Is Khan Academy for Biology & Psyc/Soc Enough for Content Review?

[TexasSurgeon]

Hey everyone,

The title basically states it. Do you think Khan Academy is sufficient for reviewing biology and psychology/sociology for MCAT2015?

I am a biochemistry major so I have seen content before and do feel comfortable with the majority of material (minus physio) but it would be good to have everything kind of tied together

Regardless, I feel like passages would be an active form of content review

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[trs88]

I'm currently doing the Khan Academy passages right now and I do not think it's a good idea to use them for content review. The questions mostly focus on specific details instead of general concepts or big picture and the explanations are often unhelpful in understanding why you might have gotten something wrong or why you got it right. I can't give specific examples, but I know that there are many topics or general concepts that the passages didn't even touch on. I do think that they are good to use after content review is over but only as practice to get used to doing passages.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I'm currently doing the Khan Academy passages right now and I do not think it's a good idea to use them for content review. The questions mostly focus on specific details instead of general concepts or big picture and the explanations are often unhelpful in understanding why you might have gotten something wrong or why you got it right. I can't give specific examples, but I know that there are many topics or general concepts that the passages didn't even touch on. I do think that they are good to use after content review is over but only as practice to get used to doing passages.

I'm referring to the videos. Would the videos suffice for content review?

 

[allantois]

Has anyone studied for the old MCAT only using Chad videos? If not, I don't think that doing something unconventional is a good idea here.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

Has anyone studied for the old MCAT only using Chad videos? If not, I don't think that doing something unconventional is a good idea here.

I have already read TPRs books on physics and genchem. This is more of a refresher as well

 

[justadream]

For subjects that are memorization-heavy (e.g., memorize hormones), I'm generally not a fan of videos.

Now for subjects that are conceptually harder to understand (e.g., some light diffraction concepts), yes videos can be very helpful.

 

[fugacitybrah]

I remember you from summer man. Sadly obligations forced me to take a step back from the mcat and push it later on. I'm glad you're still pushing through with this. Anyways, I think videos are good to introduce you to the material (and also as a general review) but I also think it has its limits in seeing how you can apply the material. Although I can see, from reading your replies, that you are already leaning on using them. You know yourself best and your situation is different from most of us because you already went through the content a little bit.

If it allows you to finish content review quickly so you have more time for practice FL then I can see your reasoning in using them. However, since psych/socio wasn't present in previous content review, I would try to incorporate more practice problems from them. Whether you want to do practice passages for the other subjects as you go through videos is up to you depending on how comfortable you feel with chem, physics, bio, etc.

 

[GonnaBeADocOneDay]

I have almost finished the behavior psych/socio portion of the Khan videos (Foundation concepts 7-10) and will supplement with the free Wikibook that AAMC recommended on their Sociology and Psychology Textbook Resources for the MCAT2015® Exam excel sheet:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology

I would agree with trs88 from above that a lot of the Social Science practice passages are over very specific detailed content and would not likely be high yield. The videos are slightly more helpful, but they stay pretty general and some are more common sense than anything.

 

[allantois]

I have almost finished the behavior psych/socio portion of the Khan videos (Foundation concepts 7-10) and will supplement with the free Wikibook that AAMC recommended on their Sociology and Psychology Textbook Resources for the MCAT2015® Exam excel sheet:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology

I would agree with trs88 from above that a lot of the Social Science practice passages are over very specific detailed content and would not likely be high yield. The videos are slightly more helpful, but they stay pretty general and some are more common sense than anything.

That AAMC sheet explicitly states that they neither endorse nor verify that listed resources actually match what the test is going to test.
The wikibook just links a bunch of articles on sociology, that surely did not follow the AAMC outline of what will be tested.

 

[GonnaBeADocOneDay]

That AAMC sheet explicitly states that they neither endorse nor verify that listed resources actually match what the test is going to test.
The wikibook just links a bunch of articles on sociology, that surely did not follow the AAMC outline of what will be tested.

The weblink I gave is one of ~10 books/online resources listed in the excel sheet listed on the "Prepare" section of the AAMC MCAT website, right under the Khan videos listing.
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/prepare/
(you can download the excel sheet for the psych/socio resources they recommend and corresponding foundational concepts)

For what it is worth, the AAMC don't endorse any method of study for the MCAT (including Khan videos, Kaplan, Princeton, etc.). They released 1 practice test and a small book about the changes for the new MCAT. Those are the only things you can rely on as a true AAMC endorsed resource. Outside of that, the excel sheet can give you some good idea of the content that the AAMC could have on the MCAT. It as a good a resource as any other out there until the first administration of the test.

