SN2'd first day

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EDIT: This was supposed to be a thread about the first day of SN2. However as with all intelligent life, things evolve. This thread has now become a support page for people following the SN2 plan. You can think of it as Alcoholics Anonymous for people studying to take the MCAT using the SN2 plan.

EDIT July 1, 2014:
If you are interested in @mehc012's Anki Deck, DO NOT SEND A PM. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7if6wgaif98rkoa/mehc012 SN2edCh4s.apkg
**A NOTE: @mehc012 and several others (myself included) want to tell you guys that studying from another person's deck will probably not be as beneficial to you as creating your own cards. Yes you can take advantage of @mehc012's generosity, but you won't get the same advantage. Study the material. Create cards as you go along. You will find it more helpful to your studying. **

EDIT July 22, 2014:
The following is @TBRBiosadist's official MCAT Verbal Reasoning Strategy:
@TBRBiosadist's strategy that got [him] from a 7 average to scoring 13-15 average..

Spend the bulk of your time reading. Up to 3 minutes per passage.
  • Read the first and last paragraph thoroughly to begin with. Understand what the authors main point will be because 90% of questions require nothing more than a general idea.
  • After this, read the entire passage slowly enough where you dont feel like you need to reread sentences for understanding.
Next is just answer questions, there is a few tricks here that work about 90% of the time
  • Unless the passage is asking you about a specific detail, dont look back. READ EVERY ANSWER THOROUGLY AND THEN Answer what makes sense from the general point of the passage. Its very easy to prove a wrong answer to be somewhat correct if you dig hard enough, dont. Answer what your gut says and move onto the next question, dont contemplate to much. With that being said...
  • Answer like you were dropped on the head as a child. Alot of times if Im arguing between two answers, there is the answer that is 100% correct, and one that is 90% correct. Be an idoit and choose the one that seems like it is correct. However.....
  • "Always" is a word to avoid. If an answer uses this word, or definites like it, it is something to avoid. I would say 80% of the time the wishy washy answer is more correct then the highly affirmative one. This leads to my final point....
  • 100% of the time you are not actually looking for the "right" answer in verbal, this isnt PS or BS where 1+1 almost always equals 2 (unless we are talking about the different sedimentation values for Ribosomes). In verbal you are looking for the answer that isnt wrong. Often times an answer will seem very "right" but one aspect of it is clearly wrong, as compared to an answer that isnt wrong, but doesnt seem as right as that answer, these are meant to fool you. Choose the answer that isnt wrong.
I understand that I few of these tips may be at odds with each other. Ultimately you must adjust slightly for each passage, but it comes down to one thing. Read thoroughly. Read every sentence in the passage. Read every question. Read every answer. Then the correct answer will be fairly obvious. This may seem like it takes longer, but it takes much less time than skimming, and then trying to find the correct information later.

Or to summarize in one sentence

Understand what the hell the author is arguing

EDIT July 26, 2014:
@DoctorInASaree uploaded a guide to Verbal Reasoning. If you're interested, it's worth a look. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2byivymmqwlvjms/MCAT VR Primer DRSAREE.pdf

EDIT 2, July 26, 2014: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/sn2d-first-day.1074344/page-52#post-15510851
________________________________________________
Just finished the first day of SN2...man is it long and exhausting.

The first day is BR physics chapter (translational motion) + 1/3 of the passages. I felt like I wasn't able to apply the stuff I read into the stuff I was tested on.

Has anyone felt this way when following the schedule? It just seems like the contents of the chapter didn't really stick in my head when I took the practice passages. Will this improve over time?

EDIT 3, March 4, 2015:

For verbal, if you are feeling lost and confused, I highly highly recommend you to look into the MCAT Strategy Course by @Jack Westin. I've been working with him, and nothing comes close to his course and teaching. It's a strategy course, so it will cover everything, not just the VR/CARS section.
 
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TBRBiosadist said:
Wow, this was the first day of no mcat study ive had in awhile, feels dirty
Click to expand...

I took the day off yesterday after the AAMC 3. Doing post-game on it today and will probably do the extra questions that are found in AAMC 3R later tonight. It's been a slow start to the day and will be a busy day for other reasons so I hope I can go to bed at a reasonable time.
 
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Rhino1000 said:
You haven't been taking off days or what?
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Yeah TBR i'm kind of curious about that. Have you taken any days off while studying for the MCAT? I myself usually take one day off every 2-3 weeks. Took a Friday off about 2 weeks ago because I was completely burnt out.
 
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Dreamstoo said:
Yeah TBR i'm kind of curious about that. Have you taken any days off while studying for the MCAT? I myself usually take one day off every 2-3 weeks. Took a Friday off about 2 weeks ago because I was completely burnt out.
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Same story here. Except for it was a Saturday. I'm taking today off, too, other than some passage reviews for passages I completed yesterday.
 
