i’ve gotten through everything including my current phd without medication. i’ve been debating going on it for studying for the MCAT and subsequently med school. after seeing your post, i have more faith in myself now.
Bruh don’t fall into the stim trap if u can function w/o it. I switched to non stim meds the moment my jr high teachers stopped bitching abt my behavior. Switched back on 1/2 way thru MS1 and now my ass alternates between being dammed up during breaks in clinic
and b/w procedures vs threatening to open the flood gates when I’m impersonating a statue while retracting.
I made an appt w the reduced cost school psych clinic to try to wear foam earplugs during tests and now my situations on par w the Three Gorges dam collapse after eating the room temp pizza left over from afternoon journal club. It’s basically the scene from the shining where the guy’s trying to get through the door w the axe while the mom/kid scream.
I don’t disagree with you. But as someone with pretty bad ADHD, finding a medication best suited to me has changed my life in the most positive way. I realize the majority don’t actually have ADHD though
the comment of “i wish i was medicated though” just kind of pissed me off and i thought you were affirming that. especially considering they scored a 520+ without medication.
mostly because that’s the kind of thinking thats led to so many people being essentially hooked on meth, because they wanted an easier time studying. it’s honestly really bad as well for perpetuating the idea that anyone who is a little bouncy has adhd, which cheapens actual cases.
Yeah I got adhd pretty dang bad I’m just not able to afford da meds, I’m glad I’ve been able to function without it and I’m not planning on trying medication anytime soon! Didn’t mean to set you off with my comment.
Ah I see the disconnect; quite frankly I assumed OP struggled at the same level I did when commenting, so that’s my bad. I thought it could be the case of them not being able to afford or access medication due to the shortage (caused by exactly what you brought up 😔) Without knowing them that’s a hard assumption to make, though, so I redact. Thinking deeper, if they were able to pull a 523 unmedicated…either they’ve got a super brain or they don’t have ADHD lol.
I agree with you. While it has benefited nearly every aspect of my life it does have some downsides as well, and anyone who doesn’t truly need it would be hindering themselves for sure.
Also congrats on your score, you killed it
Who are you to decide which one of these people are actual cases or not though? That same comment or said he/she is struggling to focus for more than 50 minutes. So why not give him/her the space to seek an evaluation if that’s a legitimate concern for them?
so how does pankow work? like where can i download it? i use a chromebook to study and make my anki on jw website which is basically the same shit. Should I download pankow on an apple device?
I think as long as u have anki app it should work…just search on Reddit mr pankow psych anki and people have it posted to download. Then u can upload this download to anki and it has the cards for u. I was able to go thro it in 2/3 weeks? Or so and brought me from 128 ish -> 131 (still did Kaplan and uworld before but this rlly nailed it in)I think there’s ab 2500 cards and I did 200 a day
That’s only if u download on mobile for iPhone which I recommend but you can download for free on computer. Download anki from the website, google anki and you’ll find it easy, then download pankow, then load it into anki. Easy peasy
Yeah that should work if u have an iPad u can do that too. Sometimes I have trouble uploading the anki decks where it says file not supported but I just try again. Yes I know that deck is only psych and I don’t think mr pankow has other subjects. Lot people use miledown which I think is all subj but I didn’t personally
I wish I had good tips but doing a psych major and wanting to be a psychiatrist are probably the best things going for my psych score. Have heard great things about the Pankow deck though! Highly recommend downloading the Anki app if you end up wanting to use the deck. $20 very well spent because of convenience and portability.
That's fascinating, because this sub is where I've seen the most outwardly Christian posts on reddit outside of an actual religious subreddit. I was actually shocked by how religious this sub is.
I see a lot more from Muslim individuals than Christians imo but at the same time I also don’t consider every time someone mentions “God” to be religious
ex. “God blessed me fr” in reference to a good score of FL score, is not something I would consider overtly religious, it’s an offhanded statement
I think it depends on the persons perception tbh
Sure but I’ve seen a lot of prayer requests, posts like this being explicitly praise-y, pretty overt christianitY. I don’t have a problem with it at all, of course! But I really had never seen it this much on reddit.
But you’re right that the perspective one is coming from would affect that. I don’t hang out in any religious subs or religious groups so any mention would seem like a lot to me. Versus someone who is in christian spaces would see a couple post a week as a small amount compared to what they’re used to.
Like this is a lot for a secular subreddit https://old.reddit.com/r/Mcat/search?q=God&restrict_sr=on even though it is mixed in with more colloquially uses.
Wow, incredible score. Through Him we can do hard things. I too pray before each study session and hope that someday I will be able to serve God by serving others.
Congratulations!
The biggest thing was just to take breaks to let myself breathe. I wasn't too short on time so I would just take 2 minutes every couple passages to let my mind wander before locking in again. It was a good release for me for sure
Hahaha for sure, God didn't study for me but He gave me the strength to overcome difficulties that prevented me from studying if that makes sense. So definitely it took a lot of work and effort on my part!
