More Efficient Study Methods?

[deleted244469]

So I've been studying for my September MCAT, and I find that a large chunk of my time (4-5 hrs) is just dedicated to retyping the information in my EK books into a format that is more concise and easier to study from. Is that the norm around these parts, or am I being terribly inefficient? It's pretty exhausting doing all of this typing honestly, so I figured I would come on here and ask if its just a necessary evil of MCAT studying or not.....

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[mcatjelly]

I used to do the same for my courses in undergrad and found it terribly inefficient as well.

I would spend those 4-5 hours on practice passages, not typing up notes.

 

[El-Rami]

I used to do the same for my courses in undergrad and found it terribly inefficient as well.

I would spend those 4-5 hours on practice passages, not typing up notes.

Would you recommend simply taking notes in the margins and revisiting each book to read the chapter margin notes/highlights, then? I have some of my notes typed, but have been wondering if it's worth typing them up on break days or not.

 

[doctodoc]

What I've heard to be the best method and what I'm currently doing is doing as many problems as possible and taking a bunch of FLs . If you have a decent base, this is the way to go. I know someone who went from a 27 to a 40 on the last mcat simply by focusing on practice. Eventually you will have covered just about every possible topic on exam by reviewing your correct and incorrect questions

 

[El-Rami]

What I've heard to be the best method and what I'm currently doing is doing as many problems as possible and taking a bunch of FLs . If you have a decent base, this is the way to go. I know someone who went from a 27 to a 40 on the last mcat simply by focusing on practice. Eventually you will have covered just about every possible topic on exam by reviewing your correct and incorrect questions

Well, that would be awesome if I could pull off something like that. I scored around a 30 (508) on my first test before I started studying.

 

[zerox117]

@mcatjelly Even if someone was really weak in a particular area would you still recommend just doing a ton of EK1001 Q's and TBR/Khan passages then brushing up with a khan vid or two after?

 

[basophilic]

What I've heard to be the best method and what I'm currently doing is doing as many problems as possible and taking a bunch of FLs . If you have a decent base, this is the way to go. I know someone who went from a 27 to a 40 on the last mcat simply by focusing on practice. Eventually you will have covered just about every possible topic on exam by reviewing your correct and incorrect questions

Just curious, how much practice did he/she do for that second trial?

 

[Bleu]

I agree with taking a lot of practice questions and EK 1001 is a great source. I'm testing in April. Considered Jan but honestly didn't see a benefit.

I went through a post-bacc program that simulated MI and learned a lot about studying. We were given huge syllabus books and basically needed to know everything. We would bring these to class and take notes in the margins during lectures. There was no time to make/take separate notes. We went to the text books for supplemental reading or questions. Constanza phys is my best friend! To study I just reread and reread until I understood the information the handouts were basically in note type form but 100s of pages. I rewrite pathways to memorize them because staring at a pathway doesn't commit it to memory for me. Of course lots of ?s from practice test that were released to help with concepts.

 

[Bleu]

I feel the EK and BR books are in note form for the most part if I were to take notes of notes I would never get through the material by April and if I did would never have time to go back and review. I have enough note cards of formulas and key facts EK, Kaplan.

 

[mcatjelly]

@mcatjelly Even if someone was really weak in a particular area would you still recommend just doing a ton of EK1001 Q's and TBR/Khan passages then brushing up with a khan vid or two after?

Like, in lieu of reviewing the content? No, definitely not. I wasn't very clear on what I meant, so my bad, but I meant that once you've done a pass through the chapter, I really don't think you should spend any more time on reading or writing notes. At that point you should be moving on to "encoding" the material, so to speak, by applying it via passages.

Would you recommend simply taking notes in the margins and revisiting each book to read the chapter margin notes/highlights, then? I have some of my notes typed, but have been wondering if it's worth typing them up on break days or not.

If that works for you, sure! I just don't think it's an efficient use of time to type up notes when 1) the odds of you referring back to seriously study them are slim, and 2) it's a very weak way of studying in general.