studying from your own notes

[crazymedgirl]

Hey guys,
Just wondering what people's thoughts are on this...
I've been taking notes on content as I go along, and on q's I got wrong, etc...and now I have a massive notebook (I tried to condense, but often ended up with 4, 5, 6 pages per lecture..) Now I'm not sure what the best plan is for how to review these notes and actually make them useful. Should I set aside a week before starting full-lengths to just go over these notes? (So I look at everything again before starting tests?) Not sure a week is enought time for this though...
Or should I just go through them steadily from now up until the exam...? (Sept.4 for me)

I'm kind of thinking out loud here I know, but I was just wondering how other people who took notes while studying made actual use out of those notes?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jackson1]

I made notes on all the EK chapters and found it really helpful. I had ~2-4 pages per lecture so it was just quick reminders of key formulas and definitions that I would read through at least once a week. I'd recommend reading them through as you go along and if you find yourself having trouble in an area make sure you memorize that section of notes cold! Good luck!

 

[Kong Bu]

That's a good question. That's how I study too but sometimes it can become burdensome.

Does anyone else have any tips?

 

[Norah89]

Highlight and use post-its thats what i am currently doing.......... its a good plan for me so far.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Highlight and use post-its thats what i am currently doing.......... its a good plan for me so far.

That's what I did and it worked well.

I took the MCAT twice.

The first time I used TBR and underlined in the books, marked tricky stuff along the way, and flipped through them before the test. I actually did ok in the sciences this way but it could have been better.

A year later I basically re-read TBR. This time I typed up notes for each chapter (2-3 pages or so) as I went along. I printed them out and put them in binder. I ended up with like 100 pages (double-spaced, bullet-points) but it wasn't terrible. I spent like 4 days just reviewing those notes, highlighting and post-it-ing. It was a lot of review but I treated it like any other class...just with a lot more info. I think I basically memorized most of TBR. 13BS, 12PS...worked for me..and I made a couple silly mistakes on the PS and know I could have done even better.

I'd recommend reviewing them if you have time. It will help mentally to just get a general overview of everything you've covered, even if it's too much to memorize.

 

[Kong Bu]

Thanks for the tips! I should alter my studying style a little then. I tend to make notes about anything and I did hear that typing up notes and reviewing them is helpful. I remember I did that for one class and just typing up the notes itself helped.