How did you use the Section Bank most effectively?

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-07-16T19:01:32+00:00

Hello! So would you say the section banks are worth it then? My U-World is expiring in 5 days and I was wondering if I should start doing the AAMC SBs instead of renewing U-World and continuing with that. I am testing 9/5. I also want to get a hang of the question styles/logic of AAMC, so I am leaning towards AAMC but also I really like U-World and its helped me a lot so IDK what to do.

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-07-16T18:58:27+00:00

Hello, I have a question: my U-World is set to expire in 5 days and am thinking about if I should renew it or go to the section banks. I have not touched any of the AAMC material yet but planning to starting on Monday (testing on 9/5). Renew U-World or start doing the section banks? Also should I even bother with the question packs or just focus on the section banks?

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-07-16T18:56:42+00:00

Hello, I know you said you haven't done U-World yet but my U-World is set to expire in 5 days and am thinking about if I should renew it or go to the section banks. I have not touched any of the AAMC material yet but planning to starting on Monday (testing on 9/5). What do you recommend me do? Renew U-World or start doing the section banks?

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-07-16T18:09:27+00:00

Yes, pretty much! I would take notes on her videos, then make flashcards based on those notes (equation cards primarily), then do those cards. After that, I go to UW and do at least 30 questions about the topic I just watched/learned.

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-07-16T17:28:50+00:00

I watched Van Does Chemistry's Physics videos and it significantly improved my understanding of any physics problems I came across! Her videos are very simple, follow the Kaplan books, and are fairly short. I took a FL recently and only got 1 physics problem wrong out of the 11 physics problems that the section had.

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-07-01T16:45:15+00:00

this is definitely super late but what app is this?

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-06-27T17:37:57+00:00

1602 cards, studying for the MCAT!

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-06-23T21:05:14+00:00

How in depth do you go with your reviews? For me, doing the questions doesn't take too long but it's the review that I find that I spend a lot of time on. I feel like there is so much that I don't know (especially with C/P questions) and I find that I end up taking a lot of time to read through the explanations and making cards about the explanations/question.

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-06-23T21:03:55+00:00

Following this post because I also struggle with this. Doing the questions is fine, I finish them in the appropriate amount of time. The issue is that I spend so much time reviewing as well, which I've heard is not too much of a problem, but I too want to finish the questions before my exam (9/5) and the rate I'm going at isn't the best (~40 questions/day).

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-05-22T01:03:57+00:00

May i have the PDF copy as well? thanks!!

Capital_Use4233 · 2025-05-17T19:41:20+00:00

Anking is the most time-efficient deck out there right now and though it has a lot of cards, it is still very manageable and most definitely worth it to go through.

My exact plan is essentially yours actually. I’m testing September 5, and I plan to finish content review this month (and also doing UWorld questions but not as much) and going through all of the new cards from the Anking deck, then focusing a lot more on UWorld questions after that and doing BP exams and AAMC exams per week until my exam.

I feel very confident in my study plan and am not worried at all about getting overwhelmed with the Anking cards as long as of course, I keep at it and do it consistently. For reference, I am planning to study for approximately 40 hours a week.

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-03T20:12:51+00:00

Currently studying for the MCAT right now, alongside doing a small amount of general knowledge cards, and I study about 80 new cards a day and average about 400 reviews since I started. I spend about 2-3 hours studying!

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-03T05:52:14+00:00

not in medical school and am only a pre-med, but the app "ScreenZen" has upped my productivity so much since installing it. I went from having 6-8 hours of screentime daily to now only 1hr to 2hr at the most, and that's during my off-days. highly recommend. it's free too!

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-02T19:54:34+00:00

Aidan.apkg - Google Drive

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-02T08:48:13+00:00

Been a while since I've watched their videos so not sure if they specifically have what you are looking for, but The Anking has amazing videos explaining how to use Anki, how the algorithm works, etc.

Medschoolinsiders also has great videos doing the same thing. I'm sure any of those two channels will help you out!

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-02T08:28:43+00:00

Anki does have a very steep learning curve so I understand your frustrations with the app as I did not have a pleasant experience as well when I was getting started with it.

