Flashcards -- Worth the effort of making them?

[clothcut]

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I'm taking the MCAT next Spring and since I commute to work for 1 hr+, I figured I might as well make flash cards now. I'm going through the EK books I'm reading and doing this. However, it's so laborious (namely for BIO) and in addition I am making so many cards just for a single Chapter. Since the MCAT is more passage-based, am I just doing this in vain? I feel like I have a good memory, especially since I've taken all the pre-reqs (except ochem ii and phys ii which I'm taking now) recently and understand concepts pretty well, but since I have to retain so much for MCAT, in additon not having a super-strong background (got a 25 on the AAMC diagnostic before beginning studying), I feel that perhaps it would be necessary. However, if there's a smarter way to go about it, I'd love to hear it.

Simply put, is there a MORE efficient strategy for MCAT studying or is this a sufficient strategy? Cards will help, but is it worth the time??? Thanks

 

[gtbROX]

Hormones - yes.
Formulas - sure.
Everything else, probably not.
With the MCAT, there is not one set study method.
Verbal, I practice passages and look up words I don't know.
Physical Sciences, I do some reading, practice problems (to memorize formulas too), and I watch videos.
Biological Sciences, same as above plus understanding diagrams, key graphs, noting famous experiments + analyses, etc.
If you hear about a different study method, try it, if it works, use it more often, but don't dump out other efficient study methods to make room for it. It's good to have a schedule, but following it religiously can lead to early burnout and loss of focus/memory.
Just my 2 cents, Best of luck to you.

 

[Narmerguy]

I honestly based my entire study strategy around flash cards. It ate up A LOT of time, but I simply don't know how better I could have remembered everything that I needed. The MCAT tests reasoning, but you have to know the sufficient background knowledge to apply what you're reading.

Especially when it comes to discretes, there were multiple instances in my practice tests when I either missed or would have missed a question because I didn't know the proper background details.

 

[indianjatt]

I think it's a good idea, especially for discrete questions and hormones. AAMC 11 had a lot of discretes where you either knew it or didn't. A lot come to mind actually.

 

[clothcut]

I honestly based my entire study strategy around flash cards. It ate up A LOT of time, but I simply don't know how better I could have remembered everything that I needed. The MCAT tests reasoning, but you have to know the sufficient background knowledge to apply what you're reading.

Especially when it comes to discretes, there were multiple instances in my practice tests when I either missed or would have missed a question because I didn't know the proper background details.

Nice. Were you able to do well with this strategy? I'm just at an impasse because I don't want to spend months doing this when I could have been doing something more fruitful towards MCAT success. I wonder if I should just stick to highlighting EK Chapters and just go back when necessary. Like I said, the material is relatively fresh for me so I d k....

 

[seojohn]

I'm taking the MCAT next Spring and since I commute to work for 1 hr+, I figured I might as well make flash cards now. I'm going through the EK books I'm reading and doing this. However, it's so laborious (namely for BIO) and in addition I am making so many cards just for a single Chapter. Since the MCAT is more passage-based, am I just doing this in vain? I feel like I have a good memory, especially since I've taken all the pre-reqs (except ochem ii and phys ii which I'm taking now) recently and understand concepts pretty well, but since I have to retain so much for MCAT, in additon not having a super-strong background (got a 25 on the AAMC diagnostic before beginning studying), I feel that perhaps it would be necessary. However, if there's a smarter way to go about it, I'd love to hear it.

Simply put, is there a MORE efficient strategy for MCAT studying or is this a sufficient strategy? Cards will help, but is it worth the time??? Thanks

I don't know. Some people just work better in certain ways than others. However, I think reverting to flash cards, while helping you memorize and would help with discretes, also gets you used to exactly that, memorization. The BIO sections generally tend to be more holistic and just factual memorization may hinder the ability to connect different systems together (like if one gene isn't expressed, how that inhibits something else, then that leads to an increase in something else, which leads to the body compensating by doing X, etc.). Physics equations and certain gen chem stuff, like solubility rules, you can get away with memorization but the bio section won't be as easy with flash cards.

 

[areserine]

Like some people have already said, they can be really helpful for things that just need to be memorized. I made something like 200 notecards. Some were a waste, I just wrote down things I already knew, but the ones I made for hormones and formulas were really helpful. Being able to flip through and memorize those really helped get that info down. They wouldn't be nearly as helpful for more concept based things, I'd recommend not wasting your time with notecards for those.

