MCAT Preparation Courses

The MCAT examination is a standardized test taken by students who aspire to study in medical schools. The examination consists of four sections which are interdisciplinary. These sections are Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior, and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.

Since every medical school in the U.S. and most Canadian medical schools require an MCAT score for admission, the competition for acquiring better scores in the exam has become imperative. Students often opt to join prep courses that can help navigate them through their preparation for the exam or at least join courses that help students in their self-preparation.

Benefits of Taking an MCAT Prep Course

Using a prep course to study for the examination helps students improve their scores but at the same time, these courses focus on giving the student an idea of how the exam is conducted officially. Knowing the pattern of the exam and the kind of questions that are repeatedly asked in it provides the student with a sense of cracking the exam that is not only associated with having a certain knowledge about the syllabus and its content.

The courses also offer students comprehensive study plans providing the students with customized study plans that can help them clear the examination with the 90th percentile can secure them admission in almost every medical school in the country. The tests that are frequently taken during the duration of the course make the student understand their weaknesses and prepare according by setting a goal score that can aspire to given their base score.

Best Prep Courses for MCAT

• The Princeton Review MCAT Prep- The Princeton Review offers MCAT prep courses under different titles each of which offers different benefits to the students. A few of these are-
  • MCAT 515+ Immersion- which is an intense preparation course that costs a total of $6,849. It contains 860+ hours of instruction, practice, and a 1-on-1 personalized study manager. They offer a 24/7 on-demand tutoring feature in this course which lets the student clear their doubts, and prepare according to their schedule rather than the schedule assigned to them. Apart from the content lessons and strategy lessons offered in the course, they have 16 full-length practice tests and the AAMC practice materials are also provided through the course.
  • MCAT 515+- The most popular course overall is MCAT 515+. They provide one-on-one study advisors and 123 hours of live instruction. In addition, it includes 12 practice exams tailored to each section and nine MCAT books. Additionally, the candidates receive exclusive access to MCAT Topic Focus, worth $1,399.
  • Ultimate- is a course offered for $2,299 which is available both online and in-person with 123 hours in a classroom. They offer 17 full-length practice tests and include all AAMC study materials along with a total of 9 MCAT books. It also includes 500+ on-demand videos covering the MCAT study content which has been crafted by experts in the field.
  • Winter Bootcamp- is the course offered by them for $2,399 with a guarantee of obtaining above 510 in the exam. This offers 4-6 weeks of specialized instruction which is split into 33 hours of Biology/ Biochemistry, 12 hours of Organic Chemistry, 18 hours of General Chemistry, 18 hours of Physics, 21 hours of Psychology/ Sociology, and 21 hours for the CARS section of the exam. They also offer 15 full-length practice tests along with all AAMC content.
  Along with these, they have a Self-Paced option for $1,199, a Private Tutoring option for $175/hour, and a Comprehensive Admission Counselling Program for $3,500.
• Magoosh MCAT Prep Review- The most affordable option offered for MCAT prep is by Magoosh with a 7-day money-back guarantee if the student does not find the course to their benefit. The options offered are-
  • 1-month Premium- which provides 1-month access to 380+ content review videos, 740+ questions, 3 full-length practice tests, and study schedules. They also offer a +10-score guarantee all for $379.
  • 12-month Premium- is a plan that costs just $399 providing 12 months of access to 380+ content review videos, 740+ questions with detailed explanations to every practice question, and study schedules.
  The specialty of the course is that they offer a 7-day free trial with 60 MCAT lessons and 16 practice questions with no credit card commitment that lets the student choose the course of their choice by knowing what they are getting themselves into. If the student doesn’t get a 10+ score in the examination after taking the course, they guarantee a refund to the student.
• Kaplan MCAT Review- Kaplan offers 3 options for students who want to join an online prep course for the MCAT. This is all based on the time the student has to prepare for their upcoming examination. The options are-
  • On Demand Course-It is a course that costs $1,699 and provides access to pre-recorded lessons and a question bank with 3,000+ questions. It also contains 17 full-length practice tests along with a 7-book MCAT subject review set that will be provided to the student. They will get 6-month access in all.
  • Live Online Course-It is a course that costs $2,099. The course gives students access to 143 hours of recorded online instruction as well as customized homework assignments. This is also an option provided for 6 months in all.
  • In-Person Course- This course costs $2,599. Test-takers are granted access to 143 hours of scheduled instruction. Moreover, test takers receive customized homework assignments, a question bank with over 3,000 answers, and 17 extended practice exams.
  Apart from these courses they also offer a Tutoring+ Live Online course for $2,399, Bootcamp for $6,299, and Gold, Platinum and Ultimate Prep bundles are also available for $329, $449, and $549 respectively.
• Blueprint MCAT Review- They provide courses that are customizable by the student and have a high resemblance to the official test. The instructors that provide the necessary training for the students are all 99th Percentile instructors which implies that they know about the MCAT exam on a first-hand basis. The courses offered have the same content with the price differing only for the duration for which the student can have access to the same.
  