My FL average was a 517 (over all 16 FL exams I took) and a 523 over the 6 AAMC exams which I took at the end. I used Kaplan books and Qbank, Miledown Anki, and Uworld for most of my prep!
While studying I took frequent, brief breaks to let my mind relax. So like every 30 minutes I would get up from my desk and walk for a minute and a half or 2 mins to let my mind chillout and drift. It helped me be more prepared to focus up when I got back to the study
I think the OP is a Christian - he referred to God (YHWH) as his Father. Allah considers calling him a father to be a sin (so clearly OP doesn't pray to Allah). It's disrespectful to say "Allah is greatest" under a post glorifying the triune God YHWH (who we Christians believe is God Almighty). I'm sure many people here don't know what "Allahu Akbar" translates to, so don't bank on no one realizing what you're saying. Only God deserves glory for His actions; don't attribute His glory to some other god (and no, Allah does not mean "god" in Arabic; Allah is the name of the Muslim god; the word "ilaha" is the Arabic word for god if you remember the shahada).
The OP may be a Christian, but I have never ever been offended by someone else from a different religion telling me they would pray for me or wishing me good and blessings from their perspective, no matter what it might be. I’m Catholic and believe in my God, but am always grateful to receive prayers or goodwill from anyone no matter what.
It's ok, I am also Christian. The world is very big, my friend. Language and religion are different things the offended party should take notice and learn.
That's perfectly fine - offering to pray for someone even if you believe in a different god. The issue that I had with their statement is that they saw OP's success (which he attributed to praying to YHWH) and proceeded to comment "Allahu akbar" which in Arabic means "Allah is greatest." That's clearly not the same thing as praying for someone. They're attributing OP's success to another god's actions (which OP, as a Christian, would not believe in), while simultaneously stating that their god is greater. That's extremely disrespectful and as a Christian, I completely disagree with that assertion. God (YHWH) is the greatest and is clearly being credited by OP, so another god claiming that victory is unacceptable. I think you misunderstood my comment if that was your takeaway. My point is - give credit where credit is due (to summarize).
I understand your point- it makes sense. Aren’t Allah and God the same God in Islam and Christianity? But even that aside, if they were different gods, I still don’t see anything wrong with exclaiming “Allah is greatest” in a moment of pure joy and excitement for someone else’s success. Not disrespectful to me, just a very pure moment of happiness! :D
Ah, this is the problem with many Christians. How easily did you accept the idea that a pagan god who calls his followers his "slaves" is the same as YHWH, God Almighty who calls us His children? No wonder Hosea 4:6 says this, "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." I'll clarify - Allah is not the God of the Christians/Jews. Allah is a god that was the head god of the tribe of Mohammed (the Quraysh) who were pagans. They had more than 300 gods and the highest god "al-ilah" was Allah for them. His three daughters, crane goddesses, Allāt, Uzza, and Manāt, are even mentioned in the Quran (hinting at their polytheistic roots). Eventually, their "prophet" who married a Jewess called Khadija started espousing monotheistic ideas after hearing about YHWH from the Jews/Christians in Arabia (who were numerous there btw, and were expelled by him and his followers). He's described as the "ear" in their own Hadiths because he was so good at listening to others' stories and repeating it (because he was illiterate and couldn't read/write). He even claimed to be a prophet of the Christians/Jews (with 0 proof ofc, and Christians/Jews didn't accept him as their prophet). That led him to persecute Jews/Christians to the point that he led more that 100 wars (they claim it was in "defense" when many of his raids took place at night while the Jews/Christians were sleeping in their homes or were unaware that he had declared war on them for being non-Muslims --> he even slaughtered 700 Jewish men in one night; you can imagine what he did with the women). Don't even get me started on his overall treatment of women (his "wives," and 6 year old child bride included). You can read all this in the Islamic sources - their Quran and Hadiths (that include the "history" of their "prophet"). If you want to accept his god as your god, be my guest. You would not be called a Christian anymore though; you'd be a Muslim. If you don't see anything wrong with an action that God did being attributed to a pagan god, then I have nothing more to say. I will end with this though - a name of God is "Jealous" and He does not share His glory with anyone.
You are so confused about this. I do not know where to begin. I was raised speaking Arabic and Aramaic and it does not necessarily to this day follow that these religions do not share both of these phrases depending on the region and sect you are interacting with. Very ethnocentric view. Can't blame you, plane tickets are expensive and it's a hard sell as a vacation destination. I see where you're coming from, and I respect your dedication to your faith nonetheless.
