I don't understand HOW you learn chemistry/physics at the most fundamental level

[deleted812153]

Guys,

I just finished reading the EK Chem book... and I feel like I got absolutely nothing out of it. I barely remember anything that I read (and I took a month to read it, 4+ hr/day).

On the idea of brain-sideness: I'm above average with understanding of tangible things like history, biology, English, Psych, Soc, etc - but I can't do math beyond a 6th grade level. I'm serious. I have never understood how you approach subjects like math, physics or chem. Did ok in them in college (A/B) solely by brute force and memorization, which doesn't translate to the MCAT.

How do you learn this stuff edit: for the MCAT? Like, describe how you learn it. Where is the Eureka moment of 'wow, this makes sense to me'? Do you do practice problems? Flashcards? Reading?

Thank you for any advice that you can offer.

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[GypsyHummus]

Chads videos.

 

[CastleG8]

I too got by with memorization before exam deadlines. On the second or third pass through the materials I tend to have those eureka moments. But that always comes after my exams and labs are finished.

I think it help to be exposed to material again, which is why I wish I had taken college prep courses in my highschool years.

 

[pseud0]

Yeah ive probably forgotten 75 percent of genchem things that were on the mcat by now. With a quick refresher itd probably pop back into existence though. And id probably be able to answer multichoice questions right now becuase thats easier than straight recollection

The more months youre away from the material, the less you remember. Which is why from medschool start - the rest of your life i reckon youll remember a lot more than you expect because of repetition.

 

[DoctorCakes]

Watch Khan Academy... EK is not meant to teach sciences just to review them. It's hard to grasp entropy or optics for example from review books

 

[bears1992]

Guys,

I just finished reading the EK Chem book... and I feel like I got absolutely nothing out of it. I barely remember anything that I read (and I took a month to read it, 4+ hr/day).

On the idea of brain-sideness: I'm above average with understanding of tangible things like history, biology, English, Psych, Soc, etc - but I can't do math beyond a 6th grade level. I'm serious. I have never understood how you approach subjects like math, physics or chem. Did ok in them in college (A/B) solely by brute force and memorization, which doesn't translate to the MCAT.

How do you learn this stuff edit: for the MCAT? Like, describe how you learn it. Where is the Eureka moment of 'wow, this makes sense to me'? Do you do practice problems? Flashcards? Reading?

Thank you for any advice that you can offer.

I actually just finished reading the EK Chemistry book 4 days ago. I was pretty unimpressed with it as it assumed that you already had a great foundation (Chapter 1 - What Is an Atom, Chapter 2 - Orgo I) I read the entire Kaplan set last month and I think it's chem section was much better. I would highly recommend using Khan academy for the math areas of chem. Within the past year, I've taken chem 1 & 2, Orgo I, read EK chem and read Kaplan chem. After all that, I still did not get a good portion of chem down until watching Khan academy.

 

[Geo16]

what kind of pre-reqs have you taken so far?

 

[deleted812153]

All of them.

 

[TXMED_1695]

So did you fail all your classes? How do you pass physics, and you're unable to calculate sixth grade math problem? Troll much?

 

[deleted812153]

How do you pass physics, and you're unable to calculate sixth grade math problem? Troll much?

 

[Go_Pokes_11]

I usually think of the question/problem in relation to something that makes sense to me. A simple example would be: Donald J. Trump likes to duck hunt. When there are more ducks on the pond, the pond can be described as more disordered. When he shoots and misses, scaring a few of the ducks off, the pond can be described as less disordered. Donald J. Trump just learned entropy.

 

[deleted812153]

I usually think of the question/problem in relation to something that makes sense to me. A simple example would be: Donald J. Trump likes to duck hunt. When there are more ducks on the pond, the pond can be described as more disordered. When he shoots and misses, scaring a few of the ducks off, the pond can be described as less disordered. Donald J. Trump just learned entropy.

Thank you for your time, Ducks.

What would you recommend for somebody who can't quite grasp ^G vs ^G°, or how the big picture of ^H, ^E, ^U, and all that all come together to make an applicable equation? How did you figure out what all that meant?

 

[Go_Pokes_11]

Thank you for your time, Ducks.

What would you recommend for somebody who can't quite grasp ^G vs ^G°, or how the big picture of ^H, ^E, ^U, and all that all come together to make an applicable equation? How did you figure out what all that meant?

The naught and/or naught prime usually dictates that the values given or to be assumed are for standard conditions. This is just a fact I have learned from courses. The ducks example was only part of the system of thermodynamics in relation to gen chem. To add in Gibbs free energy,enthalpy and temp., you will want to understand whether the reaction is spontaneous/non-spontaneous, endergonic/exergonic, and becomes more/less disordered from start to equilibrium or finish. I will leave you to come up with your own storyline for this.

