AnKing MCAT Anki Tutorial + IFD Anki Deck

[@iSpeed257]

DAWGGG…. The end of this video is the needle in the haystack. Wow. You literally just changed my life. I’ll be ready, too. 💯 Testing mid-may 2023.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Good luck brother! You’re gonna knock it out of the park. Keep us updated!

[@yousufparekh9214]

really needed to hear that last 10 minutes, appreciate yall

[@cristina8974]

me too 🥹

[@julianrodriguez9114]

That mindset talk was much needed! Thank you so much for the help!

[@daliaflores3130]

Yess the mindset talk at the end is everything. Reminds me of an old saying from my culture, You can take your animal to the lake but you can’t make them drink. To be a leader in the medical profession, you have to be willing to take on the constant responsibility of life long learning. I was very happy with my career but as I entered my 30s I don’t feel fulfilled anymore, I want to be in patient care and diagnosis. I’m going to take my MCAT this year because I don’t want to be 65 and regret not trying and not pushing myself. Like you said, natural smarts only take you so far, consistent grit when things get hard is what makes the difference. Also, finding resources like the ones you talk of in your video. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

[@patfast]

26:03 "That's what separates a doctor from a previous pre-med that just has a biology degree and isn't very fulfilled in what they're doing" Holy crap did I need to hear that. I completely bombed the MCAT the first time around and absolutely NEED to do well (well enough for DO schools, anyway) this time. It really helps to have that fire under your butt when you remember what's at stake here. Thank you so much man.

[@SK-ry5we]

Thank you so much, you are the only creator on here that actually takes us with a step by step guide. I appreciate this so much. Please do more in the same format such as a general how to use anking for medical school and steps.

[@rutha2510]

wowwww. thank you the last bit of your video talking about mindset for MCAT success, it really stuck with me. I am writing the MCAT for the third time either March/April 2024 and this was a wake up call. Thank you, you have no idea how much your videos in general help me. it's time to show out!

[@samiatassi4526]

the last few minutes are so motivational. thanks

[@futuremachilad]

Oooh chile!!! @18:08 gave me the swift kick I needed. Thank you!

[@alvinsphan]

Thank you for that motivation at the end.

[@Minderfulife]

Thank you so much for the 10 mins at the end! I really need it rn

[@Jumb0shrimp]

ghost energy drink hit different

[@Reetwina]

I thank you for that. I really believe that you was calling me out. I NEEDED THAT

[@lauraa2778]

Thank you (both) so much yet again for posting excellent MCAT content! I also meant to get back to you on a previous YT vid, it is thrilling, imo, that more non-trad pre-meds are going for their dreams and taking on the science courses and then the MCAT! I thank you and your sister for posting such great content through your highly informational vids / passage breakdowns on this channel. Hope you both have a great Winter break!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Thank you so much for the nice comment! We do it for y’all!

[@m1tchy_]

Fire talk at the end bro. real words being said

[@SK-ry5we]

you motivated the f out of me. man thank you so much

[@Malik-my1tp]

Thank You Both of you for putting out so many helpful resources! I plan on taking the MCAT by the end of this June or early July and I was initially going to use the Kaplan books for my content review since the last time I took Chem & Physics was like in 2018 so basically have forgotten most if not all. Also I don't know Ochem & Biochem at all and Kaplan is so comprehensive that I was confident I will learn everything they could possibly test on. Issue is I have never used textbooks for any class aside from like calculus and always relied on lectures and power points throughout Uni (biopsych major) so I reallyy slack on reading those chapter because I hate reading and Im a slow reader. I recently came across your channel and saw your 4 Month plan using Khan academy videos & Anki - learning through videos would be IDEAL since I know I won't lag on watching them - I wish there was a lec on every Kaplan chaoters lol. My only concern/question is that would your 4 Month plan be suitable for someone like me who has literally 0 knowledge of OChem & Biochem and barely remembers other stuff? Like, would you say the Khan Academy videos teach everything in the detail that I would need to learn something from scratch & follow along your schedule without having prior knowledge of the topics? So Sorry for the long comment! But you guys are the only channel I have seen online that I feel like I can trust when it comes to advice regarding med school and the MCAT. Also amazing that you both do all this while being in med school, Thanks again! Hope you can answer :)

