Are these MCAT resources Legit? Are they Helpful? Are they a Scam?

[NeuroticNerd808]

Hello! First time poster, long time shadow lurker… I plan on taking the MCAT sometime next year, so I am trying to look into the different prep materials early on. Logically purchasing a set of the typical books (either Kaplan or Exam Krackerz) is a must, while the AAMC and/or UWorld question banks seem to be some of the most recommended investments for sure.

However, has anyone ever used any of the materials offered by 30DayMCAT, MCAT Prep, or Course_Correction? I found each of these while following MCAT related pages on Instagram. They all post practice questions throughout the week, and although the questions aren’t passage questions, I do find them helpful for basic concept review.

The 30DayMCAT page seems to offer a 30-day cram course, but I’m not sure. Personally, this one seems a little sketch to me, because 30 days does not seem like enough time to prepare, but the page does have a lot of followers. Does anyone know if this is worthwhile or an absolute scam?

The MCAT Prep page offers MCAT practice tests and MCAT question banks. The first MCAT test is free and then you can buy more tests for $10 each. Has anyone tried these? Is it legit? How about the question bank? How does it compare to AAMC or UWorld material?

The Course Correction page offers tutoring for the MCAT and college courses like orgo and biochem, as well as mock interviews for medical school, and even help editing/reviewing secondaries. This page seems pretty new, because it does not have as many followers or posts. However, it has become one of my favorites, because whenever you comment, they'll actually write back. Also, if you message them questions about stuff you don’t understand, they’ll write a detailed message or send an audio message explaining the concept, which has been super helpful.

Sorry for the long post, but like… is any of this good? Have you used it? Is it worth the money? Some of it definitely seems pretty affordable, which is why I’m not sure. Thanks.

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[BerkReviewTeach]

Everything is helpful to someone. The biggest thing here is that you look at the different resources and see if they match your learning style and that their answer explanations teach you how to take the MCAT. Do they give you good ways to look at the material, good techniques for answering questions, and memorable ways to recall information? Look at the explanations and see which 'speak to you.' I'll bet one of those three is really good, one is average, and one is not helpful at all... for you!

UWorld was considered iffy when it first got released, offering 100 sample questions for free for a certain amount of time, and for whatever reason people were hesitant. Now, about six to seven years later, they are the market favorite. So you never know about things like that until you try. I'll bet one of those three is really good and finds its niche.

I can say from my experience that Berkeley Review books were considered iffy at first, because of our sketchy website. But little by little, students used the books and they got a great rep within a couple years. After a few years, TBR books were number one in the market, battling with EK. The classes were always well received, because we were small and specialized on MCAT prep specific to the college where our students came from. But online books ordered by check via the mail in the internet age somehow caught fire and were the most popular, until UWorld dominated us in 2016 and beyond. The flooding of the web with PDFs our books and the public sentiment that our books changed so little in the last ten to fifteen years undermined us. As upset as PDFs make me, I can't blame someone who is struggling to pay rent when they choose to download those PDFs rather than pay $425 or so for books that haven't changed all that much over the years.

To answer your question, I'd give them each of those three a try and then report back to SDN which one(s) you found helpful. Good Luck!

 

[NeuroticNerd808]

Okay! Thank you for your feedback. I'll eventually post an update then to share which one's I decided to use and how my experience went.

 

[Neuroscifan]

Just understand that there is no such thing as a program where you pay and are given some golden method for magically boosting your score. The ONLY way to perform well on the mcat is to work hard and put in the time to learn the content, the test and it’s strategies, and yourself and the common pitfalls and shortcomings that are inhibiting your success. These programs often give you a quicker route to learning content, and some of them help with the strategies and understanding the test itself. None can truly offer the insight into your personal pitfalls.