medhopeful64 Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 I don't know why but studying for the MCAT just takes me so long. It takes me many hours to get through one lecture chapter (using EK). Overall I like the EK books, but they condense a lot of info into one chapter, and sometimes I need to refer to TPR to get a deeper understanding (particularly chem/physics). But I don't know why it takes me so long. I take notes, and that's what slows it down a lot but it helps to drill in the subject. But I guess my focus shouldn't be on note-taking, but on practice probs? I always thought that there wasn't much help in doing practice problems if you don't have the material down cold first, but maybe I should try just reading the chapter, then doing passage problems? What do you guys do? do you take notes? Or do you focus more on getting more practice done? where should I draw the line? I'm taking prep 101 btw. It helps to motivate me but sometimes I can't finish the readings before class, which kills the purpose of going to class I don't know I just have this urge to take notes for everything, its like I can't move on if I don't. And my attention span is very short lol. I just can't seem to concentrate (I don't have too many other time committments, just volunteering in a lab and taking another summer course at school). I just feel so incompetent that i can't digest info as quickly as my peers. suggestions anyone? ty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithril Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 I read the Kaplan books once. The rest of my studying was focused on doing practice problems. Practice problems help you determine where your weak points are so that you can go back and refer to the notes for a better understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 I use EK and I hear what you are saying. What I do is 'preread' all of the lectures I plan to cover for the week at the start of the week (read it like a novel). Then through the week I focus on a chapter and do the in lecture questions. It usually takes me about 1-2 hours for this second pass through. I find these two readings (and going over it again in class) really helps me. Often, I struggle to understand some of the info on the first read, but by the time I am done completely, it makes a lot of sense. For practice, I have been doing every 3rd problem from the 1001 questions for sciences and do a 1 hour verbal test once or twice a week. I plan on shifting to more thorough practising for science when I am done my content review (PS content review will be done Sunday, BS will be 3 weeks after that). What helps me is having the tasks that I need to complete charted out for specific days. I made a fairly detailed excel spreadsheet with my schedule and my scores so I can track my progress. I love spreadsheets. I am also really busy with a variety of commitments, so that seems to help keep me on track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 I never did the MCATs so I can't speak specifically, but in any physics/chem class I've ever taken I usually read through the material first, then attack problems. I find that once you start solving problems, at first it might be slow and you might need to go back and re-read some parts, but eventually you just know the material. Exercises and problems are how I always did science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 I'm done reading EK...thought it was concise, except their orgo isn't that good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mangos Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 Yea...eks orgo is pretty lacking. Wouldn't recommend it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amalwa12 Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 What would you recommend as a substitute then? (For EK orgo i mean) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted May 28, 2011 Report Share Posted May 28, 2011 What would you recommend as a substitute then? (For EK orgo i mean) A real orgo textbook if you haven't taken it before, lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayan Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 Have you guys tried the free online resource mcat-review.org? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrogirl Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 My strategy for things like the MCAT is to jump into practice problems right away, then identify the areas where I keep getting things wrong and do more review of those concepts so that I'm not spending time reviewing things that I already know. I don't spend a lot of time doing review first except for subjects that I don't know at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagan Posted May 29, 2011 Report Share Posted May 29, 2011 I get this too, I feel like I have to take notes and read more than once or else it won't sink in. Especially Bio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 My strategy for things like the MCAT is to jump into practice problems right away, then identify the areas where I keep getting things wrong and do more review of those concepts so that I'm not spending time reviewing things that I already know. I don't spend a lot of time doing review first except for subjects that I don't know at all.