 

[Capltd29]

For the memorization of material like hormones for sure, and formulas they were definitely helpful to me. I found that making them was almost as helpful as actually using them. It created a way for me to quickly review things that I was shaky on.

 

[FirstAndFinal]

If you can, get your hands on the Kaplan flashcards. Someone you know who has already taken the test must still have them. They're premade so they'll save you time and they will give you something that covers a bit of every topic to look over during your commute.

 

[futureortho]

If you can, get your hands on the Kaplan flashcards. Someone you know who has already taken the test must still have them. They're premade so they'll save you time and they will give you something that covers a bit of every topic to look over during your commute.

I own the Kaplan Flashcards, honestly they are not that great. It gives you "active transport" and has a basic definition on the back of it. They would only be good for the hormones and systems I think. Exam Krackers Organic Chemistry Flashcards are awesome though!

 

[red doctober]

The process of making flashcards (looking over all of your notes, deciding what info is important to use, writing them) is actually a great way to study in itself. I would highly recommend making your own over buying a set.

 

[Narmerguy]

Nice. Were you able to do well with this strategy? I'm just at an impasse because I don't want to spend months doing this when I could have been doing something more fruitful towards MCAT success. I wonder if I should just stick to highlighting EK Chapters and just go back when necessary. Like I said, the material is relatively fresh for me so I d k....

I did pretty well on my practice tests using this strategy, but haven't gotten scores for the real deal back yet.

Honestly, I think some of the pushback against flashcards is a little overblown. It's not like I'm going to lose my reasoning abilities by also knowing a ton of background content. In fact, it usually allows me to be able to answer questions in multiple ways (sometimes I use the info in the passage, sometimes I can just eliminate wrong answers using background info). But I used a computerized flashcard program to create my flash cards and easily created over a thousand of them, with many of them being quite lengthy with diagrams and all, but some of them being short and sweet.

I very often found questions, particularly in BS, that I could not solve use passage information alone. Usually I had to use some combination of passage and background info...

 

[FirstAndFinal]

I own the Kaplan Flashcards, honestly they are not that great. It gives you "active transport" and has a basic definition on the back of it. They would only be good for the hormones and systems I think. Exam Krackers Organic Chemistry Flashcards are awesome though!

I actually think their helpfulness comes in how general they are. If you're rotating subjects and rusty on some material it helps to quickly go through them to keep topics fresh in your mind (they also quiz formulas and concept relationships which will definitely help with the MCAT). There's something like 400 flashcards with ~3-5 questions each so it's not like you can get into every detail unless you want to carry around a lot of stuff. All of them fit, tightly, into a standard 3x5 index card holder so that's easy to transport. I think it's a good start and probably a very inexpensive one (if not friends look on Craigslist). You don't need to know every nitty gritty detail for the MCAT so I would suggest using these as a foundation and making extra cards as you go for topics that you have issues with.

 

[clothcut]

Thanks a lot for the responses. Since the only reason I wanted to make flashcards was not to waste time while commuting, I think I'll just buy them and focus on content review at home.

 

[dropper]

Study methods are different for every individual. Do what works for YOU. Do what helps YOU retain information better.

Personally, I ****ing hate flash cards. I've always hated flash cards. And I would never use them to study for anything, ever. I could write a ten page paper on the detriment of using flash cards. I make full, dense sheets of information so I can study every aspect of a subject in one run. But see, that's what works for ME. I have a friend who is very competent and intelligible and he always uses flash cards. Point is, well, my very first sentence.

 

[maseface]

I used flash cards to study for phys science. I used them to keep track of all the formulas, concepts, common pitfalls, etc. I use flash cards in med school too.many of my classmates do as we'll actually. I don't know why some people are so against the idea lol. It's not like just because you use flash cards to memorize facts and keep things fresh in your mind that you will totally miss the concepts.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Study methods are different for every individual. Do what works for YOU. Do what helps YOU retain information better.

Personally, I ****ing hate flash cards. I've always hated flash cards. And I would never use them to study for anything, ever. I could write a ten page paper on the detriment of using flash cards. I make full, dense sheets of information so I can study every aspect of a subject in one run. But see, that's what works for ME. I have a friend who is very competent and intelligible and he always uses flash cards. Point is, well, my very first sentence.

+1000 (what works for you!)

I also hate flash cards. I like remembering things by reading things in detail. By reading about hormone and attaching information such as where it came from and where it is going, it helps memory a lot. It is not like you are pulling it out of thin air like flash cards.

However, as mentioned before, to each his own.