How To Use Anki & Quizlet to Study for the MCAT

So… Anki and Quizlet… I won’t lie – when I began my MCAT journey, I wasn’t really sold on the idea of using cue cards. After all, I had managed to get through two years of undergrad without them, so why start now? In hindsight, I had no idea what I was in for. Fast forward a couple of months and I was fully reliant on Anki, unable to imagine studying without it. Safe to say, I was proven wrong! In this article, I’ll share how tools like Anki and Quizlet transformed my MCAT prep, highlighting the benefits of active learning and spaced repetition.

What I didn’t realize at the time – and what I quickly learned – is that the MCAT is on a whole different level compared to any midterm or final exam you’ve probably faced so far. The sheer volume of information can be overwhelming. So, unless you have a photographic memory (I wish I could say that I do), using study methods that promote active learning and leverage spaced repetition is key to retaining all that material.

You may be wondering – what exactly is active learning or spaced repetition, and why would it help me study for the MCAT? Active learning is anything that requires you to engage with information as you learn it: for example, practice questions, cue cards, or explaining a concept to a classmate. Cue cards apps – like Anki and Quizlet – help incorporate active learning into your studying. In contrast, passive learning strategies – such as reading information from a textbook or highlighting large chunks of text – do not require you to engage with the information you are learning, and thus are often not as effective at helping you remember key facts. For a test like the MCAT, where there are so many facts to remember, active learning is the way to go to get a good MCAT score.

Now that you understand active learning, you might be wondering about another key concept I’ve mentioned: spaced repetition. So, what exactly is spaced repetition, and why is it so effective for MCAT prep? Spaced repetition is a technique where you review material at gradually increasing intervals. The idea is that by spacing out your reviews, you help your brain commit information to long-term memory. It can also reduce the overall time you need to spend studying a particular topic. With the sheer volume of material on the MCAT, that’s definitely a huge advantage. Fortunately, thanks to technology, apps like Anki incorporate spaced repetition into their algorithms, making it easier to retain what you’re learning.

Anki – beloved by med students for a reason – is a cue card app that utilizes a spaced repetition algorithm. It prompts you to rate how difficult you found each card, and then uses that feedback to schedule when you’ll see the card again. The desktop version of Anki is free to download, but the mobile version requires a purchase for iOS users. The primary difference between the two is portability: the mobile version can be used on a phone or tablet, while the desktop version is limited to a computer. Personally, I opted for the free desktop version, and it worked perfectly fine for me!

When using Anki, you have two main options:

1. Use a Premade Anki Deck
2. Create Your Own Anki Cue Cards

Each option comes with its own set of pros and cons, which we’ll discuss further below!

Premade Anki Decks for the MCAT

The benefit of using a premade anki deck to study for the MCAT is that you do not have to invest any time into making cards of your own. However, the downside is that because you did not make them yourself, the cards are not personalized to you, and therefore might go over topics you are already comfortable with, go into more detail than may be required, or skip over topics you might need to focus on. There are many premade decks available to download on the internet, and I’ve listed some of the most historically helpful ones below! 

• Milesdown

• Jack Sparrow

• AnKing

Making Your Own Anki Cards for the MCAT

The benefit of making your own Anki cards for the MCAT is that they are completely personalized to you. However, the downside is that you have to invest some time into making them. Personally, I preferred making my own Anki cards, and would base the cards I made off of knowledge gaps I identified in my full-length tests (for example, if I got a question wrong because I didn’t know a physics formula or couldn’t remember an atomic trend, I would make cue cards for those pieces of knowledge). 

I used the Milesdown deck at the very beginning of my studying when I “didn’t know what I didn’t know”, but as I progressed, I found it more helpful to have ones that were personalized to my knowledge gaps and areas for improvement.

A User’s Guide to Anki for the MCAT

Anki can seem a bit intimidating if you haven’t used it before, but I promise it isn’t nearly as scary as it looks. Once you get the hang of things it becomes super easy to use. Additionally, don’t feel like you need to make your cards “aesthetically pleasing” if you opt to make your own (mine had a white background with black writing and a screenshot of a diagram or graph if I was feeling really fancy). 

Functionality is more important than anything. Here’s a helpful video that walks you through how to set up Anki on your computer and navigate its controls. Remember, to change the settings (daily limits, new cards etc.) to fit your needs and time constraints.

If you’re more familiar with Quizlet and Anki feels too intimidating – no worries, Quizlet utilizes active learning too! However, I will note that Quizlet is missing Anki’s spaced repetition algorithm – it will just show you the cards in the same order each time and does not allow you to choose how difficult you found the card. That being said, here are some helpful resources for using Quizlet to study for the MCAT!

Premade Quizlet Decks for the MCAT

There are also premade Quizlet decks to help you study for the MCAT. I’ve linked a few below!

• Rocinante MCAT Decks
• Super MCAT Master Study Deck
• MCAT Anki Master Study Deck

To browse even more decks, click here.

If you’re new to both apps, you might be wondering whether Anki or Quizlet is the better choice for MCAT prep. The answer really depends on your preferences and study needs – but personally, I preferred Anki because I found that its spaced repetition algorithm allowed me to memorize large quantities of information quickly and efficiently. Each app offers its own set of benefits and limitations. Here’s a quick comparison:

Quizlet Pros:

• The mobile app is free to download, unlike Anki’s mobile version
• Quizlet allows you to convert videos, slides, and notes into practice sets, cue cards, or study guides, and its “learn” feature turns flashcards into practice questions

Quizlet Cons:

• No spaced repetition algorithm
• Not as many popular pre-made decks for the MCAT

Anki Pros:

• Uses spaced repetition to help with long-term retention
• Offers more customization, such as the ability to suspend cards or set daily review limits

Anki Cons:

• Can be intimidating to learn how to use 
• Interface is not as aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate in comparison to Quizlet

Here’s a helpful video that goes over the differences between Anki and Quizlet in more detail so you can decide which one is better for you!

Studying for the MCAT is not something that is “one size fits all”. In fact, it’s more like one of those “choose your own adventure” books (please don’t make me feel old and tell me nobody reading this remembers those). That being said, if you have any MCAT questions, book a free consultation with one of our MCAT experts!