Official StudySchedule Timeline Discussion

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

studyschedule

Full Member
Partner Organization
Vendor
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2016
Messages
13
Reaction score
9
What is the purpose of this page?

This page is intended for all discussions pertaining to StudySchedule's timeline. Questions such as:

1. I feel that StudySchedule is hard to keep up with. I think XYZ can improve it. Can you implement XYZ?
2. StudySchedule got my schedule all wrong. Help!?
3. I didn't even get through all my units at the end of the timeline. What?

What is StudySchedule?

StudySchedule is a nonprofit aimed to help students prepare for the MCAT's in a more streamlined fashion. The website is available at:

http://studyschedule.org

How can you help with the timeline?

Some users feel that StudySchedule is too slow. Others feel that it is too fast. We can't address everyone's concerns. As is, there is a question in the initial questionnaire that asks "What is your desired pace?". This question scales the timeline, and is fairly conservative.

These questions are then converted to a rough estimate of reading speed for a typical 600 word MCAT passage.

Generally, when there are timeline issues, go to http://studyschedule.org/settings and retake the questionnaire with a different pace.

For all timeline discussions, post suggestions and concerns here. To be helpful, please include relevant values summary from the settings page (notably, what you answered for the "desired pace" question).

Over time, your comments will help guide the improvement of StudySchedule's timeline recommendations.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Hi there, it's my first time every posting to SDN and I just created my account, so apologies if I'm not asking this question in the right place. I've used StudySchedule to create my own timeline (self skill assessments all at 1, with comfortable pace on track to take the first test offered Jan 2017). However, I have to admit I am not a huge fan of the "timeline" feature, as it is too difficult to get an overview of the schedule. I might be missing some feature, but in the event that I'm not I think it would be useful to see the planned schedule in a calendar format. Do you know if this will be an option, in addition to the timeline, in the near future?
 
Same issue as Elphius above, is there a possibility the timeline would be updated to get an overview of the schedule? I wasn't able to put in an actual study start date, it automatically just used the day I requested a calendar be made. I might be missing something here, but please do advise. I do however, appreciate the feature that tells you based off the answers to the questionnaire, what materials you might consider purchasing to help with your studying. I was a bit confused with that though, because it was bringing up previous Kaplan textbook editions for me to purchase even though I already listed the most recent Kaplan review books you had on there (2016 books weren't available for me to select). ~So are those resource suggestions, just that, or do you think for example when I put in a rating of 1 for Physical sciences, it shows resources that are better equipped to be a starting point for me? First time posting as well, apologies if I missed somewhere on the site where these questions were addressed.
 
Last edited:
Hi there, it's my first time every posting to SDN and I just created my account, so apologies if I'm not asking this question in the right place. I've used StudySchedule to create my own timeline (self skill assessments all at 1, with comfortable pace on track to take the first test offered Jan 2017). However, I have to admit I am not a huge fan of the "timeline" feature, as it is too difficult to get an overview of the schedule. I might be missing some feature, but in the event that I'm not I think it would be useful to see the planned schedule in a calendar format. Do you know if this will be an option, in addition to the timeline, in the near future?

A calendar view is certainly in the works. The timeline is intended to make one thing super easy to do: see the tasks you have for today, and mark them off.

It's a bit involved to create a replica of, say, Google Calendar or iCal, with full views of weeks/months/years but I'm thinking maybe a barebones version that you can't interact with. Definitely, before it exits the Beta, we'll have it.

Same issue as Elphius above, is there a possibility the timeline would be updated to get an overview of the schedule? I wasn't able to put in an actual study start date, it automatically just used the day I requested a calendar be made. I might be missing something here, but please do advise. I do however, appreciate the feature that tells you based off the answers to the questionnaire, what materials you might consider purchasing to help with your studying. I was a bit confused with that though, because it was bringing up previous Kaplan textbook editions for me to purchase even though I already listed the most recent Kaplan review books you had on there (2016 books weren't available for me to select). ~So are those resource suggestions, just that, or do you think for example when I put in a rating of 1 for Physical sciences, it shows resources that are better equipped to be a starting point for me? First time posting as well, apologies if I missed somewhere on the site where these questions were addressed.

Resource discussions should go into the separate thread, here. You can see all of the editions on a big spreadsheet. If you want to add a new resource, suggest an edit on the sheet. It's maybe around 20 lines on a spreadsheet, and it will get put in the next release of StudySchedule.

