Anki Cards MCAT: 7 Powerful Flashcard Strategies Top Scorers Use (And a Faster Alternative) – Stop wasting hours tweaking decks and start studying smarter for a higher MCAT score.

Stop Obsessing Over “Perfect” Anki Cards For MCAT

If you’re prepping for the MCAT, someone has definitely told you:

“Just use Anki cards. That’s what all the 520+ people do.”

They’re not wrong that flashcards + spaced repetition are OP for the MCAT.

But here’s the problem: *a lot of people spend more time managing Anki than actually learning.*

That’s where a faster, more modern option like Flashrecall comes in. It gives you all the memory-boosting power of flashcards and spaced repetition, without the clunky setup.

You can grab Flashrecall here (free to start):

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Let’s break down how to actually use MCAT flashcards effectively, what most people do wrong with Anki, and how Flashrecall can make your life way easier.

Why Flashcards Work So Well For The MCAT

MCAT is basically a giant test of:

• Do you remember the content?
• Can you apply it under pressure?

Flashcards are perfect for this because they combine:

• Active recall – forcing your brain to pull the answer out, not just reread it
• Spaced repetition – reviewing stuff right before you’d forget it
• Chunking – turning massive Kaplan/Berkeley chapters into bite-sized questions

Anki is famous for this, but it’s not the only way to get those benefits.

• Built-in active recall (you see the question, try to answer, then reveal)
• Smart spaced repetition with auto reminders
• Works on iPhone and iPad, and even offline
• Free to start, fast, and modern-looking (no 2005 interface vibes)

Anki vs Flashrecall For MCAT: What’s The Difference?

Let’s be honest:

• Confusing to set up (add-ons, settings, sync, card types…)
• Ugly and clunky on mobile
• Time-consuming if you’re trying to make “perfect” cards

• A simple, clean app that just works
• To make cards instantly from:
• screenshots (e.g., UWorld, AAMC passages, lecture slides)
• PDFs
• YouTube videos
• text, audio, or typed prompts
• Auto spaced repetition and study reminders without messing with settings
• The ability to chat with your flashcards if you’re confused about a concept

So if you like tinkering, Anki is fine.

If you just want to learn fast and not fight your app, Flashrecall is way easier.

Again, here’s the link:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

1. What Makes A Good MCAT Flashcard (Anki Or Flashrecall)?

Whether you’re using Anki decks or Flashrecall, card quality matters more than card quantity.

A good MCAT flashcard is:

• Short – one idea per card
• Clear – no vague, wishy-washy wording
• Active – forces you to think, not just recognize
• Contextual – ideally tied to how it shows up on the MCAT

Bad MCAT Card Example

> Front: Glycolysis

> Back: A metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate, producing ATP and NADH…

That’s a mini textbook, not a flashcard.

Better MCAT Cards

Split that into several:

• Front: What are the net ATP and NADH produced per glucose in glycolysis?

• Front: Where in the cell does glycolysis occur?

• Front: Is oxygen required for glycolysis?

In Flashrecall, you can quickly create these from a screenshot of a diagram or table:

• Snap a pic → app auto-detects text → turns it into cards you can clean up in seconds.

2. Pre-Made Anki MCAT Decks vs Making Your Own

You’ve probably heard of big Anki MCAT decks like:

• MileDown
• JackSparrow
• Or other Reddit-famous decks

These can be helpful, but here’s the catch:

When Pre-Made Decks Are Useful

• To cover broad content fast
• To make sure you’re not missing major topics
• As a starting point, especially early in content review

When Making Your Own Is Better

• When you keep missing the same kind of question
• For high-yield mistakes from practice exams
• For passage-based reasoning and “why is this answer wrong/right?” type stuff

With Flashrecall, you can do both:

• Create your own cards manually
• Or generate cards instantly from:
• AAMC practice passages (screenshots → cards)
• PDF notes from Kaplan/Berkeley/Princeton
• YouTube MCAT videos (paste link → auto cards from transcript)

That means you don’t waste time typing every little thing, but your cards still feel “yours”.

3. How Many MCAT Flashcards Should You Do Per Day?

Everyone’s different, but some rough guidelines:

• During content review: 100–200 cards/day (mix of new + reviews)
• During practice phase: Fewer new cards, more reviews + cards from mistakes
• Final month: Mostly review + cards based on full-length exam errors

The important part is consistency.

This is where Flashrecall’s study reminders and spaced repetition help a ton:

• You get gentle nudges to study
• The app shows you what’s due today
• You don’t have to manually track anything

Anki can do this too, but it often requires tweaking settings and understanding intervals.

Flashrecall just handles it.

4. Turning MCAT Practice Questions Into Flashcards

One of the biggest mistakes:

People do UWorld/AAMC questions, read the explanation… and then never see that concept again.

