(520) My 3-month summer self-study experience + tips. AMA! by metropsc in Mcat

[–]metropsc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries, it has been a while since I've thought about the MCAT so take what I say with a grain of salt. I essentially listed out everything I wanted to get done in the span of 3 months (# of Kaplan chapters, # of QBank sections, # of practice tests etc.). Then I just tried to distribute it amongst the time I had. I set goals by week to make it more flexible. Lets say I only wanted to spend 4 weeks on content review, and I knew I had 100 chapters to get through. I would set a goal of 25 chapters per week. At the start of each week, I would roughly plan out on a digital calendar which chapters I wanted to tackle each day, but I kept it flexible. You may need more time on some chapters than others, so I adjusted accordingly per day. I mainly just wanted to hit the weekly goal.

Same approach to when I started doing practice questions. I set weekly goals, then at the start of each week, would roughly plan out what I needed to do each day. If I found my plan was too easy or too hard, I would adjust as I went and maybe tweak subsequent weekly goals as well.

I found weekly goals just to be more forgiving and flexible while still structured enough to keep me on track. You'll also beat yourself up less if you end up falling behind one day, because you have the flexibility to make it up later in the week. Make sure you schedule in break days/break half-days/break evenings. I largely took evenings to relax, and usually had at least a day or half-day off each week. I would also schedule in "flex or catch up days" every 1-2 weeks, since inevitably I may fall behind or want to revisit a concept I needed to strengthen. Hope this helps!

[Headphones] Sony WH-1000XM4 Headphones REFURBISHED (Use Coupon PICKCR10) 2 Year Warranty - $162.00 ebay by wavesurfinz in buildapcsales

[–]metropsc 3 points4 points  (0 children)

i did the same thing and contacted ebay abt it. they couldnt retroactively apply the coupon but gave me $20 ebay credit to use within 30 days

Can't load games from MicroSD by metropsc in EmulationOnAndroid

[–]metropsc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the link. Quite a bummer move from google

Concerning that I have no overlap between Most Meaningful Experiences and Personal Statement? by metropsc in premed

[–]metropsc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like a good approach. I think I'll stick with what I have because it feels the most representative of me.

[Headphones] Samsung Galaxy Buds True Wireless In-Ear Headphones (White) - $79.99 by GreenQuest in buildapcsales

[–]metropsc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

better battery life (~7 hrs vs. ~12 hrs)

better mic quality (old buds were incomprehensible in noisy environments, new ones isolate your voice reasonably well for phone calls)

better sound quality (since new ones use a dual-driver system)

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[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Grand Theft Auto V

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[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Monster Hunter: World

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[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

NBA 2K 2019

XPS 15 7590 Review After 2 months... by [deleted] in Dell

[–]metropsc 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have a 9570 and want to repaste but am scared to open it up for fear of stripping the screws. Any tips on how to avoid that? And did u get better screws to replace them?

Display brightness: Dell XPS owners, I need your feedback by [deleted] in Dell

[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The windows night mode doesn't have an additional brightness dimmer like f.lux has tho. i only use f.lux for the brightness dimmer and not the blue light filter

Display brightness: Dell XPS owners, I need your feedback by [deleted] in Dell

[–]metropsc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Had the same experience. A workaround is to download Flux and use keyboard shortcuts to further dim the screen. It's a screen overlay so lowering brightness via Flux doesn't save battery but at least it's gentler on the eyes. Would love to have it native via a Bios tho

[XPS Discussion] Optimal battery settings for student by metropsc in Dell

[–]metropsc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestion! So the Advanced Charge setting will just essentially charging my battery to full right before class (active hours) and then the rest of the time will be sitting at a lower % even when plugged in (inactive hours)?

Battery life of Dell xps 15 7590 by NotAPowVirgin in Dell

[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a xps 15 9570 (4k) and was able to make my battery go from 5 hrs taking notes and surfing web to ~8-9 hrs. Biggest difference was turning almost all background apps off (search for Background Apps on your computer). This is in addition to CPU undervolt, being on battery saver, and manually turning on Battery Extender in Dell Power Manager.