But yes, in general, to the calendar view!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
A calendar view has been added to StudySchedule.

You can access it using the navigation bar. Thanks for the suggestion!

Currently you can only mark things complete using the timeline view.

Screen_Shot_2016_07_17_at_9_02_06_PM.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
A calendar view has been added to StudySchedule.

You can access it using the navigation bar. Thanks for the suggestion!

Currently you can only mark things complete using the timeline view.

Screen_Shot_2016_07_17_at_9_02_06_PM.png
The calendar view looks great! And it's definitely a nice addition to be able to mark things as complete. Overall, I'm really excited about the progress, this looks like it will be a great tool. I have some other suggestions regarding the timeline/calendar view, though.
1) Would it be possible to actually see all tasks for the entire month on the calendar at one time as opposed to having to click on each day?
2) Being able to pick a start date (like @Divinely_Favored_07 mentioned earlier) would be very helpful. I actually re-set my settings today, but my study schedule is still set on starting yesterday 7/17, not today. So some materials that I've never touched have been marked as "in progress."
3) Materials that I do not own and do not plan to purchase have been included on my timeline. I plan to purchase EK FLs 1-4 (and indicated that in my resources) but not their review books, so I won't have the 30-min exams that come with the review books, but these 30-min exams have been included on my timeline. Maybe I get access to these when I purchase FL exams 1-4 from EK? Not sure.
Thanks for everything so far!
 
1) This should already be possible. Hit "Yearly" on the calendar.
2) This is next in the works. Probably an action item over the weekend, if not sooner.
3) We recommend what you should buy based on the "What is your budget?". If you don't want to buy additional materials, stick $0 on it, and it should only use existing resources.
 
1) This should already be possible. Hit "Yearly" on the calendar.
2) This is next in the works. Probably an action item over the weekend, if not sooner.
3) We recommend what you should buy based on the "What is your budget?". If you don't want to buy additional materials, stick $0 on it, and it should only use existing resources.
1) Thanks - I should have explored a bit more, sorry about that. The Yearly view is great!
2) Great!
3) Yep that worked, no more EK 30 min exams showing up. Thanks!

I've reset my resources/settings and still have some comments:
A) My practice passages, questions, and full length exams are not showing up on my schedule (timeline or calendar). Actually, the AAMC OG 120 questions are showing up on the last day of my schedule, but that's it. I'm not sure if this is new or not as I've reset my settings many times.
B) Does the "How fast do you read a typical MCAT passage in minutes?" question on the settings page correspond to the question from the questionnaire that asks whether you'd like to go through the schedule at a challenging/comfortable/etc. pace? I don't recall seeing this "how fast do you read a passage" question in the questionnaire.
 
1) Thanks - I should have explored a bit more, sorry about that. The Yearly view is great!
2) Great!
3) Yep that worked, no more EK 30 min exams showing up. Thanks!

I've reset my resources/settings and still have some comments:
A) My practice passages, questions, and full length exams are not showing up on my schedule (timeline or calendar). Actually, the AAMC OG 120 questions are showing up on the last day of my schedule, but that's it. I'm not sure if this is new or not as I've reset my settings many times.
B) Does the "How fast do you read a typical MCAT passage in minutes?" question on the settings page correspond to the question from the questionnaire that asks whether you'd like to go through the schedule at a challenging/comfortable/etc. pace? I don't recall seeing this "how fast do you read a passage" question in the questionnaire.

A) Practice not showing up on your timeline is a serious issue. I'm looking into it, and will hopefully have it fixed this weekend.
B) Also a bug. Thanks for catching these. Will be updated.

Also, working on the starting date parameterization. All the above are tentatively finished before Sunday.

@Silvija10

Please ask resource-related questions on the resource discussion page. We promise we'll get back to you!
 
@ElphiusMostafa13 Everything should be there.

We updated schedule fitting to make sure everything gets packed in on time.
The settings page should be updated to your true speed.
There's a new page in the questionnaire that asks for start date.
 
I can't figure out how to mark the sections complete. Help?

I'd also like to be able to print off the whole schedule or at least see it in readable format all at once instead of going through the calendar. I will be buying the recommended books under the new cost limit, but I've already dropped a lot of money in the last couple weeks on MCAT prep. It would be nice to see at a glance if I can wait to purchase the other ones after a few more paychecks.

