Pre-Med Community

Helping pre-medical students get into medical school across the nation

GPA

How the top pre-meds start off the semester strong

One of the biggest mistakes many premeds make is not starting the semester off strong. The beginning of the semester represents one of the greatest opportunities to put yourself in line to secure that A in your class! Its very important to start off strong because that will the set the tone for your whole semester. Remember, it is always easier to maintain an A in a class once you already got it than it is to work your way up to one from a lower grade. So by getting off to the right foot from the very beginning you increase your chances of making an A greatly. Not only that but it is also way less stressful knowing you are in a good situation rather than worrying if you will make the grade you want or not. We are going to go over some of the best methods to make sure you start the semester off right!

 

Before we go any further, make sure to read my article “How the A student starts their next semester“. This gives advice more on how to prepare for your next semester, but some of the content overlaps. However in this article though I really want to emphasize the point of staying ahead and being one step ahead of your teachers. Yes, this method takes more effort than to not do it. But the real secret to making good grades is hard work. Work smart and work hard and you will definitely achieve your goals. So how do I stay ahead of the class?

 

The main ways to stay ahead of your class are by:

  • Pre-reading the powerpoint before class
  • Reading the chapter in your book before your teacher lectures on it
  • Watching youtube videos on the topic
  • Doing practice problems

 

The reason it is so important to do this is because the material is ALWAYS easier to understand the second or third time you see or hear it. You want to already have been exposed to the material your teacher will go over in class before they do. Especially if it is hard material. By having already read the powerpoints, the book chapter, watching videos, and doing practice problems you will be way ahead of everyone else in your class. And then when finally your teacher lectures on the topic, they will only help to clarify anything that confused you. By having already pre-read and prepared for lecture, you will also have a list of questions you can ask your teacher. While the other students are hearing this for the first time and trying to just even understand whats going on, you will be solidifying what you know or clarifying on things that confused you.

 

This is especially important during the beginning of the semester because you will be introduced usually to a bunch of brand new content. In the beginning of a semester, usually the easiest tests and quizzes are given out. So you want to take advantage of that and grab those easy A’s early on! Getting off to the right start early on will set a good pace for your whole semester. The momentum of how you do in the beginning is often carried throughout the entire semester, so you want to get this right! So make sure you read ahead and are prepared for your next lecture! This will definitely help you achieve the grades you want!

 

For more pre-med tips and advice, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, twitter, and pinterest!

Download a comprehensive medical school rankings report and get the free ebook, The Pre-Med’s Beginner Guide, right now! Download here! Don’t miss out!

pmcbg ebook small

 

Get your Free Pre-Med ebook! Download now!

(You definitely want this!)

Studying advice: The rule of four passes

The Rule of four passes

 

As you all might know I have a lot of articles about studying advice. That’s because I believe there is a science to effective studying and anyone can improve their grades if they learn how to be an effective studier. I am constantly evaluating my methods of studying and realizing what works well and what doesn’t. It is important that we learn to be efficient with our studying methods and utilize methods that have been shown to work. You need to constantly be refining your study methods and making it more efficient for you. During my first year of medical school, I have realized yet another component to this “science of effective studying”.  Something I call the rule of four passes.

So what is the rule of four passes? Essentially it takes at least four complete passes through your lecture material/powerpoint from start to finish to be able to retain it for the exam. This means that just looking at a lecture or powerpoint once or twice is usually not enough to learn the material well enough for an exam. This depends a lot also on the density of the material. This is especially true when you are in medical school and you have lecture powerpoints that are 130 slides of dense material. You won’t be able to retain the information by just going through it once or twice. It will take at least four passes through it to really retain it. Also I have found an effective way to do these four passes to get the most out of it. So lets talk about what you should do starting with your first pass through the material to the last one.

 

First pass:

So by the first pass I mean the first time you are sitting down and going through your lecture material/powerpoint. So essentially the main goal of your first pass is to simply get used to the material and get acquainted with it. It is not about focusing on the details or writing notes. Simply read your lecture material with the focus of just trying to understand what’s going on. Think of it like getting your bearings. You want to understand the big picture and what the lecture is all about. If there are things you don’t understand, look them up and research them. Other than that its just simply about getting used to the material.

 

Second pass:

The objective of the second pass is two things: Understanding the material more deeply and taking notes on your lecture material. So as you are going through your powerpoint/lecture material for the second time you want to be going slower and aiming for understanding the material more deeply. As you are going through the material you will now be taking notes, underlining and highlighting the important information.

Here are some examples of how I take notes on my slides:

Notice how I am trying to identify the things that are most important. These notes will help me during my third pass to focus on the highest yield information.

