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how'd it go. taking mine January and scared

@@cja12345it actually went well! I took it in January last year, I got a 517 and am very happy with it - currently doing med school interviews ! I was very scared too this time last year when I was studying so I completely understand. If you have any questions, feel free to lmk

Student loans unfortunately :( and really I would just set aside time for each class daily. The course load + studying for the MCAT simultaneously is a good prep for med school now (in retrospect finishing year 2 of med school)

@@samuelsmithmed214 Thank you so much Doc Samuel Smith!! Your comments and videos are very helpful!!

Here's some advice, I started UWorld about 1 week ago and I've done roughly 200 questions with 80% average. Only reason my average is so high is because I have done VERY thorough content review. I'm not even done with Kaplan's B/B books (80 % done) and I have over 1k cards. I know it may seem like doing well is not because of content, but the more you know, the easier it is the read the passages. Also, the way I've solidified what I've learned is by Jack Westin Discrete questions, THAT is how you retain content. Do not use UWorld as a tool to learn content. Use it as a tool to further test content you already understand VERY well in order to bolster it more. Your ability to glean salient information from a topic you don't know very well is pretty limited. If I get a problem wrong on something I have already done tons of free JW problems on and reviewed extensively, I am able to take that UWorld explanation and turn it into pure gold. UWorld is a treasure and should not be wasted if you don't already have a very strong foundation. All you're going to do is get questions wrong and miss the growing phase of thinking through the question simply because content wasn't emphasized or you didn't use other less useful resources to develop. Furthermore, the usefulness of content is that it allows you to objectively remove certain answer choices from the equation. There was a passage question that used what the wrong definition of what an epimer was, I was able to extinguish that choice even though it was VERY tempting. The right answer only 37% of people picked. It genuinely came down to content. Most passages have 1 or 2 purely passage based questions, but they still require some content knowledge. There was a biology passage that asked about experimental data regarding action potentials. Although it was a chart based on the passage, you needed about 15% logical reasoning and 85% content. More than half of the people picked the wrong answer. I don't want to assume anything with you, but I would avoid buying into the lie that the MCAT is 100% logical reasoning. When I first started to dabble with the MCAT a year or so ago and just fucked around with Khan Academy passages, I was absolutely lost and completely destroyed by how confusing everything was. I assumed I sucked at logical reasoning, and that I was never going to be able to get a good score. The reason I am writing this mini novel is because I have gained confidence in my performance. I was so worried that I couldn't read, was too stupid to understand scientific charts ect. when it wasn't about that. I simply wasn't used to the science or the information. So what did I do? I buckled up and literally memorized everything that sounded foreign, or confusing and watched a video on it. Nothing is low yield, if it's in Kaplan learn it, if JW discusses it, learn it. If UWorld mentions it in an explanation as tangential information and it's not directly related to the problem? Learn it. I truly went completely comprehensive towards content review. Good luck buddy

@@mrbungle2627 Just saw this. Found it very helpful. I’m studying for my last final right now, but I will give a fuller response once I’ve taken it. Thank you!

Yes I felt like everybody was collaborative (22 in my class), we had a great group though so small sample size. I think 10-12 of us ended up in med school and 5-6 PHDs. Honestly I feel like there's much more cutthroat/gunners in medical school then in my SMP.

@@samuelsmithmed214 Thank you so much Doc Sam!! That is good to know & I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to respond out of your crazy busy schedule!! :)

It's been awhile since I've taken the MCAT now, actually about to start using UWorld for STEP 1 now haha, but I remember you can do "biology" or "chemistry" or "physics" questions isolated on there own just by messing with the sidebar. But all of these topics ARE merged with a little bit of others ex: biology section may have a little biochem or physics in a passage. This is how the MCAT is so it's preparing you for that.

Thanks for your reply and good luck for your STEP 1.

no reschedule 2-3 months back

Princeton Review is notoriously hard from what I've heard.

@@samuelsmithmed214 I think the passages are harder in Princeton Review, but the questions themselves actually feel more straightforward. It's hard to quantify CARS difficulty, but to put it in practical terms; when I get a PR question wrong I usually agree with the explanation why, whereas when I get a JW question wrong, sometimes I agree with the reasoning and sometimes I don't.

I would say I was able to know it yes.

Sorry to hear, when you say hasn't improved you mean on the AAMC FLs?

no quite the contrary

@@samuelsmithmed214 so ur saying hes a dumbass?

I couldn't tell you why I picked Tulane, I just looked up the program and read the statistics of people getting into med school after it; and it seemed to fit my interests. If you have any more questions lmk man!

I applied in June and was accepted July for a class that started in August.

@@samuelsmithmed214 O so u applied June like 2 months before classes started? Also do you have to take a Cell Bio class before starting this program?

20 DO and 18 MD!

ended up applying to a few more after

Depends on the class. A good skill to develop is to know what is testable, clinically relevant, and things that won't show up on the test.

@@samuelsmithmed214 thank you I failed a genetics exam bc I felt like her stuff didn’t prep me, 2/3 of the class failed both exams... then again I have As in my other courses... not sure if it’s a personal issue or lecture issue I’m undergraduate btw.

I've screenshotted my current settings in the link below: prnt.sc/10hbudi So you might want to play with the "easy" interval. I don't know my settings for the MCAT since I've changed them for medical school (where I want to see cards quicker because I have block exams every 2-4 weeks). So I have mine at 2 days. You might want anywhere from 4-7 days studying for the MCAT given you have over 2 months to study.

@@samuelsmithmed214 what about your reviews and lapses? Thank you sm!!

@@emily2567 Honestly I just kept every other setting the same, I feel that the easy interval is easiest to manipulate time that you'll see the card. Although that is probably just me not knowing enough about Anki. Haha, best of luck to you Emily.

Yes you do in retake them in 1st and 2nd year, but it's helpful knowledge.

Yes I did.

Haha thank you for watching Brianna

why is that haha?

@@samuelsmithmed214 because i like doing these Jack Westin CARS passages 😂😂 i do one daily.. but now it seems it to be useless

@@strongbodystrongmiind they aren't useless! Just use the AAMC and UWorld materials once you are closer to your test date!

Endo is great, biochemical pathways just make sense.

Thank you!

506 and yes.

Thanks man, have to use that terminology whenever I can!

Thanks Cristian, haha I'm hoping for a speedy recovery too!

Will do.

my hair def does lmao

Yes definitely, all problems you missed other than CARS

@@samuelsmithmed214 thank you😊

you can, but I'm not sure if you'll get in state tuition!

appreciate it man!

Yeah I started Anki as soon as I made the cards while reading the books. Really the sooner the better.

Exactly Wyatt.

look on the mcat subreddit.

Adam I think Anki web might have removed mine! I had them posted but people keep telling me that the links aren’t working. Regardless I do recommend that you make your own cards as it’s more effective for you learning the material and memorizing it yourself. I’ve heard there are some good decks out there though reddit.com/r/MCAT might have a few.

Definitely ask here or you can DM me on instagram @samuel_heinz

I did non-thesis (most students do like 90% non-thesis)