Overall - this is a pretty cool idea. I like it and it's really helpful to those of us who are a little lost as to where to start. I've been out of school since 2014, so it's a little tough to get back into that planning mindset.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Thanks for the feedback Thoth! You should be able to mark sections complete as of Sunday Night by going into "Timeline View" on the top left corner of the screen and marking each individual item complete. We are working on a way for you to be able to download and/or print a version of the calendar, so thanks for putting that out there! And we are currently adding Kaplan, 3rd edition, although it is essentially identical to the second edition, save for some minute changes. Thanks again
 
Just noticed something- I looked ahead, and my timeline only has me studying Chemistry until the end of December, when I plan on writing in January. Clearly something's amiss, I'll probably just use a different schedule, but I thought you guys should know.
 
Hi there- I'm having difficulty updating the timeline for writing. I'd like to write in early 2018, but the schedule will either adapt for October 2017, or June 2018. Not sure if I'm the one making the mistake or if there is a glitch. Forgive me if someone has already brought this to your attention, I'm at work so admittedly I didn't take the time to read the thread.

Thank you for bring this to our attention! We are working on a solution and I will post an update when we have it fixed. I replied to your PM and please feel free to message me with any other errors you notice. Sorry about the inconvenience.
 
My schedule was made for a test a year from now. However, my schedule stops in may, leaving the month of June, July, and August 2018 empty. Also, I made all of my subject levels 1 in the questionaire, and included all of the kaplan books in pre-bought books. However, the Kaplan physics and orgo book did not appear in my schedule at all.
 
My schedule was made for a test a year from now. However, my schedule stops in may, leaving the month of June, July, and August 2018 empty. Also, I made all of my subject levels 1 in the questionaire, and included all of the kaplan books in pre-bought books. However, the Kaplan physics and orgo book did not appear in my schedule at all.
I just sent you a PM asking for some more details. We will try to figure this out ASAP and get it fixed.
 
Also, I made all of my subject levels 1 in the questionaire, and included all of the kaplan books in pre-bought books. However, the Kaplan physics and orgo book did not appear in my schedule at all.

This issue should now be fixed. If anyone else has problems let me know!
 
Hi, First time poster. I just discovered this schedule making website and it seems cool for the most part. I am having
an issue with the schedule because It doesn't seem to utilize the materials that I have purchased already. Only the ones that I am being told to purchase from my budget. Can someone help me out? Thanks.
 
Hi, First time poster. I just discovered this schedule making website and it seems cool for the most part. I am having
an issue with the schedule because It doesn't seem to utilize the materials that I have purchased already. Only the ones that I am being told to purchase from my budget. Can someone help me out? Thanks.

I just sent you a PM to get some more info about your problem and get it worked out.
 
I've tried taking the questionnaire multiple times and am still having issues. Each time I take the survey, I enter that I have the entire set of Kaplan books. I've put my budget in as under $200. The resources it gives me are AAMC and Khan Academy. When I look at the schedule, it is only incorporating those recommended resources and not showing any of the Kaplan materials. Am I doing something incorrectly, or am I misunderstanding what the program is supposed to do? Any help would be great, thanks!
 
I've tried taking the questionnaire multiple times and am still having issues. Each time I take the survey, I enter that I have the entire set of Kaplan books. I've put my budget in as under $200. The resources it gives me are AAMC and Khan Academy. When I look at the schedule, it is only incorporating those recommended resources and not showing any of the Kaplan materials. Am I doing something incorrectly, or am I misunderstanding what the program is supposed to do? Any help would be great, thanks!

Just sent you a PM to get this fixed.
 
First off, thank you so much for making this. Such a great way to organize materials into a convenient study schedule.

Issues:
  • Makes my schedule start at Sunday every week instead of Monday even though I set Saturday and Sunday as break days
  • Lists Kaplan books for some sections and TPR for others. Does it automatically pick the resource it believes is superior?
  • In the past I have performed well on all subjects except CARS and Psych/Soc but feel like I can review gen chem and physics a bit, so I put CARS and Psych/Soc at 1, Gen Chem and Physics at 2, and the remaining subjects at the default level of 3
  • I have the latest editions of the Kaplan and Princeton review books, as well as access to the AAMC section banks so I have listed the latest versions available in the existing materials section, as well as the Khan Academy videos and PBQ's
  • Previously when setting up the schedule, it asked me to purchase the MCAT Verbal Practice: 108 Passages for the New CARS Section (More MCAT Practice) 3rd Edition so I purchased that and added it to my existing materials as well
  • 6 hours of studying per day, with breaks on Sat/Sun at a comfortable (recommended) pace
  • I set my exam date as 01/18/2018 as an estimate of the earliest date in 2018 based on the first 2017 date
  • Budget set to below $700
 
Last edited:
Hey! Thanks for reaching out.

