlight/and take notes according to their schedule. Although the schedule says to do every third problem in the 1001 books, I do all of them because I'm also using TPR and probably won't have time to go back in the end and do the problems I haven't completed. After having read each chapter twice, I add up the total problems that I have to do between ALL subjects in the 1001 books for that week and divide it by 5. So, every night, I do a portion of each subject (i.e. 25 gchem, 25 phy, etc), so by the end of the week, all the problems are finished up for each 1001 chapter and it keeps from getting so monotonous with one subject.

I also do not take the 30 minute in class exams as schedule. Instead, I save them for Saturday and sit down at one time and do all of them back to back to build up time endurance. I use Sundays to take my actual practice MCATs. I know they say you're supposed to take one day a week off, I normally don't unless I feel burned out.

Also, if you have audio osmosis you can sync it to your ipod and listen to it while driving. I do that pretty often for previous chapters so the material stays recent in my head. I know it seems semi-psychotic, but we only have to suffer until July 18th (hopefully) haha

Hope this helps!:D
 
Yeah the HSS is what I was referring to when I said it takes quite a bit longer than you'd think to stay on the schedule, because I think they slightly underestimate the time it takes to read and take notes. This is especially true if you want to complete the 1001 books.

Here is what I found so far to be the most efficient method of study (I tweaked the HSS a bit):

I read/highlight/and take notes according to their schedule. Although the schedule says to do every third problem in the 1001 books, I do all of them because I'm also using TPR and probably won't have time to go back in the end and do the problems I haven't completed. After having read each chapter twice, I add up the total problems that I have to do between ALL subjects in the 1001 books for that week and divide it by 5. So, every night, I do a portion of each subject (i.e. 25 gchem, 25 phy, etc), so by the end of the week, all the problems are finished up for each 1001 chapter and it keeps from getting so monotonous with one subject.

I also do not take the 30 minute in class exams as schedule. Instead, I save them for Saturday and sit down at one time and do all of them back to back to build up time endurance. I use Sundays to take my actual practice MCATs. I know they say you're supposed to take one day a week off, I normally don't unless I feel burned out.

Also, if you have audio osmosis you can sync it to your ipod and listen to it while driving. I do that pretty often for previous chapters so the material stays recent in my head. I know it seems semi-psychotic, but we only have to suffer until July 18th (hopefully) haha

Hope this helps!:D

Yeah, my goal is to do all the 1001Qs too. Right now, haven't started on bio at all & chem isn't moving along very fast, but finished a ton of o-chem & physics.

If you guys have any physics Qs or o-chem Qs from the earlier chapters, just ask.
 
Ooooh good. O-chem is my baby, but physics on the other hand...
I don't know if I don't have a strong enough conceptual background of what, but it's always my lowest score. I've done the first two chapters of the bio book, it's sooooo helpful. I find verbal a lot harder than TPR for the 101 questions too but I also think it's definitely a must buy. How's everyones studying going?
 
I'm doing practice test 5R today! We'll see where I stand after that.

Has anyone written a practice test yet? If you don't mind, could you post your initial scores? I'll post mine later today, but I'm thinking it will be quite low...
 
I didn't have time to finsih the exam yesterday, but did do the PS section of 5R: 8

Ouch! I gots some review to do. I'm alright with physics, but there was little there - it was mostly all chemistry. Soot, I haven't taken wither of those for almost 10 years now (yes, I'm an old bastard) but I figured at least I'd get an idea of how I stand. Not good. Good thing it's in July :)

I will try to finish the rest tonight.

Hope everyone is studying well!
 
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I took TPR last summer, and the feedback they gave for one of the August MCATs was that 80% of the actual physical sciences passages were general chemistry applied to physics questions. They also said that it was something they'd never seen happen before and occurred across all versions of the exam so they are keeping an eye out to see if that's a new trend.
 
Thanks msw.

I've written a full TPR MCAT now and found the same thing. Mostly chemistry. Which isn't to say that it is the norm now, but maybe a small indicator of some sort. I'm actually finding the practice tests to be the hardest (and most discouraging) part of studying. I find studying a particular concept to be easy, but when it comers to a particular passage, it can be quite difficult to figure out how to get the information I want to answer the questions. My scores so far have been less than stellar (to put it mildly), and I'm finding it pretty discouraging (my first practice TPR was PS7, V6, BS7 - yikes).

How is everyone's studying going? Anyone else written any practice exams yet? I'm finding that, as msw warned, the time estimations for the EK self study schedule are grossly underestimated (for me at least).
 
Week 2

Sunday (0 hours)
-Take a break—DO NOTHING MCAT related.

Monday (2 hours)
-Pre-read Lecture 2 Biology, Lecture 2 Physics, Lecture 2 Verbal and Lecture 1 Chemistry

Tuesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 2 Verbal and work through ALL the exercises.
-Take In-Class Test for Lecture 2 Verbal. Review it.
-Re-read all the question stems and answer choices from the 101 Verbal test you took on previous Saturday. DO NOT RE-READ PASSAGES. Answer all the questions.

Wednesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 2 Biology with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 2 Biology.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 2 Biology. Review it.

Thursday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 2 Physics with highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 2 Physics.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 2 Physics. Review it.

