Notes for TBR

[ajumobim]

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I'm sure someone has asked this question in the past, but...

Did anyone find it useful to take notes while reading and doing the practice passages of TBR? I'm currently taking notes on the material in the section and taking notes on the main ideas of questions that I got wrong. I am thinking it may come in handy at the end when I am doing practice exams. Any comments/ideas are welcome regarding if this method is useful or if there are other methods not as time-consuming to ensure that I will eventually absorb all of the material.

 

[BeThat2-3]

I followed SNed2for the most while using the TBR. What I found helpful was to read the chapter highlighting in yellow "good topics" or things I was unsteady on. Complete first 1/3 of the passages after the section. Take pretty well detailed notes on questions I missed and why, be it content, timing, calculations.

SNed2 has you reread each chapter, so for the second go through I used an orange highlighter and red pen with the occasional additional color highlighter. Since I previously read the chapter and already 1/3 of the passages the second read through was for me to focus on material I had an issue with or I knew was a hot topic for the mcat and that I'd highlight in Orange even if it meant highlighting over the yellow and I'd use note tabs to mark certain pages incase I wanted to come back and reread valuable info.

But with the second read through a lot of white i highlighted in Orange I also wrote down in my notes in my own words. (Kinda repetitive it seems but I do well but reading and re-writing) and I'd do the same with the 2nd 1/3 of the passages taking notes on missed questions and even questions I answered correctly but thought had valuable info.

In all, for TBR I had essentially a single notebook filled with notes from every single chapter and and practice passages, so that each chapter had anywhere from 1-5 pages notes total. And at the tail end I gave all the notes and good review.

Brains a bit scattered still as I took the Jan 23rd mcat but I'm a firm believer in read once with no notes and reread while taking notes to reinforce.

Just make sure your always timing yourself on passages no matter what the book or anyone tells you.

Sorry for the length response: in short: yes taking notes was helpful but I did it unconventionally.

Find a way that works best for you and just go with it.

I also used a seperste note book for the TBR CBT practice test as well as the AAMC practice test for notes on questions missed or just good explanations that suprerceded how I came to the correct answer.

Hope this helps at least some what!

 

[TheRhymenocerous]

What I did was condense the material from each chapter into one page of notes during my read-over and then later, as I was going over passages I'd completed, I would jot down all my important takeaways from that section and things to be aware of when solving that kind of problem in the future. I never really referred back to my one-page summaries, but just before the test I condensed all my little scribbles from practice passages and found those notes really helpful since they were based on things I'd realized while actually solving problems and they emphasized my weak points. I wanted to be systematic about studying, so I was really committed to finishing all those content notes, but by the end I was really just doing it to finish and don't think it was actually reinforcing much. For me, the super messy, of-the-moment notes ended up being most useful and they weren't something I'd planned to do. Just try to be flexible and don't feel like you need to come up with a plan now and stick to it strictly – you'll figure out what works best for you as you go!

 

[BeThat2-3]

What I did was condense the material from each chapter into one page of notes during my read-over and then later, as I was going over passages I'd completed, I would jot down all my important takeaways from that section and things to be aware of when solving that kind of problem in the future. I never really referred back to my one-page summaries, but just before the test I condensed all my little scribbles from practice passages and found those notes really helpful since they were based on things I'd realized while actually solving problems and they emphasized my weak points. I wanted to be systematic about studying, so I was really committed to finishing all those content notes, but by the end I was really just doing it to finish and don't think it was actually reinforcing much. For me, the super messy, of-the-moment notes ended up being most useful and they weren't something I'd planned to do. Just try to be flexible and don't feel like you need to come up with a plan now and stick to it strictly – you'll figure out what works best for you as you go!

Kinda what I was saying, just a bit of rambling drinking coffee to late lol

 

[ajumobim]

I followed SNed2for the most while using the TBR. What I found helpful was to read the chapter highlighting in yellow "good topics" or things I was unsteady on. Complete first 1/3 of the passages after the section. Take pretty well detailed notes on questions I missed and why, be it content, timing, calculations.

SNed2 has you reread each chapter, so for the second go through I used an orange highlighter and red pen with the occasional additional color highlighter. Since I previously read the chapter and already 1/3 of the passages the second read through was for me to focus on material I had an issue with or I knew was a hot topic for the mcat and that I'd highlight in Orange even if it meant highlighting over the yellow and I'd use note tabs to mark certain pages incase I wanted to come back and reread valuable info.

But with the second read through a lot of white i highlighted in Orange I also wrote down in my notes in my own words. (Kinda repetitive it seems but I do well but reading and re-writing) and I'd do the same with the 2nd 1/3 of the passages taking notes on missed questions and even questions I answered correctly but thought had valuable info.

In all, for TBR I had essentially a single notebook filled with notes from every single chapter and and practice passages, so that each chapter had anywhere from 1-5 pages notes total. And at the tail end I gave all the notes and good review.

Brains a bit scattered still as I took the Jan 23rd mcat but I'm a firm believer in read once with no notes and reread while taking notes to reinforce.

Just make sure your always timing yourself on passages no matter what the book or anyone tells you.

Sorry for the length response: in short: yes taking notes was helpful but I did it unconventionally.

Find a way that works best for you and just go with it.

I also used a seperste note book for the TBR CBT practice test as well as the AAMC practice test for notes on questions missed or just good explanations that suprerceded how I came to the correct answer.

Hope this helps at least some what!

Thanks this helps a lot! Did you review your chapter notes after each section or did you review them all at the end? How did you make sure you retained all of the Biology? Did you frequently revisit it?

 

[Abraxas305]

I'm taking notes, but I'm also Anki'ing important concepts. I review my flashcards every day, alternating between PS/BS/PSYCH. I usually review my notes (which are pretty condensed) once a week to keep topics fresh.