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Hey Malik! Thanks for all the kind words! In my humble opinion, khan academy videos are ideal for people who have taken those classes before. If you literally haven’t taken any ochem/biochem, the KA videos might not be quite as in depth as you want from a conceptual standpoint. Now, if you feel pretty good about other subjects, you could watch KA, be honest about what you do/don’t understand, and then look up other videos - or even do some light textbook reading - on those topics only. That way you cut back on the amount of extra reading you do while still understanding the material. At the end of the day, you’ll also take a lot of practice questions and that will be a way to gauge whether KA taught that subject to you well enough. Keep getting ochem questions wrong? Probably need to find some supplemental help on ochem (whether that’s us or other channels, prob both!) Does that answer your question?

[@Malik-my1tp]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Thank you for the quick response! Yes it does, I was afraid of that lol. I think I will start your 4 month plan starting tomorrow and as you said, Watch KA and make note of the things I don't understand and then do some quick reading from the books to understand those concepts. I'll use the practice questions and maybe the chapter summary for the corresponding topics to see if something was left out of the video. I am really hoping to use your plan to give myself some structure and serve as a due date for me :D One last quick question since I have read differing opinions on it, to learn and completely understand OChem do I need to remember everything from General chem? and does Biochem require knowledge of Ochem? Because I noticed the week 1 topics involve a lot of biochem stuff and I always wonder if I am supposed to know all those protein/amino acid structures already or am I supposed to just memorize how they all look........I assumed I must know what those structures and chains indicates already.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

@@Malik-my1tp good question. You do need to understand o chem to understand biochem fully, and same with gen chem and o chem. You may should change the order of your content review to get the most out of it. That shouldn’t change any other part of the structure though.

[@Malik-my1tp]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Forsure, sounds good. Thanks again for taking the time to respond, truly appreciate it. Goodluck to both of you in med school!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

@@Malik-my1tp thank u, and good luck to you! Keep us updated!

[@JuanBugarin-gx6xb]

Man, thank you so much for this bro. Appreciate your encouragement!

[@zuziasue7980]

Thank you for the motivation 😊

[@jayo-t2z]

hey! great video! I was wondering if there could be an updated link for the IFD anking? The current link does not have tags

[@Classiccami]

Is there an update link for the AnKing + IFD HY Download ?? When I download on the new version of anki it shows only 3 cards in the deck

[@angeljimenez5991]

How do you recommend approaching the decks if you've already started reading the Kaplan books? I've read through like 2-3 chapters for the different subjects so far over about 3ish weeks. I'm taking the MCAT mid-January.

[@ItsJustFitz]

I’m in the military and I wanted to go to medical school but the selection process is super competitive. I got into PA school instead and it was such a grind through IPAP that I was kind of thinking about just counting my blessings but that last part about not living a fulfilled life made me buy the set of Kaplan books to start studying for the MCAT.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Doesn’t PA school offer a bridge into DO programs where you don’t have to take the MCAT?? I could be making that up but look into it!

[@ItsJustFitz]

Yeah Lake Eerie College of Osteopathic Medicine offers one but your boy owes the Army another 5 years so the best route for me is through the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences which is essentially the military's medical school. And it's free (I mean, *mostly* free) as opposed to the bridge program which is, last time I checked, almost as much as a traditional medical school program anyway. @@InformingFutureDoctors

[@Tito_Bonito]

Really appreciate the resource. I am already a good ways into the Anking deck, so is there a download link for just your high yield deck? So I can study that separately before finishing my Anking deck. Thanks again for all your videos!

[@qetsiyah1766]

Did you ever find the separate deck?

[@adaezeahanotu9109]

With the IFD study plan you created. How do we incorporate the Kaplan Books?

[@isabellesamaan9933]

Hi, I recently tried to download the deck, but it says I have to pay for an anking subscription.

