Poll: Should I Take notes on Khan Academy Videos Or Kaplan 7 book review?

[BrownEMS]

Has anyone taken notes on the videos? I feel like this would take too long!

So I have 2 options:

1.) Read the Kaplan 7 book subject review and take notes.
2.) Watch Khan Academy videos at 2x speed and take notes.

I don't think I can take notes on both. Is Khan Academy the better resource for my notes? Or should I watch all the khan videos (no note taking) after I take notes from the Kaplan 7 book review?

Which plan seems better?

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[Robracer89]

Why not use a combination of both? Read the book series and if you come across something that doesn't make sense or guy don't get then you can use Khan academy to clear up the material.

 

[BrownEMS]

Why not use a combination of both? Read the book series and if you come across something that doesn't make sense or guy don't get then you can use Khan academy to clear up the material.

But which do you think should predominate? Reading the book series, and referring to KA for clearing up material. Or watching KA and referring to the books for clearing up material?

This judgement would be based on several factors: If KA focuses on little unnecessary details, then maybe I don't need to take note son KA videos and should use those as a reinforcement?

 

[Robracer89]

But which do you think should predominate? Reading the book series, and referring to KA for clearing up material. Or watching KA and referring to the books for clearing up material?

This judgement would be based on several factors: If KA focuses on little unnecessary details, then maybe I don't need to take note son KA videos and should use those as a reinforcement?

From the experience I have had with Khan academy I found at times it can very verbose and goes into a level of detail that's not necessary unless you really don't know or get the subject. I would say predominately use the book series then use the KA videos as reinforcement. I think it will be a more effect use of ur time but that's just my opinion!!

 

[pseud0]

From the experience I have had with Khan academy I found at times it can very verbose and goes into a level of detail that's not necessary unless you really don't know or get the subject. I would say predominately use the book series then use the KA videos as reinforcement. I think it will be a more effect use of ur time but that's just my opinion!!

Ehh i found the opposite is true..the books are much more detailed than a simple video...I didn't need to know a TON of the material covered in the books on my MCAT.

 

[climbergirl838]

I utilized Khan Academy, and both the ExamKrackers and Kaplan sets during my MCAT studies. I used Kaplan to gather knowledge (i.e. make flashcards), Khan Academy questions to solidify my knowledge, and ExamKrackers to learn how to think MCAT style. I love Kaplan, but it is not so great at differentiating high yield material from low yield though, FYI. (ExamKrackers does a much better job at that).

 

[χmaverickχ]

Do the Anki Panky

 

[kb1900]

No one can say what is more effective for you than you.

Do you learn from reading or from watching? Pretty straightforward question.

My only other advice is to get thru content review as fast as possible and start integrating practice tests/passages asap.

Also do 3-4 Cars passages per day til your exam

 

[Nucleophile1]

Personally, I took notes on the books and watched Khan Academy videos to fill in any gaps. I used Berkeley Review and Princeton Review.

 

[779163]

My only other advice is to get thru content review as fast as possible and start integrating practice tests/passages asap.

This. Don't get too caught up on content review. Get through it as quickly as you can and solidify the concepts as you solve problems. Before I started practice exams, I completely overestimated how much content I needed to memorize. I soon realized that taking notes meant less time for practice problems, which is where most of the learning actually happens (if you have more time than I did, you might feel differently).

I only had six weeks to study, and it had been a long time since I had taken most of my prereqs, but this approach worked really well for me:
- For the Bio/Biochem (132) and Phys/Chem (131) sections: Spend two weeks with the Kaplan books, writing very brief notes in the margins only to clarify difficult topics.
- For the Psych/Socio (132) section, I watched all the Khan Academy videos and repeatedly reviewed the following notes for memorization (maybe 10 times) https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/3i1yq5/all_psychologysociology_notes_from_khan_academy/ The notes are a bit lacking for some videos, so I added some more notes as I went. I created mnemonics to memorize concepts that required rote memorization and appeared consistently in AAMC practice tests.
- Ignored Kaplan Psych/CARS books
- Did practice exams for four weeks, including AAMC section banks, and review concepts I struggled with by re-reading sections of Kaplan.

 

[KoalaT]

Lot of both answers on here. How about a neither? Berkeley Review all the way. Just lurk around. You'll come to realize its a fan favorite

 

[numbersloth]

- For the Psych/Socio (132) section, I watched all the Khan Academy videos and repeatedly reviewed the following notes for memorization (maybe 10 times) https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/3i1yq5/all_psychologysociology_notes_from_khan_academy/ The notes are a bit lacking for some videos, so I added some more notes as I went. I created mnemonics to memorize concepts that required rote memorization and appeared consistently in AAMC practice tests.