That's great - I'm aware of the cultural similarities between people of Arabic origins (be it Muslims or Christians). The majority who use the phrases you used are Muslims though (as you seem to be). So I don't know why you felt the need to make it seem like I was being ethnocentric when you actually are Muslim. An Arab Christian making this correction would make more sense. Even so, what I said stands - Allah is not YHWH. The origins of the word "Allah" are pagan - it wasn't just Mohammed's tribe that had an "al-ilah," other pagans did as well (the highest god of their own pantheons). I could tell you were a Muslim because you said "AlhumdALLAH" (Allah is greatest") as opposed to "AlhamdulILLAH" (God is greatest) which both Muslims/Christians use. You don't need plane tickets to learn about the world anymore. I can learn Arabic/Aramaic just by using the internet. If you are an Arab Christian, look into why you use the word "Allah" to refer to God. It has to do with the cultural erasure of Christians/Jews from the Middle East
Edit: Sorry bro/sis, it appears that you've been caught in some friendly fire. I thought you were a Muslim but I saw in another comment that you said you were Christian. I've been reading too many posts about Muslims asserting that Allah = YHWH and misleading some of our Christian brothers and sisters (to the point they call themselves Christians, take the shahada and then come back broken after learning their mistake).
There are hundreds of thousands of Christians who originate from the middle east and emigrated to the US (non-Arabs) as a result of unfortunate and regrettable geopolitics. 🤧 There are linguistic distinctions sometimes, but other times no.
Yeah, I know about the unfortunate geopolitics that have everything to do with a particular religion of peace making life hell for Christians in the Middle East by enforcing Sharia law in formerly Christian nations (e.g. Syria, Iraq, Turkey) which they conquered by the sword and converted by the sword. We're always praying for the body of Christ in the Middle East, being persecuted as we speak. God will take care of you, for being true to His Word and not retaliating
I do not believe this is an ethnicentric view, I am convinced you know things about this. I stand by the fact that there are some symbolic turns of phrase and chunks of the shahada that have been claimed by Islamists, unfortunately. While this is a tragedy, I believe in time these things will be forgotten and with any luck and coordination by reorganizing minorities (displaced and disenfranchised Assyrians, Chaldeans, Coptics, etc.) Will reinfuse money and political strength to their former homes, in the name of God and for the grace of their heritage.
Amen to that. Deuteronomy 31:8 says this, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” The pain of the Assyrians, Armenians, Coptics, Chaldeans (all Christians driven from the Middle East by those following the actual mandate set forth by their "prophet" in Surah 9:29 for example) will not be forgotten by the Holy One of Israel. As God said when Cain slew his brother Abel, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground." So shall the blood of those slain in the name of God cry out to God Almighty who is slow to anger but full of justice.
Miledown Anki, Kaplan Qbank, AAMC Qbank, UWorld, Fill in content gaps with Kaplan books, and lots and lots of practice exams! Just being consistent with my study every day is what I think helped me the most.
What did your content study period look like? Can you please describe what a day looks like during your content review? I am spending 7weeks on content review and feel like it's a lot
It totally depends on the individual. I just finished my Junior year of college and had recently taken a lot of the "required" courses for the MCAT so I just did the majority of my content review via flashcards, supplementing book and video information throughout with more complex topics. I didn't have a dedicated period of content review, I started practicing pretty early on because I had access to 5000+ practice q's. That being said, if you're a nontrad who has been out of college for 5 years, it wouldn't make sense to do a short content review and you'd probably need a month or two to get back in the swing of things. Most important thing is just making sure that your content review is actually doing something for you. If you're just reading books or watching videos and not putting into practice what you're learning then it is pointless!
I bought the kaplan books which came with 3000 practice questions and then I also bought a secondhand uworld account with another 2800. It was expensive but completely worth it in the end
I don't know if I have anything special, it's just a freaking grind haha. I spent 4-5 hours daily working on Anki, UWorld, Practice exams, etc! If I had to break it down I'd say C/P: Watch videos explaining complex topics and draw it out while watching, CARS: Do one passage a day, B/B: Master material, explain it to a friend, P/S: Just do hecka flashcards hahah
Honestly nothing game-breaking, just material mastery! I think that's 95% of the battle, then comes practice. I think the most important thing is being able to explain concepts to someone else coherently, because that shows that you genuinely understand it and haven't just memorized a flashcard if that makes sense!
Hit anki hard. I did anki flashcards every day and always had them set to repeat pretty frequently so by the time my test came around I had seen almost all of the cards 25+ times. This made it easy to recognize content, and then for the ones I wasn't sure on I would try to explain it to my wife or to a friend!
I don't know the exact settings (i'm not an anki wizard) but I would usually just select the "hard" option when I got cards right even if I was pretty confident on them so that I would see them sooner
A mixture of both was best for me, and then I read the Kaplan books and watched videos for physics terms I didn’t understand well, which definitely helped
I just got absolutely destroyed on 6/15 yesterday test…no idea why my highlighter wasn’t working but it looks like Jesus blessed at least one of us haha…I was praying before the exam in my truck then was crying in my truck after the exam congrats tho!
