might run out of PS material, EK vs. Nova physics?

[epsilonprodigy]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm doing SN2ed's schedule, so would like to save the last 1/3 of passages for in between FL's at the last stage, but have been supplementing with additional material from TPRH. In addition to the schedule's recommendations, I often do some physics passages Looks like I got carried away and will be done with EK1001, TPRH and the first 2/3 of BR sooner than expected. Are EK physics passages too easy? What's the recent consensus on Nova?

 

[ridethecliche]

I like nova a lot more than EK lecture book.

Ek1001 is basic, nova tests more and has tons more passages. There are no passages in 1001 physics.

I would pick nova over EK. That's what I did, in fact. I have both nova and 1001.

 

[SN2ed]

You'd probably burn through the passages in EK Physics pretty quickly. It's about 3 passages and some discretes per chapter. I'd get Nova Physics. Also, make sure you're actually doing a thorough post-practice reviewing and not simply taking passages to take passages.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

This is what I do to review passages:
What I do is some semblance of the following:
1) Re-skim the passage to re-orient myself. Place an entry in my notebook, for example, "BR Chapter 6 O-Chem: Oxygen-containing compounds. First 1/3"
2) Look at each question.

• Make sure I can solve it again if I got it right. Jot down WHY I got it right. Was it a good save? Good highlighting, good use of POE, or was it just something I knew "the easy way," etc.
• If I got it wrong, re-attempt. Write down my re-attempt. If I get it right this time, what was the difference... was it a time issue, a detail/fatigue issue, etc.
• If I still get it wrong or don't know WTF they are talking about, I thoroughly read the explanation. If it doesn't make sense, I might flip back to that part of the chapter (I've probably had to do this twice total.)

If I got a question right "the wrong way," i.e. by a good guess or narrowing without really understanding, I look over the explanation and try to form connections. For example, yesterday I spent about 10 minutes making some connections between density, force, fluid mechanics and pressure equations, just sort of playing with them and seeing how they all relate to each other. I do this a lot, especially for PS.

3) Lastly, I score the passage percentage-wise and characterize my errors. I have them categorized and color-coded, so that red means missed detail, green means I flat out didn't know/didn't get it, blue means timing/math issues, etc... This part is super quick and helps me spot patterns.

So basically, it's almost as though I do each passage twice, because I re-solve problems as I correct them to make sure I actually had the concepts in place and didn't just muddle my way to the answer. I often take three times as long to correct a set of passages as it takes to actually do them timed. It drives me slightly insane, but I want to be sure that I'm not losing out on any learning due to rushing through review.

 

[ridethecliche]

This is what I do to review passages:
What I do is some semblance of the following:
1) Re-skim the passage to re-orient myself. Place an entry in my notebook, for example, "BR Chapter 6 O-Chem: Oxygen-containing compounds. First 1/3"
2) Look at each question.

• Make sure I can solve it again if I got it right. Jot down WHY I got it right. Was it a good save? Good highlighting, good use of POE, or was it just something I knew "the easy way," etc.
• If I got it wrong, re-attempt. Write down my re-attempt. If I get it right this time, what was the difference... was it a time issue, a detail/fatigue issue, etc.
• If I still get it wrong or don't know WTF they are talking about, I thoroughly read the explanation. If it doesn't make sense, I might flip back to that part of the chapter (I've probably had to do this twice total.)

If I got a question right "the wrong way," i.e. by a good guess or narrowing without really understanding, I look over the explanation and try to form connections. For example, yesterday I spent about 10 minutes making some connections between density, force, fluid mechanics and pressure equations, just sort of playing with them and seeing how they all relate to each other. I do this a lot, especially for PS.

3) Lastly, I score the passage percentage-wise and characterize my errors. I have them categorized and color-coded, so that red means missed detail, green means I flat out didn't know/didn't get it, blue means timing/math issues, etc... This part is super quick and helps me spot patterns.

So basically, it's almost as though I do each passage twice, because I re-solve problems as I correct them to make sure I actually had the concepts in place and didn't just muddle my way to the answer. I often take three times as long to correct a set of passages as it takes to actually do them timed. It drives me slightly insane, but I want to be sure that I'm not losing out on any learning due to rushing through review.

You are my mcat review idol.

I do nothing even remotely close to this. I feel like I'm sitting with my thumb up my ass instead of doing 'review' after reading your description.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

Hehe I hope it's productive. It's definitely more exhausting than reading or doing passages. I just wish it didn't take so damn long!