Confused about the different decks within AnKing MCAT deck

[chromatodoc9]

This might be a really basic question and I’ve tried to find the answer but the information I’m finding is very overwhelming and I just want a straight forward answer so I apologize in advance.

What exactly is the difference between the “AnKing MCAT deck” and the other “decks” included when I downloaded AnKing, like “Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems”? I understand the latter is the actual title of the MCAT section for bio/biochem, but for example, are the cards within say chapter 1 of biology different between the two decks? does the separate deck include more MCAT style questions on the cards, and the AnKing deck cards contain more review like cards? I’m very new to Anki overall and just want to make sure I’m not studying double the cards that I need to, and would like to know which deck I “should” study for general content review. I’m not sure if the biological and biochemical foundations deck is for further along in my studying or what, but any advice or info would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

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You’re not missing anything—this is confusing at first.

1. What are these different “decks” you see?

When you import the AnKing MCAT package, you typically get a parent deck with several subdecks underneath it, such as:

• AnKing MCAT
  • Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
  • Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
  • Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
  • Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS)
  • etc.

In most setups, these are not separate, duplicate decks with different content types. They’re just organizational subdecks by MCAT section living under the main “AnKing MCAT” umbrella.

Think of:

• “AnKing MCAT deck” = the whole package (all sections together).
• “Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems” = one section (subdeck) of that same package.

2. Are there duplicate cards between “AnKing MCAT” and “Bio/Biochem”?

In a normal import:

• If you click the top-level deck (AnKing MCAT) to study, Anki will pull cards from all the subdecks, including Bio/Biochem.
• If you instead click only “Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems”, you’re just studying that section.

You should not be seeing a separate second copy of “chapter 1 biology” cards in two different decks. They’re the same cards, just viewed at different levels in the deck tree.

You can confirm this by:

1. Going to the Browse screen.
2. Searching for a specific card (e.g., a unique keyword).
3. Checking the Deck field – you should see it listed in only one subdeck (like AnKing MCAT::Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems), not in both.

3. Is one more “MCAT-style” and the other more “review-style”?

For the official AnKing MCAT releases I’m aware of:

• The card style (basic, cloze, MCAT-style questions, etc.) is determined by the note type/template, not by which subdeck it’s in.
• So Bio/Biochem cards inside the MCAT deck are not a different “mode” of cards; they’re just the Bio/Biochem portion of the same deck.

If you downloaded some additional MCAT deck separately (e.g., a different creator’s “Biological and Biochemical Foundations” deck, outside of the AnKing hierarchy), then you could be double-studying—but that would appear as a completely separate top-level deck, not a subdeck under AnKing MCAT.

4. What should you actually study for content review?

For a straightforward setup:

• Pick one consistent deck source for MCAT (e.g., the official AnKing MCAT deck).
• For content review:
  • Most people either:
    • Study from the subdeck that matches what they’re reviewing now (e.g., only Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems), or
    • Study from the top-level “AnKing MCAT” deck but control which sections are active using tags/suspensions.

To avoid double-studying:

• Don’t add / unsuspend equivalent content from another separate MCAT deck at the same time.
• Use only the AnKing MCAT deck and its subdecks, especially while you’re new.

5. If you want concrete confirmation

If you’re comfortable sharing:

• Post a screenshot of your deck list showing exactly how “AnKing MCAT” and “Biological and Biochemical Foundations…” appear.
• Or, share the exact names/structure you see.

I can then tell you very specifically:

• Whether you have just subdecks, or
• Whether you actually imported multiple different MCAT decks and might be duplicating content.

But in the vast majority of cases:
You are not supposed to be doing double the cards. The “Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems” deck is simply your Bio/Biochem section inside the AnKing MCAT deck.

[chromatodoc9]

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

That screenshot helps a lot—thank you.

Based on what I can see:

• Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems is indeed a top‑level deck, separate from your AnKing MCAT deck.
• That means you almost certainly downloaded two different MCAT resources:
  • one is the AnKing MCAT deck (with its own internal subdecks),
  • the other is a standalone Bio/Biochem deck from another source.

So if both decks cover MCAT Bio/Biochem, you can end up double‑studying similar content.

---

What I’d recommend

1. Pick one main MCAT deck to stick with (e.g., AnKing MCAT).

2. Temporarily stop using the other to avoid dupes:

   • Easiest: click the gear next to Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems → Delete
     (only after you’re sure you don’t want it).
   • Or, just ignore it and never study it; you can even rename it to OLD – Bio/Biochem (don’t use) as a reminder.

3. For content review, use:

   • AnKing MCAT → and within that, focus on the Bio/Biochem section (either by studying that subdeck only or by unsuspending only those cards).

---

Quick check for duplicates (optional)

If you’re worried you’ve already double‑added some material:

1. Open Browse.
2. In the left panel, Shift‑select both decks (AnKing MCAT + Bio/Biochem).
3. Sort by “Question” and scroll to see if there are clearly identical questions in both.

If you’d like, you can post a second screenshot showing:

• the inside structure of “AnKing MCAT” (expand it with the arrow),
• plus the standalone Bio/Biochem deck,

and I can give more specific “keep this / ignore this” advice.

[chromatodoc9]

I must’ve just downloaded another deck a while ago and forgot about it!

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

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That makes total sense—this happens a lot when testing out decks early on.

Given your screenshot and what you just said, here’s the simple way forward:

1. Choose one main MCAT deck

   • If you like the structure of AnKing MCAT, use that as your only MCAT deck.
   • Treat the standalone “Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems” deck as an extra you don’t need.

2. Prevent double‑studying

   • Safest option:
     • Rename the extra deck to something like
       ZZZ - OLD Bio/Biochem (don’t study)
       so it sinks to the bottom and you won’t click it by accident.
   • If you’re sure you won’t use it:
     • Click the gear next to that deck → Delete.
       (This deletes only that separate deck, not AnKing MCAT.)

3. Do all your Bio/Biochem from inside AnKing MCAT

   • Expand AnKing MCAT and find the Bio/Biochem subdeck inside it.
   • Study only that subdeck when you’re doing Bio/Biochem content review, or use tags/unsuspension within AnKing MCAT to control what appears.

If you’d like, post a screenshot with AnKing MCAT expanded, and I can point to exactly which subdeck to use and how to structure your review so you’re not overwhelmed.