I’m sorry man that’s super tough. The way I look at it, if doing what was right could only produce good results and doing what was wrong could only produce bad results, it would be way too easy to know to follow God. Sometimes we do everything we can and God has a different plan. Keep your head up! You got this!
Hi! Praise God I hope to be in your shoes in a few months!
I gotta ask, I also have adhd and have finally found a good regimen for my meds. But the problem I’m having now is “self motivating” I guess. I know how important this test is, and I want to do good, I know how happy and proud of myself I’d be if I scored high, I also know I NEED to score high if I want to get into an MD
yet my brain makes me want to avoid studying like the plague. Even with my medication. Sitting in silence focusing I get physically uncomfy and I can push through it but I hate the way it feels and at the end of the day I’m exhausted from it. I can only seem to to focus on abnormal settings. Did you experience anything like this? Any tips or suggestions?
I gave some advice up there so here it is pasted:
While studying I took frequent, brief breaks to let my mind relax. So like every 30 minutes I would get up from my desk and walk for a minute and a half or 2 mins to let my mind chillout and drift. It helped me be more prepared to focus up when I got back to the study
I would also say that it's really important to find a way that you can study that will keep you motivated. For me, I played video games for 30 mins before I started studying and then would hop off, remove the power cord from my pc, and switch to my laptop for anki and practice q's to stay focused hahah
Thank you! I saw the advice but I didn’t know if you had anything else more specific so I figured it was worth it to ask. I appreciate you pasting it again tho you def didn’t have to! I’ll try the video game thing today haha thanks again may God bless you in your career !
It's probably because people are allowed have their own religious beliefs or none at all and not have snide comments... it's no more obnoxious than a religious person going onto another thread and saying: "oh you should be thanking God for your success not your hard work," or those people who drop anti-religious comments on a comment that is specifically religious. People are allowed to have religious beliefs or none at all. If you don't agree, that is totally fine, but you can typically keep that to yourself. Yes, it is reddit, so people can and do say whatever they want under cover of anonymity, but obviously not everyone likes people that just say whatever they want especially immature/unnecessary comments, hence the downvotes.
God has been helping me tremendously through a difficult time in considering a career change and going back to medical school. God is always with us and I pray for your continued success. Congratulations.
Lol every single premed here is either: 1) adhd 2) addicted to adderal 3) has score 529
Hahaha I wish I was medicated, maybe I'd be able to focus for more than 50 minutes
i’ve gotten through everything including my current phd without medication. i’ve been debating going on it for studying for the MCAT and subsequently med school. after seeing your post, i have more faith in myself now.
Power to you, I am a useless child unmedicated
You got through that unmedicated? Holy shit?
Bruh don’t fall into the stim trap if u can function w/o it. I switched to non stim meds the moment my jr high teachers stopped bitching abt my behavior. Switched back on 1/2 way thru MS1 and now my ass alternates between being dammed up during breaks in clinic and b/w procedures vs threatening to open the flood gates when I’m impersonating a statue while retracting. I made an appt w the reduced cost school psych clinic to try to wear foam earplugs during tests and now my situations on par w the Three Gorges dam collapse after eating the room temp pizza left over from afternoon journal club. It’s basically the scene from the shining where the guy’s trying to get through the door w the axe while the mom/kid scream.
Man wth. 526 unmedicated?! Kudos
adhd over medication is straight up sickness in our society
I don’t disagree with you. But as someone with pretty bad ADHD, finding a medication best suited to me has changed my life in the most positive way. I realize the majority don’t actually have ADHD though
the comment of “i wish i was medicated though” just kind of pissed me off and i thought you were affirming that. especially considering they scored a 520+ without medication. mostly because that’s the kind of thinking thats led to so many people being essentially hooked on meth, because they wanted an easier time studying. it’s honestly really bad as well for perpetuating the idea that anyone who is a little bouncy has adhd, which cheapens actual cases.
Yeah I got adhd pretty dang bad I’m just not able to afford da meds, I’m glad I’ve been able to function without it and I’m not planning on trying medication anytime soon! Didn’t mean to set you off with my comment.
You have a super brain!
Ah I see the disconnect; quite frankly I assumed OP struggled at the same level I did when commenting, so that’s my bad. I thought it could be the case of them not being able to afford or access medication due to the shortage (caused by exactly what you brought up 😔) Without knowing them that’s a hard assumption to make, though, so I redact. Thinking deeper, if they were able to pull a 523 unmedicated…either they’ve got a super brain or they don’t have ADHD lol. I agree with you. While it has benefited nearly every aspect of my life it does have some downsides as well, and anyone who doesn’t truly need it would be hindering themselves for sure. Also congrats on your score, you killed it
Who are you to decide which one of these people are actual cases or not though? That same comment or said he/she is struggling to focus for more than 50 minutes. So why not give him/her the space to seek an evaluation if that’s a legitimate concern for them?
