SN2'd first day

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TexasSurgeon

TexasSurgeon

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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
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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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So I stepped my verbal game up to just 2 questions wrong per passages. But this is still not good enough . I normally finish my passages in around 7 min and 30 seconds, without redoing any questions because I dont want to doubt myself too much. Should I try and make better use of the time Or should I keep moving fast because the nerves on the real exam my speed will be beneficial .. And one question I got wrong was what is the authors attitude towards minority for the entire passage he just talked about the different groups and ways a minority can be classed and then one sentence said Most insidious members of a minority are denied equal treatment . First didn't know the meaning of that word in that context. Second just this one line should be used to convey the authors attitude ,.. He was detached . I think TPR is full of it sometimes. Rant over back to stressing out
 
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Why does SDN periodically stop notifying me of this thread?!? I've missed like 4 pages!!! And SDN mobile NEVER notifies, ever. Ugh.

Side note - today's moment of pure happiness:
Reviewing missed questions only to realize that TBR had THREE typos in the answer key and therefore you actually scored in the 90s! :soexcited:
 
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avenlea said:
Not to scare you or anything but doc at work the other told me she had a friend in residency who had a resting heart rate that was super low because he was a runner and he literally overworked his heart so hard by the time he was 30 that he collapsed while running, went to the ER, and left with a pacemaker
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Wait seriously?

I have a very low resting heart rate, I use to have a 44 now it's a 51.

I think it stems from my days of working out everyday and taking preworkout powders before it.

Wow this worries me honestly lol

Help what do I do?!?!?
 
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aspiringMD/DO said:
@TBRBiosadist if you were to create a checklist/bullet points of your post-game analysis on each question/passage what would it look like?
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I feel like I should keep a copy of this In notepad for how often im asked lol. Write out reasoning for every question and see if reasoning is correct. Except if super easy. If get wrong write smapl paragraph why and anki. If I was ensure small paragraph and anki
 
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Im on mobile without app which is why I sound like a second grader. The page skips out and reloads alot
 
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TBRBiosadist said:
I feel like I should keep a copy of this In notepad for how often im asked lol. Write out reasoning for every question and see if reasoning is correct. Except if super easy. If get wrong write smapl paragraph why and anki. If I was ensure small paragraph and anki
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For me, I try to answer each one as I see it - usually I will 'remember' my logic, and I often uncover stupid mistakes that way...I use the same reasoning, but get a different answer because I mixed up my <> signs or something.

Other than that, pretty similar other than I don't write a paragraph, I just work it out visually on dry-erase. And Anki as needed, of course!

For example, the last set I just reviewed I had zero content errors, but 1 math mistake and 3 stupid errors (one I literally wrote 'both less' next to my answer, but selected the choice with one <, one >, and similar issues).
 
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@TBRBiosadist I will be waiting for your scores more anxiously than mine. I can finally say I have a friend that hit 41+. On another note, i figured out I have the aamc's R edition. How do you guys recommend I go through them. Plus I figured out I have the 6 as well weird.
Have you ever considered taking #10-11 before the last week of prep, since they are harder and more representative and I would like to spend decent time post gaming. What do you think?
 
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ramires said:
@TBRBiosadist I will be waiting for your scores more anxiously than mine. I can finally say I have a friend that hit 41+. On another note, i figured out I have the aamc's R edition. How do you guys recommend I go through them. Plus I figured out I have the 6 as well weird.
Have you ever considered taking #10-11 before the last week of prep, since they are harder and more representative and I would like to spend decent time post gaming. What do you think?
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Ive though about it but I decided I want to do the most mcaty one last so that Im in that kind of thought process
 
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sharkbyte said:
This is what @TBRBiosadist is doing to the AAMCs:

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360 NO SCOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1165269_o.gif
 
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If i feel really good about doing a passage do you guys recommend doing all 3/3 on one day ? or its best to spread them out to see how much you have retained
 
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poop420 said:
If i feel really good about doing a passage do you guys recommend doing all 3/3 on one day ? or its best to spread them out to see how much you have retained
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Spread them out, in my opinion. Even if you know it well there's always a chance that you can forget I a little. Also, it can become a confidence booster in between more difficult passages.
 
