MS2 using Zanki, but having a hard time keeping up with reviews. Advice wanted.

[curiousbunnie2019]

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MS2 here. I downloaded Zanki at the beginning of first year and passively used it for microbiology and pharmacology. I didn't really understand the algorithm and need to do reviews daily.

Now, I'm 7 months away from STEP 1 and realizing how important Zanki is. My anxiety is on high seeing the reviews I have due. Is it possible to keep up with 1200-1300 reviews per day until the exam date?

 

[MedScat]

I did 1200-1300 review cards per day during dedicated and during dedicated only. I was burning out fast. 3 hours a day of just anki not even learning new material was really getting exhausting. I'm curious to see what other people think but, I think this many cards is a great way to burn out quick. Now as an M3, i can handle maybe 200 review cards a day manageably. For it to stay this way, I do about 50 new cards a day. There are days that I'm tempted to do more new cards if I have a little extra time but then i quickly remember the days of 1200 review cards and put on netflix instead.

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I did 1200-1300 review cards per day during dedicated and during dedicated only. I was burning out fast. 3 hours a day of just anki not even learning new material was really getting exhausting. I'm curious to see what other people think but, I think this many cards is a great way to burn out quick. Now as an M3, i can handle maybe 200 review cards a day manageably. For it to stay this way, I do about 50 new cards a day. There are days that I'm tempted to do more new cards if I have a little extra time but then i quickly remember the days of 1200 review cards and put on netflix instead.

You covered my exact thoughts. It was awful

 

[stickgirl390]

During M2 I wasn’t hitting 800 reviews until Feb/March, how do you have so many already?

I would suggest adjusting the settings on your Anki decks, set the max reviews to something achievable for you. Also, download the Load Balancer add-on.

Yes, you will not hit all your reviews each day by changing your max, but you will be much more consistent and I think, overall more successful, if you manage a smaller card load for a longer time rather than burning out on 1000+ cards a day in August of M2.

 

[Captain_Falcon]

I've been sticking with Anki everyday since start if winter quarter of M1 year (so 10 months goin strong) . I only have half the reviews that you have. Something is wrong with your settings or you arent trusting yourself enough to hit "hard" or "good" and not again for things that may be easily recognizable if the correct word or spelling was on the test.

 

[fldoctorgirl]

MS2 here. I downloaded Zanki at the beginning of first year and passively used it for microbiology and pharmacology. I didn't really understand the algorithm and need to do reviews daily.

Now, I'm 7 months away from STEP 1 and realizing how important Zanki is. My anxiety is on high seeing the reviews I have due. Is it possible to keep up with 1200-1300 reviews per day until the exam date?

Going to echo what others have said and say that this seems like a high number of reviews for early M2. I think I hit my max, which was ~1,000, close to dedicated time. Is this because you didn't keep up with cards from M1? If so, it may be better to just reset everything and start from scratch, or just set a goal for # of old reviews you want to get through per day until they all disappear, while keeping up with reviews for new material.

 

[curiousbunnie2019]

Going to echo what others have said and say that this seems like a high number of reviews for early M2. I think I hit my max, which was ~1,000, close to dedicated time. Is this because you didn't keep up with cards from M1? If so, it may be better to just reset everything and start from scratch, or just set a goal for # of old reviews you want to get through per day until they all disappear, while keeping up with reviews for new material.

I didn't keep up with reviews from MS1. Great idea on setting a goal number of reviews!

 

[fldoctorgirl]

I didn't keep up with reviews from MS1. Great idea on setting a goal number of reviews!

Yeah, the same thing happened to me. I kept up with reviews all throughout M1 and then once summer came I slacked off and the reviews piled up. I set a goal to still have all of Zanki done by ~March of M2, so I just started with new cards for M2 material while setting a goal amount of old reviews to do per day to catch up. I was able to catch up with everything and mature 90% of the deck by the time I took step, so it may seem insurmountable now but it's not! I found it much easier to manage when I told myself I just had to do x amount of old reviews per day.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

There is no "advice" for this. It's like exercise or dieting. You make the hard choice and put in the effort day after day and eventually you get on top of things. The end.

I think the other side of the coin here is that you don't necessarily "need" to be on top of it through dedicated. I kept up on all of my reviews until dedicated started an then let it go. I scored very well on Step 1. However, if you don't get the reps in early then letting go during dedicated wont be to your advantage.