 

[JOLA46]

you mentioned earlier that you liked the videos because they saved you time. i bought the EK physc/socio book and am going through it really quick. it takes less than a day to go through each chapter (there are only 5), answer the questions, and do the 30 minute exam.
you will learn more this way than watching any video and probably wind up actually saving time.

 

[Jack Westin]

I think you should focus on the content outlines provided by the AAMC. If you know the basics of all of those topics outlined on the PDF-regardless of what MCAT material you use-you should be fine. Of course, you need to make sure you constantly reinforce the content by doing a ton of questions. Doing a lot of questions is where you really master the content.

 

[TexasSurgeon]

That AAMC sheet explicitly states that they neither endorse nor verify that listed resources actually match what the test is going to test.
The wikibook just links a bunch of articles on sociology, that surely did not follow the AAMC outline of what will be tested.

"With more than 800 free videos and 1,000 review questions, the Khan Academy MCAT Video Collection covers all the content that will be tested on the MCAT2015 exam. Look for new MCAT test preparation articles to be introduced in 2015. Visit the MCAT test preparation collection to study the foundational concepts on the exam, dig deeper into the content categories, watch video tutorials, and answer review questions." - AAMC on Khan Academy

So what do you think?

I think you should focus on the content outlines provided by the AAMC. If you know the basics of all of those topics outlined on the PDF-regardless of what MCAT material you use-you should be fine. Of course, you need to make sure you constantly reinforce the content by doing a ton of questions. Doing a lot of questions is where you really master the content.

I agree for sure. Content review is passive in its nature

 

[655703]

"With more than 800 free videos and 1,000 review questions, the Khan Academy MCAT Video Collection covers all the content that will be tested on the MCAT2015 exam. Look for new MCAT test preparation articles to be introduced in 2015. Visit the MCAT test preparation collection to study the foundational concepts on the exam, dig deeper into the content categories, watch video tutorials, and answer review questions." - AAMC on Khan Academy

I have also been using Khan videos extensively for my studying. I hate to say it, though, but the AAMC is straight up lying to us when they say that the Khan videos cover "all the content that will be tested on the MCAT2015 exam." They cover most of the content, but you'll notice that a lot of important videos are missing as well. For example, there are no videos at all for content category FC 2B. There's nothing about mitosis in FC 2. There's nothing on biotechnology/cloning. These are just a few of the ones that I've noticed so far, but there might be more.

With that said, though, I think that the Khan videos are still really great. Just be sure that you actually study the material on the MCAT2015 outline that is not covered by the Khan videos.

 

[allantois]

I have also been using Khan videos extensively for my studying. I hate to say it, though, but the AAMC is straight up lying to us when they say that the Khan videos cover "all the content that will be tested on the MCAT2015 exam." They cover most of the content, but you'll notice that a lot of important videos are missing as well. For example, there are no videos at all for content category FC 2B. There's nothing about mitosis in FC 2. There's nothing on biotechnology/cloning. These are just a few of the ones that I've noticed so far, but there might be more.

With that said, though, I think that the Khan videos are still really great. Just be sure that you actually study the material on the MCAT2015 outline that is not covered by the Khan videos.

They withdrew the statement that khan covers all content, not it says, "the content in this collection is not intended to prescribe a program of study for the new MCAT exam".

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat

Anyway, it's a great resource but probably not a stand alone product to study for MCAT.

 

[Czarcasm]

I have also been using Khan videos extensively for my studying. I hate to say it, though, but the AAMC is straight up lying to us when they say that the Khan videos cover "all the content that will be tested on the MCAT2015 exam." They cover most of the content, but you'll notice that a lot of important videos are missing as well. For example, there are no videos at all for content category FC 2B. There's nothing about mitosis in FC 2. There's nothing on biotechnology/cloning. These are just a few of the ones that I've noticed so far, but there might be more.

With that said, though, I think that the Khan videos are still really great. Just be sure that you actually study the material on the MCAT2015 outline that is not covered by the Khan videos.

A lot of what you said isn't there, is there. You probably overlooked it. Here's a section on biotechnology: https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/biomolecules/dna-technology/v/restriction-enzymes

I think the material on Khan is pretty comprehensive, but people should use it as a resource instead of as a primary study tool. But I realize time is limited, so for most people, it's probably convenient. Personally, if I had to restudy again, I would just watch the videos and spend my time doing practice passages. I rather have a little exposure to everything, than know certain concepts really well and bomb the test because of something I never seen before.