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Good morning gentlemen and ladies,

Quick question that I would like all your opinions on: Do you skip around on FL's? Specifically on the PS section.

I have yet to but some are suggesting I do.
 
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sillyjoe said:
Good morning gentlemen and ladies,

Quick question that I would like all your opinions on: Do you skip around on FL's? Specifically on the PS section.

I have yet to but some are suggesting I do.
Click to expand...

I just go straight through. You have to do them all anyway. However, if I get to passage and I have no clue what is happening, I'll do the next passage and come right back to the one I skipped now that my brain is warmed up. I feel like if you skip around you are setting yourself up for high risk of forgetting about a passage.
 
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holy crap. i almost lost anki and all my cards. I was able to get a beta copy of Apple's new operating system and when anki asked me to update, I did, but the new OS wasn't recognizing it and it deleted the old application. thank god i had everything backed up though, almost had a heart attach

1200 cards almost down the toilet...
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
holy crap. i almost lost anki and all my cards. I was able to get a beta copy of Apple's new operating system and when anki asked me to update, I did, but the new OS wasn't recognizing it and it deleted the old application. thank god i had everything backed up though, almost had a heart attach

1200 cards almost down the toilet...
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Nah, you'd have been fine. They would still have been
a) on Anki's server
b) automatically saved as a series of 30 backups made whenever you made changes throughout the past weeks

I thought I had glitched mine...made a bunch of new cards, couldn't find them, realized I hadn't reviewed them (and that was why my passages were going so roughly). Turns out I made them in the wrong deck (one I had turned to '0 reviews, 0 new' because I use it as storage) so I never saw them :laugh:
And that, people, is why tagging is so useful!
 
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mehc012 said:
Nah, you'd have been fine. They would still have been
a) on Anki's server
b) automatically saved as a series of 30 backups made whenever you made changes throughout the past weeks

I thought I had glitched mine...made a bunch of new cards, couldn't find them, realized I hadn't reviewed them (and that was why my passages were going so roughly). Turns out I made them in the wrong deck (one I had turned to '0 reviews, 0 new' because I use it as storage) so I never saw them :laugh:
And that, people, is why tagging is so useful!
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But apparently Anki doesn't sync when the software isn't the latest...I couldn't sync notecards since it said I was using old software, and I couldn't update because I have the new apple OS which is probably incompatible with anki's new app

but yeah the 30 backups make sense


i'm probably going to legit start reviewing cards when i finish content review IN TWO DAYS!!!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀: D: 😀😀 : D😀:😀😀: D: D:
 
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sillyjoe said:
Good morning gentlemen and ladies,

Quick question that I would like all your opinions on: Do you skip around on FL's? Specifically on the PS section.

I have yet to but some are suggesting I do.
Click to expand...

Quote from my friend

"1) I always did the discrete (stand-alone) questions first.

2) The section where I was running out of time the most was physical sciences, so I timed myself doing a set of physics questions and a set of chemistry questions, and I discovered that it was the physics that was slowing me down. So I started taking the physical sciences section in this order: discretes, all chemistry passages, all physics passages."

The second is true for me so I will probably follow her advice
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
But apparently Anki doesn't sync when the software isn't the latest...I couldn't sync notecards since it said I was using old software, and I couldn't update because I have the new apple OS which is probably incompatible with anki's new app

but yeah the 30 backups make sense


i'm probably going to legit start reviewing cards when i finish content review IN TWO DAYS!!!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀: D: 😀😀 : D😀:😀😀: D: D:
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Unless you were somehow using Anki 1.x, which hasn't been out in over a year, it should sync regardless of version. But, I must confess that I'm less familiar with the Mac side of things, so perhaps they had different releases than I am accustomed to. I guess you could always use a different computer, sync, export the deck, move it to your computer, and open the file...but that sounds like a PITA. Either way, glad you didn't lose 'em!
 
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Guys, I just wanted to point out...between all of the courses I've had in the past 2yrs (only ~half of which I used Anki for) and MCAT review, I have ~5500 cards total. WINNING!
1000 of them I haven't seen (I rebooted my Anatomy deck after the course ended because it was such a condensed course with SO MANY cards and I then took a few months off Anki so HOLY GODS ATTACK OF THE REVIEWS I DON'T REMEMBER), but that's still 4500 active cards...with like 95% retention!
 