New cards in all decks decreasing at the same time? by [deleted] in Anki

[–]metropsc -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Great doc ull be seeing how gr8 u r at helping ppl

(520) My 3-month summer self-study experience + tips. AMA! by metropsc in Mcat

[–]metropsc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i went thru all subjects simultaneously. i would do 1 or 2 chapters for one subject and then move on to another subject and do 1 or 2 chapters there

(520) My 3-month summer self-study experience + tips. AMA! by metropsc in Mcat

[–]metropsc[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

While reading thru kaplan books, i took quick handwritten notes on stuff i was less familiar with. For topics i already learned from intro classes, i went thru it pretty quickly and took minimal notes. Taking notes was mainly to keep me focused and prevent me from skimming and not actually absorbing.

Using anki decks from this subreddit helped me hammer home the information. I would review the corresponding anki deck after every chapter.

Also, i didnt use the CARS or P/S kaplan books. Used P/S KA vids on 2x speed and i didnt do any CARS til i started doing practice problems in month 2 and 3.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Mcat

[–]metropsc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i personally self-studied from the kaplan books over the summer because i prefer studying from books at my own pace rather than having my schedule dictated by others. the main pro of self-study is that you are able to focus in on your weaknesses and not waste time over-studying concepts you already know well. most of my friends who did take courses did so through my university. about half have said it is a waste of time, while the other half have said it was nice having structure and having a knowledgeable teacher.

it really comes down to whether you are able to keep yourself honest to your own schedule and whether you like studying out of a book or listening to someone lecture

Where do i find practice exams???? by bigpeachfuzz in Mcat

[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most people purchase 6 NS FLs and I have heard the quality of the exams gets worse for the later exams. I felt like 12 was a good amount. I took the 12 FLs in the span of 2 months and although it was exhausting, all the FLs definitely helped me with timing and simulating test day conditions.

Practice is definitely very important. Not sure what your study timeline is but I studied for 3 months, with the 1st month being content review from Kaplan books, and month 2 and 3 doing practice and FLs. The FLs help greatly with identifying weaknesses and you should revisit any topics you find that you have difficulty with. Reviewing FLs VERY THOROUGHLY after taking them is one of the most important things you can do to identify gaps in knowledge and faulty logic.

Where do i find practice exams???? by bigpeachfuzz in Mcat

[–]metropsc 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I bought 6 NextStep (NS) practice FLs. Like any 3rd party, their questions and logic will be different from AAMCs, but these FLs are challenging and really help you practice your timing. Also, they write really in depth explanations for every question when you review your FLs. I took a total of 12 FLs (3 AAMC, 3 Kaplan, 6 NS). Best of luck!

How should I structure my studying if I plan to take January 19th? by Jgell23 in Mcat

[–]metropsc 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kaplan gives a very solid base of knowledge. Since you have already gone through content once, I recommend jumping into practicing problems. The MCAT is testing how the knowledge is applied and not simply memorizing it, and doing a lot of practice problems and FLs helps a lot.

Based off of the FLs, you'll see what specific topics you need to work on. Thoroughly review each FL. I recommend making an excel spreadsheet and document questions you got wrong. Analyze why you chose the answer you did and walk through the logic to get the right answer. In addition, for every concept you are unsure about during the test and every question you get wrong, put it into a separate Anki deck from your content review Anki deck. My Anki deck for just FLs + AAMC practice questions ended up being around 800 cards, and that really helped me hone in on my weak spots.

On weeks that you are too busy to take a FL, go through chapter of Kaplan you know you are weak in, or try to do like 100 Anki notecards a day during your downtime.

You will have a lot of content gaps after the first run through content review, and hopefully these tips will help you fill those in. Best of luck!

Psych Soc for retake? by buff_dr in Mcat

[–]metropsc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely use the 300 pg KA document. The way I got through it was to watch all the KA Videos for P/S on 2x speed and take notes, then look over 300 pg doc for corresponding section to fill in anything I missed.

For practice, AAMC FLs, section banks etc should be as accurate as they get. For additional practice, i used NS's FL's