 

Third pass:

The objective of the third pass is to really memorize all of the important facts and information from the lecture you will need for your exam. Now that you have gone through the material twice and become well acquainted with it, you want to really focus on understanding it fully and memorizing what matters. This pass is about understanding the nitty-gritty details. Your notes and highlights from the second pass should be helpful here as it will identify what is important to focus on. Make sure you take it slower this time and really focus on understanding your material and memorizing all key information.

 

Fourth pass:

Essentially the fourth pass is a self-review of the all of the lecture information. Now that you have gone through the material three times you should understand the material very well and have memorized all the key information. Start at the beginning of the lecture material again and go through each slide and quiz yourself as you go through it. You want to quiz yourself on everything you can in the lecture. Make sure you understand all the things you could be tested on. Quizzing yourself as you go through the material will allow you to assess how well you know the material and if there is anything you need to work on.

 

Thats the four passes! You don’t have to do all four passes all at once. You want to take breaks between each pass through the material. This gives you time to absorb the information and let your brain to take it in. Its fine to even do the passes across multiple days if you want, I would personally recommend that. You can do more than four passes obviously if you want as four is the minimum I believe it takes you to be ready for your exam. If you are to do more passes through the material I would recommend focusing on quizzing yourself on the information and identifying areas to focus on. The rule of four passes really lets you know that you can’t cram for an exam and expect to do well. Doing well on exams and getting high grades has alot to do with multiple repetitions of going through information, similiar to the concept of spaced repetition I talk about in this article. I hope that you all are excited to add another tool to your study toolkit! This is a great concept to understand which will help you do better on all your exams!

 

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment down below! For more pre-med tips and advice, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, twitter, youtube, and pinterest!
Get Pre-Med Advice and Tips
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join hundreds of others who are receiving our newsletter and get special deals, discounts, and tips on how to improve your chances of getting into medical school.
Your email address is safe with us, we will not share it with anyone else.

You need to be doing this for EVERY test

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

Hello Pre-Meds! I got a simple technique that I began using in my Junior year of college that has helped me tremendously with preparing for exams. I am very happy to share this with you all because it is so simple and easy to implement. Use this technique with my other advice and I am sure your test grades and GPA will soon skyrocket!

We all know that exams are an essential part of being a pre-med. They can make you or break you, and it is often something most pre-med students fear. It is absolutely critical to come into an exam feeling confident. You should already know you are going to make an A on the test before you even step inside. Don’t and I repeat DONT ever go into a test with the mindset that you will wing it and it will all work out. You must have prepared for every aspect of your test prior to sitting down and taking it. Preparation is everything! And there are certain ways you can make sure you are prepared enough for the exam. Thats where creating a good study list comes in handy. Having a good study list and knowing how to use it properly can literally change how you approach every exam from now on. I never take a test without first creating a study list and using it. In this article I am going to show you exactly how to create awesome study lists that will let you enter any exam with confidence!

 

What is a study list?

A study list is a specific list that you make to help you know what to focus on for an exam. A study list is useful because it both guides your studying to make it efficient and allows you to know when you are ready for your exam. After you have completed your study list you should be confident to go into any exam and ace it! It is an almost fool-proof method of acing your exams.

 

This is an example study list for a statistics test:

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this study list you can see exactly what you need to focus on for the test. The study list allows you to pinpoint what you need to focus on and then gives you an opportunity to mark it off when you understand it. Once you have mastered everything on your list you know you are fully ready to ace your exam. Preparation is key. And having an exact list of what to focus on will let you know when your preparation is complete. Check off everything on your list and then go into your exam confident!

MAKE SURE TO MASTER EVERY ITEM ON YOUR STUDY LIST BEFORE TAKING THE EXAM. How well you will do on your exam depends on two things: How thorough you make your study list and if you can master each item on it. Make a good study list and complete it before your exam and you will ace it. Period.

 

How to make a study list:

The first thing I do when making a study list is add the name of the class and the date of the test. This helps me stay oriented to when all my exams are and what subject I’m looking at. When you have multiple exams coming up this is very helpful for keeping track of what to study for.

You can use either a sticky note app, a text document, or hand-written study lists. I have used all three methods and each have their advantages. Just find a convenient method for you that allows you to see it on a regular basis. You want to be reminded as much as possible that you have an exam coming up and what you need to study for it. So make sure your study list is easy to find otherwise it defeats the purpose.

Make sure every item you add to your study list is very specific. You want to make your study list only the things you must know for the exam. The more specific the better. You want to include anything that might appear on the test. The point of the study list is to make sure you are prepared. Don’t leave any gaps in the list. You want to be prepared for anything that might appear. So make sure it is both comprehensive and specific. I will go into two examples of how I make study lists.

