The Berkely Review MCAT Course

[taharahislam]

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Has anyone taken the MCAT course at TBR? What was it like? Do you recommend it for someone who needs structure in their studying?

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I took it and loved it. I didn't need structure (I was repeating the MCAT and knew what I had to do) but I still benefited from the way they organized their practice phases. Lectures cut down how much time you need to read and pretty much eliminate any need to watch videos, so it allows you to spend more time doing passages. That is where you do your best prep.

 

[KnightDoc]

Were you able to get your target score? I’m required to get at least a 505 for a medical school pathway program I was selected for. They told me that’ll be easy. I’m glad you liked the course and benefited from it!

505 is 64%-ile. If you normally test well above that, it should be easy, but the MCAT is unlike any test you have ever taken before, so it's impossible to say for sure. Almost half of all test takers cannot score above 500.

As you implied in your OP, courses will provide structure if you need it, and will improve your score if that is what's lacking. They don't magically allow you to get your target score. THAT depends on just what your target is, what your potential is, and how much effort you put in. That is different for everyone. Plenty of people score 520+ without a course, while many people also score below 500 with one. Your results really will be entirely up to you. Good luck.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Were you able to get your target score? I’m required to get at least a 505 for a medical school pathway program I was selected for. They told me that’ll be easy. I’m glad you liked the course and benefited from it!

My first exam (self studying using primarily the SDN 100 day plan of TPR/EK for CARS and P/S and TBR for C/P and B/B) I got 132 C/P, 122 CARS, 132 B/B, 130 P/S. I applied with that score and didn't get in (only one interview). I repeated this past March and got 132, 127, 130, 130. My decision to take their class was totally spur of the moment (New Year's eve depression can be powerful) and looking back it was the very best thing I could have done. The guy who wrote the chemistry and physics books teaches the classes and he is seriously the best teacher I have ever seen. The other teachers were really good too, but this guy is on a whole different level when it comes to how to think about problems. The only thing I didn't like was commuting. It's time that is totally wasted.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

In case anyone is reading this, the Berkeley Review course is no longer offered. As of December 2021, the classrooms and online courses are done. Thanks for all the love and support you have shown us over the years. It was an amazing ride.

 

[kayy1]

In case anyone is reading this, the Berkeley Review course is no longer offered. As of December 2021, the classrooms and online courses are done. Thanks for all the love and support you have shown us over the years. It was an amazing ride.

Would you still recommend their books for content review? I was also wondering when the books stopped getting updated -- like would it be okay to use the 2017 version?

 

[KnightDoc]

Would you still recommend their books for content review? I was also wondering when the books stopped getting updated -- like would it be okay to use the 2017 version?

The books should be perfectly fine. The test hasn't been updated since 2015! 🙂

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Hi! I took the course Fall 2021 and was part of TBR’s last class. To be completely honest, a lot of things went south during that course. I had heard amazing things about TBR from others so I went into it with high hopes. However, what we didn’t know when we signed up was that most (I think all except for 1) of the previous teachers had just stopped teaching for TBR and the management of the company was turning to someone new. Because of this, there were inexperienced teachers and the company wasn’t able to maintain its professionalism to the same level. It got a lot of negative feedback from the students. I will say I did enjoy the books though! Some of it is overkill and it can be difficult to stay focused when reading a dense chapter but it’s good for those who want to be comprehensive with their content review!

This is pretty much the same thing I heard as well, albeit secondhand. It's really a shame, because it was truly an excellent program for a long time, but it all revolved around a couple amazing teachers and without them it wouldn't work.