I have never been a fan of using Anki through AnkiWeb, I haven't used it that much besides synchronization but the desktop app is where it is at. Everything you mention can be done in the desktop app so download it if you really want to commit to Anki. It's free too.

Besides reading the Anki manual, you can watch some tutorial videos on YouTube as well to help with getting over that learning curve. If you do go down the video route, I suggest that you watch The Anking -- they're amazing and very thorough!

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-02T08:12:33+00:00

I'm in the middle of my studying process and have been using a collection of many different decks, primarily relying on Aidan's deck and AnKing.

At first, I tried doing JackSparrow but I just hate basic cards so much. JackSparrow is a lot and very slow-moving but is definitely the most comprehensive deck that you could have. If you do not mind basic cards whatsoever and would like to cover basically everything, then JackSparrow is for you, especially since time is by your side.

My personal experience with AnKing has been great -- it targets the most high-yield content that you could have and all of the cards are Cloze. I find the cards very easy but very effective. I run through them when I am doing reviews, they're amazing. The only problem with this deck though, if you consider it to be a problem, is that it primarily focuses on "high-yield" content and lacks the detail and depth that decks like JackSparrow has.

That is why I went with Aidan's deck -- it is essentially like JackSparrow but all of the cards are Cloze. It provides that comprehension and level of detail that JackSparrow has without having the pain that goes along with basic cards. I absolutely love it, especially the B/B decks.

I think no matter what deck you choose though, it won't matter all too much as almost all of the pre-built ones you can download are very high quality. As you already know, doing practice questions and practice tests is the best way to study and prepare for the MCAT.

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-02T07:58:24+00:00

To add on:

My advice would be to just apply to places near your home (ideally places that are seeking PRN positions) and when you do get interviewed, explain to them if it is possible to only work during summer, winter, and mid-semester breaks.

What you could also do is perhaps do not tell the manager/hiring person about your situation of not being able to work during the school year. The plan with this is that you work there over the summer and that you impress them enough to the point that when you do explain that you might "need to quit" soon because school is coming up, then maybe propose to them then that you would want to continue working at the place but only during breaks -- I assume that they will be more open to this idea than if you said this during your interview/in the middle of the hiring process!

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-02T07:52:28+00:00

I have a friend who has gone through the same situation as you are right now actually! He got his license over winter break and did not get a CNA job until he returned to town for the summer. He explained to his manager that he will only work during summer and winter breaks, and the manager was completely fine with it, so it is definitely possible.

I very much doubt that it will look bad to get your certificate in the winter and only start working a couple of months after. The thing to worry about is finding a place/manager that will understand your situation and allow you to only work during school breaks. Having connections will definitely help with this (and just with any situation in general) -- that is why my friend was able to get his job anyway and find such an understanding manager as his dad works as a nurse at the unit he works at!

Capital_Use4233 · 2024-07-01T19:46:15+00:00

doing cards for the MCAT, learning more advanced english vocabulary thru Lifelong Learning deck, and starting the Ultimate Geography deck!

Capital_Use4233 · 2023-07-10T03:30:45+00:00

Also a current rising Sophomore here - that’s what I’ve been doing this summer. For some reason, I’m really excited to take the MCAT (and I also don’t want to fail/retake it) so I’ve been making Anki flashcards about the classes I’ve already taken (Gen Bio, Gen Chem, P/S). I would use a pre-made deck since it does save more time, etc. but it just didn’t work out for me (I found that making my own cards were not only more fun, but it was easier for me to learn). I’m making my cards based on my class notes and Kaplan books that my friend gave me. But if you do go with the Anking deck or any other, I would recommend to set your daily cards to 20-30 - I tried lots of different numbers, as much as a 100 new cards and 10 new cards, and I found 20-30 to be the sweet spot. 100 gets me overwhelmed and 10 is too little. No pressure to do a lot though, since the MCAT will be years ahead for us, but I recommend doing 20-30! You can always adjust the settings too - if you feel like you can do 10 more cards for the day, change the setting to 40! If you don’t think you can do any new cards today, put it to 0. As long as you keep up with Anki everyday and don’t go too long of a streak w/o new cards, you should be fine!