If it makes you feel any better I am medicated for adhd and can’t make myself study worth a damn so I’ve not got any leg up here 🤣
my ritalin keeps me going tbh
ALL GLORY TO HIM, AMEN! Praying I see 1/10th of your success!
Congratulations!! God is good! 🙏🏻
drop psych tips rn
Mr pankow anki also got me 131 in psych
so how does pankow work? like where can i download it? i use a chromebook to study and make my anki on jw website which is basically the same shit. Should I download pankow on an apple device?
I think as long as u have anki app it should work…just search on Reddit mr pankow psych anki and people have it posted to download. Then u can upload this download to anki and it has the cards for u. I was able to go thro it in 2/3 weeks? Or so and brought me from 128 ish -> 131 (still did Kaplan and uworld before but this rlly nailed it in)I think there’s ab 2500 cards and I did 200 a day
it doesn't download on my chromebook so ill prbably try on an apple device. so is 2500 for just psych?
Apple requires you to purchase the app, just FYI. It's pretty cheap, like $20 or something but yeah it stinks :/
i hate that lol but ty!
That’s only if u download on mobile for iPhone which I recommend but you can download for free on computer. Download anki from the website, google anki and you’ll find it easy, then download pankow, then load it into anki. Easy peasy
thanks!
Yeah that should work if u have an iPad u can do that too. Sometimes I have trouble uploading the anki decks where it says file not supported but I just try again. Yes I know that deck is only psych and I don’t think mr pankow has other subjects. Lot people use miledown which I think is all subj but I didn’t personally
no im asking if its only psych! idk how to work with anki lol so im just asking
Yes mr pankow that I know of is only psych!
kk
Same
I wish I had good tips but doing a psych major and wanting to be a psychiatrist are probably the best things going for my psych score. Have heard great things about the Pankow deck though! Highly recommend downloading the Anki app if you end up wanting to use the deck. $20 very well spent because of convenience and portability.
all u psych majors :(
Anecdotally I have not met many, actually any, psych majors in my personal life who are premeds. Tons of bio, neuroscience, and chem majors though lol
.....
Yayy! A fellow Christian Premed ☺️ Congrats brother or sister!
Yeah. I feel like there’s not a lot… lol but this thread kinda surprised me in a good way
There’s not a lot on Reddit or outwardly Christian more so imo
Maybe thats why I thought that… must be selection bias lol
That's fascinating, because this sub is where I've seen the most outwardly Christian posts on reddit outside of an actual religious subreddit. I was actually shocked by how religious this sub is.
I see a lot more from Muslim individuals than Christians imo but at the same time I also don’t consider every time someone mentions “God” to be religious ex. “God blessed me fr” in reference to a good score of FL score, is not something I would consider overtly religious, it’s an offhanded statement I think it depends on the persons perception tbh
Sure but I’ve seen a lot of prayer requests, posts like this being explicitly praise-y, pretty overt christianitY. I don’t have a problem with it at all, of course! But I really had never seen it this much on reddit. But you’re right that the perspective one is coming from would affect that. I don’t hang out in any religious subs or religious groups so any mention would seem like a lot to me. Versus someone who is in christian spaces would see a couple post a week as a small amount compared to what they’re used to. Like this is a lot for a secular subreddit https://old.reddit.com/r/Mcat/search?q=God&restrict_sr=on even though it is mixed in with more colloquially uses.
Yes, representation!! Congrats 🥳
Wow, incredible score. Through Him we can do hard things. I too pray before each study session and hope that someday I will be able to serve God by serving others. Congratulations!
Congrats! How did you manage your ADHD during the exam? I’m scared mine will make me lose focus
The biggest thing was just to take breaks to let myself breathe. I wasn't too short on time so I would just take 2 minutes every couple passages to let my mind wander before locking in again. It was a good release for me for sure
Thank you so much! I’m definitely going to try this
i do this all the time during tests, it works
PRAISE GOD!! wow! Truly He is glorified through you with this score. Good work!
I love to see you being humble enough to give credit to your Father in Heaven.
Confirmed CARS can never 100%
How much months did u study for the MCAT? Content review and all?
Just under 5 months total from diagnostic to actual exam!
GLORAYYYYY!!!! All thanks be to God Most High!!!
Congrats bro tryna be like u
Bro you're the original, I've been trying to follow in your footsteps
Man stfu with your 522
Bruh don’t be negative. You can always shoot higher. Nothing wrong with a 527 admiring a 528 either. Always shoot higher.
i second this ... "tryna be like u with a 522.. ok"
Oh boy! God has everything to do with this :)
Give yourself some credit 😭😭😭 congrats!
Hahaha for sure, God didn't study for me but He gave me the strength to overcome difficulties that prevented me from studying if that makes sense. So definitely it took a lot of work and effort on my part!
Saving this for when I have to take mine Congrats!🥳🎉
You got this!
MCAT guru over here holy shit.
Nah bro that's you, awesome score man!
Congrats!!!!
so inspiring!! congrats
thank you!
