Money no object MCAT prep - (most thorough)

[lign]

Looking for the most thorough and structured MCAT prep available. I'm trying to avoid retaking all the basic pre-reqs that I took 10 years ago. I got straight A's at a state university while working full time even though it was an hour drive and I could have done my local Community College. I have spent the last few months working hard at reviewing and assessing how much I remember. I can't just do this with self-review. It is coming back, but I need a LOT more structure and detail than just winging it on my own. I've learned how to use Anki pretty well, but I need to either retake or else get a really thorough prep course.

I'm not rich, but I'm fortunate that the money truly isn't an issue. I am willing to retake if absolutely necessary and I have talked to a couple adcoms so I do know that I will need to retake some serious, upper level courses in a five-class semester to show current ability. This post is just about re-learning the MCAT material. Thanks in advance!!

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[Mr.Smile12]

Could you be specific on what you have already tried? There are plenty of free resources from Khan Academy regarding content review.

 

[eteshoe]

Honestly exam prep comes down to seeing the material through a lot of practice questions to reinforce topics.

My advice to premeds:
- Anki (everyday) --> reddit has great decks
- UWorld MCAT ($$) --> 2000+ practice problems that are pretty great
- AAMC MCAT package ($$) --> 4-5 FL exams, qbank, q-packs, etc --> a must buy since they make the MCAT
- Khan Academy MCAT (free) --> if you need more practice problems --> ok quality

 

[lign]

Thanks for the replies. I have been taking some complete courses that are free online (also took a statistics course at local CC just to have it under my belt and get back in the swing of classes.) The free online courses I am almost done with are G Chem 1 (finished) G Chem 2 (almost finished) and Bio 1 and 2. These are free online courses but they are extremely complete and thorough just like a regular university course. These are from Saylor and Open Learning Initiative. It is a long, slow, slog going through every bit of the material all over again, and I have not found the same thing for Organic and Physics. It is also WAY too easy for me to skip a day when work and life responsibilities overwhelm me and before I can blink, a week (or two) has gone by. Perhaps I just need to enroll in Organic 1 and Physics. Just hate taking that much time, but I need structure and deadlines (as much as I hate them, lol).

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

You’ll probably have to take the prerequisites again anyway

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Always ask if you qualify for a tuition discount. Then do some price shopping and see if you can negotiate it down. I used to go to free online courses back in the day to supplement what I was learning or teaching.

With so many different people talking about how they scored high on the MCAT, just know that consistency and repetition with time to simulate the exam are critical.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Always ask if you qualify for a tuition discount. Then do some price shopping and see if you can negotiate it down. I used to go to free online courses back in the day to supplement what I was learning or teaching.

With so many different people talking about how they scored high on the MCAT, just know that consistency and repetition with time to simulate the exam are critical.

These are great words of wisdom.

For anyone considering a course, shop wisely. They are ungodly overpriced and you can negotiate cost, exactly as MrSmile says. The most positive aspect of a course is that they can make your studying and especially question review, more time efficient. But they can also waste a lot of time going over material you know well. They are not for everyone. Ask actual students who took a class what they thought of a particular course and see if it matches your learning style. Trusting anonymous messages on an online forum might not be the best way to assess how good a course may be. There are some great people who have posted at SDN for years who offer sage advice, but even then you should try to find a real life person to corroborate their opinion.

 

[currentsurferfuturemd]

Seeing as no one actually answered your original question and either offered alternatives or tried to talk you out of paying for a prep company etc... I will say I see a lot of negative comments about test prep companies on this forum, which, in my limited experience, is confusing to me. I used a prep company, and they were a huge help to me. I mean that sincerely. I am not gifted or an insanely good student, but I scored in the 98th percentile on the MCAT. I know this is a small sample size, but I had multiple friends use a service, and everyone scored really high (518, 523, 524, 521-me). I get that people have had negative experiences with prep companies, and I am sorry to hear that. I also think they are a very vocal minority on this forum. If you have a pleasant experience or a moderate experience with a product, I think you are much less likely to be motivated to post on an online forum about it than if you were disappointed with it. Again, I am not ignorant to the potential downsides of using a prep company, but, in my experience, I think it helped me stay focused, stay organized and stay motivated. I would not have scored as high as I did without them. For me it was a good investment. Don't let all of the negativity on this forum dissuade you. Do your research, and make your decision.

 

[Happy_Puppy5000]

...in my experience, I think it helped me stay focused, stay organized and stay motivated. I would not have scored as high as I did without them. For me it was a good investment. Don't let all of the negativity on this forum dissuade you. Do your research, and make your decision. I recommend Altius, but, you do you.

The above may certainly be true for some. However, I believe that the message board moderators are trying to guard again spam. That may be one of several reasons why you do not see others mentioning prep company X, Y, or Z. Also a prep company is not necessary for the vast majority. Just quality time spent with one of the fairly good available resources should be more than enough for the vast majority. As far as test prep companies goes, purchasing a few of their full lengths or famous company's UQuestionBank may be more than enough.