Not all tests are created equal.
If you’re studying for a class quiz, midterm, or final, you should take a different approach
than if you are studying for the SAT, MCAT, USMLE, or another standardized exam.
Here’s how to optimize performance on each.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
The fundamentals of what makes for effective studying remains relatively constant.
Prioritizing techniques with spaced repetition and active recall, practice problems, and
flashcards should be core components of any highly effective study strategy.
But in terms of big picture planning and how you allocate your time and energy, the best
approach differs if you’re optimizing for high performance in class versus on a standardized
exam.
There are three main distinct outcomes you can optimize for, each of which will require
a slightly different approach.
First is to optimize for a high class score, which will be the majority of instances during
your career as a student.
Teachers will hate me for saying this, but at Med School Insiders we’re about keeping
it real and cutting through the noise.
If your priority is to perform well on the test, then it’s important you first understand
what exactly you will be tested on to better guide your study strategy.
Most teachers hate the question, “will this be on the test?”
But asking these sorts of questions in lecture or discussion will help you determine what
is high or low yield and how to design your studying appropriately.
I also recommend that you speak with other students who have already taken the course.
Speak to a wide range, including those that did well and those that didn’t perform so
hot.
Learn what worked and what didn’t.
Ask what the test type was like — multiple choice, short answer, essay based.
What sort of questions were asked?
Did the professor tend to emphasize certain parts of the course over others?
Were questions tricky or straightforward?
And most importantly, do they have copies of previous tests for you to reference?
This will be most useful in determining what your upcoming tests will be like.
In my experience, optimizing for high class performance requires a willingness to dive
deep into the details of the course.
If you want a B, having a robust understanding of the fundamentals will serve you well.
But if you want an A or even better, to set the curve, then you’ll need to study even
the finer details that are relatively lower yield.
If you need help figuring out how to approach this, our Study Strategies playlist will cover
every single approach you’ll need to know.
Next, optimizing for a standardized test.
This can be the SAT, MCAT, USMLE Step 1, Step 2CK, GRE, or a multitude of other exams.
While the specific details of which resources to use and what schedule to follow will obviously
vary, the fundamentals in your approach should remain constant.
For each of these standardized tests, there are high quality question banks and practice
tests that you should utilize to the fullest potential.
If I could recommend only one strategy with the greatest bang for your buck, I’d suggest
you focus on practice questions and practice tests.
Students too commonly wait too late to begin doing practice tests.
They think they first need to learn the material with content review, and that if they jumped
to practice questions, it would be a waste.
Understand that question banks aren’t just for practice and assessing your weaknesses,
but also for active learning.
The key to rapid performance improvement is to properly use question banks, which means
reviewing all questions, even the ones you got correct.
I attribute a large part of my 99.9th percentile MCAT score and high 260’s Step scores to
heavy usage of question banks and practice problems.
At the beginning of your study period, spend some time on questions or practice tests and
some time on content review and flashcards.
As your test date approaches, shift your time allocation heavily toward practice tests,
such that over 90% of your time is either spent taking them or reviewing them.
Similar to studying for class, if you want to get a 99.9th percentile score, you will
need to know the details that are seemingly lower yield.
However, I advise you focus on learning those details in the practice test and question
bank setting rather than prioritizing them in content review.
If you complete a high volume of these questions with proper technique and attention, you won’t
only learn the high yield details, but also the nuances in how the questions will actually
be asked on test day.
This final category is primarily applicable to medical students who are at programs with
a Pass/Fail curriculum.
The important thing to remember here is that despite your competitive nature or desire
to be #1, setting the curve here isn’t actually a good use of your effort.
Rather, you should focus on passing with a healthy margin, as you never want to be below
the pass line.
Beyond that, I advise you spend your time and energy optimizing for your boards, even
a year and a half in advance.
This means designing your study plan around board prep materials.
If you’re studying for USMLE Step 1, that translates to review books such as First Aid
and question banks like UWorld.
While focusing on these board prep materials, reference your class resources to fill in
any additional details, but don’t sweat it too much.
Again, you just need to pass the class, not get a 99%.
Now that you’ve determined your big picture strategy between optimizing for class versus
a standardized exam, we now need to narrow down the list of resources to what will assist
you in obtaining the results you seek.
In optimizing for class, speak to other classmates or students who have taken the course previously.
Ask what was most helpful as a study resource.
In most instances, attending lecture will be a good use of time, but I have gone over
how to decide whether or not to skip lecture in a previous video.
Beyond that, the textbook, or sometimes the accompanying book authored by the professor,
will be your best bet.
If you’re spending a large amount of time with your nose buried in textbooks, remember
to use active learning methods, not just passively reading or highlighting.
When it comes to notes, don’t simply go off your friend’s notes or other condensed
summaries created by others.
