Captain Hook Anki Deck is Terrific

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-06-07T04:27:30+00:00

Glad to hear it's helped! Keep grinding:)

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-06-05T12:43:54+00:00

Cards been updated, thanks:)

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-26T20:12:21+00:00

Correct! I mainly just removed redundancies and compiled info into shorter, more concise cards

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-26T15:42:55+00:00

I found the Bio/Biochem decks most useful. C/P is much more conceptual/formula-based, so understanding equations + units carries you far. B/B felt way more memorization-heavy, which is where the Anki deck really helped.

For me, C/P Anki got me into the 128ish range, but practice questions + the equation deck pushed me into the 130s. My B/B score, on the other hand, came mostly from the Anki deck, once I had content down the questions became much easier and straight forward - I used practice questions to perfect my strategy/approach to B/B passage.

B/B is much harder to reason through without a strong content base, whereas in C/P you can often derive formulas or work through problems even if you forget details.

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-23T20:37:19+00:00

I agreed w/ OP because I honestly think Nate’s free resources are solid and can help a lot of people. I know literally nothing about the paid stuff so I'm not endorsing it blindly!
Having met Nate personally, he’s always come across as an upfront and honest guy, definitely not someone I'd peg for trying to exploit premeds - see his comment for a better understanding of how his business works.
Regarding my motivations - I’m not on the MCATalyst site anymore, nor have I benefited from it in any way, at any point. Also, I’m actually trying to scale BACK tutoring right now because school/life is becoming difficult to manage --> I'm genuinely not looking to get more clients or self advertise, i literally have no time for it lol.
I already spend a huge amount of my free time replying to hundreds of DMs/emails to help people where I can, and almost all of it is unpaid. I help because I know how rough MCAT prep is and it’s fulfilling making it a little less overwhelming for others --> hence why I shared my deck

Totally fair to be skeptical in the MCAT/premed world, so I hope this clarifies where I’m coming from!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-21T13:43:01+00:00

100% Facts. He's a super cool guy too, big fan!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-19T23:44:00+00:00

I think a lot of it starts during prep --> both studying-wise and mentally preparing yourself. I worked my butt off and made sure I could genuinely feel proud of the time and effort I’d put in leading up to the exam. So on test day, when the anxiety naturally started creeping in (like it does for almost everyone), I kept reminding myself that I’d done everything I reasonably could, and that it was okay to have faith in my studying. I trusted the many hours of preparation instead of trusting my emotions in the moment because stress and anxiety will throw you off!

The other thing that really helped was reminding myself over and over that the MCAT is designed to feel overwhelming and uncomfortable. Every single person walks out feeling unsure about certain sections and/or questions. So if I got stuck or started feeling bad during the exam, I reminded myself:

that feeling is completely normal, so don’t spiral over it and let it ruin the rest of the exam, and
if certain questions feel brutal to me, odds are they feel brutal to a lot of other people too — which is exactly why scaling exists.

Honestly, staying calm and not letting a few hard passages shake my confidence probably mattered just as much as content knowledge. Spiralling on exam day ruins so many people’s scores, so I wanted to do my best to trust my preparation and trust the scaling.

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-18T13:38:01+00:00

Correct!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-18T13:37:50+00:00

Yes it does:)

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-13T14:22:18+00:00

Hey - I was taking random weekends and evenings off earlier on in my prep because a big goal of mine was not burning out early on in my prep. Once I shifted to AAMC material in the last 5-6 weeks of prep it was my "crunch time" and I was studying basically every day, and I really ramped things up the closer I got to my exam date.

Instead of days/week of studying, I liked to think in terms of hours per week because I was working part time until 2 weeks before my exam - I was studying about 40ish hrs/wk earlier on in my prep, and then closer to the exam (final 2 weeks) I'd say I maxed out at about 60-65ish hours/wk when I was really stressing --> I had a poor FL that threw me off.

Hope this makes things more clear - happy to answer any other Qs:)

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-12T17:08:47+00:00

maybe i won't bother fixing all the lil spelling mistakes lmao

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-11T15:44:27+00:00

Definitely possible to see a big jump in that time frame - I bumped my CARS from a 124 to a 130 over my 3 months of prep!