[@ahmedshurbaji]

Thanks for the helpful video! I have a few questions: 1. You uploaded another Anki video that had a significantly smaller deck (~3k cards instead of ~6k). Which do you fully recommend? Is 6k cards too much? 2. You have said to use Kaplan books before but in your 4 month study plan you only suggest it as a supplemental source. Could you explain a bit? I've been using Kaplan so far. 3. The Anki settings that you recommend in your other video are very different to the ones AnKing goes through in this video. Which do you recommend for the AnKing deck? Also, why do the "Hard" and "Good" feedback buttons have the same time? p.s. your discord link is expired! Thanks so much!

[@lilig9661]

I have this same question. Do we need to do both?

[@RA-pu9jo]

I have a question if you have the time to answer it. I found mistakes in the Anking V2 deck. Have any recomendations on what I can do about the mistakes in this deck? People online have found it to have around 400 cards of mystakes and/or gramatically complicated wording. THANK you for your time.

[@clodia1834]

I just watched the video where you explain the Anki and the MilesDown deck to beginners. In that video you recommend that we use the deck that has MilesDown cards organized by Khan Academy videos is that the one that's included in this deck?

[@RP13433]

first off love your videos second off what's the difference between the anking deck and the miles down deck?

[@diyadand2161]

Hi! Please help, I downloaded this deck but when I select all the cards under ANKING MCAT tab when I browse I only see 5310 cards, but when I click on Note types I get 5921, which do I suspend???

[@d.r.8638]

I just downloaded this deck and have the same issue, did you figure out what to do?

[@diyadand2161]

@@d.r.8638 hey i never figured it out so i just started with the deck, but I stopped using it because I think it is way too much info for content review and a bit redundant i highly reccomend just sticking with the regular old milesdown deck, you can breeze through content review faster and spend more time on practice questions and practice exams which i think is so much more important. Good luck on your journey @d.r.8638 you've got this!!!

[@RonalieAbeyratne]

My AnKIng-MCAT Stack only has 5310 cards. Is that a problem?

[@d.r.8638]

Did you ever figure out what to do? I'm running into the same problem!

[@marjorieIbeth]

Thank you so much for your content. It has been very helpful during my time studying. I was wondering if I should pick between milesdown/kaplan or unsuspend for all under each topic. For instance, I mostly watch Khan Academy videos. If I finish watching all of the videos on enzymes, do I unsuspend the milesdown, Kaplan, and pixorize cards? How do you suggest I use them if I do mostly khan academy? Thank you!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Just unsuspend the cards for the resource you used! If you watched Khan, just unsuspend the videos under the Khan tag. Most of the cards across resources are the same/similar because you can't really change the sciences.

[@Safarose.]

i want to find the absolute best anki deck to use with the kaplan book. which do you recommend? the Anking + IFD or the Rebopbebop? or a different different deck?

[@rhustiev]

Hello, I appreciate you for all the helpful videos you created. It made my MCAT prep more organized. I’m following your 12 weeks study plan and the deck that you suggested is miledown. Will it be helpful for me to download this deck (AnKing) to supplement the Miledown deck that I’ve been doing so far? Or should I just focus on AnKing and drop the Miledown deck. I’m just a little confused since the previous video that you posted about on your week 0 of your study guide, you solely suggested the miledown deck to use and on this video you didn’t emphasize miledown. I hope you can answer this question. Again thank you!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Yes I wasn't aware of the AnKing deck when we made the study guide video. If you'd like to switch over to the AnKing deck, you will still be able to keep your progress from the MileDown deck. I touched on it briefly in this video, but it's called "protecting your scheduling". Check out this reddit post ( www.reddit.com/r/AnkiMCAT/comments/p7h0g3/anking_mcat_overhaul_v2/ ) and it'll tell you how to protect your scheduling. Again, the decision is yours as far as which one you go forward with, but this is how you would do it!

[@rhustiev]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Thank you for the clarification. I am definitely going to purchase the High Yield Book. I'm taking the MCAT this coming April and watching your videos makes my journey a little less daunting. Again I truly appreciate all the work that your putting out there.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Good luck, we'll be here the whole time! :)

[@martylarty]

Hi John, thank you so much for this video! I really appreciate the resources you've created. To clarify, what do you mean that you have to review Anki before studying? Do you mean the Anki cards you learned the day before or *all* of the Anki cards you've covered thus far?

