SN2ed 2013 summer folks, post here!

Started by ttt92
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ttt92

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Hey guys,

Just thought I would start a thread for people taking the MCAT in late August/September and using the SN2ed schedule. I thought it would be a good place to post our progress, issues, rantings about the studying, or questions we had about the schedule?? I myself am not starting until later this week after finals.

GOOD LUCK everyone!
 
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medemic said:
The Sn2ed thread should have the verbal links. There's really only two different methods. You are either just reading for main idea without mapping/writing or highlighting, or the mapping/writing. Pick your poison. It takes time. You must learnnn.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll try the mapping first because sometimes I can't remember where things are for the detailed questions and I can't keep track of the authors purpose in my head for some reason. I'll just keep practicing. Hopefully I improve with time. Day 2 tomorrow! I'm kind of excited (this will probably change soon lol).
 
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I'm sort of in a tough spot, even though I know that it will be over in a blink. I have a guest in my house that I have to semi-entertain for the next 2 days. I think I'll try to skip some events to study / prep out..and try to get some prep in early in the mornings.

It's not easy but I know that I gotta keep my SN2ed despite or inspite of everything...or try to as much as possible, b.c if I don't even do some/little bit of it, I'll fall behind even more or it'l be that much more work to catch up on and/or brain-development of MCAT to loose.

Deep breaths.
 
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What do you guys think about BR bio? I just scored my passages and got a 55%. I did a lot better in the ek 30 minute exam but the BR score is worrying me.
 
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Started my schedule yesterday. I am a week behind due to finals week. This ought to be fun, playing catch up.

Taking the MCAT 8/15.

Do most of you find it convenient to type notes up while reading the chapters?
 
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So I just got destroyed with the general chemistry stoichiometry passages for day 2 with the exception of passage 10. 1, 4 and 7 were really hard for me. Oh well, gotta keep on fighting.
 
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Officially started day 1 today. Spent around 6 hours. Hopefully I can keep it between 4-6 hours from now on.

I already don't know if I can keep up with the schedule.

Also, I finally understand why people say to stay away from Kaplan verbal. I've been doing a bit of Kaplan's verbal passages for practice and after doing 3 EK verbal passages today, I was blown away by how different the question styles are. EK is loads better!
 
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It's only been one week and I don't think I'm going to continue with the SN2ed study schedule. 10-12 hours of studying every day is too much, and my learning style emphasizes one subject at a time instead of 3-4 subjects every day.

Luckily my practice tests are going well and I have an effective plan that suites me much better. I'm planning to take the test on August 15th.

Good luck, everybody!
 
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Is it possible we start listing TBR bio passages everybody thinks is necessary to go over with corresponding EK chapters?

For EK Ch. 1, I figured:

Structure and Function
  • Passage XIV - lipids: four groups

Metabolic components:
  • Passage I - enzyme inhibitors
  • Passage II - enzymes, coenzymes, vitamins
  • Passages VI & X - enzyme kinetics

Metabolic pathways:
  • Passage I - glycolysis and ETC
  • Passage II - ETC
  • Passage VIII - glycogen metabolism

If anybody is willing to add / subtract to this list please do.

Would be nice if we can get a list going for TBR bio passages.
 
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t5Nitro said:
Is it possible we start listing TBR bio passages everybody thinks is necessary to go over with corresponding EK chapters?

For EK Ch. 1, I figured:

Structure and Function
  • Passage XIV - lipids: four groups

Metabolic components:
  • Passage I - enzyme inhibitors
  • Passage II - enzymes, coenzymes, vitamins
  • Passages VI & X - enzyme kinetics

Metabolic pathways:
  • Passage I - glycolysis and ETC
  • Passage II - ETC
  • Passage VIII - glycogen metabolism

If anybody is willing to add / subtract to this list please do.

Would be nice if we can get a list going for TBR bio passages.
Click to expand...