Instead, you should be turning mistakes into flashcards.

Example: CARS

You miss a CARS question because you misread the author’s tone.

In Flashrecall, you could create:

• Front: In CARS, what’s the best way to identify the author’s tone?

Or snap a screenshot of the explanation and let Flashrecall auto-generate a card, then edit it.

Example: Bio/Biochem

You miss a question about competitive inhibition.

• Front: How do Km and Vmax change in competitive inhibition?

Repeat this for every concept you miss. Over time, your deck becomes a personalized MCAT weakness killer.

5. Use Images And Diagrams (Especially For Bio/Biochem And Phys)

Some stuff is just easier to remember visually:

• Kidney nephron
• Cardiac cycle
• Enzyme graphs
• Physics circuits
• Amino acid structures

With Flashrecall, this is stupidly easy:

• Take a picture of a diagram
• Turn labels into flashcards
• Or keep the image on the back of the card so you’re forced to visualize it first

Example:

• Front: Draw or visualize the Michaelis-Menten curve. How does competitive inhibition change it?
• Back: Same Vmax, higher Km → curve shifts right (image on back to confirm)

You can also learn amino acids this way:

• One card: “Draw serine from memory” (active recall)
• Back: image of serine + key properties

6. Don’t Just Memorize – Understand (Chat With Your Flashcards)

MCAT isn’t just “What is this fact?”

It’s “What happens if I change this variable?” or “Why is this answer wrong?”

This is where Flashrecall has a huge edge over basic Anki-style cards:

You can actually chat with your flashcards.

So if you have a card on, say, Le Chatelier’s principle, and you’re like:

> “Okay but what happens if I increase pressure in a gas reaction with equal moles on both sides?”

You can ask inside the app. It’ll walk you through the logic instead of you just memorizing the definition.

That’s insanely useful for:

• Physics and Chem reasoning
• Biochem pathways
• Psych/Soc scenarios

It turns flashcards from “front/back trivia” into a mini tutor.

7. How To Fit Flashcards Into Your Daily MCAT Schedule

Here’s a simple structure you can use:

• Do your due reviews in Flashrecall (or Anki if you insist)
• Add new cards from yesterday’s content or practice

• Content review (videos, books, notes)
• Practice questions (UWorld, Qpacks, etc.)

• Add cards from:
• Missed questions
• Concepts that felt shaky
• Diagrams you want to remember
• Quick review session

Flashrecall helps here because:

• It works offline (library, commute, random downtime)
• Syncs across iPhone and iPad
• Gives you an easy, clean interface so you don’t dread opening it

Should You Still Use Anki For MCAT?

You can. Tons of people do.

But if you:

• Hate tinkering with settings
• Want to make cards from images, PDFs, and YouTube in seconds
• Want built-in active recall, spaced repetition, reminders, and even chat-based explanations
• Prefer something that feels like a modern iOS app

…then Flashrecall is just a better experience for most MCAT students.

You can start free and try it alongside whatever you’re doing now:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Use whatever tool you like — Anki, Flashrecall, a mix of both — but don’t just “do flashcards.”

Build targeted, high-yield MCAT flashcards, review them consistently, and let spaced repetition do its thing.

That’s how people actually go from “I forget everything” to crushing the MCAT.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Quizlet good for studying?

Quizlet helps with basic reviewing, but its active recall tools are limited. If you want proper spacing and strong recall practice, tools like Flashrecall automate the memory science for you so you don't forget your notes.

Is Anki good for studying?

Anki is powerful but requires manual card creation and has a steep learning curve. Flashrecall offers AI-powered card generation from your notes, images, PDFs, and videos, making it faster and easier to create effective flashcards.

What's the fastest way to create flashcards?

Manually typing cards works but takes time. Many students now use AI generators that turn notes into flashcards instantly. Flashrecall does this automatically from text, images, or PDFs.

How do I start spaced repetition?

You can manually schedule your reviews, but most people use apps that automate this. Flashrecall uses built-in spaced repetition so you review cards at the perfect time.

How can I study more effectively for this test?

Effective exam prep combines active recall, spaced repetition, and regular practice. Flashrecall helps by automatically generating flashcards from your study materials and using spaced repetition to ensure you remember everything when exam day arrives.

Related Articles

• MCAT Quizlet: Why Most Pre-Meds Are Studying Wrong (And The Better Flashcard Strategy) – Stop wasting hours on random decks and learn how to actually remember MCAT content faster.
• Anki MCAT: The Complete Flashcard Strategy Most Pre-Meds Get Wrong (And What To Do Instead) – Learn how to actually remember your MCAT content instead of drowning in decks.
• Anki For MCAT: 7 Powerful Flashcard Secrets Most Premeds Don’t Know (And a Faster Alternative) – Use these proven strategies (and a better app) to memorize MCAT content without burning out.