 

[655703]

A lot of what you said isn't there, is there. You probably overlooked it. Here's a section on biotechnology: https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat/biomolecules/dna-technology/v/restriction-enzymes

I think the material on Khan is pretty comprehensive, but people should use it as a resource instead of as a primary study tool. But I realize time is limited, so for most people, it's probably convenient. Personally, if I had to restudy again, I would just watch the videos and spend my time doing practice passages. I rather have a little exposure to everything, than know certain concepts really well and bomb the test because of something I never seen before.

Oops, thanks for the catch. I did overlook that section on DNA technology.

 

[GonnaBeADocOneDay]

I have also been using Khan videos extensively for my studying. I hate to say it, though, but the AAMC is straight up lying to us when they say that the Khan videos cover "all the content that will be tested on the MCAT2015 exam." They cover most of the content, but you'll notice that a lot of important videos are missing as well.

They are still adding videos. The first page of the Khan MCAT video website states "content will be added to the collection through 2015".

 

[BackpacksMadeByJanSport]

I've been using Khan to study and notice that they've been adding new sections daily, which is kind of annoying, but IMO I enjoy Khan more than Kaplan prep material. What I did was print out the AAMC outline, and use Kaplan, Khan, and the outline to make my own notes for the test which has been pretty helpful thus far. What I also find useful is if something isn't too clear in the videos/passages/books, I would look it up on YouTube or Wikipedia for a more in-depth explanation. Hope this helps!

 

[TexasSurgeon]

They withdrew the statement that khan covers all content, not it says, "the content in this collection is not intended to prescribe a program of study for the new MCAT exam".

https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat

Anyway, it's a great resource but probably not a stand alone product to study for MCAT.

Well it's still listed on the AAMC side of the page but AAMC never aligns itself with any company. Not even Kaplan or TPR.

I've been using Khan to study and notice that they've been adding new sections daily, which is kind of annoying, but IMO I enjoy Khan more than Kaplan prep material. What I did was print out the AAMC outline, and use Kaplan, Khan, and the outline to make my own notes for the test which has been pretty helpful thus far. What I also find useful is if something isn't too clear in the videos/passages/books, I would look it up on YouTube or Wikipedia for a more in-depth explanation. Hope this helps!

Thank you!

So you're saying they add new videos daily into the bio and psyc/soc sections? How do you keep track of what you have and havent seen?

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I think I will use Khan for Bio and for psyc/soc. I have the TPR psyc/soc book. But I have had exposure to all the bio before. I just need a refresher and focus on problems.

 

[BackpacksMadeByJanSport]

Thank you!

So you're saying they add new videos daily into the bio and psyc/soc sections? How do you keep track of what you have and havent seen?

When you watch the videos, it shows you your progress for each section as well as when you complete each video. I finished reviewing the Biochem section and I noticed today that my progress bar was no longer full for that section so I went back to see that they added a sections on DNA technology and the endocrine system. You just have to be diligent check each section regularly for updates.

 

[655703]

When you watch the videos, it shows you your progress for each section as well as when you complete each video. I finished reviewing the Biochem section and I noticed today that my progress bar was no longer full for that section so I went back to see that they added a sections on DNA technology and the endocrine system. You just have to be diligent check each section regularly for updates.

Great catch. No wonder I initially said that Khan didn't have videos for entire sections of the MCAT. They literally published many of the videos on Biotechnology 2 days ago.

 

[Kemosabe]

Can someone give an example of what they mean about the psych/social sciences sections have a lot more terminology than the khan videos? I've been going through the AMCAS outline with khan academy social sciences videos and it seems to hit most of the main points for each topic and the videos do introduce a lot of terminology. It also matches kaplan resources pretty well.

 

[allantois]

Well it's still listed on the AAMC side of the page but AAMC never aligns itself with any company. Not even Kaplan or TPR.

Thank you!

So you're saying they add new videos daily into the bio and psyc/soc sections? How do you keep track of what you have and havent seen?

I'm withdrawing all statements I made about Khan especially in the light that prep companies did not cover all that needed to be covered. How've you been using Khan so far?

 

[RaspberrySlushy]

I actually think there are some mistakes and overgeneralizations on the videos. On one I just watched it says to find the PI of an amino acid you average the pkas of all the groups but that's not the right process for ones with charged side chains.

What kinda bugged me is I feel like the basic concept is something pretty familiar, it's exactly those not so typical situations where I would forget how to do it. I made mistakes like that on the sample test, forgetting exceptions to things. Maybe they don't want to get too detailed or something?

Also they showed the kinetics of allostery as hyperbolic and my biochemistry prof drilled it in our heads that it's sigmoidal. So sometimes I watch those videos and come away more confused!

I've only just started though so who knows. I like having them on more in the background while doing other things just to keep my mind thinking about these topics but I haven't started hardcore prep yet (taking in Sept) and so it's helpful reading all the thoughts on this.