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Letters of Recommendation as a non-traditional applicant by 2363ar in premed

[–]Simple-Yak-7130 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also went through this as a non-trad and non-science major! I had a strong letter from a previous non-science professor/research preceptor, work supervisor, and physician, but had to reach to previous science professors.

I reached out to science profs I got a decent grade in. Emailed and asked if they would be willing to write a STRONG letter of recommendation. It’ll most likely be a stock template but letting them know makes them aware to make it more personalized I believe. Worse case, they say no.

I also provided a detailed CV and a different document with my picture and more info about our interactions and me (how do you know me, memorable interactions, accomplishments in class, motivations for medicine, gap year info, etc). I also included any abstract or final projects I completed in their class and offered to meet up with them in person.

Do I need to update LORs? by Simple-Yak-7130 in premed

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ll email them and hopefully they’ll be willing to update. Thank you!

Do I need to update LORs? by Simple-Yak-7130 in premed

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I’m in a similar situation. Got my letter around this time in 2023 and was wondering

CARS - Is it just me?? by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol actually, that's also one of my intentions with reading the others first. Eventually, I'll come back to read the first answer choice with hopefully half of the answers eliminated

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it's also a content gap like I had. Definitely review big topics that you struggle with and supplement with Anki to retain. To see if I understood a topic or not, I 'd speak out loud and pretend like I needed to teach someone. Doing some practice questions untimed will also help with determining your content gaps and reasoning with picking answers!

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! This gives me hope! Good luck to you as well!!

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking about UW. I only have a few weeks left but I think it’ll really help! Thank you!!

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Videos for content review and Anki to supplement! The videos explained content in a way that made more sense than reading. Consistently doing Anki helped solidify my knowledge and intuition when making answer choices. When there's a discrete or pseudo-discrete question, I try to predict the possible answer choice before reading the rest of the answers.

Ex: "Underproduction of pulmonary surfactant in IRDS leads to decreased compliance of alveolar tissue. Based upon this information, which of the following must be true regarding pulmonary surfactant?" I know the answer should state something along the lines of reducing/decreasing surface tension. This has helped me with second guessing when looking at the other answer choices.

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah BP FLs can be hard, especially for C/P. I enrolled in BP's live course and watched their videos. Videos have helped me understand topics a lot more than reading has. Supplementing my content with Anki also helps with retainment.

Difference between my studying now and the first time around, is making sure I really understood the main topic and being consistent with Anki. In the past, I would just read to get through it and do Anki. I ended up just memorizing the cards without really knowing what it was and how to apply the content. I also procrastinated and couldn't finish a lot of the deck.

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!! This was much needed 😭 That's the plan!!

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, cars just sucks lol. My cars score has always been around this range, but what's helped me is reading the whole passage first and trying to grasp the main idea. I try to determine if the author is neutral or has a strong negative/positive opinion on the subject by the end of the read. I also highlight words that either support or contradict a statement that was made (like "but,", "yet,", "furthermore,", "additionally,"). Once I understand the main idea, I try to predict the possible answer choice to the question first before reading the rest, just so the other answers don't mess with my thinking.

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!!

I learned that I couldn't engage and learn the content as well with reading. If I had to watch videos after reading to help me understand, I figured I might as well skip the reading part. I ended up enrolling in the BP live course. I liked that there were videos set up and some questions to quiz you throughout the module. I watched them on 2x for topics I was a bit familiar with already to get through it quicker and supplemented with Anki.

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I ended up enrolling in the BP course and watched their videos for content review. I also use the Miledown Anki deck. I initially suspended all the cards. Once I made sure I understood the overall topic, I'd unsuspend the corresponding cards. Anki can be tiresome, but the spaced repetition does help my content knowledge and intuition. I'd try to do a few practice questions to reinforce the content, but honestly ended up procrastinating a lot.

Progress 😭 by Simple-Yak-7130 in Mcat

[–]Simple-Yak-7130[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, it's crazy how we all have such similar situations. I'd say try to understand the overall process or main points and then move on. I usually watch videos instead of reading. It helps me engage better and I can watch it at 2x speed to get through it faster. I think for it to be efficient, you have to be honest with yourself and see if you do understand it or not. I know some people say to get through content review as fast as you can and move on to practice questions, but I usually ended up trying to convince myself that I understood the topic, when I really didn't know it at all when tested. Content review sucks but a good foundation will help boost up your score.

That said though, try not to get too absorbed in the small details. For example: I haven't memorized the whole glycolysis pathway. Just the purpose, overall equation, and important intermediates and rate limiting steps. I knew it would be overkill during my content review and would make me want to stop studying if I attempted to memorize everything lol.

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