[@raycenteno7698]

Yes. Thats what he means

[@andrewv2780]

Thank you for making this video it was super helpful! I have the Kaplan books but I am already about 60% of the way through the set. This video does a great job explaining how to use the deck for the chapters that you have yet to do, but do you have any suggestions on how to adapt the study strategy to un-suspend and review cards for chapters that I have already done? Should I un-suspend one or two past completed chapters a day or just un-suspend the cards for all the chapters that I have done so far all at once and work through them that way while still adding the new cards as I complete new chapters? Thanks!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Hey Andrew, I saw your message on Instagram but I thought i'd respond here so everyone can see it. The answer for that is really going to be up to you. There's going to be a large volume of content that any normal person would've forgotten so I think unsuspending the cards in mass might be a headache. If I were you, I would probably wake up and skim the chapters you've already done (like i'm talking 5-10 minutes per chapter) and then unsuspend those cards. Do that for like 3ish chapters per day before you start your new cards for the day until you get caught up. That way you'll at least have seen the stuff before you get quizzed on it. But all things considered, I think either approach will work well.

[@ajkayany]

When I try to download the AnKing deck, most of the cards don't get added? They say skipped while processing. Do I have an error with my Anki settings that make this deck incompatible?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

hmm i'm really not sure, I haven't seen that one! I'd make sure you have the correct Anki app downloaded, etc. but i've never heard of that error code! You can definitely check out the all knowing Reddit though and they may have some explanations!

[@patrickj.7782]

@@InformingFutureDoctors I also got the same thing. It only downloaded 600 or so cards.. thats too bad

[@JT-tx2ns]

That’s probably because you might already have some of the cards. He did say that it’s a combination of other decks. Did you already download cards from a different deck before downloading this deck?

[@timtim4088]

@@patrickj.7782 If you have the miles-down deck from the previous video it will overlap with the Anking deck and result in 600 cards. If you delete the miles down deck and redownload the Anking deck the problem should be solved

[@tigerjesseokwulehie9633]

Quick question! Would I be able to redownload the milesdown deck afterwards or would that cause the same problem? Also if I download this deck is the milesdown deck even necessary?

[@AshleyVitek]

Hi there, i am not able to get to your guys' website anymore. It keeps giving me an error saying your domain is not connected to a website yet. I have been able to access it before so i am not sure what is happening.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Try now!

[@ciarah3108]

Would you recommend this deck over the MilesDown deck previously recommended? Does that change if I don't have the Kaplan books? Does anyone else have a preference or any advice to offer? I started studying today with the KA review schedule, but am unsure which Anki deck I should be using now...

[@emilybarlow9950]

how many cards are supposed to be in the high yield deck? my anki is saying 611 cards - is this correct? thank you so much! (:

[@saraheoliveira]

HeIlo! I'm working through Week 0 playlist and am now feeling conflicted after watching the MilesDown + KA video. Would you recommend using this deck over the MilesDown in conjuction with the KA videos?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

This deck has the MileDown deck inside of it so yes I prefer this one over the MileDown one. But the workflow is identical

[@ethanchang535]

what addons do i need to use the deck

[@mariamyazdi274]

What is the name of the book? I want to read this :)

[@emilybarlow9950]

also anyone else have 5310 cards for AnKing?

[@youssefdaoud6645]

yea I am getting that issue too. Not sure what to do

[@raedkarami9307]

hello, When I am downloading the deck in the description, I am only getting 1 card . In the portal you get when transferring a deck to Anki, all the cards have "skipped" written next to them, can you help me with this issue

[@raedkarami9307]

only the IFD deck is working the baking one is not.

[@scarletth8211]

If I have 1 month to study (full-time), will it be enough to use IFD high yield book with the Anki flashcards to get a 513? And at what point should I do my UWorld/AAMC practice questions? Thank you for your videos, I really wish I discovered your channel sooner!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Depends on how strong your science background is and what you’re currently scoring. I have no doubt the high yield guide + Anki deck will raise your score, but if you’re starting now at a 490 it may not be enough to get a 513 especially with only a month to go. I’d start timed practice questions ASAP

[@scarletth8211]