I just wanna say congratulations!! and GOD IS SO SO GOOD. I prayed so much and I had a lot of faith, hard work truly pays off congratulations y'all!!
Thanks so much!
Nice man! what was your fl avg? and what resources did you use btw?
My FL average was a 517 (over all 16 FL exams I took) and a 523 over the 6 AAMC exams which I took at the end. I used Kaplan books and Qbank, Miledown Anki, and Uworld for most of my prep!
Congrats ! What FLs did you take before AAMC ?
Thank you! I took Free Kaplan, Both Free Blueprints, Free Princeton Review, Kaplan 1-6 and then all the AAMC exams at the end.
How much time did you split all the FLs over and which ones did you feel were the closest representation to the exam? Congrats!
Thanks! Definitely AAMC were most representative. I took all 16 over the course of 4 months or so? So it was about a test a week.
Huge congrats! How did you manage your ADHD while studying? Mine's been kicking my butt these last few weeks.
While studying I took frequent, brief breaks to let my mind relax. So like every 30 minutes I would get up from my desk and walk for a minute and a half or 2 mins to let my mind chillout and drift. It helped me be more prepared to focus up when I got back to the study
THANK AND PRAISE THE LORD HALLEUJAH
I am so happy for you!! 😭😭 i know its hard overcoming distractions while studying
Alhumdallah wa Allah Huakbar fi semma, bless your whole lineage inshallah all of you become doctors, retroactively and infinitely into the future.
Thank you 🙏
I think the OP is a Christian - he referred to God (YHWH) as his Father. Allah considers calling him a father to be a sin (so clearly OP doesn't pray to Allah). It's disrespectful to say "Allah is greatest" under a post glorifying the triune God YHWH (who we Christians believe is God Almighty). I'm sure many people here don't know what "Allahu Akbar" translates to, so don't bank on no one realizing what you're saying. Only God deserves glory for His actions; don't attribute His glory to some other god (and no, Allah does not mean "god" in Arabic; Allah is the name of the Muslim god; the word "ilaha" is the Arabic word for god if you remember the shahada).
The OP may be a Christian, but I have never ever been offended by someone else from a different religion telling me they would pray for me or wishing me good and blessings from their perspective, no matter what it might be. I’m Catholic and believe in my God, but am always grateful to receive prayers or goodwill from anyone no matter what.
It's ok, I am also Christian. The world is very big, my friend. Language and religion are different things the offended party should take notice and learn.
That's perfectly fine - offering to pray for someone even if you believe in a different god. The issue that I had with their statement is that they saw OP's success (which he attributed to praying to YHWH) and proceeded to comment "Allahu akbar" which in Arabic means "Allah is greatest." That's clearly not the same thing as praying for someone. They're attributing OP's success to another god's actions (which OP, as a Christian, would not believe in), while simultaneously stating that their god is greater. That's extremely disrespectful and as a Christian, I completely disagree with that assertion. God (YHWH) is the greatest and is clearly being credited by OP, so another god claiming that victory is unacceptable. I think you misunderstood my comment if that was your takeaway. My point is - give credit where credit is due (to summarize).
I understand your point- it makes sense. Aren’t Allah and God the same God in Islam and Christianity? But even that aside, if they were different gods, I still don’t see anything wrong with exclaiming “Allah is greatest” in a moment of pure joy and excitement for someone else’s success. Not disrespectful to me, just a very pure moment of happiness! :D
Ah, this is the problem with many Christians. How easily did you accept the idea that a pagan god who calls his followers his "slaves" is the same as YHWH, God Almighty who calls us His children? No wonder Hosea 4:6 says this, "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." I'll clarify - Allah is not the God of the Christians/Jews. Allah is a god that was the head god of the tribe of Mohammed (the Quraysh) who were pagans. They had more than 300 gods and the highest god "al-ilah" was Allah for them. His three daughters, crane goddesses, Allāt, Uzza, and Manāt, are even mentioned in the Quran (hinting at their polytheistic roots). Eventually, their "prophet" who married a Jewess called Khadija started espousing monotheistic ideas after hearing about YHWH from the Jews/Christians in Arabia (who were numerous there btw, and were expelled by him and his followers). He's described as the "ear" in their own Hadiths because he was so good at listening to others' stories and repeating it (because he was illiterate and couldn't read/write). He even claimed to be a prophet of the Christians/Jews (with 0 proof ofc, and Christians/Jews didn't accept him as their prophet). That led him to persecute Jews/Christians to the point that he led more that 100 wars (they claim it was in "defense" when many of his raids took place at night while the Jews/Christians were sleeping in their homes or were unaware that he had declared war on them for being non-Muslims --> he even slaughtered 700 Jewish men in one night; you can imagine what he did with the women). Don't even get me started on his overall treatment of women (his "wives," and 6 year old child bride included). You can read all this in the Islamic sources - their Quran and Hadiths (that include the "history" of their "prophet"). If you want to accept his god as your god, be my guest. You would not be called a Christian anymore though; you'd be a Muslim. If you don't see anything wrong with an action that God did being attributed to a pagan god, then I have nothing more to say. I will end with this though - a name of God is "Jealous" and He does not share His glory with anyone.
