Best MCAT study programs/resources?

[YahairaPacheco24]

Hi everyone,

I’m going to be studying for the MCAT over the summer. I’m looking for suggestions on an effective study resource or books to best prepare! I’m currently a biology major and I have completed most of the classes for my major so most of what I have left is my organic chemistry classes, an additional physics course, cell biology and biological chemistry and I’ll be done either next spring or summer if I push fall semester back.

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[BioPsychotic]

In decreasing order of importance:

AAMC full length exams
All other AAMC prep materials
UWorld
Third-party exams
Prep books

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

AAMC full lengths are definitely the most important thing, but their section bank is also very helpful.

As far as prep books go, it all depends on the answer explanations, Books with good explanations that teach strategies are essential, and I'd say in the many years doing MCAT prep, that they are more important than FLs. The problem is that the best materials and explanations come from different companies for each section. For instance, our chemistry and physics books are ungodly high-rated because of the great strategies, tricks, mnemonics, and answer explanations. Our CARS and psych book never got much love (some people at SDN have said that they are trash). For CARS, many people swear by JW or TPR. For BB, you'll hear great praise for K and EK.

My point is that you should look at the 100-day study guide here to determine what is best for each section and modify it to fit your needs. If money is an issue, unmarked used books work well. The truth is that much of what companies sell today was written in 2014, based on minimal practice materials released by AAMC. So older books work. For BR chemistry and physics books, 2018 or later works, so don't be afraid to buy used ones. I'd ask that you refrain from pirated PDFs, in part because of the ethical issues but also because most PDFs are outdated for our stuff. I know there are some 2021 PDFs of the chemistry and physics books floating around, but please, if you want to save money then buy them used from someone so that they can recoup some of their investment and you can get a good price.

Good luck!