![]() If you’re seeing flashcards for a concept you haven’t yet reviewed, you’re less likely to remember information on that card and to be able to recall it on test day. Before you can try to memorize information from a flashcard, you need to have a thorough understanding of that concept. The problem here is that this random order isn’t going to align with your content review. When you use pre-made decks, you’ll see flashcards in random order. The problems with pre-made decks don’t end there. ![]() When you’re studying from cards that don’t follow best practices, you’re going to put forth more time and effort to learn and study the material, and you’re probably going to end up doing more pattern recognition than truly understanding and memorizing concepts. ![]() This might mean putting too much information on one card, creating too many cards overall, not including enough high-yield information, and many other issues. The more time you’re spending studying low-yield information, the less time you have to review the information that you really need to know for the test.Īdditionally, most people studying for the MCAT aren’t experts in card creation best practices. This might make a deck seem like it includes a lot of important information you need to study, but in reality, it’s simply creating extra work and stress. We’ve found that most of the pre-made decks contain way too much low-yield fluff. None of the current pre-made Anki decks are comprehensive, high-yield, and high-quality. This often results in poor-quality cards that don’t have the right scope of information, don’t test the proper information, have too much or too little information, and don’t use flashcard best practices. Without mastery, it’s simply impossible to make an exceptional card. Because they were still studying, they couldn’t have had mastery of all the information on the cards. Pre-made Anki decks are made by people just like you, which means they were also studying for the MCAT at the time they made the cards. Most Anki decks are not made well, and there are a whole host of problems that come along with pre-made decks. Both have their drawbacks and are likely to be of poor quality for the following reasons. When you use Anki to study, you can choose either pre-made flashcard decks, or you can create your own flashcards. The second, and perhaps most pronounced drawback of Anki for the MCAT, is the poor quality of the flashcards. You can, however, use Anki to study for undergrad classes, then when you start studying for the MCAT, you’ll already understand how to use the software and will be ready to jump right in. Make no mistake: we’re not saying to start studying for the MCAT early. The best way to circumvent this learning curve is to start using Anki long before you begin studying for the MCAT. There is quite the adjustment period that can delay your studying as well. Once you get past the learning curve of setting Anki up, the interface is different from what many students are used to. Researching which plugins and which decks to use can quickly become overwhelming and time-consuming. It’s well-known that prospective med students do not have unlimited time. If you had unlimited time to learn, that wouldn’t be a problem. One of the major problems that adds to the Anki learning curve is that there is a lot that Anki can do. If none of the pre-made decks are right, then you need to create your own flashcards, which is time-consuming and very difficult to do while you’re studying. Once you’ve done that, you need to research pre-made decks and decide which will be best for you to use. You’ll need technical knowledge to set up plugins. ![]() Before you can use Anki to study for the MCAT, you first need to learn how to use Anki. The first drawback: Anki has quite the learning curve. Although the theory behind Anki is great, the software doesn’t always live up to the hype, particularly when studying for the MCAT. As a popular spaced repetition software (SRS), Anki is used by countless prospective and current med school students. Here, we explore one of the more popular MCAT study tools, Anki, and examine some of its fatal flaws.Īnki uses spaced repetition, which is an evidence-based practice that we give credence to as well. Unsurprisingly, not all resources are created equal, and wading through resources is a waste of precious studying time. Premed & Medical Student Annual Scholarshipįinding the right MCAT resources is essential if you want to do well on the test.2020 Medical School Application Updates. ![]()
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