how long does it take you to finish 1 Berkeley Review chapter?

[MedicinaeDoctor]

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so i finally have all of my berkeley review books. i'm reading the first chapter of BR orgo. however, it's taking me a LONG time! there's over 50 pages of material how long do you guys spend doing a chapter? and including the 1/3 portion of sn2ed's schedule?

 

[Ost3oclast]

It depends on the chapter. The first Ochem chapter was really long so it makes sense that it is taking you awhile. Sometimes there are super short chapters though.....I think the 3rd and 4th physics chapters were super short.

 

[CoolWhipp]

It takes long.

 

[MedicinaeDoctor]

whew, all right. i was beginning to think it was just me that was taking long. the excel sn2ed schedule made it seem that i should be done with the chapter within a few short hours.

 

[BKN89]

so i finally have all of my berkeley review books. i'm reading the first chapter of BR orgo. however, it's taking me a LONG time! there's over 50 pages of material how long do you guys spend doing a chapter? and including the 1/3 portion of sn2ed's schedule?

Yeah some of the more intense chapters that covered a topic I'm rusty in have taken me up to 4 hours just to read through.

 

[slwnstdy]

I am with you--it takes me several hours as well. 2.5 hours on a shorter chapter 4-5 hours on a more intense chapter!

 

[MedPR]

so i finally have all of my berkeley review books. i'm reading the first chapter of BR orgo. however, it's taking me a LONG time! there's over 50 pages of material how long do you guys spend doing a chapter? and including the 1/3 portion of sn2ed's schedule?

Wait until you get to the carbonyl chapter 🙂

 

[Quester]

Do you guys think it'll be alright just doing BR passages but read TPR for ochem/gchem?

 

[MedPR]

Do you guys think it'll be alright just doing BR passages but read TPR for ochem/gchem?

I've found BR chem/orgo to be pretty straight forward. I think you'll be fine if you have a good background from undergrad.

 

[Quester]

I've found BR chem/orgo to be pretty straight forward. I think you'll be fine if you have a good background from undergrad.

But they're so loooong 🙁
I'm just trying to find a short cut here mate.

 

[chiddler]

Do you guys think it'll be alright just doing BR passages but read TPR for ochem/gchem?

I dont' think you should. I started by doing this then compared similar chapters. For A LOT (not all) chapters, berkeley review is more useful.

 

[Quester]

I dont' think you should. I started by doing this then compared similar chapters. For A LOT (not all) chapters, berkeley review is more useful.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[SN2ed]

Since people are skipping over the weekly warnings about reading times varying greatly from person to person, I added another warning.

 

[typicalindian]

Since people are skipping over the weekly warnings about reading times varying greatly from person to person, I added another warning.

I don't think he's criticizing your schedule, I think he's just genuinely curious as to how other people are doing

@op, it depends on how familiar I am with the material in the chapter, but I usually take very long like 3-4 hours :X

 

[SN2ed]

I don't think he's criticizing your schedule, I think he's just genuinely curious as to how other people are doing

@op, it depends on how familiar I am with the material in the chapter, but I usually take very long like 3-4 hours :X

Yeah, you're right. I'll keep an eye on this thread and adjust the timing for all of the chapter readings based on the posts. Right now, I'm thinking about adjusting all of the times to be 4-5 hours. Though I'll keep the emphasis on having people adjust the reading times to suit their needs by keeping all of the warnings.

 

[411309]

I don't understand how it takes people five hours to read like 30 pages of material? Some of the pages are just examples...I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but woa, thats a long time to just spend on one chapter. Keep in the mind you have to read relatively fast for the mcat, the better you are at reading and comprehending the better chance you have. If you can train yourself to absorb only the important details and ignore the little backstories (for example the little story that EVERY prep company gives about Archimedes in the fluids chapter) you are going to be in a lot better shape. I think thats why people get owned so bad by verbal.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

For me it takes a while (several hours), but it depends on how you review, I like to read the chapters, then work each example as if it were a real problem set and if I dont know it or feel I have it down cold, I'll go review that section in my textbook, etc.

If you know it cold without a hitch, then it would be pretty fast, like how physics is to me due to my engineering background, but O-Chem takes a while, especially that first chapter, lol.

 

[mdx815]

I don't understand how it takes people five hours to read like 30 pages of material? Some of the pages are just examples...I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but woa, thats a long time to just spend on one chapter. Keep in the mind you have to read relatively fast for the mcat, the better you are at reading and comprehending the better chance you have. If you can train yourself to absorb only the important details and ignore the little backstories (for example the little story that EVERY prep company gives about Archimedes in the fluids chapter) you are going to be in a lot better shape. I think thats why people get owned so bad by verbal.

It took me about 5 hours to read the first chapter of BR O-Chem (54 pages). I think when we read the chapter to absorb the information we might have forgotten, it is important to go slowly and understand as much as possible.

 

[411309]

It took me about 5 hours to read the first chapter of BR O-Chem (54 pages). I think when we read the chapter to absorb the information we might have forgotten, it is important to go slowly and understand as much as possible.

I guess o chem is a little different, im not using tbr for o chem just everything else pretty much. Going slow is good yes, but when you're on the mcat you're going to have to absorb information from a passage at a relatively fast rate. And seeing that timer ticking down is the hardest part, it can make you nervous real fast. I think thats what breaks some people..they see the clock starting to run out and then they start to get nervous and stop thinking clearly.

Five hours just seems a little excessive to me regardless, 2-3 i can buy. 4-5 is a lot..

 

[nabilesmail]

Physics and Chem take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5/2 hrs depending on length. O-chem takes me 2-4 hours and EK bio takes me about 1-1.5 hrs.

 

[study pray love]

the excel sn2ed schedule made it seem that i should be done with the chapter within a few short hours.

kindof unrelated but can you please post the linkt o the excel version of the Sn2ed study sched. I can't find it anywhere and have been looking for it. thanks so much 🙂

 

[JustMeditate]

It takes me about an hour to get through ten pages of text, but I tutored almost all my pre-reqs for 1-2 years after I took the class, so it feels like pure review to me.

 

[MedPR]

It takes me about an hour to get through ten pages of text, but I tutored almost all my pre-reqs for 1-2 years after I took the class, so it feels like pure review to me.

No offense, but that seems slow for pure review given a lot of TBR is examples and not straight block information.

 

[MrNeuro]

on average about 5-6ish hours.

but thats usually because i take notes for some of the EK Bio especially if i know a majority of the information from previous classes and personal experience about 2 hours.

some chapters however especially some physics chapters because my background isn't strong at all i spend a majority of the day reading the TBR, TPR, and EK chapters on that subject and then before I proceed to doing the 1/3 passages I'll try and do some EK 1001 questions. That for the one chapter i did it on took about 10 hours.....including breaks... so probably about 7 hours.

 

[411309]

Physics and Chem take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5/2 hrs depending on length. O-chem takes me 2-4 hours and EK bio takes me about 1-1.5 hrs.

This is my thoughts exactly. Really most of the physics chapters are a short read because they have a ton of examples.