Blog
Notes on memory, testing and the habits that make studying stick.
What the raw number actually buys you at real medical schools, beyond the percentile itself - based on AAMC's own percentile tables and applicant/matriculant averages.
Study scienceA concrete plan for spreading first-pass learning and review across the weeks you actually have, instead of discovering the schedule the week of the exam.
Study scienceWhat AMCAS actually splits your transcript into, and why the science GPA gets scrutinised separately from your cumulative GPA.
Study scienceThe steepest part of the forgetting curve happens in the first day, not the first week. A single review inside that window changes the whole trajectory.
Study scienceThere's no such thing as studying with a show on in the background - just rapid task-switching, and switching has a measurable cost every single time.
ProductEncodr keeps three separate signals on your trouble spots, not one - an early-warning list, a persistent-trouble list, and your own flags. Here's what each one is actually for.
Study scienceInterrupted or incomplete tasks are remembered better than finished ones. It's a real psychological finding, and it's a big part of why a study feed with no end works.
Study scienceWhatever you study in the middle of a long session is the material most likely to disappear. Here's why, and what to actually do about it.
ProductWhat's actually browsable in Encodr's library without building anything yourself - curated exam classes, standalone courses, and full book decks.
ProductThe Texas General Lines P&C exam has two halves - national insurance knowledge and Texas-specific law - and you have to pass both. Here's how they break down.
ProductThe Texas-specific unit of the P&C exam gets less study time than the national coverage material, even though it's just as capable of failing you. Here's what's actually in it.
ProductThe Library's Recommended row and Search's "For You" results run on similar logic but answer different questions - browsing vs. looking for something specific.
ProductA breakdown of the Ultimate MCAT Deck's 6 units and 79 chapters, section by section, so you know what to expect before you open it.
ProductEncodr's main study surface is a scroll, not a stack of cards you flip through one at a time. Here's what that actually means and why it's built the way it is.
ProductMost "MCAT decks" are a merge of whatever's floating around. Ours is built to the AAMC's actual four-section breakdown, and every card traces back to a source.
ProductPractical prep advice for the Texas P&C licensing exam - how to split time across national and Texas-specific material, and why scenario practice matters more than definitions alone.
ProductOnboarding asks what you're interested in, but what actually gets recommended to you shifts based on what you finish and keep coming back to - not just what you said once.
ProductA typed-answer card that only accepts one exact string is testing your ability to guess the app's preferred wording, not your knowledge. Here's how synonym matching avoids that.
Study scienceThe famous "laptops make you dumber" study is more specific than the headline version everyone remembers. Here's what handwriting actually seems to help with.
ProductA straight comparison of the free places to get MCAT flashcards - shared Anki decks, Quizlet sets, and Encodr's Ultimate MCAT Deck - on sourcing, structure, and scheduling.
ProductA quick tour of the card templates Encodr actually uses, and why a feed mixes them instead of sticking to one format.
ProductSuperMemo invented modern spaced repetition and still runs the most tunable algorithm available. Encodr trades that tunability for a schedule you never have to think about.
ProductA textbook is the accurate source. It's just a bad delivery mechanism for making facts stick. Here's the actual trade-off between reading and retrieval practice.
ProductSimple online flashcard makers are fast to start and thin on everything after that. Here's where they actually fall short of real spaced repetition.
ProductRemNote merges note-taking and spaced repetition into one editor. Encodr keeps them separate on purpose. Here's what that trade-off actually costs and buys you.
ProductA database with a "show random row" view can technically function as flashcards. Here's what it's missing that isn't obvious until you're relying on it.
ProductStreaks, leaderboards, and league tables are effective at getting you to open an app. Whether they're effective at getting you to remember anything is a separate question.
ProductBrainscape schedules by how confident you say you are. Encodr schedules by a fixed interval ladder and puts studying in a feed instead of a session. Here's the actual difference.
ProductAsking an AI to generate flashcards is fast, but the cards it produces have quality problems that are easy to miss until you're relying on them. Here's what's different about how Encodr handles AI-generated content.
Study scienceStudying in the same environment you'll be tested in gives a measurable recall boost. It's real, but it's smaller and more fragile than the advice usually implies.
ProductA badge for opening the app every day is a vanity metric. A badge for knowing when you actually know something is a different kind of signal.
ProductA deck is only as trustworthy as whatever it's based on. Encodr lets a class carry its own bibliography, and lets any card point straight to the entry that backs it.
ProductHanding out one code shares a whole class. Editing a card you don't own doesn't touch the original - here's what actually happens instead.
ProductA memory trick you write on your own card is different from a private note you jot on someone else's. Encodr treats them differently on purpose.
ProductQuizlet is easy to start and easy to use. What it doesn't do is decide when you should see a card again - and that's most of the job.
ProductPhysical index cards get the actual studying right. What they can't do is remember when to show you a card - you have to.
ProductA well-organised notes doc is genuinely useful for one thing - looking something up. It's not built for the other thing you need, which is remembering it without looking.
ProductThe scheduling under the hood solves the same problem. Almost everything around it is different, and that's where the actual decision lives.
ProductA spaced repetition app that needs signal is an app that misses exactly the days it was supposed to save you on.
ProductA huge deck is not a huge daily workload, if the scheduling is doing its job. Here's why the math actually works out.
ProductThe interval ladder is simple on purpose. Here's exactly how a card climbs it, and why nothing else about the card matters to the schedule.
ProductThe two most common flashcard formats test different things. Picking the wrong one for the material is why some decks feel useless.
ProductSome of your best study time is spent driving, walking, or doing dishes. Voice mode is built for the minutes you'd otherwise waste.
ProductYou don't have to start over. Here's what actually happens to your cards, your progress, and your scheduling when you import.
ProductStarting from a finished deck and starting from a blank one solve different problems. Most people need both, at different times.
ProductYou can hand a chat assistant your syllabus, your notes, or a PDF and have it write cards directly into your account. Here's what that actually looks like.
Study scienceYour sense of "I've got this" is a judgment your brain makes cheaply, using the wrong evidence. Here's what it actually tracks.
Study scienceComing up with an answer yourself, even a wrong one, teaches you more than being handed the right one.
Study scienceWorking memory doesn't get bigger with expertise. What gets bigger is the size of the pieces it can hold.
Study scienceThe all-nighter isn't a study strategy with a downside. It's skipping the step where most of the learning happens.
Study scienceIt's the most common study technique in the world, and it's one of the least effective ones we've actually measured.
Study scienceTwo study sessions can look identical from the outside and produce completely different results, depending on one thing.
Study scienceThe gap between how prepared you feel and how prepared you are isn't random. It's predictable, and it's caused by how you studied.
Study scienceStudying one topic at a time feels efficient. Mixing topics together produces better results, for a specific and slightly annoying reason.
Study scienceCramming isn't irrational. It optimises for the wrong exam - the one tomorrow, not the one that matters in a month.
Study scienceThe single best-supported finding in learning science is also the easiest to skip. Here's what it actually says.
Study scienceForgetting isn't a study failure. It's a predictable process, and once you can predict it, you can schedule around it.
Study scienceIf a study method feels smooth and comfortable, that's usually a sign it isn't building much memory.
Study scienceRe-reading feels productive because it feels easy. That feeling is the problem.
Study scienceThe idea is old, simple, and almost always explained badly. Here is the version that is useful.
Study scienceMost failed decks are not a discipline problem. They are a card-writing problem.