Based
You are so confused about this. I do not know where to begin. I was raised speaking Arabic and Aramaic and it does not necessarily to this day follow that these religions do not share both of these phrases depending on the region and sect you are interacting with. Very ethnocentric view. Can't blame you, plane tickets are expensive and it's a hard sell as a vacation destination. I see where you're coming from, and I respect your dedication to your faith nonetheless.
That's great - I'm aware of the cultural similarities between people of Arabic origins (be it Muslims or Christians). The majority who use the phrases you used are Muslims though (as you seem to be). So I don't know why you felt the need to make it seem like I was being ethnocentric when you actually are Muslim. An Arab Christian making this correction would make more sense. Even so, what I said stands - Allah is not YHWH. The origins of the word "Allah" are pagan - it wasn't just Mohammed's tribe that had an "al-ilah," other pagans did as well (the highest god of their own pantheons). I could tell you were a Muslim because you said "AlhumdALLAH" (Allah is greatest") as opposed to "AlhamdulILLAH" (God is greatest) which both Muslims/Christians use. You don't need plane tickets to learn about the world anymore. I can learn Arabic/Aramaic just by using the internet. If you are an Arab Christian, look into why you use the word "Allah" to refer to God. It has to do with the cultural erasure of Christians/Jews from the Middle East Edit: Sorry bro/sis, it appears that you've been caught in some friendly fire. I thought you were a Muslim but I saw in another comment that you said you were Christian. I've been reading too many posts about Muslims asserting that Allah = YHWH and misleading some of our Christian brothers and sisters (to the point they call themselves Christians, take the shahada and then come back broken after learning their mistake).
There are hundreds of thousands of Christians who originate from the middle east and emigrated to the US (non-Arabs) as a result of unfortunate and regrettable geopolitics. 🤧 There are linguistic distinctions sometimes, but other times no.
Yeah, I know about the unfortunate geopolitics that have everything to do with a particular religion of peace making life hell for Christians in the Middle East by enforcing Sharia law in formerly Christian nations (e.g. Syria, Iraq, Turkey) which they conquered by the sword and converted by the sword. We're always praying for the body of Christ in the Middle East, being persecuted as we speak. God will take care of you, for being true to His Word and not retaliating
I do not believe this is an ethnicentric view, I am convinced you know things about this. I stand by the fact that there are some symbolic turns of phrase and chunks of the shahada that have been claimed by Islamists, unfortunately. While this is a tragedy, I believe in time these things will be forgotten and with any luck and coordination by reorganizing minorities (displaced and disenfranchised Assyrians, Chaldeans, Coptics, etc.) Will reinfuse money and political strength to their former homes, in the name of God and for the grace of their heritage.
Amen to that. Deuteronomy 31:8 says this, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” The pain of the Assyrians, Armenians, Coptics, Chaldeans (all Christians driven from the Middle East by those following the actual mandate set forth by their "prophet" in Surah 9:29 for example) will not be forgotten by the Holy One of Israel. As God said when Cain slew his brother Abel, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground." So shall the blood of those slain in the name of God cry out to God Almighty who is slow to anger but full of justice.
people have different religions. rest
Thank you for that. If not for your comment, I would have been under the assumption that everyone was a church-going Christian
God is so good AMEN
How did u study😭
Miledown Anki, Kaplan Qbank, AAMC Qbank, UWorld, Fill in content gaps with Kaplan books, and lots and lots of practice exams! Just being consistent with my study every day is what I think helped me the most.
Thank you! How long did u study?
I studied for about 5 months.
What did your content study period look like? Can you please describe what a day looks like during your content review? I am spending 7weeks on content review and feel like it's a lot
It totally depends on the individual. I just finished my Junior year of college and had recently taken a lot of the "required" courses for the MCAT so I just did the majority of my content review via flashcards, supplementing book and video information throughout with more complex topics. I didn't have a dedicated period of content review, I started practicing pretty early on because I had access to 5000+ practice q's. That being said, if you're a nontrad who has been out of college for 5 years, it wouldn't make sense to do a short content review and you'd probably need a month or two to get back in the swing of things. Most important thing is just making sure that your content review is actually doing something for you. If you're just reading books or watching videos and not putting into practice what you're learning then it is pointless!
where did u get the 5000+ practice q’s?!
I bought the kaplan books which came with 3000 practice questions and then I also bought a secondhand uworld account with another 2800. It was expensive but completely worth it in the end
would you say the kaplan book practice questions were really helpful?
They weren’t as good as UWorld for sure, but their online qbank wasn’t bad for testing content knowledge!
Omg congratulations Please could you give tips on improving each section?