Edit: the MCAT also likes to test how a change in one variable effects another. The best and quickest way to do this is to solve for that variable and put 1 in for every value and you will get 1 or a constant as the answer. Next, put 2 into the variable being changed, while leaving all remaining values 1. compute you answer and you can see the change using small, simple numbers, which makes a seemingly very complicated and unfamiliar given equation very easy to interpret. Oftentimes, this will be the only question regarding the equation or "math" for that passage.

 

[TXMED_1695]

What's the calculator for? A basic calculator does nothing for you in those classes. College Alegbra through Physics, I've never had a Professor allow anything other than a basic calacator. You were able to memorize 200 formulas in Physics, but can't calculate 6th grade math? Just wondering how you were able to do it with an A/B. Other than Cell Biology, Physics was a major pain for me, and I passed College Alegbra with a 99.76%. You can memorize the conversions and formulas, but you still have to know how they work.

 

[Espressso]

Khan academy videos are $$$. As others have said the mcat prep books aren't the best for teaching but instead reviewing.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Guys,

I just finished reading the EK Chem book... and I feel like I got absolutely nothing out of it. I barely remember anything that I read (and I took a month to read it, 4+ hr/day).

On the idea of brain-sideness: I'm above average with understanding of tangible things like history, biology, English, Psych, Soc, etc - but I can't do math beyond a 6th grade level. I'm serious. I have never understood how you approach subjects like math, physics or chem. Did ok in them in college (A/B) solely by brute force and memorization, which doesn't translate to the MCAT.

How do you learn this stuff edit: for the MCAT? Like, describe how you learn it. Where is the Eureka moment of 'wow, this makes sense to me'? Do you do practice problems? Flashcards? Reading?

Thank you for any advice that you can offer.

Just came across this. I feel like we are in the same boat. I'm using BR for my content review and I usually score between 50-60% on most review passages (45% on one Bio passage, we won't speak of that), but once I switch to another review book i.e. Physics, Biochem, Psch/Soc I feel like I forget almost everything from the past book. The one subject I feel somewhat comfortable with is Orgo, mainly because it is truly interesting to me. Like someone said above, Chad's videos have been helpful for Physics. I HATED Physics in Undergrad. But Chad breaks everything down and you can somewhat commit it to memory. I'm still trying to figure out when I am going to use kinematic formulas in Medicine, but I am a lowly Pre-med, so I know nothing.

 

[Saigon]

to learn physics for the MCAT I read every pertinent chapter in Giancoli's physics textbook, read NOVA physics, and read TBR physics. now MCAT physics is easy. people learn things in different ways, so switch it up if what you are learning isn't helping.

 

[deleted446889]

Physical sciences (chem, orgo, physics) aren't meant to be learned through reading, imo. Always found it pointless to read powerpoints or textbooks for them beyond learning a few details. The true way to learn physical sciences is through practice, practice, practice. Watch videos for understanding, and only read to pick up minutiae. I struggled badly with physical sciences until I learned the magic of practice. Then it became easy.

 

[DameJulie]

OP, I too am in a similar situation with you. I slept my way through my physics class and didn't do well in it. Now it becomes a pain when I have to re-studying them for MCAT. My first try was to chew those review books, but at the end it didn't help much. This time, I am trying a new approach by doing practice passages and learn from my mistakes. See if that works.

 

[Dirtybird]

My approach to math and sciences is to try to reach that "eureka" moment as I'm studying/reading, before I can move on to the next paragraph. I try not to memorize equations or concepts at first, my goal is to understand the meaning behind them and how they work. For equations I look at what each variable represents and why they are mathematically arranged the way they are. I try to see how they are all related to each other if they have common variables (physics especially). While studying for my upcoming MCAT, some content I could breeze through while others I'd spend a long time to wrap my mind around, and would use extra resources until I understood. Like others have said, khan is great. Sometimes after I think I understand something, I'll just sit back for a couple minutes just to let it soak into my head by visualizing it, connecting it with other concepts (important!!), or applying them into hypothetical situations ("what would happen if...") while asking myself "does that make sense?"

 

[DameJulie]

My approach to math and sciences is to try to reach that "eureka" moment as I'm studying/reading, before I can move on to the next paragraph. I try not to memorize equations or concepts at first, my goal is to understand the meaning behind them and how they work. For equations I look at what each variable represents and why they are mathematically arranged the way they are. I try to see how they are all related to each other if they have common variables (physics especially). While studying for my upcoming MCAT, some content I could breeze through while others I'd spend a long time to wrap my mind around, and would use extra resources until I understood. Like others have said, khan is great. Sometimes after I think I understand something, I'll just sit back for a couple minutes just to let it soak into my head by visualizing it, connecting it with other concepts (important!!), or applying them into hypothetical situations ("what would happen if...") while asking myself "does that make sense?"