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now i see why this schedule says to do it 3 months in advance
There's so much to do i just dk if i have the time to accomplish it all
I have to take the exam early so if i inevitably do bad i still have January's last exams to fall back on 🙁
*im crying*
 
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ayocaptain628 said:
now i see why this schedule says to do it 3 months in advance
There's so much to do i just dk if i have the time to accomplish it all
I have to take the exam early so if i inevitably do bad i still have January's last exams to fall back on 🙁
*im crying*
Click to expand...

noo don't cry! Trust ME you will not need half the content review you are doing. The point of these books is to expose you to EVERYTHING on the AAMC outline but when you start taking practice tests you will see they like certain things and just present them in different ways. I cam almost guarantee there will always be some form of chem experiment testing stoich, acid base, Le Chat. There will waves, kinematics, maybe a discrete about fluids. Just make sure you know how to solve problems and get the basic concepts then move on to the next chapter. The bulk of your studying will be from practice tests (that's how I learned at least, and managed to increase my scores). You can do it, there are a lot of people that have been where you are and have eventually gotten great scores! #let'sgetttit
tumblr_inline_mzj6r4M74r1r79k32.gif
 
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Rhino1000 said:
Same story here. Except for it was a Saturday. I'm taking today off, too, other than some passage reviews for passages I completed yesterday.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have a busy day so all I can do is just review my AAMC 3 exam with AAMC 3R which has extra questions and about 30 more practice questions.
 
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ayocaptain628 said:
now i see why this schedule says to do it 3 months in advance
There's so much to do i just dk if i have the time to accomplish it all
I have to take the exam early so if i inevitably do bad i still have January's last exams to fall back on 🙁
*im crying*
Click to expand...

Hunker down for twelve to fifteen hours and complete two or three chapters a day. You'll be back on track shortly.😉

You must master the content unless you find leaving change on a table an acceptable practice.

sillyjoe said:
That's some pretty intense advice Saree 🙂. Not everyone has super-human study powers like you!
Click to expand...

@sillyjoe - Yes, I am aware of that. However, once one falls behind the eight ball (this is for you @pbrocks15 ), getting back on track can prove to be quite difficult. There is only one way that I know of: putting in the hours.

What I would recommend is the following: four days of fourteen hour study days. Why four days? For (four - mwahaha pun 😀) each of the subjects. I don't know how far behind you are, but two or three chapters in one day ought to put you back on track. On the fifth day, take a well deserved day off. Then follow the SN2ED schedule. Et voila! No love lost. 🙂
 
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tcon91 said:
Congrats! I hope I kill it on the next AAMC.....got an 8 last time 👎
Click to expand...

I will say that I did well on verbal untimed so I can't toot my horn too much lol, but it was still a nice ego boost after a ton of crappy scores this past month.

I seriously can't vouch for @TBRBiosadist's strategy enough. I'm really big on pattern recognition and @orangetea was a really big help in helping me figure out how to approach verbal along with his strategy, and I think post-gaming the heck out of your exams is REALLY helpful for verbal, I seriously spent ~3-4 hours post-gaming the verbal sections of AAMC 3 and 4 each and they are so vastly different from ANY other practice material out there. You literally just need to pick out the main idea of the passage, run with it, and then use that to eliminate answers for questions. Ask yourself if an answer choice is something that really has anything to do with the passage or if you're making that conclusion based off of your own inferences....that's helped me a lot personally. I think it's very easy to get bogged down in the details of a VR passage when in reality they just want you to figure out what the passage is about, and if they want you to figure out details and get caught up in them, that's a specific question they'll ask you about, and you can then go back and spend the time to figure it out.

I think people see verbal as this big, bad, scary monster but I personally think it's something that you can improve on when you figure out how AAMC thinks. It's easier for me to improve on than PS for example. I'm also picking up some LSAT books per @Dreamstoo's suggestions so we'll see how that goes, but I'm sure you'll do great on your next AAMC! Keep at it! :highfive:


Plus, color me crazy, but verbal is kind of weirdly fun? Idk, I've learned some cool stuff from some of these passages, like the meaning of true friendship...:laugh:
 
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sherpame said:
kap diagnostic
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The answer to that question will be the same as when you take the AAMC test and Self assessment.. Post gaming is where you will see a increase in your score .. First thats not a bad score providing you haven't done all the content review ... That diagnostic kinda just told you what you already know you need to do content review thats why the Sn2d schedule are against them.. But you can use this to find what your weakness is,.. What gaps in content you are experiencing....
 
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avenlea said:
I will say that I did well on verbal untimed so I can't toot my horn too much lol, but it was still a nice ego boost after a ton of crappy scores this past month.

I seriously can't vouch for @TBRBiosadist's strategy enough. I'm really big on pattern recognition and @orangetea was a really big help in helping me figure out how to approach verbal along with his strategy, and I think post-gaming the heck out of your exams is REALLY helpful for verbal, I seriously spent ~3-4 hours post-gaming the verbal sections of AAMC 3 and 4 each and they are so vastly different from ANY other practice material out there. You literally just need to pick out the main idea of the passage, run with it, and then use that to eliminate answers for questions. Ask yourself if an answer choice is something that really has anything to do with the passage or if you're making that conclusion based off of your own inferences....that's helped me a lot personally. I think it's very easy to get bogged down in the details of a VR passage when in reality they just want you to figure out what the passage is about, and if they want you to figure out details and get caught up in them, that's a specific question they'll ask you about, and you can then go back and spend the time to figure it out.