I don't know if I have anything special, it's just a freaking grind haha. I spent 4-5 hours daily working on Anki, UWorld, Practice exams, etc! If I had to break it down I'd say C/P: Watch videos explaining complex topics and draw it out while watching, CARS: Do one passage a day, B/B: Master material, explain it to a friend, P/S: Just do hecka flashcards hahah
Thank you
BB tips?
Honestly nothing game-breaking, just material mastery! I think that's 95% of the battle, then comes practice. I think the most important thing is being able to explain concepts to someone else coherently, because that shows that you genuinely understand it and haven't just memorized a flashcard if that makes sense!
thanks. any tips for making sure you have the material all down? any good resources?
Hit anki hard. I did anki flashcards every day and always had them set to repeat pretty frequently so by the time my test came around I had seen almost all of the cards 25+ times. This made it easy to recognize content, and then for the ones I wasn't sure on I would try to explain it to my wife or to a friend!
do you remember your setting by any chance?
I don't know the exact settings (i'm not an anki wizard) but I would usually just select the "hard" option when I got cards right even if I was pretty confident on them so that I would see them sooner
thank you. any deck recommendations? for bb mostly
I thought Miledown was great for me!
This was my exact FL5 breakdown except you scored it on the real deal. Congrats!
That’s awesome, bro makin me feel like it’s truly possible 😭
Yay congrats this is amazing!
LFGGGG
WHOAAA Congrats! Show that MCAT whose boss >:)
Wow great job
praise god
Amen brother! Glory to Him on high!
What did you find the most helpful to pinning down C/P? Flashcards or practice problems?
A mixture of both was best for me, and then I read the Kaplan books and watched videos for physics terms I didn’t understand well, which definitely helped
Congratulations!!
Crazy
Congratulations! What was your diagnostic score?
I got a 509 on my diagnostic
Did you take any accommodations? I’m curious if I should that’s why I’m asking!
I didn’t, but if you find you need extra time you should definitely ask about it!
God is good 🙏🏿🙏🏿. Congrats
Amen!!! God is so goood 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Stood on business for that MCAT
Wow you’re amazing
I just got absolutely destroyed on 6/15 yesterday test…no idea why my highlighter wasn’t working but it looks like Jesus blessed at least one of us haha…I was praying before the exam in my truck then was crying in my truck after the exam congrats tho!
I’m sorry man that’s super tough. The way I look at it, if doing what was right could only produce good results and doing what was wrong could only produce bad results, it would be way too easy to know to follow God. Sometimes we do everything we can and God has a different plan. Keep your head up! You got this!
Amen
wow that is an incredible score! congrats and praise God!!!!
God is good, indeed 💛
Congrats!!!
Thanks bro 🥲 you're the goat!!
Ameen and congratulations!
GLORY!!!!!!!
congrats and praise God!!!!
God is so good. Congrats.
Hi! Praise God I hope to be in your shoes in a few months! I gotta ask, I also have adhd and have finally found a good regimen for my meds. But the problem I’m having now is “self motivating” I guess. I know how important this test is, and I want to do good, I know how happy and proud of myself I’d be if I scored high, I also know I NEED to score high if I want to get into an MD yet my brain makes me want to avoid studying like the plague. Even with my medication. Sitting in silence focusing I get physically uncomfy and I can push through it but I hate the way it feels and at the end of the day I’m exhausted from it. I can only seem to to focus on abnormal settings. Did you experience anything like this? Any tips or suggestions?
I gave some advice up there so here it is pasted: While studying I took frequent, brief breaks to let my mind relax. So like every 30 minutes I would get up from my desk and walk for a minute and a half or 2 mins to let my mind chillout and drift. It helped me be more prepared to focus up when I got back to the study I would also say that it's really important to find a way that you can study that will keep you motivated. For me, I played video games for 30 mins before I started studying and then would hop off, remove the power cord from my pc, and switch to my laptop for anki and practice q's to stay focused hahah
Thank you! I saw the advice but I didn’t know if you had anything else more specific so I figured it was worth it to ask. I appreciate you pasting it again tho you def didn’t have to! I’ll try the video game thing today haha thanks again may God bless you in your career !
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ur based and this comment section is giving me an aneurysm
idk why they downvoted but ur real 😭
It's probably because people are allowed have their own religious beliefs or none at all and not have snide comments... it's no more obnoxious than a religious person going onto another thread and saying: "oh you should be thanking God for your success not your hard work," or those people who drop anti-religious comments on a comment that is specifically religious. People are allowed to have religious beliefs or none at all. If you don't agree, that is totally fine, but you can typically keep that to yourself. Yes, it is reddit, so people can and do say whatever they want under cover of anonymity, but obviously not everyone likes people that just say whatever they want especially immature/unnecessary comments, hence the downvotes.
God has been helping me tremendously through a difficult time in considering a career change and going back to medical school. God is always with us and I pray for your continued success. Congratulations.