Friday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 1 Chemistry with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 1 Chemistry.
-Take In-Class Test for Lecture 1 Chemistry. Review it.

Saturday (3—4 hours)
-Do every third problem in the 1001 Physics and 1001 Chemistry Books, and every third passage in the 101 Biology Book for corresponding lectures. (optional)
-Take a full length Test from 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning. (optional)
-Do mini-MCATs corresponding to week 2 (from mini-MCAT book).
 
I plan to take a practice exam this weekend. I'm sure the score won't be pretty, but I'll let you know when I get it;)

The study plan is definitely underestimated. What gets me down are the 1001 questions. Biology is easy but physics and gen chem seem really hard to me. I think it's because I expected them to coincide with the review chapters, rather than throwing out randomly mixed concept variations. I do think it's good that it does that to help you learn, but I think the explanations are too vague in some cases. That's what TPR is for I suppose:)

I hope everyone is studying hard:)
 
PS: Do you guys really ever do 'nothing MCAT related?' I study everyday and go to the gym when I feel burned out rather than taking whole days off. I guess I'm paranoid that on test day I'll be wishing I put more time in...your thoughts?
 
I took a day off last Saturday. It's actaully pretty nice, because it's a guilt free day of ignoring studying. I can just go for a hike, or something else that generally takes an entire day. I just think if I don't do it, I'll end up burning out after a couple months.
 
I am preparing for the July test, too. Initially, I was aiming for the one on May or June, but the EK 10-week study is quite demanding for someone who has not hit the books for a while and happens to have a full time job. There is simply no way for me to digest all the info in 10 weeks, especially considering the special attention I need to pay for organic chemistry.

Anyway, good luck to everybody with their studies. I am roughly in week 2 of the 10 week program. However, I still need stable internet connection to take the online practice tests...
 
Honestly, not much organic is on the MCAT at all, but if you really need help you can pm me. Organic is kinda my thing.
 
Week 3

Sunday (0 hours)
-Take a break—DO NOTHING MCAT related.

Monday (2 hours)
-Pre-read Lecture 3 Biology; Lecture 3 Physics; Lecture 3 Verbal and Lecture 2 Chemistry.

Tuesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 3 Verbal.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 3 Verbal. Review it.
-Re-read all the passages from the 101 Verbal test you took on previous Saturday. Write the main idea for each passage using the suggested questions/format in Verbal Book
Lecture 3.

Wednesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 3 Biology with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 3 Biology.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 3 Biology. Review it.

Thursday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 3 Physics with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 3 Physics.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 3 Physics. Review it.

Friday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 2 Chemistry with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 2 Chemistry.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 2 Chemistry. Review it.

Saturday (3—4 hours)
-Do every third problem in the 1001 Physics and 1001 Chemistry Books, and every third passage in the 101 Biology Book for corresponding lectures. (optional)
-Take a full length Test from 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning. (optional)
-DO mini-MCATs corresponding to week 3 (from mini-MCAT book).
 
Hope everyone's studying is going well. I'm now a full day behind, but trying to keep up!
 
Week 4

Sunday (6—8 hours)
-Take a full length MCAT—Practice Test 3R from AAMC or EK – 1.

Monday (2 hours)
-Pre-read Lecture 4 Biology; Lecture 4 Physics; Lecture 4 Verbal and Lecture 3 Chemistry.

Tuesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 4 Verbal.
-Review answers from Practice Test you took on Sunday.
-For questions you got wrong, ask yourself if read it wrong or just didn't know the science.
-For the questions you got correct, ask yourself if there was a better way to get the answer.
-Re-read all the question stems and answer choices from the 101 Verbal test you took on previous Saturday. DO NOT RE-READ PASSAGES. Answer all the questions.

Wednesday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 4 Biology with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 4 Biology.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 4 Biology. Review it.

Thursday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 4 Physics with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 4 Physics.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 4 Physics. Review it.

Friday (2—3 hours)
-Read Lecture 3 Chemistry with a highlighter and pen. Take notes.
-Listen to Audio Osmosis Lecture 3 Chemistry.
-Take In-class Test for Lecture 3 Chemistry. Review it.

Saturday (3—4 hours)
-Do every third problem in the 1001 Physics and 1001 Chemistry Books, and every third passage in the 101 Biology Book for corresponding lectures. (optional)
-Take a full length Test from 101 Passages in MCAT Verbal Reasoning. (optional)
-DO mini-MCATs corresponding to week 4 (from mini-MCAT book).
 
Was initially aiming for june 13th but don't feel quite ready and so am deciding on July 8th. I am now on the 5th week of the 10 week schedule, of which I changed a bit into a 13 week study schedule. Pretty much the same thing but added TPR Hyperlearning workbooks and sometime lectures. I guess I'm tweeking as I need, we'll see if this works. Also took the 3R as my first diagnostic a few weeks ago and... 6P 6V 9B:( I hope it gets better!
Good luck tto us:(
 
Sweet! Not the score (mine was discouraging as well, but glad to have you on board. Post or PM if you need anything that anyone here might be able to help you with.

I'm on week 4 (and trying to supplement TPR hyperlearning material as well), so it looks like we're in the same boat. Good luck.
 
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