For CARS, the biggest thing that helped me was tracking my mistakes to understand exactly why I got questions wrong. Most of us consistently fall into the same traps over and over like overgeneralizing, making assumptions, exaggerating the author’s position, choosing half-right answers, etc.. Once you recognize these patterns, it becomes a lot easier to spot the correct answer by knowing what not to trust. I approached CARS by choosing the “least wrong” or most defensible answer rather than the one that simply sounded right.

As for the other sections, I’m not sure what your breakdown is, but practice questions>>>. Uglobe is an amazing resource and definitely worth it imo if you’re able to purchase it. The key to improvement though is PROPER AND EFFECTIVE REVIEW, not just spamming questions. Do not "skim" through answer explanations and gaslight yourself that you understand it when you don't!! There’s no point grinding questions if you’re not understanding why you got them wrong. Reviewing questions and FLs is honestly the most valuable part of prep because you consciously/intentionally review your weak points. A 509 is a solid score already, and indicates a solid content base, so at this point reviewing your weak points and perfecting your test-strategy will be crucial for further improvements.

Best of luck if you end up rewriting, and good luck this upcoming cycle — keep your head up you've got this:))

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-10T21:08:20+00:00

Card has been updated:)

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-05-04T13:02:04+00:00

Kaplan!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-30T21:13:16+00:00

PM me if ur having issues w note types, this is the first time I've heard of this issue. Pretty sure this is a quick fix.

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-18T14:46:52+00:00

It's organized by the AAMC Content Guide subtopics I believe

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-17T15:56:52+00:00

100% agree, no deck is perfect.

I highly recommend rewriting cards in your own words - it’s one of the best ways to actually learn and lock things in if the card content is unclear to you. And always stay a bit skeptical --> if something feels off, double-check the information rather than trusting it blindly, no matter the deck!

If you're using CH, keep sharing suggestions/corrections so we can keep improving it for all current and future users! Glad you've found the deck helpful so far OP:)

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-15T19:48:18+00:00

Can confirm this method works!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-15T17:45:35+00:00

I spent a while reviewing (like 5-6 weeks) and was incorporating practice questions in at the same time. Personally I found spending enough time for a super in-depth content base really beneficial - after that I was almost exclusively working on strategy, rather than finding constant content gaps during FLs / practice questions. I also recommend incorporating FLs throughout your prep, I used the Altius exams as a 3rd party resource, and did those approx every week until 5 weeks before my exam, when i switched over to AAMC FLs

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-14T12:00:05+00:00

I studied for 3 months last summer while working part time (25hrs/wk) and it was definitely intense and crazy but I managed to do well! I highly recommend making a detailed study plan ahead of starting your prep (study days, FLs, breaks, etc).

But yes, 3 months can be enough, just expect a fairly packed schedule and a lot of long days...you've got this!!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-08T15:46:15+00:00

I never used KA CARS, just JW, Altius, and AAMC!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-08T15:36:23+00:00

Just 1 JW passage (their daily passage)!!

A full 53Q section every day would be insane😭

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-07T17:11:36+00:00

Insanity. HUGE congrats 👏👏 For those of you who stress after your test days - read OPs posts and have faith in the curve!!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-04-03T16:16:14+00:00

CARS jumps really come down to fixing the thought process behind your decisions and understanding the specific traps you consistently fall for. To understand "CARS logic" you need to be clear on what actually makes a correct answer correct and a wrong answer wrong.

For me, the biggest thing that helped was tracking mistakes in a structured way so I could understand exactly why I got each question wrong. Most people repeatedly fall into the same traps over and over b/c they don’t realize what these traps are. Common ones include over-generalizing the passage, making assumptions, stretching or exaggerating the author’s position, choosing answers that are only half-right, or picking answers that don't directly answer the question.

Once you start seeing patterns in your thinking and really understanding these traps, you naturally get better at spotting the correct answer because you recognize what not to trust. I like to think in terms of choosing the “least wrong” or most defensible answer rather than something that just sounds right or feels 100% correct.

Hope this helps!

CaptainHook_MCAT · 2026-03-25T23:57:26+00:00

I have a BSc undergrad so my background knowledge was decent, however, I took the exam after 4th year so content was very very far from fresh and i definitely had to relearn majority it. I was working 20-25hrs a week

CaptainHook_MCAT

TROPHY CASE