I think people see verbal as this big, bad, scary monster but I personally think it's something that you can improve on when you figure out how AAMC thinks. It's easier for me to improve on than PS for example. I'm also picking up some LSAT books per @Dreamstoo's suggestions so we'll see how that goes, but I'm sure you'll do great on your next AAMC! Keep at it! :highfive:


Plus, color me crazy, but verbal is kind of weirdly fun? Idk, I've learned some cool stuff from some of these passages, like the meaning of true friendship...:laugh:
Click to expand...
omg ur posts are always so detailed and helpful
ty!!! u r inspirational
 
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avenlea said:
I will say that I did well on verbal untimed so I can't toot my horn too much lol, but it was still a nice ego boost after a ton of crappy scores this past month.

I seriously can't vouch for @TBRBiosadist's strategy enough. I'm really big on pattern recognition and @orangetea was a really big help in helping me figure out how to approach verbal along with his strategy, and I think post-gaming the heck out of your exams is REALLY helpful for verbal, I seriously spent ~3-4 hours post-gaming the verbal sections of AAMC 3 and 4 each and they are so vastly different from ANY other practice material out there. You literally just need to pick out the main idea of the passage, run with it, and then use that to eliminate answers for questions. Ask yourself if an answer choice is something that really has anything to do with the passage or if you're making that conclusion based off of your own inferences....that's helped me a lot personally. I think it's very easy to get bogged down in the details of a VR passage when in reality they just want you to figure out what the passage is about, and if they want you to figure out details and get caught up in them, that's a specific question they'll ask you about, and you can then go back and spend the time to figure it out.

I think people see verbal as this big, bad, scary monster but I personally think it's something that you can improve on when you figure out how AAMC thinks. It's easier for me to improve on than PS for example. I'm also picking up some LSAT books per @Dreamstoo's suggestions so we'll see how that goes, but I'm sure you'll do great on your next AAMC! Keep at it! :highfive:


Plus, color me crazy, but verbal is kind of weirdly fun? Idk, I've learned some cool stuff from some of these passages, like the meaning of true friendship...:laugh:
Click to expand...

I agree, I think verbal is the easiest to improve on. I got 7-9s on BS/PS last summer when I took a few kaplan tests lackadaisically. After 1.5 months of intensive review (I don't use SN2), I was able to improve it. Verbal for me deviates too much for my liking, hoping to get consistent with it :horns:. This week is mostly going to be a verbal week along with reviewing AAMC exams and postgaming them. As well as going over some equations that I still need work on for both physics and chemistry.

Thanks for all the kind words, avenlea.
 
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orangetea said:
noo don't cry! Trust ME you will not need half the content review you are doing. The point of these books is to expose you to EVERYTHING on the AAMC outline but when you start taking practice tests you will see they like certain things and just present them in different ways. I cam almost guarantee there will always be some form of chem experiment testing stoich, acid base, Le Chat. There will waves, kinematics, maybe a discrete about fluids. Just make sure you know how to solve problems and get the basic concepts then move on to the next chapter. The bulk of your studying will be from practice tests (that's how I learned at least, and managed to increase my scores). You can do it, there are a lot of people that have been where you are and have eventually gotten great scores! #let'sgetttit
tumblr_inline_mzj6r4M74r1r79k32.gif
Click to expand...
u r my fav!! cant wait to see u succeed on ur test 🙂 🙂
 
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orangetea said:
I don't want to blow her up because she's a good friend but she is pretty well known on the west coast 😉
I am so excited that our Pre-med community is full of accomplished and known individuals!
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I already told you I was kristen bell method acting for a movie. C'mon guys.

STUDY INSTEAD OF STALKING ME, PEOPLE. If you knew me in real life you'd understand that I'm seriously not that cool, I literally bribe people to be friends with me with baked goods
 
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avenlea said:
I already told you I was kristen bell method acting for a movie. C'mon guys.

STUDY INSTEAD OF STALKING ME, PEOPLE. If you knew me in real life you'd understand that I'm seriously not that cool, I literally bribe people to be friends with me with baked goods
Click to expand...
yeah apple pies sound good.
 
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avenlea said:
I already told you I was kristen bell method acting for a movie. C'mon guys.

STUDY INSTEAD OF STALKING ME, PEOPLE. If you knew me in real life you'd understand that I'm seriously not that cool, I literally bribe people to be friends with me with baked goods
Click to expand...

i'll have my cake and eat it too
 
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sherpame said:
i was tld not to waste them in the begining.
Click to expand...

+1 I agree, I think the best assessment would be Self Assessment, Kaplan offers it and I printed it out when I took their course (by the way, I thought their class wasn't helpful but it depends on the teacher). I used it post content review but I have been told that many people find it helpful to find the topics you just reviewed content wise and test yourself with AAMC questions from AAMC exams 1,2,6 which are not available on CBT.
 
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