​@@InformingFutureDoctors I haven't taken a full length in a minute but I know I have a lot of content gaps :( How many pages is the High Yield MCAT Book & Math Guide and about how long do you think it'll take to get through? Or should I just study the topics I come across with UWorld? But I also feel like I might end up studying things that aren't high-yield that way, but I don't know.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

@@scarletth8211 The HY book is just shy of 100 pages and the Math guide is around 30 pages. If you've had 0 content review or you need a quick overview of the more common topics, it's great for that! However it is not going to cover all of your content and it's meant to be a supplement. I think it's great at what it does but I wanted you to be aware of what it's not before you buy it, it's not all of the content in 100 pages because that would be impossible ha... but if you have to test in a month and can't push your test, I'd start with something like our HY guide. It'll take 1-3 days to get through and then you can jump into UWorld/AAMC questions/whatever else you have. Try to quickly lay a content foundation and then dive into questions and take & review as many as you can!

[@scarletth8211]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Great, I will go ahead and do this. Thank you for the advice and thorough explanation!

[@CristianPilgrim]

Hi, I downloaded the Anking + IFD HY deck from your link you left in the description and have the occlusion addon but I'm only seeing 3030 cards in mine. Did I miss something? Thanks in advance for anyones response.

[@1walilah]

Hello Were you able to have the Complete 5310 cards from the deck link under description of this video yet ?

[@quentintsang6316]

Thank you for this amazing guide! I'm wondering, after the review at the beginning of the day, are we suspending all of the cards again and then choosing the new material that we are going through? Or is the "cmd+j" option just at the beginning and we are supposed to keep recycling through the old material in addition to the new chapters (i.e., we don't have to suspend all again, just un-suspend the new topics)? Thanks in advance for clarifying!

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

You're welcome! Theoretically, once you unsuspend a card for review, you should never suspend it again. You want those cards to continue to show up throughout your review so you know all the sciences when you sit down to kill that exam in a couple months!

[@quentintsang6316]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Amazing, thank you for clarifying! I'm completely bought-in for your program, can't wait to get started!

[@naemaalzaher1952]

what is the best setup for anki cards?

[@GameBrosTMT]

I already started Anking, but want to incorporate the HY deck, how do I add that deck without messing up my current cards?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Here's a link to just the high yield deck. You can add it separately and it shouldn't mess with anything you've already got. However, I'd save a backup file of your current deck just in case something funny happens :) hope this helps drive.google.com/file/d/1phZcjq3ISWGQrjNSLt5LgT4N-c3Nf-ud/view?usp=drive_link

[@fayrozash2430]

So should I do this or can I stick to the coffin milesdown deck and still be good?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

You’ll be fine with coffin milesdown, just make sure you really understand the concepts behind the card and you’re not just memorizing cards (but that goes for any deck) :-)

[@justhangingwithdee7330]

What is the book called that you talked about at the end of the video John?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

I believe you're talking about The War of Art by Steven Pressfield ?

[@michaelaustin558]

Question this is probably super obvious but when you review the cards from the previous day do you then resuspend them or keep the unsuspending with the new set of cards as well

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Keep them unsuspended. You should never be resuspending cards for the most part.

[@daltonm1040]

thanks john. if I already have the ankingv2 deck, how can I add in the IFD deck?

[@daltonm1040]

i’ve made a lot of edits to cards in anking and don’t want to lose those, can I download the IFD separately?

[@RP13433]

Do you have the link to your ebook?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

It’s in the description of this video:-)

[@alexandracastro1516]

so... is the miledown anki deck bad? or do you really recommend the anking deck ?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

no miledown is still good! I just prefer the AnKing deck because it actually contains the miledown deck within it.

[@brittneyclough434]

Thank you so much for this video! I tried downloading the AnKing-MCAT deck using the link under the video. However, I did not see the any tabs under browsing for #AK_MCAR_V2 which is suppose to divide the khan academy videos and the Kaplan Chapters. Is there something I am not doing correctly? Can anyone pleaseee help?

[@tigerjesseokwulehie9633]

I’m having the same problem! I’m not sure how to fix it so I can have it organized into the tags

[@valeriarestrepo3887]

@InformingFutureDoctors I am also having the same issue with not seeing the #AK_MCAT_v2 tag after using the download link in the description box. Is there any way this can be fixed? Thank you!