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mehc012 said:
Guys, I just wanted to point out...between all of the courses I've had in the past 2yrs (only ~half of which I used Anki for) and MCAT review, I have ~5500 cards total. WINNING!
1000 of them I haven't seen (I rebooted my Anatomy deck after the course ended because it was such a condensed course with SO MANY cards and I then took a few months off Anki so HOLY GODS ATTACK OF THE REVIEWS I DON'T REMEMBER), but that's still 4500 active cards...with like 95% retention!
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thats insane
 
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mehc012 said:
Now if only I didn't have frequent math and stupidity errors dragging my percentages down in TBR. 🙁
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You put more note cards than the ones you already put online?!?

I've been doing your cards for awhile now actually 🙂 I do them on my down time and I think its been helping honestly so thanks!
 
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pbrocks15 said:
You put more note cards than the ones you already put online?!?

I've been doing your cards for awhile now actually 🙂 I do them on my down time and I think its been helping honestly so thanks!
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Glad it's helping!
Yeah, I have made several hundred since then, and I have ~2000 Anatomy cards, 800 Medical Microbiology cards, and a few hundred, hematology, cardiac physiology, neuroscience, etc. cards.
Oh, and a small, but well-used set of medical spanish cards!
 
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mehc012 said:
Glad it's helping!
Yeah, I have made several hundred since then, and I have ~2000 Anatomy cards, 800 Medical Microbiology cards, and a few hundred, hematology, cardiac physiology, neuroscience, etc. cards.
Oh, and a small, but well-used set of medical spanish cards!
Click to expand...

I know you've shared the older one but would you be able to share the newer one? 🙂 i really enjoy your cards lol
 
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I am getting really frustrated with TBR physics. For O-chem, I started to see some improvement after completing the first book and even though I still hit the same "score" my percentages were higher. For physics, I am stagnating in the 69 - 77% range. I've already done Chad's videos and I followed his logic, read through TPR and now doing a sort of second review using BR chapters. The very first set I did I got 55% because I didn't bother to read the chapter well. After that, I started reading the BR chapters before passages. I already feel like I am forgetting all I learnt in the orgo passages and that if I were to do them today I would probably not do well. I need to move forward but I am feeling really demoralized and become anxious while doing the passages.

I should mention that I chose to do thorough content review before attempting any passages/questions and only used Chad's quizzes and the in-chapter questions during my first TPR review. I am 9 years removed from physics and had to re-learn it all. Is it gonna be this bad with Gen Chem? I had only used TPR for reviewing/learning the material and I am terrified.
 
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god it sucks when 85% of your mistakes come from not understanding the experiment presented to you...anyone have any ideas for how to get around that?


has anyone else also noticed that after doing a ton of passages, you can start to kindof predict the questions that will be asked just by reading the passages?
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
god it sucks when 85% of your mistakes come from not understanding the experiment presented to you...anyone have any ideas for how to get around that?


has anyone else also noticed that after doing a ton of passages, you can start to kindof predict the questions that will be asked just by reading the passages?
Click to expand...
Especially when there are multiple questions stemming from understanding one particular concept about the experiment lol. There's no real way to prepare for these besides just having a holistic understanding of the material in the chapter. I've found that I only have trouble with experiment passages when it's dealing with a chapter I'm weak in.

As for #2, yeah and it's awesome. Also allows you to save time by skipping over the stuff you know is irrelevant.
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
god it sucks when 85% of your mistakes come from not understanding the experiment presented to you...anyone have any ideas for how to get around that?


has anyone else also noticed that after doing a ton of passages, you can start to kindof predict the questions that will be asked just by reading the passages?
Click to expand...
Usually i can feel when I am in the middle of some godforsaken experiment from hell about a paragraph in. In this case i skim read and skip right to the questions since 90% of the time they are far simpler than the experiment and oftentimes I actually understand what is going on by the last question. There has been so many times after finishing a passage that I run back and do the first two questions of it again
 
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Well these last 4 days have been an example of my usual sleep cycle. Three days where I only get 4 hours of sleep and the today I slept till 3pm. only getting started studying now at 5pm.
 
