Study

[eunicel166]

How would you study? Do you prefer reading a textbook first, then answering practice questions, or do you go ahead and start practicing questions. I need ideas 💡

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[KnightDoc]

How would you study? Do you prefer reading a textbook first, then answering practice questions, or do you go ahead and start practicing questions. I need ideas 💡

What year are you in school, what have you been doing up until this point, how has it been working for you, and why do you first need ideas now?

In general, doing practice questions is a big waste of time for most people who do not first have a solid foundation in the subject. But some people do make it work, if they have a detailed answer key, by getting questions wrong and then going over all the detailed answers. It's really just a backwards way of reading the book.

There are no effective shortcuts. You have to take the time to actually learn the material, whether by textbook, video, flashcards, question banks, actually going to class, whatever.

Whatever you got away with in HS, and maybe even UG, will not be effective in studying for the MCAT, and then med school, due to the complexity and quantity of what you need to learn. Different things work for different people, and it's entirely up to you to figure out what will work best for you.

 

[eunicel166]

Thank you. You are absolutely correct, and I am aware that the MCAT is distinct from other exams and tests in that everyone has a schedule. Trying to gather some concepts that I've probably never heard or seen.

 

[Neuroscifan]

My advice is repeated small exposure over a large amount of time. If you’re early in your undergrad career, consider tutoring for the general sciences that serve as the foundation for the MCAT. If you’re midway, I would recommend picking up a review book and spending a few minutes every day picking through it and building a deck of flash cards with Anki. If your test date is in 3 months and you aren’t sure where to begin, I recommend not taking the test in 3 months. This is the first of the most important tests for a future physician which are like nothing you’ve seen before both in scope, complexity, and style. It takes a solid understanding of the science prerequisites, and then you can start working on studying for the test itself.

 

[deleted1139339]

Skim through content -> do practice questions -> do thorough content review -> do more practice questions

This is how I got an A in ochem II and scored 521 on the MCAT.

But you cannot avoid content review, since you need to understand material rather than memorize patterns.

 

[doctadank]

Skim through content -> do practice questions -> do thorough content review -> do more practice questions

This is how I got an A in ochem II and scored 521 on the MCAT.

But you cannot avoid content review, since you need to understand material rather than memorize patterns.

Any advice? I feel like I have a solid foundation but stuck below 515 because of p/s and cars. Also interested in seeing how feasible it’d be to get to 131/2 in the other two sections to buffer an unlucky cars.
129/127/130/127 currently have a few weeks before d-day any advice appreciated!

 

[deleted1139339]

Any advice? I feel like I have a solid foundation but stuck below 515 because of p/s and cars. Also interested in seeing how feasible it’d be to get to 131/2 in the other two sections to buffer an unlucky cars.
129/127/130/127 currently have a few weeks before d-day any advice appreciated!

For CARS I recommend reading news articles or NYTimes OP-Eds. It really helps you learn to think critically and form a good argument. For P/S it’s straight memorization, can’t avoid it.

 

[Neuroscifan]

Any advice? I feel like I have a solid foundation but stuck below 515 because of p/s and cars. Also interested in seeing how feasible it’d be to get to 131/2 in the other two sections to buffer an unlucky cars.
129/127/130/127 currently have a few weeks before d-day any advice appreciated!

For P/S, I pounded khan academy hard. It does a pretty good job covering most bases. I was able to hit 132 with mostly khan academy and reviewing the questions on AAMC study questions with YouTube videos explaining missed concepts to fill in the gaps.