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in my opinion, classes are a waste of time and money. every single one of my friends got above a 510 without a class, with the highest getting a 522.
we all used a combo of kaplan books, examkrackers and khan academy
head to mcat reddit or search these threads for good study plans if you need one, but i would highly recommend including aamc practice materials in your studying. they are the key.
we all used a combo of kaplan books, examkrackers and khan academy
head to mcat reddit or search these threads for good study plans if you need one, but i would highly recommend including aamc practice materials in your studying. they are the key.
I agree with @hiei. 99% of the time, classes are a waste of time and money. That latter factor is the biggest one; these things are usually thousands of dollars, and with that money you could buy all of AAMC's/ExamKrackers'/TBR's review material (which is what I did). Stick with your books, and buy the AAMC materials; make sure you buy all their practice exams. I used EK's practice exams and felt as though they were very representative of the actual MCAT. I also utilized Khan Academy for psychology section.
Source: 525
Source: 525
I remember getting Kaplan emails offering $500 off of an MCAT course thinking "if it's $500 off I don't even want to know what it actually costs." I got a 518 with the Kaplan book set, AAMC materials, and Biochemistry for Dummies. The MCAT is hard but honestly if you're doing well in your classes you can do it, just put the time in.
50% of preparing for the MCAT is mustering the will power to be consistent and efficient. If you know that you could never do that for a standardized test, the structure of a course can be worth the price tag. If you know that you can manage on your own, definitely skip the course and use the mcat forum here as your resource to plan for the exam.
I studied 6-8 weeks over winter break and scored a 516 studying on my own. It's doable.
I studied 6-8 weeks over winter break and scored a 516 studying on my own. It's doable.
Everything said above is true. I too did not sign up for any MCAT course. MCAT courses are for some reason highly overpriced. In my situation, I purchased Princeton book set, NextStep 10 full-length exams, all AAMC materials, and Khan Academy. This will save you hundreds of dollars and will yield same or better results.
The only downside of studying on your own is that you have to develop your own study plan, which is not a big issue. There are many study plans posted on Reddit and the MCAT section here.
The only downside of studying on your own is that you have to develop your own study plan, which is not a big issue. There are many study plans posted on Reddit and the MCAT section here.
I used the PR winter break course, but didn't keep up with the study schedule because it was pretty intense. Ended up taking the MCAT a full year after I used the course and relied mostly on the books and practice exams with a little use of the slides from the course and Khan Academy. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the course. I ended up with a 519, but i don't think that the course itself made a huge impact on that. (Also the PR practice tests are very deflated; I was scoring around 500 a week before my actual exam)
I personally got the cheapest Kaplan class (online). For me, having a plan laid out for me that was heavy on high-yield content, and videos, made it so much more convenient and it saved me a lot of time. I'm sure you can do it without the class, but if you can spend some money, I would actually recommend it. I don't think the in-person classes are worth the extra $1000, however. I know people who took them and they didn't do well. Oh and the online program comes with lots of practice as well.
Consider Altius Test Prep because the average score of students that adhere strictly to their program guidelines are 515. All their program guidelines are on their website so you get a preview of what they expect before you even enroll. Plus you can start at lower level courses for cheap and upgrade without paying attention charges when you need it. They just implemented a new guarantee where if you adhere to their guidelines, they guarantee you score at least in the 90th percentile. That beats Kaplan and Princeton's scam of scoring better than their diagnostic score or getting your money back. Who wouldn't score better than their diagnostic after being tutored? I can't imagine anyone getting a high score on their diagnostic score anyway unless they studied beforehand. Altius pairs you with a one on one tutor that score at least the 95th percentile so they have taken it and guide you on how to actually succeed.
Altius does not believe in cramming into a couple months. In fact, one of their guidelines is spending at least 5 months studying before you take it.
Altius does not believe in cramming into a couple months. In fact, one of their guidelines is spending at least 5 months studying before you take it.
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I would check out Altius. I took completed the program and couldn't be happier with the score I earned. It is a pretty intense program, but I honestly think it helped me soooo much! You get a lot of exposure to practice questions along with 1-on-1 tutoring.
Obviously you are high IQ