This is good advice! Thank you.
I had the same approach for your first MCAT. However, I did not get much from dry&passive reading the content review books. For me, I spent hours reading the chapter but still get low percentages in end-of-chapter question. Don't know if I was just not paying attention in reading, or I failed at applying the content to MCAT-style problems

 

[Dirtybird]

This is good advice! Thank you.
I had the same approach for your first MCAT. However, I did not get much from dry&passive reading the content review books. For me, I spent hours reading the chapter but still get low percentages in end-of-chapter question. Don't know if I was just not paying attention in reading, or I failed at applying the content to MCAT-style problems

I try not to make my reading passive, I'll have 2 highlighters and a 4 color pen to write and scribble notes all over my book, just highlighting isn't enough. Especially for more difficult concepts, I want to make sure I write down a brief summary in my own words to confirm my understanding. Some chapters I'll write a few words or "equations" for each paragraph (attached example pics).

Studying for this MCAT, I went through each chapter very thoroughly like this, and went back to each chapter to make notecards to re-internalize each concept again before writing them down in my own words again on a notecard. I think this part of my studying has helped me the most; not the actual utilization of the flashcards (still very useful), but actually making sure I internalized everything before moving on 2 times (once when reading through, once when reading through again to make notecards). I made about 600 notecards, but that's way more effort than needed... Finally, I do MCAT style problems and passages, and this is where I’ll find out if I’m using an equation incorrectly, or if I had a lapse in the understanding of its application. If some concepts are confusing, doing problems and seeing what you did wrong will help with understanding too. I'm fortunate to have had as much free time to study as I did, I probably spent 400+ hours on content review alone.

I also took the old MCAT and did pretty decently without making any notecards though, but I still read through everything very thoroughly at least twice while writing notes. However, I think the extra effort I spent this time around actually is paying off; I'm consistently scoring higher on the science sections than last time.

 

[deleted812153]

Coming back to this thread with words of encouragement: I thought I got nada out of reading those books. I'm a not a good test taker and am generally pretty dumb - but I'm consistently scoring 510 on NS.


Don't let those damned books get you down! Your likely MCAT score exists in superposition until you observe it!

 

[DoctorCrush]

Sadly, physics is awful for me too. Group hugs to all of us, lol.

 

[teenyfish]

Coming back to this thread with words of encouragement: I thought I got nada out of reading those books. I'm a not a good test taker and am generally pretty dumb - but I'm consistently scoring 510 on NS.


Don't let those damned books get you down! Your likely MCAT score exists in superposition until you observe it!

Sweet!! I'm using EK too, and feel just as hopeless.

 

[DoctorCrush]

Sweet!! I'm using EK too, and feel just as hopeless.

The new EK 101 books are ripping me a new one each section

 

[DoctorCakes]

Coming back to this thread with words of encouragement: I thought I got nada out of reading those books. I'm a not a good test taker and am generally pretty dumb - but I'm consistently scoring 510 on NS.


Don't let those damned books get you down! Your likely MCAT score exists in superposition until you observe it!

Keep up the good work on those NS exams! they definitely assess your critical analysis skills which will get you bonus points on the real exam. I was scoring around 510 on those and ended up getting 99th percentile on both B/B and C/P on test day. But word of advice, don't slack on P/S terminology/memorization like i did!

 

[DameJulie]

I try not to make my reading passive, I'll have 2 highlighters and a 4 color pen to write and scribble notes all over my book, just highlighting isn't enough. Especially for more difficult concepts, I want to make sure I write down a brief summary in my own words to confirm my understanding. Some chapters I'll write a few words or "equations" for each paragraph (attached example pics).

Studying for this MCAT, I went through each chapter very thoroughly like this, and went back to each chapter to make notecards to re-internalize each concept again before writing them down in my own words again on a notecard. I think this part of my studying has helped me the most; not the actual utilization of the flashcards (still very useful), but actually making sure I internalized everything before moving on 2 times (once when reading through, once when reading through again to make notecards). I made about 600 notecards, but that's way more effort than needed... Finally, I do MCAT style problems and passages, and this is where I’ll find out if I’m using an equation incorrectly, or if I had a lapse in the understanding of its application. If some concepts are confusing, doing problems and seeing what you did wrong will help with understanding too. I'm fortunate to have had as much free time to study as I did, I probably spent 400+ hours on content review alone.

I also took the old MCAT and did pretty decently without making any notecards though, but I still read through everything very thoroughly at least twice while writing notes. However, I think the extra effort I spent this time around actually is paying off; I'm consistently scoring higher on the science sections than last time.

View attachment 218091 View attachment 218092 View attachment 218097

Thank you, for your detailed description! You definitely were doing active reading!

