- One of the hardest parts of studying for the MCAT
is figuring out how to start and what techniques to use.
The reality is, there are a million different ways
to approach this test.
And certain approaches work better
for certain people than others.
It's hard to know exactly what strategies or ways
to review content for the MCAT
will work best for you at first glance.
And it really takes some introspection
to understand what your preferred learning style is.
Are you a visual learner, an auditory learner,
a hands-on learner,
or do you find that writing things down helps you more?
My name is Vikram Shaw.
And in this video, we'll be talking about
how to find the best content review strategies
that work for your individual MCAT needs
so that you can save yourself time
and study for the MCAT as efficiently as possible.
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First, the two most important techniques
to incorporate into your MCAT studying
are active recall and spaced repetition.
You may have come across these terms before,
but regardless of the study strategies we'll discuss today,
we'll keep going and coming back to these two key concepts.
Active recall is defined quite simply
as actively stimulating your memory while you study.
Examples of this might include asking yourself questions
about the content or forcing yourself to recall the answer
without actually looking at the answer.
Active recall can be looked at
in contrast to passive recall,
which may be just reading through your notes.
Active recall builds stronger neural connections
in your brain,
which essentially makes content stick a lot better.
In addition, you're able to understand better
how various concepts may tie back together,
which is something that the MCAT loves to test you on.
Spaced repetition is the concept of reviewing content
at increasingly spaced intervals
to cement information into your mind.
Humans tend to forget content pretty quickly
if they don't review it over time.
However, by using spaced repetition,
you can make sure that that content sticks in your brain
for the longterm.
In addition, by getting familiar
with commonly used spaced repetition apps, such as Anki,
you'll set yourself up well
to handle the large amount of content you'll be given
when you get to medical school.
So now you might be asking,
"How do I actually use these two concepts
in my MCAT studying?
How can I apply these to my own content review?"
This is where your personal learning style comes into play.
Let's say you're reading about glycolysis
from a review book.
If you're a visual learner, you may benefit immensely
from seeing the pathway written down
and perhaps also looking at the structures of the substrates
at each stage.
Then you might draw out the important steps of this pathway
every time you review it.
And that would really be an excellent way
to actively recall the information.
To go one step further, you could even ask yourself,
"What happens to the flux of glycolysis
during different metabolic states,
such starvation or post-meal states?"
To incorporate spaced repetition,
draw the important steps of the pathway out every day
for a couple of days, then transition to every other day,
then maybe twice a week, and then every two weeks.
And eventually the pathway will become cemented
in your memory.
If you're an auditory learner,
you may benefit from saying each of the stages out loud
after reviewing them as a form of active recall.
And then doing this at increasingly spaced intervals
as a part of spaced repetition.
You may also find that discussing the content with others
may increase your understanding of it,
if you're an auditory learner.
Let's say that you're studying a concept
that contains more information than glycolysis.
If you're studying from a review book,
there are different ways to incorporate your learning style
into your review.
If you're an auditory learner,
you may find benefit from reading out loud
and stopping at the end of each paragraph,
and give yourself time to paraphrase what you've just read.
As a visual learner,
you may find yourself gravitating towards diagrams
and flow charts,
and you may benefit from tying the content you review
into those diagrams.
For example, if you're studying the renal system,
as an auditory learner,
you may talk yourself through the different structures
that filtrate goes through
before being expelled from the body.
As a visual learner,
you may find benefit in keeping a diagram by your side
as you learn about the different structures,
and then labeling all the parts of that diagram.
These are all forms of active recall.
And you can notice
that they're different than passive recall,
which might involve you simply reading
and then rereading a textbook.
One of the most effective ways
to incorporate these study strategies into your notes
is to use Anki, which I mentioned earlier.
When you create flashcards on Anki,
Anki will intelligently decide when to show you the cards,
and it takes all of the guesswork
out of when your spaced intervals will be.
For example, if we think about
the glycolysis example from before,
you can import a diagram in to Anki,
cover up the important substrate and enzyme titles,
and then test yourself.
You can then review these flashcards
throughout the course of your MCAT study.
If you find that you learn better
when you write down your notes,
you may look into using Cornell notes
over traditional notes.
In this style of notes,
you fold your paper into a left and a right section.
On the right side, you write down your notes
from whatever content you are reviewing.
And on the left side, you write down questions
about the notes you've written down on the right side.
For demonstration purposes,
let's say we're discussing hypertonic, hypotonic
and isotonic solutions.
On the right side,
we would write the definitions of each of them,
with a diagram if you're a visual learner.
And then on the left side,
the question could be, what's the difference
between hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic solutions?
Then whenever you review those notes,
you cover up the right side
and try to answer the questions on the left side.
If you're a visual learner,
you may benefit from writing the answer down,
or if you're an auditory learner,
you may find that explaining concepts out loud to yourself
helps even more.
Then review the answer and see if you are correct.
This approach prevents passive revision of notes
and make sure that you're actively recalling
while you study.
You will then space out
your revision of these notes over time
in order to incorporate spaced repetition.
You might find that for certain concepts
that require more application,
physics in general, chemistry in particular,
you prefer a hands-on approach.
While it's recommended to do some general content review
before attacking questions,
you may find that jumping right into those questions
helps immensely for understanding certain concepts.
For example, to understand the kinematics equations
from physics, for the MCAT,
doing practice problems that utilize those equations
is important to make sure you actually understand
how to apply them.
This is a form of active recall,
and by attempting problems over spaced intervals,
you incorporate that spaced repetition.
While discussing practice problems,
we have often emphasize the concept of perfect practice.
Essentially, the idea is that,
if you were to take a practice MCAT following the exam
and fully review it, two weeks later,
I should be able to give you that same exam
and you should be able to make a 520 or higher on it
because of how well you've mastered the material
you previously missed.
By completing perfect practice,
you're saving a significant amount of time
and making your studying much more efficient.
In order to do this,
we utilize the missed questions log, or the MQL for short.
In this log,
you should write notes for every question you missed
and really go back to the passages
to understand why you're missing those questions.
Then, using some of the approaches we've outlined above,
you should go back and study that material
so that you don't miss it again on future tests.
There are many study strategies out there,
and it's important to realize
that sometimes it's worth trying different approaches.
For example, if you feel like you're an auditory learner,
there may be certain concepts
in which you find that a hands-on or visual approach
helps you understand that content much better.
This is why it's important to give yourself ample time
to study for this exam
so you have time to experiment with different methods
that may work better for you.
(upbeat music)
We hope you enjoyed this video.
Please click on the links below
to sign up for our free MCAT question of the day.
You can also find free content guides
for every section of the MCAT on our site.
And we hope you, like thousands of other pre-med students,
find these incredible useful in your preparation.
Happy studying.
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