Do you have the PDF? the dropbox link is no longer active

 

[ScottTenorman54]

KA videos vary in quality and its still too new to safely recommend as a primary study source. Stick with the established sources - Kaplan, TPR, EK etc for that. I wouldn't recommend writing excessive long-form notes on them though. The books themselves are the "notes". Read/review, move on to the practice problems, and come back to reinforce weak areas.

 

[BrownEMS]

This. Don't get too caught up on content review. Get through it as quickly as you can and solidify the concepts as you solve problems. Before I started practice exams, I completely overestimated how much content I needed to memorize. I soon realized that taking notes meant less time for practice problems, which is where most of the learning actually happens (if you have more time than I did, you might feel differently).

I only had six weeks to study, and it had been a long time since I had taken most of my prereqs, but this approach worked really well for me:
- For the Bio/Biochem (132) and Phys/Chem (131) sections: Spend two weeks with the Kaplan books, writing very brief notes in the margins only to clarify difficult topics.
- For the Psych/Socio (132) section, I watched all the Khan Academy videos and repeatedly reviewed the following notes for memorization (maybe 10 times) https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/3i1yq5/all_psychologysociology_notes_from_khan_academy/ The notes are a bit lacking for some videos, so I added some more notes as I went. I created mnemonics to memorize concepts that required rote memorization and appeared consistently in AAMC practice tests.
- Ignored Kaplan Psych/CARS books
- Did practice exams for four weeks, including AAMC section banks, and review concepts I struggled with by re-reading sections of Kaplan.

Any reason you skipped the Psych/Cars books on Kaplan? Is the Khan Psych/Socio section better?
What did you use for CARS?
Do you have the notes as the psych/SOC reddit notes are not there?

 

[779163]

Do you have the PDF? the dropbox link is no longer active

Any reason you skipped the Psych/Cars books on Kaplan? Is the Khan Psych/Socio section better?
What did you use for CARS?
Do you have the notes as the psych/SOC reddit notes are not there?

I reuploaded the notes here. It's a doc file, so you can make any changes. This version includes some of my own added notes, so there may be some bullet points that may not make sense. Looking back, there were a few topics that I felt were not sufficiently covered by the videos that I did refer briefly to another website or book, but these were very rare.

The reason I skipped the Kaplan CARS: CARS is reading comp, and I feel like you need to develop a strategy that works best for you through lots of practice rather than religiously following the rules created by Kaplan writers. This was my weakest section (128), and I feel that it was primarily because I didn't practice enough.

As for the Psych, I remember reading somewhere that the Kaplan Psych books had a lot of missing content (at least in the first edition, because it was published before the Psych/Socio section was administered for the first time). Khan Academy videos lined up very well with the list of topics covered by the MCAT. These videos and notes were enough for me to feel like I was certain about my answers to 99% of the outside-knowledge questions while taking the MCAT (with the help of AAMC practice problems and tests).

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I reuploaded the notes here. It's a doc file, so you can make any changes. This version includes some of my own added notes, so there may be some bullet points that may not make sense. Looking back, there were a few topics that I felt were not sufficiently covered by the videos that I did refer briefly to another website or book, but these were very rare.

The reason I skipped the Kaplan CARS: CARS is reading comp, and I feel like you need to develop a strategy that works best for you through lots of practice rather than religiously following the rules created by Kaplan writers. This was my weakest section (128), and I feel that it was primarily because I didn't practice enough.

As for the Psych, I remember reading somewhere that the Kaplan Psych books had a lot of missing content (at least in the first edition, because it was published before the Psych/Socio section was administered for the first time). Khan Academy videos lined up very well with the list of topics covered by the MCAT. These videos and notes were enough for me to feel like I was certain about my answers to 99% of the outside-knowledge questions while taking the MCAT (with the help of AAMC practice problems and tests).

Clutch. Thanks for posting that.

 

[BrownEMS]

I reuploaded the notes here. It's a doc file, so you can make any changes. This version includes some of my own added notes, so there may be some bullet points that may not make sense. Looking back, there were a few topics that I felt were not sufficiently covered by the videos that I did refer briefly to another website or book, but these were very rare.

The reason I skipped the Kaplan CARS: CARS is reading comp, and I feel like you need to develop a strategy that works best for you through lots of practice rather than religiously following the rules created by Kaplan writers. This was my weakest section (128), and I feel that it was primarily because I didn't practice enough.