Proper note taking is an active learning process in which you take the more verbose textbook
language which provides plenty of context, and then seek to condense it, focusing on
the key points.
Since you already have the context for the information, condensing is appropriate.
Without the context, however, reading the condensed information will not paint the full
picture.
In optimizing for a standardized test, focus on the universally agreed upon high yield
resources.
For example, for the MCAT the official AAMC practice questions are the best.
For USMLE, follow the UFAP protocol at minimum with UWorld, First Aid, and Pathoma.
When you go over practice questions and practice tests, be thorough in your review.
Don’t skip a question just because you got it right.
You may have gotten lucky or missed an important detail.
Review every single question, but it’s fine to review questions you got correct quicker
than questions you got wrong.
A schedule optimized for class performance will look very different from one optimized
for a standardized exam.
Generally speaking, most classes will have one or two midterms and a final.
There may also be smaller quizzes sprinkled along the way.
The most common mistake to avoid is procrastinating until a couple days before the exam to study.
Rather, just study a little bit every day.
Leading up to each test, write out an outline of all the content that will be covered on
the exam.
What are the lecture numbers and respective topics?
What resources do you have?
Are there homework assignments that you were graded on and can review?
What about practice questions from the professor or textbook or exams from previous years?
Be realistic about what you can accomplish each day and be strategic in when and how
you use each resource.
Don’t forget to include some buffer time as you will inevitably fall behind.
If you’re able to get your hands on previous exams from the professor, these will be your
highest yield resource, and make sure you make the most of them.
A prior test will teach you how questions will be asked — identification versus multiple
choice versus elaboration and discussion questions.
Each of these require different levels of understanding and memorization.
These exams will also show you what your professor considers important, and also demonstrate
how they will incorporate higher-order questions.
Higher-order questions require taking multiple concepts, applying each, and arriving at a
final conclusion.
For example, consider a heritable mitochondrial disease process that makes it difficult to
convert substrates into ATP for energy.
These patients are weak and frail.
The question may be, “Johnny is weak and frail, and therefore doesn’t have the energy
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Such illogical behavior can be attributed to a disease process with what mode of inheritance?”
You’d first have to identify what condition he has, then think of the pathophysiology
of the disease, and finally extrapolate that because it’s mitochondrial, it was maternally
inherited.
Creating a plan of attack for a standardized exam is a very different ordeal.
First, know that a foundation of doing well in your prerequisite classes is one of the
best ways to have a solid footing.
If you crushed your organic chemistry class, you probably won’t struggle with it on the
MCAT.
Always start with a target test date in mind and work backwards from there.
Lay out all the resources you intend to go through, and stratify them by yield from highest
to lowest.
Going through more resources and materials isn’t necessarily better.
Prioritize getting through all the high quality practice questions and practice tests with
enough time to get through every question and review each and every one.
You may want to even add bonus time to redo your incorrect questions, which is a common
tactic amongst top performing medical students preparing for USMLE Step 1 or Step 2CK.
Ensure you also allocate enough time for content review, but most students tend to spend too
much time on content and not enough on practice questions.
Begin by taking a practice test in the first 1 or 2 weeks of studying, as it’s critical
that you understand the question style, pacing, and what the real test will be like.
From there, you should regularly take practice tests at increasing frequency.
If you’re able to push off other obligations during this time, more power to you, but don’t
overdo it.
I had roommates who wouldn’t exercise or wash their dishes during crunch time, which
is suboptimal to say the least.
Understand you can only study effectively and at high intensity for a certain number
of hours per day.
You still need to take care of your body by exercising, eating well, and getting high
quality sleep.
If you have the option to take time off from work or have a reduced course load at school,
make the most of it, as this will allow you to dedicate more mental resources to performing
well on the test.
I believe anyone has the ability to dramatically improve their study techniques, efficiency,
and performance on both class exams and standardized tests.
If you need help taking your performance to the next level, our team at Med School Insiders
can help get you there.
Not only are our tutors top tier performers with top percentile scores on the MCAT, USMLE,
and other tests, but they’re also phenomenal teachers as well, helping thousands of students
drastically improve their performance.
Unlike other companies, we don’t just take any tutors - we are insanely selective and
only recruit the best.
My team and I have worked tirelessly in creating the best 1-on-1 tutoring experience for future
doctors.
We’ve obsessed over creating the most effective and rigorous system that optimizes for one
thing – delivering results.
If you want to crush your MCAT, USMLE, or need help doing better in any class, from
organic chemistry or physics to cardiology or surgery and everything between, our team
has got your back.
Visit MedSchoolInsiders.com to learn more.
What big exams do you have coming up?
Let me know with a comment down below.
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Much love to you all, and I will see you guys in that next one.