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jebelali said:
I am getting really frustrated with TBR physics. For O-chem, I started to see some improvement after completing the first book and even though I still hit the same "score" my percentages were higher. For physics, I am stagnating in the 69 - 77% range. I've already done Chad's videos and I followed his logic, read through TPR and now doing a sort of second review using BR chapters. The very first set I did I got 55% because I didn't bother to read the chapter well. After that, I started reading the BR chapters before passages. I already feel like I am forgetting all I learnt in the orgo passages and that if I were to do them today I would probably not do well. I need to move forward but I am feeling really demoralized and become anxious while doing the passages.

I should mention that I chose to do thorough content review before attempting any passages/questions and only used Chad's quizzes and the in-chapter questions during my first TPR review. I am 9 years removed from physics and had to re-learn it all. Is it gonna be this bad with Gen Chem? I had only used TPR for reviewing/learning the material and I am terrified.
Click to expand...

Reading more, in my opinion, will not exactly help you score better. You will learn more and see a greater rise in your score by simply doing more passages in your WEAK areas. Weak is big here because many people, and myself, will just decide that I need to work on Orgo and do general orgo passages that I actually know. This doesn't help, much. What helps is recognizing that you have no idea about a specific section of orgo and then you look for passages that might have to do with your weaknesses.

If you fell that you forget information make sure that you understand the concepts better. I think it really is that simple, for me at least, that when I can't remember some concept its simply because I don't have a deep grasp on the information.

When are you planning to take the exam?

Edit: I also want to mention that physics and gen chem do require a descent amount memorization. However, this memorization isn't entirely necessary if you have a deeper understanding the material. This is where passages come in handy, they won't drill memorization but more of understanding and application.
 
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One day of content review left (yay!) but I'm still feeling pretty shaky with the content in physical sciences. I've been consistently scoring around 60-75% on physics and gen chem passages for the past 2 months. According to BR thats in the 8-11 range, but I'd like to see my scores hit 10-11 more consistently. I'm thinking of taking a week to focus on my weakest spots in chem and physics before diving into the full lengths. What do you guys think? Do you guys find that just doing the last 1/3 passages is enough review for you?
 
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MrTaco92 said:
One day of content review left (yay!) but I'm still feeling pretty shaky with the content in physical sciences. I've been consistently scoring around 60-75% on physics and gen chem passages for the past 2 months. According to BR thats in the 8-11 range, but I'd like to see my scores hit 10-11 more consistently. I'm thinking of taking a week to focus on my weakest spots in chem and physics before diving into the full lengths. What do you guys think? Do you guys find that just doing the last 1/3 passages is enough review for you?
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I see no reason why you couldn't mix up the order of the final 1/3s, putting your weakest first (and maybe throwing in some extra work while you're reviewing those, before crunch time looms and/or you start to burn out).

Remember, SN2ed provides a good framework and enforces some critical strategies (cycle through subjects, review each chapter multiple times, LOT of practice problems), but the specific orders, scheduling, and details don't matter so much.
 
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I function at my sharpest on several days of low sleep followed with a catchup day. 8 hours a night i never really wake up and I feel groggy all the time.
 
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mehc012 said:
I see no reason why you couldn't mix up the order of the final 1/3s, putting your weakest first (and maybe throwing in some extra work while you're reviewing those, before crunch time looms and/or you start to burn out).

Remember, SN2ed provides a good framework and enforces some critical strategies (cycle through subjects, review each chapter multiple times, LOT of practice problems), but the specific orders, scheduling, and details don't matter so much.
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Yeah, I'll probably just do that instead. I'm reading everywhere that practice passages are the best way to prepare but I was just concerned that maybe a few knowledge gaps would make it harder for me to improve. Anyway, thank god I'm almost done with content review. I really can't wait til I take this damn test.
 
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pbrocks15 said:
I feel like you could be your avatar. That face me makes just makes me picture you saying the quote above lol.
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Alot of thought went into this avatar lol.

I feel like the day I can conquer fifth grade math is the day I will get a 45 on my mcat.

What is 101/100? "Obviously 99%" I say as I chuckle to myself and right down that answer. "I am so smart ha ha"

Funny thing is most of the time I dont catch this stuff even if I have time to review
 
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