+1 This was my study strategy as well, and I think it saved me a bunch of time since I wasn't studying things I already knew well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerena Posted May 30, 2011 Report Share Posted May 30, 2011 +1 This was my study strategy as well, and I think it saved me a bunch of time since I wasn't studying things I already knew well. +1 as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted May 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 Thank you everyone for your replies. I use EK and I hear what you are saying. What I do is 'preread' all of the lectures I plan to cover for the week at the start of the week (read it like a novel). Then through the week I focus on a chapter and do the in lecture questions. It usually takes me about 1-2 hours for this second pass through. I find these two readings (and going over it again in class) really helps me. Often, I struggle to understand some of the info on the first read, but by the time I am done completely, it makes a lot of sense. For practice, I have been doing every 3rd problem from the 1001 questions for sciences and do a 1 hour verbal test once or twice a week. I plan on shifting to more thorough practising for science when I am done my content review (PS content review will be done Sunday, BS will be 3 weeks after that). What helps me is having the tasks that I need to complete charted out for specific days. I made a fairly detailed excel spreadsheet with my schedule and my scores so I can track my progress. I love spreadsheets. I am also really busy with a variety of commitments, so that seems to help keep me on track. Thanks for the spreadsheet idea, I think I will try that too But my first read through takes me like 1-2 hours (no notes), then the 2nd run is more painful and slow. I just don't like not understanding WHY, so I tend to try to spend more time to figure it out (chemistry mainly, I'm weak at chem). My prep course doesn't end til late july and my mcat is scheduled for early august, i hope I have enough time to do practice probs... I'm done reading EK...thought it was concise, except their orgo isn't that good... and you're taking TPR too, how do you manage all your readings? do you take notes? Or do what I guess everyone else seems to be doing - jumping into practice probs? My strategy for things like the MCAT is to jump into practice problems right away, then identify the areas where I keep getting things wrong and do more review of those concepts so that I'm not spending time reviewing things that I already know. I don't spend a lot of time doing review first except for subjects that I don't know at all. good point. i will try my best to try this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 This isn't helpful at all, but... OH MY GOD IM OVERWHELMED. Just had to vent that. My test is in mid July and I feel like my progress is too slow at the moment as well. .......Bah. Sorry. Just had to freak out. I'm sure we will rock it! My thoughts on your study habits: what has worked for you so far in your university career? Maybe looking at that can help. Spending an hour or two per chapter doesn't sound too unreasonable to me. To put things in perpespective - chapter 7 physics in EK covered about 2 months of my physics class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted June 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 This isn't helpful at all, but... OH MY GOD IM OVERWHELMED. Just had to vent that. My test is in mid July and I feel like my progress is too slow at the moment as well. .......Bah. Sorry. Just had to freak out. I'm sure we will rock it! My thoughts on your study habits: what has worked for you so far in your university career? Maybe looking at that can help. Spending an hour or two per chapter doesn't sound too unreasonable to me. To put things in perpespective - chapter 7 physics in EK covered about 2 months of my physics class. haha, no worries, vent all you like that's what these forums are good for My study habits in university involved taking notes, which is why I am struggling to NOT take notes. Even in physics, I am able to read over the lectures, take good notes, and not do many practice probs (just going over the ones presetned in lecture) and I'd be fine on the exams, usually. But MCAT is a whole different ball game so to speak, so I know I have to tweak my study habits a bit, and do much much more practice. I am still taking notes, but not as extensively. And 1-2 hours is just the first "casual" reading, the second takes me hours Maybe you should extend your date if you feel you're not ready? Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacemaker Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 haha, no worries, vent all you like that's what these forums are good for My study habits in university involved taking notes, which is why I am struggling to NOT take notes. Even in physics, I am able to read over the lectures, take good notes, and not do many practice probs (just going over the ones presetned in lecture) and I'd be fine on the exams, usually. But MCAT is a whole different ball game so to speak, so I know I have to tweak my study habits a bit, and do much much more practice. I am still taking notes, but not as extensively. And 1-2 hours is just the first "casual" reading, the second takes me hours Maybe you should extend your date if you feel you're not ready? Good luck. I also like to take notes when I am reading and that has worked for me through undergrad...but I am just reading the books once and making notes as I go....then I plan to review from my notes and also will refer back to the books if there is something that I am not so sure about, reading it twice just takes way too long for me so I just do it all in one go. Maybe you could try that too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cass Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 I also make notes but I make them on cue cards. For me this seems to work in terms of general chem and orgo because there are several forumlas and trends that you just need to commit to memory and i find that with cue cards, i can easily take them with me anywhere I go especially for long commutes to work or campus. Also, I figured that on cue