 

[DameJulie]

but I'm consistently scoring 510 on NS.

That's impressive! How did you do that, assuming you still had struggles with "understanding" chem/phys?

The new EK 101 books are ripping me a new one each section

Hmm I should reconsider whether I should use EK101+EK1001 later in my studying cycle or switch to NS exams.

 

[ai[daote9-]

I'm in a similar boat. I'm half way through my prep and it sucks, but t takes more time. I spent a few hours with an excellent math tutor breaking down algebra and basic math, making it more tangible in my head; making my equation manipulation more concrete. I wish I had done this day one. My life would have been easier if I spent 5 days doing math, and learning the short cuts they teach on the forums etc. EK books were discouraging for me, this is what I needed: I had to Read the Kaplan chapter for each section, (I suppose Princeton would be good too) then I would have to read the corresponding chapter for TBR and do homeworks one and two for each section (which makes sense if you have TBR books, that's about 65 questions between kaplan and TBR for each section) then I would go take the EK 30 minute exam. That means each chapter for gen Chem or physics took me 2-3 days and required over 100 questions. Suggestions on khan Academy are good too. Your brain will learn to understand it, it just takes more time then you feel you should compared to your other skills


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[ai[daote9-]

Bed time read the book, "a mind for numbers." For someone like you, I'd recommend it. It talks about how to approach the subject of math and science from someone who went from awful to mechanical engineer. Pick it up for $15 and use it. But the Berkeley review.... That's what put chemistry together for me, I'm not done with my content review but I went from a 50% to a 80% on the physical science.


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[deleted812153]

That's impressive! How did you do that, assuming you still had struggles with "understanding" chem/phys?

Hmm I should reconsider whether I should use EK101+EK1001 later in my studying cycle or switch to NS exams.

I have a feeling that this is going to be an unpopular statement, but the NS exams (and MCAT material as a whole) really aren't as hard as they're made out to be. They're just a lot of work, but not even anywhere close to what people think. Using the slightest bit of critical thinking about basic things like polarity or electronegativity will get the right answer 60% of the time - although I have a degree relevant to MCAT material (but didn't do well in those classes so it's a wash). Practice problem after practice problem gets you to 80% of the test. God only knows how to get that last 20%.

For CARS, all I can say is that I read a lot. Try to read more about things that interest you, anything at all. It doesn't have to be anything tough - I read mostly Reddit for god's sake and find it helps for reading.

For dummies like yours truly who struggle with math (I can't understand log for god sakes), I highly recommend Jacobralber's advice. Wish I had done that. Try to avoid learning math from smart people (including textbooks) - they will explain it in a way that only smart people will understand.


I used EK+KA videos for content review. I generally recommend both.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

I have a feeling that this is going to be an unpopular statement, but the NS exams (and MCAT material as a whole) really aren't as hard as they're made out to be. They're just a lot of work, but not even anywhere close to what it's made out to be. Using the slightest bit of critical thinking about basic things like polarity or electronegativity will get the right answer 60% of the time - although I have a degree relevant to MCAT material (but didn't do well in those classes so it's a wash). Practice problem after practice problem gets you to 80% of the test. God only knows how to get that last 20%.

For CARS, all I can say is that I read a lot. Try to read more about things that interest you, anything at all. It doesn't have to be anything tough - I read mostly Reddit for god's sake and find it helps for reading.

For dummies like yours truly who struggle with math (I can't understand log for god sakes), I highly recommend Jacobralber's advice. Wish I had done that. Try to avoid learning math from smart people - they will explain it in a way that only smart people will understand.


I used EK+KA videos for content review. I generally recommend both.

This is pretty much what my Pre-med advisor just told me a few moments ago. She took the MCAT a few years ago before she decided to pursue her PhD, but she told me practice is 60% and the other 40% comes from content review. I'm praying everyone is telling the truth, because I feel like I am retaining nada on content review lol.

 

[ai[daote9-]

Dude 50% of this process can be viewed as just a big test. If you can memorize the material to get through these classes, you can do the same for this exam. The analytical skills necessary to score high is a whole other animal, but as far as the content review, treat it like undergrad, just review often so you don't forget stuff. You are freaking out, i did this twice when I first started, each time ended with me spinning in circles wasting precious days and then realizing I have the tools to do this I between my own ears, but some subjects take more time then others. Just go one step at a time, review regularly. I'd recommend not using EK 101 passages until the end. I was doing it as I went but it was bogging me down mentally. Get the TBR books for gen chem and physics. Also note I knocked out all of chemistry and most of physics and neglected psych and physiology completely the first 6 weeks. That kind of focus helped. Donald trump idk if you missed my first post (u liked my second) but that's the process that worked for me.


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