Great idea, I'll try to do this for Ch2 in a few days
 
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MnO4 said:
Hey sn2ed family.....I just ordered my books and I won't be starting until may 27th realistically because school does not let out until may 24th.....I will also have to strongly consider cutting my study short because I have to be back into school early for RA training....any thought on cutting it a little short?....if there are any browsers who have already taken the test I would greatly appreciate your input...thank you
Click to expand...

I'm on Day 5 of Sn2ed, scheduled to take the August 9th test. Even though I had less than 95 days from the start, I was able to revise the schedule (cutting out some break days) to both fit my slightly shorter time frame (~87 days) and add in many more practice tests in July, so it's a good fit. But I had to schedule August 9 because I also have RA training that begins, well, August 9th in the afternoon. It's unrealistic to take the MCAT during or just after RA training, so I picked the latest date that I could, and revised the Sn2ed schedule accordingly.

It's actually very solid, because since I'm doing part-time research starting May 26 (3 hours a day for 4-5 days a week), I have an immense amount of time to study so it was reasonable to cut out a few break days.

In the words of my friend (got a 40), you have to want it as bad as you want to breathe.
 
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gettheleadout said:
I don't understand, the corresponding passages are already listed in the SN2ed guide. Unless you mean picking from those the ones you feel are most important?
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Not sure how in the world I missed that. Looks like the passages corresponding to chapters 1 and 2 will be fun to get through. 😎

edit: I'm half way through the recommended passages listed in that document for EK Ch. 1. Some of them seem to be well beyond the scope of what was covered in EK. I will keep doing them, though I am unsure how relevant they are.
 
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Happy post. I've been doing about 2 verb passages per day and right now using EK Verbal. First test I would just read the passage and try to answer my best. I was not really doing too hot on these..

However, the last passage of test 1 I tried a new technique I read on here. I read the first and last paragraph and tried to understand the authors view and tone. Then I read the middle. Ended up getting my highest score so far. I'm now
On test 2, 3 passages in and I already can see I'll getting at least 3-4 points higher! This kinda made my day and I felt like sharing. That is all.
 
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t5Nitro said:
Not sure how in the world I missed that. Looks like the passages corresponding to chapters 1 and 2 will be fun to get through. 😎

edit: I'm half way through the recommended passages listed in that document for EK Ch. 1. Some of them seem to be well beyond the scope of what was covered in EK. I will keep doing them, though I am unsure how relevant they are.
Click to expand...

They correspond correctly, EK just doesn't cover a lot of the stuff in enough depth, whereas TBR does.
 
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Kate2 said:
However, the last passage of test 1 I tried a new technique I read on here. I read the first and last paragraph and tried to understand the authors view and tone. Then I read the middle. Ended up getting my highest score so far. I'm now
On test 2, 3 passages in and I already can see I'll getting at least 3-4 points higher! This kinda made my day and I felt like sharing. That is all.
Click to expand...

where do you get this technique?
 
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also I'm getting a bit annoyed that I can't think of the answers the way that TBR says I should... I know it's only my second day but should I be worried I'm taking so long to think of how to solve the problems?
 
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pitupua said:
also I'm getting a bit annoyed that I can't think of the answers the way that TBR says I should... I know it's only my second day but should I be worried I'm taking so long to think of how to solve the problems?
Click to expand...

Can you provide an example of a problem and your thought process that goes into answering it? Maybe we can give some feedback.

On another note, TBR bio passages most definitely came from my previous knowledge from classes rather than EK. The 12 passages I did for the first chapter of EK seemed much harder than the first 3 days of material.

Wonder if TBR bio is worth reading or just go with it and review everything in the answer guide?
 
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Kate2 said:
Happy post. I've been doing about 2 verb passages per day and right now using EK Verbal. First test I would just read the passage and try to answer my best. I was not really doing too hot on these..