As for the Psych, I remember reading somewhere that the Kaplan Psych books had a lot of missing content (at least in the first edition, because it was published before the Psych/Socio section was administered for the first time). Khan Academy videos lined up very well with the list of topics covered by the MCAT. These videos and notes were enough for me to feel like I was certain about my answers to 99% of the outside-knowledge questions while taking the MCAT (with the help of AAMC practice problems and tests).

Thanks for posting that!

 

[Gurby]

Do the Anki Panky

The whole concept of taking notes and rereading them just feels like a miserably inefficient way to learn, at least to me. I put any high-yield information I encountered directly into Anki as I went through my content review, and then reviewed the cards daily. I also used this approach for all of my science classes - the only "notes" I took would be a list of topics from a given lecture that I needed to learn in more detail and make more cards about. Of course different strokes for different folks, but this was highly effective for me and yielded a 519 on the MCAT, 4.0 sGPA.

 

[Kasra321]

I've found videos really useful for learning the basic concepts and grasping the main idea quickly and efficiently.
But textbooks are generally more structured, which make them better for learning the details and taking notes.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[BrownEMS]

The whole concept of taking notes and rereading them just feels like a miserably inefficient way to learn, at least to me. I put any high-yield information I encountered directly into Anki as I went through my content review, and then reviewed the cards daily. I also used this approach for all of my science classes - the only "notes" I took would be a list of topics from a given lecture that I needed to learn in more detail and make more cards about. Of course different strokes for different folks, but this was highly effective for me and yielded a 519 on the MCAT, 4.0 sGPA.

Do you still have the Anki deck?
Or do you any published Anki decks on SDN/Reddit that have been critically acclaimed?

 

[Gurby]

Do you still have the Anki deck?
Or do you any published Anki decks on SDN/Reddit that have been critically acclaimed?

Sooooo I don't actually use Anki, I just mentioned that as it's a very popular spaced repetition program and it's free. After trying both programs I decided I liked Supermemo better, and am pretty heavily invested in it at this point (~10,000 cards). Unfortunately Supermemo does not make it as easy to share decks, and it also costs money... I think making the cards is a valuable part of the learning process anyways though - it's easy to use flash cards to cram minutiae, but you need to understand things at a pretty deep level to be able to create flash cards that test big picture ideas effectively.

I'd be happy to help get you set up with Supermemo if you're interested in checking it out though!

 

[partypantss]

I'm gonna recommend against Kaplan. I used it to study for the old MCAT and then used Examkrackers a couple years later to study for the new MCAT and I found them to be night and day. Kaplan was riddled with errors, the most frustrating of which were in the end of chapter questions/ tests. EK was great. I got a 29 (<80th percentile) after studying with Kaplan and found it easy to get 95th percentile on the new MCAT studying with EK. n=1 though of course.

As for comparing with khan academy I recommend using whatever course's books as your main resource and supplement with Khan when needed.

 

[partypantss]

Also even if you primarily use Kaplan, I strongly recommend doing the EK verbal reasoning practice book. I thought their practice passages were very good and their approach is effective/ not as gimmicky as other companies (I got a 129 in CARS)

 

[hubbsbubbs]

Also even if you primarily use Kaplan, I strongly recommend doing the EK verbal reasoning practice book. I thought their practice passages were very good and their approach is effective/ not as gimmicky as other companies (I got a 129 in CARS)

I also used the EK verbal book and I also recommend it to my students (I'm an MCAT Tutor), but I used the Kaplan series when I was studying myself and thought it was perfect. Just enough info, and not too dense. I also watched Khan videos (but didn't take notes). Usually watched ten videos before bedtime.

 

[NeuResurgens]

I used the Kaplan book series for serious content review and KA to fill in gaps/get extra looks at certain subjects.

 

[pioneer22]

I reuploaded the notes here. It's a doc file, so you can make any changes. This version includes some of my own added notes, so there may be some bullet points that may not make sense. Looking back, there were a few topics that I felt were not sufficiently covered by the videos that I did refer briefly to another website or book, but these were very rare.

The reason I skipped the Kaplan CARS: CARS is reading comp, and I feel like you need to develop a strategy that works best for you through lots of practice rather than religiously following the rules created by Kaplan writers. This was my weakest section (128), and I feel that it was primarily because I didn't practice enough.

As for the Psych, I remember reading somewhere that the Kaplan Psych books had a lot of missing content (at least in the first edition, because it was published before the Psych/Socio section was administered for the first time). Khan Academy videos lined up very well with the list of topics covered by the MCAT. These videos and notes were enough for me to feel like I was certain about my answers to 99% of the outside-knowledge questions while taking the MCAT (with the help of AAMC practice problems and tests).

the PS section has 120 pages of material covered for an MCAT sitting!?