To those who got 508+, how much money did you spend on study materials? (poll)

[radioactive15]

To those that scored above a 508 on the MCAT, how much money did you spend? (not including the $300 registration cost)
What materials and/or courses did you buy? (List your score too if you would like)

I feel this thread could be helpful to those looking to study on a tight budget, or if you just want to compare with other people's study budgets.

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I spent $300 on material + $300 on the MCAT registration

$190 on EK 9th edition
$110 for AAMC Sample, OG, and Q-banks
Free TPR practice test (demo)
Free Khan Academy videos

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[deleted407021]

I ended up buying a bunch of books I never used -____-. About $500 worth of materials, including 3 NS FL practice exams and 2 other practice exams I never used.

The only things I really needed ended up being my EK 2015 manuals and my NS FLs + the free KA stuff online. I'm annoyed that I could have prepped for <$250.

126/129/127/128 - 510

 

[Doctor Dream]

I think I spent around $600 on all my stuff. I did not want to spend money on a $2000 class, even though a lot of people highly recommend one.
EK set of books
NS set of books
NS practice exams
All the AAMC material (Sample, OG and Q-banks)
A TPR book with 3 FL's included
A Kaplan book with an FL included
1 EK FL
Also used free Khan videos, and made my own flashcards with Anki

The only NS book I used was the CARS, if I could go back I'd only buy that. I also never touched the TPR or Kaplan books other than to get access to their FL's. The TPR book had an amazing deal of 3 FL's for ~$25 though so I'd definitely buy that again.

Final score: 129/126/131/128 - 514

 

[drink02]

Do you have any advice on what to supplement for the EK biochem and psych section? I read that it was really lacking in content for those sections.
Btw: I love your profile pic and signature

I think I spent around $600 on all my stuff. I did not want to spend money on a $2000 class, even though a lot of people highly recommend one.
EK set of books
NS set of books
NS practice exams
All the AAMC material (Sample, OG and Q-banks)
A TPR book with 3 FL's included
A Kaplan book with an FL included
1 EK FL
Also used free Khan videos, and made my own flashcards with Anki

The only NS book I used was the CARS, if I could go back I'd only buy that. I also never touched the TPR or Kaplan books other than to get access to their FL's. The TPR book had an amazing deal of 3 FL's for ~$25 though so I'd definitely buy that again.

Final score: 129/126/131/128 - 514

 

[EverStriving]

Probably 400-500 for me.

Kaplan complete review book set (~170)

All the AAMC material (~150 IIRC)

Some misc EK 1001s where I needed them.

 

[Doctor Dream]

Do you have any advice on what to supplement for the EK biochem and psych section? I read that it was really lacking in content for those sections.
Btw: I love your profile pic and signature

I didn't really use anything extra for psych or biochem, although you might want to. For psych, I went through the AAMC content outline and basically googled the terms to make some Anki flashcards. Doing a bunch of practice exams also helped me fill in content knowledge as I was prepping. With biochem, I just took the class, so I felt really confident in all things biochem and didn't feel like I needed anything extra. I think Khan has some resources you could use, otherwise I hear good things about Kaplan and TPR.

 

[NaomiM]

I think I spent about ~$350 all told. I gradually bought all the TBR books, found a few psych/soc textbooks for less than $5 on Amazon, and used some textbooks from the library to supplement. I regret dropping the $70 on AAMC practice materials, but it is what it is.

 

[member212121]

127/130/126/131 -- 514 overall

I spent $175 on the Kaplan boxed set and $25 for the AAMC FL. Used the free Khan videos a lot for practice questions.

I was a psychology major at a liberal arts school so I'm sure that helped boost my CARS and P/S.

 

[El-Rami]

I used the library, bought the Kaplan set, and used TBR Chemistry and Physics.

 

[blahblahpremeds]

I used TBR, Khan passages, AAMC material and NS tests.

 

[mr.mkitty]

Scored 128/ 128/ 131/ 130
Used mainly EK! Did not take a class.

• Bought the EK 2015 books ($200?)
• Bought the Princeton review Psych/social book and an old kaplan book ($40)
• Bought all four EK practice tests ($200)
• Bought four NS exams ($100)
• Bought EK audio osmosis ($140)
• Bought all 1001 EKs ($110)

Total $790
After receiving my score, I wouldn't have cared if I had spent $2000. Would've paid it again in a second!