clement said:
To those who studied on their own and saw some significant results, how did you do it? What books? Strategies? I'm so down on my luck right now that I don't even know what to do anymore.
Thanks.
For the MCAT I don't think there's much luck involved at all. You need to first of all have a good basic understanding of the material: can someone flip through any of the review books you're using and ask you a question on *anything* and can you answer it immediately? If not, you still have basic informational review to do.
Any studying *must* be active. You cannot simply sit and read a book on science and then expect to answer problems on that subject accurately later on if you have not practiced. It's a common flaw in study methods to think that passive studying = ability to express knowledge. The most productive part of studying is to test yourself by answering questions, working example problems, doing simulated test questions etc... When you discover a weak area, as exposed by your question and answer sets, go and read/re-read that material until you can work the problems inside and out with speed and accuracy.
Organize your notes, the material from texts, question and answer sets. Often a significant part of learning is to have an accessible memory available to you. What I mean by that is that you must have things structured, organized and clearly placed in your memory so that you can access them. You can start the process when you're studying by making tables, doing mind maps to show how things/processes inter-relate etc... My example of this would be: is it easier to find something (on your desk, in your room) if it's neatly filed or placed in a special location, than if you had to dig it out from under a pile of completely unrelated stuff?
Much of the material on the MCAT is what I would term building-block material. If you don't have a foundation upon which to build the rest of your knowledge, you will only get so far before it stops making sense and connecting... Example: try to undertand electrolytic chem processes without a proper understanding of charge and oxidation number. Sure you can look a cell and say that one of the wire thingies sticking out of the cell is the anode, and the other's the cathode... but what processes are taking place there? What's getting oxidized or reduced? What are the changes in the oxidation numbers? Can you calculate the half reactions? What potential does the cell run at?
Another really helpful tip is to find a mentor or study partner(s). You may find that you learn the most about a subject when you have to teach it to someone else and then have them ask you questions about the lesson(s).
Often people work better and learn more when they're being challenged to perform. Try running a marathon with no training and no other competitors on the course... and with no distance markers? Pretty tough to do! Add some competition and some training, and you're on your way. Add some mile markers and you can gauge your progress. Add some encouragement and you'll do even better.
This is getting long and I have other stuff to do. So, to recap:
Make no less than two thirds of the time you spend studying active review only. Use the question and answer material as a clue or trigger as to when you need to go back and re-read a section of the text.
Only make about one third of your study time actually reading and reviewing the text material. If you have done the coursework before, then you should have most of the knowledge and trivia in your memory somewhere. Reading is passive... so keep it to a minimum. If you like to read texts, then at the end of each paragraph or sub-section, aks yourself what the details of that part were.
Do at least one diagnostic practice exam before you start to study in earnest. It can be an old test or one that you've never done before. Time it accurately and try as much as possible to simulate the exam conditions.
You asked about books: It would likely be better to, at first, invest in one program and stick with it. Then, once you have a solid foundation, start to look for as much material as you can on the subject (mostly questions and tests) and do that for additional practice.
I am using ExamKrackers material at present and the 1001 books are great for laying in the foundation work of questions and to indicate when you should go back and review material. I would say that you should probably just get the whole set of EK books and work them to death, then start doing practice tests from anywhere (but especially AAMC) once you have the basics out of the way.
Oh, one more thing: some people are just really bad at taking standardized tests. I am one of those people... as are quite a few people on the this site. The only way to do better is to practice the material to death - so that you can answer any question at any time - and then practice taking the test under strictly timed conditions in an unfamiliar environment on a regular basis. You have to become fluent and confident in the material, for some people that may take a few weeks and for others it will take a life time.
Good luck!