cards, it allows me to review a lot of info faster rather than rereading the paragraphs of information stated in the MCAT prep books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 I also make notes but I make them on cue cards. For me this seems to work in terms of general chem and orgo because there are several forumlas and trends that you just need to commit to memory and i find that with cue cards, i can easily take them with me anywhere I go especially for long commutes to work or campus. Also, I figured that on cue cards, it allows me to review a lot of info faster rather than rereading the paragraphs of information stated in the MCAT prep books. I make cue cards as well. I always find it helps me to condense what I just learned into the key points and cue cards are good for this! Re. my overwhelmed panic mode: I am better now, it just happens everyone once in a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 I make cue cards as well. I always find it helps me to condense what I just learned into the key points and cue cards are good for this! Re. my overwhelmed panic mode: I am better now, it just happens everyone once in a while. Increase your rate of reaction!!! USE A CATALYST, increase CONCENTRATION, and bump that TEMPERATURE (which is actually just the internal energy of the molecules) up!!! DRIVE yourself to completion AVOID EQ'M!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I.Want.In Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 Increase your rate of reaction!!! USE A CATALYST, increase CONCENTRATION, and bump that TEMPERATURE (which is actually just the internal energy of the molecules) up!!! DRIVE yourself to completion AVOID EQ'M!!! You literally bleed MCAT.... I love it lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minowa Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Had to contribute to this topic because I am using EK Home Study schedule right now. I am working full time and I find this tough. I believe the times they have on this schedule are unrealistic. For example, week 2 says to pre-read four lectures in 2 hours. How can somebody really do that, even if they were reading it like a novel? I just read the chapter on Genes and it took me 2 hours alone! It is 25 pages long. My brain feels like mush. If anybody's used the EK home study schedule or has more advice, that would be great. Right now my MCAT is scheduled for 10 weeks from now, but I don' t know if I can make it!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Had to contribute to this topic because I am using EK Home Study schedule right now. I am working full time and I find this tough. I believe the times they have on this schedule are unrealistic. For example, week 2 says to pre-read four lectures in 2 hours. How can somebody really do that, even if they were reading it like a novel? I just read the chapter on Genes and it took me 2 hours alone! It is 25 pages long. My brain feels like mush. If anybody's used the EK home study schedule or has more advice, that would be great. Right now my MCAT is scheduled for 10 weeks from now, but I don' t know if I can make it!... Would it take you 2 hours to read 25 pages of a novel? Probably not. I used to get really stuck when I pre-read, but now I have the hang of it. To 'read it like a novel', it means that I don't let myself get stuck on the points I do not understand. I keep going and have some faith in the process, knowing that I will understand it by the time that I have made my notes and gone thru the info later on. I read every word, but go quickly thru the material - notes and details come later. For me, I can cover those four lectures when I read in this fashion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted June 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Would it take you 2 hours to read 25 pages of a novel? Probably not. I used to get really stuck when I pre-read, but now I have the hang of it. To 'read it like a novel', it means that I don't let myself get stuck on the points I do not understand. I keep going and have some faith in the process, knowing that I will understand it by the time that I have made my notes and gone thru the info later on. I read every word, but go quickly thru the material - notes and details come later. For me, I can cover those four lectures when I read in this fashion. Yeah I guess you're right. It takes me an hour to pre-read, but at first I just couldn't do it because I was so hung up on trying to understand every concept (which of course will take you more than an hour if you try to do this). Asta do you take notes? or is it just the cue-card system that works for you? I have my notes from last year (that i made when I was self studying) but this year I'm taking a course and they give our course booklets that summarizes most of the EK info, plus has additional info. I annotate these but that takes lots of time too. I don't understand how people who are working full time have time to read the corresponding chapters twice before coming to class! I still don't have the hang of it! Now I'm worried I won't be prepared by August... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asta Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 When I read thru the second time, I highlight and do the quizzes. I take notes at the lectures for the prep course I am going to. After the class, I make cue cards (or charts) for the material. Then I do some questions. Hopefully I will be done my content review in the next couple weeks and then I will start doing a lot of practice. I am expecting that there will be some areas that I am really weak in - I might go back and take more thorough notes at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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