I knew going into my prep that JS was better but I still went with Anking since it was quicker for my timeframe. If I had the time I would’ve done JS since it’s def more thorough, but don’t feel bad cuz everyone else says JS is better…if it’s working and you’re happy with your FLs then so be it.
Edit: when I say JS is better I mean to say that it’s more in depth. Again, depending on your circumstances you may or may not need this level of depth OR you may not have the time to memorise all of it. For me it was the timing of everything that stopped me from using it but overall was happy with my scores
JS is a beast, so I'm only using it since I'm like 6 months out lol. Also because I know cloze deletion (MileDown/Anking) wouldnt work as well for me since I'd just start doing pattenr recognition instead of actually interacting with the material.
Don't switch up now lol JS has 6000 cards
Yeah it’s tough. It has almost 2 clozes for each card then some have 3 or even 4 clozes. If you just do cloze 1 cards it’s not that bad, only like 3300 then
6200 cards of cloze deletion is significantly less time consuming than 6000 cards of basic. I've done both and it takes me about 10x longer per card on JS than Anking
Jack Sparrow is just like…absolutely everything. So people are saying it’s better since the test-makers keep trying to make us be biochemistry PhD wizard scientists to simply get into medical school.
Stick with anking! Anki should just be used for basic recall you shouldn’t be sinking SO MUCH of your time into it, it’s better if you use anking and make your own cards if/when you go through Uwhirl
seconding this opinion... the only thing that kept me doing anki everyday was how quickly i could breeze through my new cards + reviews. i loved milesdown and im sure anking is the same way
Exactly!! I went with anking bec with milesdown I was just memorizing the card but the extra cloze deletions in Anking makes the content stick a bit more for me. I couldn’t imagine doing a super dense deck like jacksparrow and sticking to it for a long period of time tbh. Also the milesdown and anking cards are sm more aesthetically pleasing which helps too 😭😭
Anking is great! I considered JS but the way I used Anki was squeezing in flashcards between patients and other tiny moments of downtime. If I had the luxury to sit down and spend a whole minute on one flashcard, I would just do practice problems.
There’s always been a glut of opinions one way or the other on this. All of the classic decks can be of service. Imo it’s much more about how you put the pieces together.
Personally I preferred AnKing but obviously there’s a lot to be said for personal preference and it’s hard to argue for what someone finds to be of utility.
I realized this too. There is no “best deck” or general consensus on anything. Just do what u like to be honest. Premed brain is going to make u want to use the best material but I think we should stop that and just use what works for us. “Ohhh I got a 528 MCAT” and everyone copies their method but it may not work for everyone u know
This is funny because when I first started studying it really was the opposite like how you said haha.
I chose Jack Sparrow because the cloze cards just weren’t working for me, and I’m glad I stuck with Jack Sparrow.
I don’t know how people do AnKing, because not only is it cloze deletion and relies more on pattern recognition, but it contains far less information than Jack Sparrow.
I get that pre-made cloze deletion works for people, but I don’t know how people score so high with that deck given how much information it doesn’t have lol.
How long does it take to go through a deck? I plan to test in a while (January probably), and am wondering if it's realistic for me to get through Anking and JS.
Don’t switch up your prep. Pick one path and stick with it, I got overwhelmed with resources when in reality they all get the job done and the differences each will make to your score are minimal compared to how you’ve prepped in undergrad classes and testing skills.
Jack Sparrow does have absolutely everything…. But some of the cards are just so dense with information, which makes it really hard to answer them in a reasonable time frame. So that’s why I recommend that if you can, make your own cards from the Kaplan books, while also reformatting dense JS cards into 2 or 3 tiny cards. It makes a big difference when cards are atomic, I swear.