 

Example study list for Chemistry test and how to use it:

So lets imagine we have a Gen Chem exam coming up. The first thing we want to do is write when the test date is so we can keep track. Then we want to make a list of everything we know will be on the exam or might be on the exam. Make sure these are specific topics to learn. After you have done that you should have something that looks like this ..

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice that all of the topics added to the list are specific and are reasonable to master.

 

 

After you have made your list start by going through each topic one by one. Focus on mastering that topic or until you feel certain you will do well on the exam for those questions. Once you have done that for a topic you can mark it off by either striking through it or deleting it off your list. Lets say that you just finished reading your textbook and did some practice problems on oxidation states, balancing redox reactions, and stoichiometry. Once you feel like you got these topics mastered or at least feel you got the hang of them, check them off your list. Your list should look like this now..

 

 

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just keep on mastering each topic on your study list until you have checked them all off your list.

 

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After checking all the topics off your list you are going to be well prepared to handle your exam! It is really that simple. Make a list of all the topics you need to master. Go through your list one by one until you have checked them all off. Once they are all checked off you know that you are prepared and should feel confident! Here is another example for a biology exam.

 

Example study list for Biology test:

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, start by putting the course name and the test date. Make a list of all the topics you need to learn. And master each one of them.

 

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until all of the topics are mastered. You get the point by now.

 

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After mastering each topic you are fully ready to ace your exam!

 

 

Summarizing points:

  • A study list allows you to organize your studying to make it more efficient and provides a way to know when you are ready for your exam
  • Make a study list that covers every topic on your exam
  • Master each topic on your study list one by one, checking them off the list
  • Once  you have mastered each topic on your study list you are ready to take the exam!

 

The best way to guarantee that you will ace your exams is by going into the test confident. I cannot emphasize this enough. You should always go into your exam knowing how well you will do. If you don’t go in knowing you will make an A, then you didn’t study enough. A study list is a great way to keep track of your tests and how well prepared you are for them. Always go into an exam already knowing you will make an A. Master every topic on your study list and you are going to do well!

 

 

Tell us what you think by leaving a comment down below! For more pre-med tips and advice, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, twitter, and pinterest!
Get Pre-Med Advice and Tips
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join hundreds of others who are receiving our newsletter and get special deals, discounts, and tips on how to improve your chances of getting into medical school.
Your email address is safe with us, we will not share it with anyone else.
Did you find this article helpful? Let us know!
[yop_poll id=”12″ tr_id=”studylist”]

Here’s a much better way to take notes from powerpoints (alternate version)

Hey guys, heres a quick tip to help improve your note taking ability in classes that use powerpoint. As I mentioned in my article , the proper way to take notes , you absolutely shouldn’t be copying down words on the powerpoint if they post them online. This is a waste of your time and doesnt lead to better notes. Instead you should be focusing on what the professor is saying ABOUT those powerpoint slides. I showed a method of how to do that in the article , the best way to take notes in a powerpoint class , where you are able to print out three powerpoint slides on one page with a section for notes next to each slide. This method is for those of you who bring a laptop to class. If you like actually writing something down then I would suggest go reading the other article.

 

This one is super easy! Simply take the notes straight in powerpoint! Under each slide there is a section for notes. Like this:

 

premed, pre med, pre-med, medical school, med school, science, chemistry, biology, physics, organic chemistry, Biochemistry, MCAT, GPA, tips , advice, tutorial, doctor, physician, surgeon, college, undergrad, university

 

Simply add in bullet points in for each of the main things your professor says about the slide. Or you can add notes however you want, thats up to you!

 

The advantage to this method is that it is faster to type than write. However, the major disadvantage is that you won’t be able to draw. This means you won’t be able to draw structures, reactions, draw out math equations, pictures.  As with the other method that I showed in this article , you can draw on the slides. The only downside to that method is that it will cost you some printer paper (not too much) and it is slower to write than to type. So whether you use this method for taking notes on powerpoints or using the other method will be up to you to decide! Think about what kind of class you have and if it would be more beneficial to type what your intstructor says or being able to draw out structures, pictures, reactions, etc.

 

I hope this helps! Comment down below if you use this method of note taking and if it helped you! Also please share this page with your fellow pre-meds! Stay tuned for more articles!

 

For more pre-med tips and advice, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, twitter, and pinterest!

Download a comprehensive medical school rankings report and get the free ebook, The Pre-Med’s Beginner Guide, right now! Download here! Don’t miss out!

pmcbg ebook small

 

Get your Free Pre-Med ebook! Download now!

(You definitely want this!)