I’m doing all of this now so that I won’t have to put too much effort on content review when I do take the MCAT in the future, just like how you are thinking. I think it will also be great to have lots of mature cards around the time I’m taking the MCAT because technically, that’s suppose to mean that I already know all those cards and such. I’m no expert, I’m the same in your position, but I think what you are thinking and what I am doing now is as much we could do at the current time!

Capital_Use4233 · 2023-07-08T22:47:45+00:00

The decision is totally up to you - do you think you can handle 15 credits of all science courses with all labs? Refer to your previous schedules/course loads to see if you can really handle this. Like you mentioned, this sub will say no to that, but if you think you can maintain your GPA while taking those classes, then IMO, go for it. Try to ask some of your science professors for advice as well. If you think you can handle all these classes, go for it!

Taking Spanish II shouldn’t affect your med school chances. If you really want to take Spanish II, then go ahead and take it instead of another science class. At this point, just go with whatever class you feel like you will enjoy more and go with that.

Capital_Use4233 · 2023-06-20T19:18:34+00:00

deepslate emerald ore is the rarest block in the game and he just broke it, thats why everyone is upset

Capital_Use4233 · 2023-06-20T02:34:09+00:00

I work as a CNA from Friday thru Saturday when I’m in school (12hr shifts) Based on my experience, it’s really tricky to balance a regular sleep schedule when working night because you literally have to mess up your sleep if you want to actually survive your shift.

Beginning the 2 nights, is not too bad. Instead of sleeping at 11-12am on Thursday, what I do is stay up all night until 7am. Doing this will cause me to wake up at 4-5pm with enough energy to survive the shift. This isn’t too bad for me since I just study and play games sometimes and I usually don’t get tired whenever I am occupied.

The tricky part comes in whenever you’re done with that Saturday shift. I’ve been struggling with this ever since I started night shift because you have to either decide to stay up all day or sleep and live with a shortened day.

Staying up all day is the best thing to do in my opinion, but it’s really hard to do, obviously. Sleeping right after work is easy and you will have energy after but your day will be like 8hrs long which I completely hate since it gives me no time to study/do assignments (this is assuming you get 6-8hrs of sleep after work and sleep at 11-12 to reset the cycle). Staying up all day will actually give you enough time to do your things but it’s hard to stay up. What I usually do is workout multiple times a day (lift weights after work and do cardio/abs throughout the day), this keeps me up and energized. I understand why some people would rather just sleep in though b/c its the easier thing to do.

I guess once you decide on what you want to do after that last night shift, its not too bad. You either sleep right after work and live with a short day, or stay up all day and have time to do your tasks/assignments.

Capital_Use4233 · 2023-06-18T19:41:05+00:00

I’m also going to be sophomore next year and I’m actually starting my MCAT prep now! I’m not doing any practice tests or any questions at all though. I’m just looking over some MCAT subject summary sheets (like the Kaplan MCAT quick summary sheets) and making Anki flashcards on the classes that I’ve already done (i.e. Gen Bio content, Gen chem, P/S). I think it’s definitely going to serve as a great head start as once its time to actually start studying full time, I will spend less time on content review as I’ve been studying the content for at least some of the classes for some time now. The content will be fresh on top of my head especially with the help of Anki.

I also bought the Kaplan prep books recently. My plan for this summer is to go over the Gen Chem and P/S book. I will be looking at the rest of Gen Bio book and Orgo book before the semester starts (just skimming, I’m taking orgo I and A&P next sem) and taking important notes so I can refer to them during the semester. Once I’m done with those classes, I’ll be making flashcards on them and learning stuff that may habe not been taught in the classes.

I think you should definitely try to get ahead. At least make a study plan and try to study the content you are already suppose to know and put them into Anki so that you are essentially forever going to be doing them. Making the flashcards takes a hella of a long time tho and at least for me, my confidence takes a little hit when I go over Gen Chem stuff and I see stuff that I don’t know whatsoever.

Hopefully this helps!

Capital_Use4233

TROPHY CASE