  • Makes my schedule start at Sunday every week instead of Monday even though I set Saturday and Sunday as break days

I am looking into this error and will post when I have fixed it.

  • Lists Kaplan books for some sections and TPR for others. Does it automatically pick the resource it believes is superior?

Yes, it picks resources in the following order - first it prioritizes resources that you have already purchased then it prioritizes based on the ranks displayed on this page (cost permitting): Resources.

Feel free to post or PM me with any additional questions/concerns.
 
Hi, I have a problem with the schedule. On my calendar I put Friday and Saturday as my day off but it has it listed as thursday and Friday.

Also in terms of material, I have books and materials I did not select which is integrated into the schedule.
 
Hi, I have a problem with the schedule. On my calendar I put Friday and Saturday as my day off but it has it listed as thursday and Friday.
I just sent you a PM to get more info on this issue.


Also in terms of material, I have books and materials I did not select which is integrated into the schedule.

Based on the hours/number of days you choose we will pick the highest yield resources to fill in your schedule gaps. Unfortunately, we do not have an option yet for you to make a schedule based on just your chosen resources. This is a feature which we are working on though!
 
I cannot get the schedule maker to let me put in my test date. Nor will it allow me to input my current materials.

I’ve tried multiple attempts over the past month. All on Safari (if that matters).

Please assist me. Thank you!!
 
I cannot get the schedule maker to let me put in my test date. Nor will it allow me to input my current materials.

I’ve tried multiple attempts over the past month. All on Safari (if that matters).

Please assist me. Thank you!!

I just sent you a PM so we can get this fixed. If anyone else is experiencing similar issues please reach out to me!
 
It would be nice if the schedule could be more flexible. It's quite annoying to have to go and re-input everything which I've done several times now. Also, smartphone functionality would be nice - the resource list is difficult to navigate on a smartphone, clicking on certain resources is difficult etc.
 
Hi! As others have suggested, I would also like to be able to 1) modify my timeline schedule without having to re-add my resources, and 2) modify study times for certain days, for example, have more study hours during the weekend versus the weekdays.
 
It would be nice if the schedule could be more flexible. It's quite annoying to have to go and re-input everything which I've done several times now. Also, smartphone functionality would be nice - the resource list is difficult to navigate on a smartphone, clicking on certain resources is difficult etc.

Hi! As others have suggested, I would also like to be able to 1) modify my timeline schedule without having to re-add my resources, and 2) modify study times for certain days, for example, have more study hours during the weekend versus the weekdays.

I 100% agree with all of these suggestions. I am working on fixing the smart phone issues now and will hopefully have it working in the next few days. I am also working on a larger update which will include a more flexible/customizable schedule that is much easier to update. Unfortunately, these changes require significant reworking of our algorithms so I can't give an exact timeline on their completion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I 100% agree with all of these suggestions. I am working on fixing the smart phone issues now and will hopefully have it working in the next few days. I am also working on a larger update which will include a more flexible/customizable schedule that is much easier to update. Unfortunately, these changes require significant reworking of our algorithms so I can't give an exact timeline on their completion.


Thanks!
 
It would be great if, when we clicked on the button to move unfinished tasks to future dates, we could still keep the record of the tasks we did finish in previous dates. I got behind on 2 days - but did complete some tasks, although not all, each day, but when I clicked to move unfinished tasks to the future, it erased even the completed ones, and just marked those days as "break days".

Also, it would be great if we could customize our schedule in the following way, for example on Monday I have tasks A, B, C, D, E, and on Tuesday I have tasks F, G, H, I, K, but I would rather complete tasks A, B, C, I, & K on Monday and tasks D, E, F, G, & H on Tuesday, I would like to be able to switch them around.

