Creating Effective MCAT Study Notes

Getting an excellent mark in the MCAT does not come from pure luck. Like every important endeavor, acing the test requires effective study habits.  Efficiency may vary depending on the person’s character, circumstances, and ability to cope with one’s priorities.  

Some prefer to compile notes after notes in order to feel confident that they have everything covered.  You can do so effectively by creating your own abbreviation systems like acronyms or mnemonics to easily memorize and understand important points. Make sure you always leave space for comments and additional notes later.  Most importantly, don’t just create notes for the sake of making it, but make sure to take time to study it.

Contrastingly, some would consider writing piles of notes to be a huge waste of time. In this case, flashcards and mobile apps could be your best study buddies. You can even create your own:

1)      Gather only the most important points or equations/formulas on a specific topic and write down each in a “flashcard” or post-it.

2)      Store notes in a mobile gadget. Smartphones today have built-in features for note-taking, so accessibility would not be much of a problem. For advanced and customized features, there are free and paid note-taking mobile apps, which can be easily downloaded from the internet.

Note:  learning the techniques of effective note-taking is easy, but actually applying them takes a lot of motivation and self-discipline. Assess your objectives and decide how much you are willing to go for that excellent MCAT score.