[@ronakpatel7919]

How do I get the image occulusion add on?

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

You can get all add ons by searching “Anki ___ add on”, so in this case Anki image occlusion add on. It’ll bring you to a page where it gives you a code to plug into your Anki settings and there are tons of videos out there that can tell you where to find that setting etc.!

[@ronakpatel7919]

@@InformingFutureDoctors ok tysm

[@spideylover4105]

Only the IFD deck will download, not the anking

[@patrickj.7782]

If anyone can figure out how to fix the download error with this deck please reply to this comment and let me know please, thanks.

[@patrickj.7782]

It only downloaded the IFD high yield ones, but none of the anking ones because it says "note type has changed"

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

@@patrickj.7782 did you have the AnKing deck before?

[@patrickj.7782]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Nope, never had it before

[@xOxILUBCOVExOx]

Anyone else only seeing 5829 cards?

[@dehkes]

I've been using this deck for the past two weeks, and while it does have lots of helpful content, I find the formatting a bit abrasive (the text is VERY big) and the very casual/incorrect/imprecise English is at best unhelpful (given this is for an exam that tests in very precise, formal English). I've also been finding some erroneous cards. Studying the wrong information is a pretty dangerous thing for a student to do while preparing for the test.

[@InformingFutureDoctors]

Thanks for this comment, This is John and i think there are some very valuable critiques in here! We’ll have to agree to disagree on the value of using casual English for the purpose of practice. Yes the exam is in rigid scientific jargon but your internal schemas are not. Many students fall into the trap of memorizing science jargon so I believe casual English for flashcards is helpful for the majority of students to create proper conceptual frameworks. The scientific literature I’ve read on the subject tend to support this claim. However, I’m willing to concede it may not be everyone’s preference and perhaps someone as yourself is smart enough to think in science terms. That’s great and impressive but unfortunately it’s not most of us lol I’m most surprised and appreciative of you pointing out mistakes. AnKing as a company puts thousands of dollars into having proofreaders poor over their decks so I am shocked to hear it’s littered with mistakes as you’re implying. I’ve scrolled through the deck and have not found any but that doesn’t mean they’re absent. While it is helpful for you to say there are mistakes, perhaps it would be more helpful for you to point out specific mistakes. It seems as if you’re very knowledgeable on the subjects and currently going through the deck so if you want to make a list of all of the cards and the corrections that need be made, I’ll be sure to make your fellow future doctors aware. You can email that corrections list at [e-mail] . Until then, I’ll put a disclaimer that all free decks are created by individuals and thus allow for the possibility of mistakes. There are paid services that are constantly scrubbing their decks but if you want a free option, this is the gold standard. It requires an incredible amount of manpower & time to make something as comprehensive as these decks so i am appreciative of what the AnKing’s team compiled but i am aware that improvements can always be made! I’m excited to see what improvements you might suggest via email and how we can help the next generation of physicians together :)

[@dehkes]

@@InformingFutureDoctors Hi, John. I'm very appreciative of the work you do. First point of clarification: I forgot that the download included the AnKing cards in your download, I was just referring to the IFD High Yield cards. I absolutely agree with you regarding using less formal internal schemas and wanted to clarify my comment regarding the language. Hypocritically, "casual" was the wrong word choice. The MCAT's use of precise language doesn't change how we encode information, but it does necessitate students train to attend to material closely. I find myself getting tripped up by quite a few cards due to inconsistent commas, prepositions, awkward word choices, and misspelled words. Just that extra second of having to verify what the card is actually saying can be grating. In some cases, these *do* affect the accuracy of the information presented.

[@dehkes]

@@InformingFutureDoctors I have been editing or deleting cards as I work through, so providing specific examples (which I should have done initially) is difficult, but one representative example would be the card "Column Chromatography: Separates chemicals via {{c1::polarity}}". Using charged beads in column chromatography does separate components based on their polarity (ion-exchange chromatography). However, using beads with variable sized pores separates components based on their size (size-exclusion chromatography) and using beads with a specific receptor or antibody separates proteins based on their affinity for those receptors/antibodies (affinity chromatography). These are all types of column chromatography. Assuming any column chromatography question is referring to the polarity of components would leave room for error on test day.