Thanks!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I just made my timeline. I selected 6-9 months but it’s making my ends date after 4 months. Not sure if I’m missing something here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I just made my timeline. I selected 6-9 months but it’s making my ends date after 4 months. Not sure if I’m missing something here.
I have the same issue, my test day selected was 4/20/18, and the timeline stops at 3/15/18. Can you please help?
 
I have the same issue, my test day selected was 4/20/18, and the timeline stops at 3/15/18. Can you please help?

We are working on rolling out a new update of Study Schedule that corrects for this issue and adds additional features. Unfortunately the only way currently to get around this issue is to try the following: 1) Add more existing resources 2) Decrease study pace 3) Decrease daily time allowance. 4) Any combination of the last 3 points.

I apologize for this error and wish I had a better solution. I will let you know when the new version is ready - we are working to get it up and running ASAP! Please feel free to reach out to me with any other problems/suggestions. Best of luck studying!
 
I made my schedule recently and set physics to a 5 but the schedule doesn't seem to incorporate physics review at all except for one day of AAMC question pack practice. I'm not sure if there is a fix for this yet.
 
No, it is working perfectly well today! Yesterday, there was a bad "gate" or something. Others were also reporting this but it looks like it's back up!
 
@pizzadog sorry if this is not the right venue for reporting errors but I didn't find an actual place where that's supposed to go.

When I go to StudySchedule I see a TypeError:

Code:
TypeError: /home/ubuntu/studyschedule/views/settings.ejs:66 64| <p style="font-family: Open Sans; 65| font-size: 16px; >> 66| color: #009dff;"><span style="font-family: Open Sans; color:#3e4a5e">Your test date is: &nbsp;</span> <%- user.mcat_date.toLocaleDateString() %> </p> 67| 68| <h3 style="font-family: Open Sans; 69| font-size: 20px; Cannot read property 'toLocaleDateString' of undefined at eval (eval at exports.compile (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:237:14), <anonymous>:32:2520) at eval (eval at exports.compile (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:237:14), <anonymous>:34:57) at /home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:250:15 at Object.exports.render (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:288:13) at View.exports.renderFile [as engine] (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/ejs/lib/ejs.js:318:20) at View.render (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/view.js:76:8) at Function.app.render (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/application.js:502:10) at ServerResponse.res.render (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/response.js:777:7) at Object.handle (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/app/routes.js:363:9) at next_layer (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/route.js:103:13) at Object.isLoggedIn [as handle] (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/app/middleware.js:6:12) at next_layer (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/route.js:103:13) at Route.dispatch (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/route.js:107:5) at /home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:195:24 at Function.proto.process_params (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:251:12) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:189:19) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:166:38) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:166:38) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:166:38) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:166:38) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:166:38) at next (/home/ubuntu/studyschedule/node_modules/express/lib/router/index.js:166:38)

This started when I looked around for options when my /timeline disappeared, and it redirects me to the survey. So I guess it just lost all of my schedule.

Is there anything that can be done to retrieve my timeline? (same google account, not a user error).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What is the purpose of this page?

This page is intended for all discussions pertaining to StudySchedule's timeline. Questions such as:

1. I feel that StudySchedule is hard to keep up with. I think XYZ can improve it. Can you implement XYZ?
2. StudySchedule got my schedule all wrong. Help!?
3. I didn't even get through all my units at the end of the timeline. What?

What is StudySchedule?

StudySchedule is a nonprofit aimed to help students prepare for the MCAT's in a more streamlined fashion. The website is available at:

http://studyschedule.org

How can you help with the timeline?

Some users feel that StudySchedule is too slow. Others feel that it is too fast. We can't address everyone's concerns. As is, there is a question in the initial questionnaire that asks "What is your desired pace?". This question scales the timeline, and is fairly conservative.

These questions are then converted to a rough estimate of reading speed for a typical 600 word MCAT passage.

Generally, when there are timeline issues, go to StudySchedule and retake the questionnaire with a different pace.

For all timeline discussions, post suggestions and concerns here. To be helpful, please include relevant values summary from the settings page (notably, what you answered for the "desired pace" question).

Over time, your comments will help guide the improvement of StudySchedule's timeline recommendations.

Hi. I was behind my actual schedule by about two days, so I clicked on the feature that says that will accomodate my schedule. However, all my previous activities were deleted and now show as if I had a break day every day in the past week. What is worse is that I cannot reverse it and now it looks like i did not do anything for the past days and i cannot even see what I finished in case I want to review. Please HELP!
 
Top