However, the last passage of test 1 I tried a new technique I read on here. I read the first and last paragraph and tried to understand the authors view and tone. Then I read the middle. Ended up getting my highest score so far. I'm now
On test 2, 3 passages in and I already can see I'll getting at least 3-4 points higher! This kinda made my day and I felt like sharing. That is all.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that it works.
Sometimes the first + last paragraphs dont even talk about the authors' opinions at all.
 
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🙂
 
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DNA said:
Hey guys,

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Hopefully I see some of you guys there.

🙂
Click to expand...

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t5Nitro said:
Can you provide an example of a problem and your thought process that goes into answering it? Maybe we can give some feedback.

On another note, TBR bio passages most definitely came from my previous knowledge from classes rather than EK. The 12 passages I did for the first chapter of EK seemed much harder than the first 3 days of material.

Wonder if TBR bio is worth reading or just go with it and review everything in the answer guide?
Click to expand...


ok. for example, Example 1.19 in the General Chemistry book pg.15. It's just a basic problem on how to find the molecular formula for a compound and i had no problem solving it correctly. However when I read the solution it says that I should have solved it some other way which doesn't even require me to do any caculations. I LOVE that they have these other methods, however I can't think of them when I'm actually trying to solve the problem... :/

edit;; as for TBR bio, i'm still debating whether I should just follow it normally and ignore EK or mix them up like the schedule suggests..
 
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Josh7 said:
Awesome, how often do you review them?
Click to expand...

The program uses spaced repetition, so it schedules them for review at intervals based on my feedback rating the difficulty of each card each time I review them. It sounds complicated but you just choose a rating of "easy," "again," "hard," or whatever when you reveal a card you have up and it schedules the card for the next review based on your rating. It also adapts, so easy cards start out with a review four days ahead of your first review, and another "easy" rating afterward puts it farther out. Likewise hard cards get cycled back more frequently.

Because I made most of these during my first study period in the winter, I suspended all of them (removed from scheduled review) and am unsuspending them as I get to the material this time; basically introducing new cards for review at the same pace I would (and was) if were making them as I went through the material, which is what I did last time.

I end up with cards to review every day, up to 100 or so a day max, but usually less.
 
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That sounds like a pretty cool program. I had been taking light notes throughout the first readings. During re-reads I planned to make my notecards.

I just took a look into Anki.

Definitely the most complicated flashcard app I've yet to use.
 
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Interesting. I've always been a flashcard person, but I've doubted the usefulness of flashcards for MCAT Bio because there's so much material. Does anyone that's used flashcards have any opinions?
 
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pitupua said:
where do you get this technique?
Click to expand...

Sorry I couldn't provide a link earlier, I was on the iPhone app.

Here is the post from SN2ed: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=803769

This is the specific post I used from the thread called "Mike's Verbal Guide" http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=360463&postcount=7
Its a little lower down the post right below "How to read...MCAT style"

The biggest vibe I've been getting from ALL verbal tips is that it is up for you to determine what technique works for you. There is, however, a consensus that understanding the author's view point is a must! I am not HTML fancy enough to quote the guy who thought this wouldn't work, but what works for me, may not work for you. This was the first tip I tried out and it happened to work for me.

Good luck everyone!
 
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Cross-post from the BERKELEY REVIEW scores/discussion thread:

Finally reviewed my scores for the first week of SN2ed. Everything increased on the second third if only marginally with the exception of biology. 👎
My concern is that my review of the first third is only marginally benefiting my scores. I'd really like to see all of my scores about 80%. Any advice on taking it to the next level?

Code: 
	A	B	C
P1	66.7%	71.4%	
P2	56.5%	66.7%	
C1	73.3%	75.9%	
O1	71.9%	75.9%	
B1	70.7%	60.3%
Key: P2B = Physics Section #2, Second Third
 
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taking the test on 8/28. Gonna start the schedule this coming monday. for those who started... any tips?? i'm going to working ~25 hours a week too FML 🙁 lol
 
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