Total money spent on studying for MCAT?

[jv00927]

I'm taking the MCAT next year. I'm just curious to know how much money did each one of you spent just studying for the MCAT.

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[midi12]

$30 on AAMC 13. Got all EK, TBR, past written full length AAMCs, etc for $0. It's called the internet people.

 

[Dianyla]

$30 on AAMC 13. Got all EK, TBR, past written full length AAMCs, etc for $0. It's called the internet people.

AAMC13, that's the version developed specifically for Princeton Medical College, right?

 

[LuciusVorenus]

AAMC13, that's the version developed specifically for Princeton Medical College, right?

 

[Woland]

4 bottles of wine. Gave 1 to a girl who donated her TPR set. Gave 1 to babysitter for one of saturady mornings to practice the MCAT CBT, and 2 to my wife for pain and suffering she had to endure.

And 3 months of decreased wages due to going form 50 hrs/wk to 30.

 

[Bamfu]

$150 EK Full Set
$100 2 week prep course some that some med students at my university put on (was a sweet deal, included lunch everyday and AAMC 11)
$35 x 4 = $140 for AAMC 4, 5, 9, 10
Chem 2 review with organic prof: free
Kaplan tests from a friend with a knack for torrents: free

Took the course in May. Took June off for some personal stuff (moving and whatnot). Back on studying in July for Aug 3 test.

total: $390
score: 29P

 

[circulus vitios]

TPRH Science Workbook: $120
TBR Physics, Gen Chem: $130
TPR O-Chem, Bio: $45
EK 101 VR: $25
Kaplan & AAMC Practice Exams: $Free
Registration: $240 + $120 for one cancellation
Lost time & income: ~3 months

Wow, that's painful to look at.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

$240 - TBR books + shipping (at least I think this was the cost, it may have been lower)
$245 - AAMC 4-11 PTs
$104 - AAMC self-assessment package
$35 - Official Guide
$100 - EK1001 series (give or take $10)
$150 - TPRH VW, SW, CC, and that little concept review booklet
$245 - MCAT
$70 - Rescheduling fee
$0 - Bunch of stuff I got from friends who had taken the test previously
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Total - $1,189

I'm hoping to recoup about 1/3 to 1/2 of that once I sell my books. Assuming my score is a balanced 36+ it'll all be worth it.

 

[oh but wait]

Amount of money spent on 9/1/12 MCAT is the only thing I am happy about. Got my score yesterday and thinking of a retake (not going to say what score, because y'all will be like "no don't retake don't be stupid").

Official MCAT guide = $13.91 (waste of money)
1001 EK gchem & ochem: $35.85 (didn't use the gchem one)
Kapl Premier: $5.42 (did not have time to use)
1001 Phys: $18.51 (did not use)
MSAR Guide: $6.46 (not related to MCAT? but oh well)
Official Self-Assessment Package Bundle: $104 (i thought was super helpful, but found out about it way too late; ordered it 10 days before my exam... stupid, I know; at least it doesn't expire until 2013 sometime, so still can use for retake i guess)

All AAMC & BR (all books minus the FLs) & all other EK stuff (books i used, audios i didn't use) = $0 (95% of my study materials right here)

mcat-review.org = free concise review (I think you all should browse through this before your MCAT, just to be sure) some other websites may be helpful too.

Registration = $240

Total of $424.15 SPENT

Minus... (~$11/hr )(40 hrs/week)(13-15 weeks of lab work I would have killed myself with instead).... heh you do the math here.

I'm super glad I didn't take a $3000 course for it. I don't think it would have helped me get a better score, but I think it was sort of difficult to get myself to take more FLs in one breath. I just wasn't convinced that I needed to take them in that way until like my last couple of AAMC FLs... that was my one major mistake. I realized 3 weeks before the exam that all 37+ people were crazy enough to take 10+ FLs (AAMC and other non-official ones) under "real" conditions. Overall, I am not super disappointed with my score in light of how the progression of my studying/realizations of my flaws fell into place. This beast of an exam just makes you realize weird useful things and I wasn't lucky enough for these realizations to have occurred sooner. I studied hard, but up until the last 6 weeks or so, I wasn't studying very intelligently.

There is a lot of wisdom on SDN, thank you all for your contributions! Hope I can give back somehow too.

 

[orangeballoon]

AMCAS $35X5=$175
Berkeley Review Set: $200
EK101 Verbal; EK Biology; EK 1001 Physics, Chem, Organic Chem: $127)
MCAT Registration: $240

Total: $742


... and also minus wages lost.

But happy with my score.

 

[kgpremed11]

All EK 1001 books =150$
All EK books=150$ (most of theses are useless except bio )
TPRH verbal= 50$ ( got a good deal)
TPRH science workbook 50$ (another good deal)
Just ordered TBR Physics and Chem 150$
AAMC Practice test 4,5,7 =105$

MCAT registration (I have FAP) 85$ last year, 85$ this year, 100$ next year

Somewhere between 900-1000 dollars! way to f'ing much for a test.


*** Years of My 20's I lost studying for this crap, only to be dissapointed~2. We'll see what happens 3/23/2013

 

[Yellow Jacket]

TBR Set about 250
TPRH set (all books in new condition from a student, whatever was included in a 2012 in-class plus in-class notes) 225 (good deal)
EK Books 100 (big mistake, I reviewed them and I think they are terrible.)
Yet to buy AAMC 4-11 PTs ~250
MCAT Reg. 270

About $1100

 

[Yellow Jacket]

$30 on AAMC 13. Got all EK, TBR, past written full length AAMCs, etc for $0. It's called the internet people.

That's stealing.