  The contents include 160 learning modules along with over 10,000 total practice questions including 150+ passages along with strategy lessons, quizzes, and assessments. They provide updated content books, a question bank with over 4,000 discrete questions and passages, and 15 full-length practice questions. They also provide all the official AAMC online resources including the section bank, question packs, and the official guide questions.
  
  • 6-Month Plan- The student will be able to access the content for a duration of 6 months if they opt for this plan. This will cost $2,099 and does not include an automatic renewal of the plan available. But they do offer a score increase guarantee.
  • 9-Month Plan- The total cost of the course is $2,549. They offer a score increase guarantee for the course.
  • 12-Month Plan- The students are offered this plan for a cost of $2,999. They offer a score increase guarantee for the course.
  
  Additionally, Blueprint unveiled BLUE, the first AI CARS tutor. There is now a 515+ course available in these plans. Access is granted for nine months for $2,999. Eighty hours of live instruction and workshops co-taught by instructors with 96th percentile scores will be provided to test takers. Additionally, test takers receive individualized coaching and study guides.
• Khan Academy MCAT Prep Review-The mission of the nonprofit Khan Academy, which was founded in 2008, is to offer short courses and videos for free online. Khan Academy's MCAT, preparation program has AAMC's approval. For every subject, it offers practice passages and excellent videos. It works best for test-takers who are unable to pay for other study materials. It adheres to the basic idea structure of AAMC. The curriculum of the Khan Academy includes 14 in-depth topics including living systems, physical processes, biological foundations, and biochemical foundations.
• WIZE MCAT Prep Review-Candidates are refunded by Wize MCAT Prep based on how well they performed on the official MCAT. The prep courses offered are of two types. They are listed below.:
  • Elite 515-The price is $2,999. Examinees can expect 1,100 on-demand videos and 144 hours of live instruction from the course. Additionally, there are 820+ practice questions, 405+ passage-based questions, and 800+ topics covered for the test takers.
  • Self-Paced-The self-paced course is $1,999. There are no live instruction hours provided because the test taker studies at their own pace. Nonetheless, the 1,100 on-demand, high-quality videos still contain 820+ practice questions, 405+ passage-based questions, and 800+ topics for test takers.

Cracking the MCAT without a Prep Course

While joining for one of the prep courses might seem the best option for students it is not always possible for students to join for the same. This may be due to the expenditure involved considering how just applying for the course can cost the student $335 as the initial registration fee. Courses that are offered by institutions may charge more than even $2,000 which can seem a little over the top and unnecessary if the student can prep themselves for this important examination.

Students often opt for the alternative where they can prep themselves with the best study guides available for the test that can considerably reduce their financial burden. One might have to learn about the exam, its pattern, syllabus, the easiest approach to answering the questions, etc., before delving into the contents of the examination. It is to be understood that even though the MCAT score is important for obtaining admission, other factors like GPA, personal statement, etc., are almost equally important for the test and can even out relatively low MCAT scores during the application reviewing process.