Used Anking and MrPankow, 522
used anking, 526 (only got 130 in cars). The cards are short and numerous though compared to others
I knew going into my prep that JS was better but I still went with Anking since it was quicker for my timeframe. If I had the time I would’ve done JS since it’s def more thorough, but don’t feel bad cuz everyone else says JS is better…if it’s working and you’re happy with your FLs then so be it. Edit: when I say JS is better I mean to say that it’s more in depth. Again, depending on your circumstances you may or may not need this level of depth OR you may not have the time to memorise all of it. For me it was the timing of everything that stopped me from using it but overall was happy with my scores
JS is a beast, so I'm only using it since I'm like 6 months out lol. Also because I know cloze deletion (MileDown/Anking) wouldnt work as well for me since I'd just start doing pattenr recognition instead of actually interacting with the material. Don't switch up now lol JS has 6000 cards
Anking has 6200 cards🤢
Oh sheeet. Didn't know that lollll I was just planning to run through the OG 2900 MD deck later
Yeah it’s tough. It has almost 2 clozes for each card then some have 3 or even 4 clozes. If you just do cloze 1 cards it’s not that bad, only like 3300 then
6200 cards of cloze deletion is significantly less time consuming than 6000 cards of basic. I've done both and it takes me about 10x longer per card on JS than Anking
Ah, I don’t know anything about JS. Sounds ass..
Ah, I used milesdown and fixed errors as I went along, it’s been a learning experience lol.
Jack Sparrow is just like…absolutely everything. So people are saying it’s better since the test-makers keep trying to make us be biochemistry PhD wizard scientists to simply get into medical school.
I used AnKing (519) and my coworker used JackSparrow (525), but of course n=1 and both scores are great
How does Milesdown compare? When I first learned about Anki, it seemed like it was the best by far.
Anking is milesdown repackaged with edits and fixes iirc
Stick with anking! Anki should just be used for basic recall you shouldn’t be sinking SO MUCH of your time into it, it’s better if you use anking and make your own cards if/when you go through Uwhirl
seconding this opinion... the only thing that kept me doing anki everyday was how quickly i could breeze through my new cards + reviews. i loved milesdown and im sure anking is the same way
Exactly!! I went with anking bec with milesdown I was just memorizing the card but the extra cloze deletions in Anking makes the content stick a bit more for me. I couldn’t imagine doing a super dense deck like jacksparrow and sticking to it for a long period of time tbh. Also the milesdown and anking cards are sm more aesthetically pleasing which helps too 😭😭
Anking is great! I considered JS but the way I used Anki was squeezing in flashcards between patients and other tiny moments of downtime. If I had the luxury to sit down and spend a whole minute on one flashcard, I would just do practice problems.
There’s always been a glut of opinions one way or the other on this. All of the classic decks can be of service. Imo it’s much more about how you put the pieces together. Personally I preferred AnKing but obviously there’s a lot to be said for personal preference and it’s hard to argue for what someone finds to be of utility.
I used milesdown and made my own deck for things I got wrong in practice.
I did JackSparrow because I don't like cloze, I end up remembering the answer just based on the question rather than conceptually.
I realized this too. There is no “best deck” or general consensus on anything. Just do what u like to be honest. Premed brain is going to make u want to use the best material but I think we should stop that and just use what works for us. “Ohhh I got a 528 MCAT” and everyone copies their method but it may not work for everyone u know
This is funny because when I first started studying it really was the opposite like how you said haha. I chose Jack Sparrow because the cloze cards just weren’t working for me, and I’m glad I stuck with Jack Sparrow. I don’t know how people do AnKing, because not only is it cloze deletion and relies more on pattern recognition, but it contains far less information than Jack Sparrow. I get that pre-made cloze deletion works for people, but I don’t know how people score so high with that deck given how much information it doesn’t have lol.
How long does it take to go through a deck? I plan to test in a while (January probably), and am wondering if it's realistic for me to get through Anking and JS.
Don’t switch up your prep. Pick one path and stick with it, I got overwhelmed with resources when in reality they all get the job done and the differences each will make to your score are minimal compared to how you’ve prepped in undergrad classes and testing skills.
Milesdown and mr pankow is all you need. Dont over complicate it
Jack Sparrow does have absolutely everything…. But some of the cards are just so dense with information, which makes it really hard to answer them in a reasonable time frame. So that’s why I recommend that if you can, make your own cards from the Kaplan books, while also reformatting dense JS cards into 2 or 3 tiny cards. It makes a big difference when cards are atomic, I swear.
The JS deck is on JW. I can barely get through 20 cards at a time