What Exactly Does The Princeton Review MCAT 510+ Course Offer?
The 7 Best MCAT Prep Courses
How to Prepare for the MCAT. As you can probably guess, preparing for the MCAT starts well before the exam. This preparation begins by focusing on learning and success in prerequisite and recommended courses. Students are encouraged to study English and sciences like general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and calculus.
mcat 3-month study schedule: weeks 2-8 Devote study blocks on a rotating basis to Biochemistry, Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Behavioral Sciences. For test-like practice, use the AAMC Sample Questions and Sections and choose passages based on the content areas you have reviewed.
The Kaplan packages provide 10, 20, 30, or 40 hours of private tutoring. They range in price from around $3,000 for the 10-hour course up to $6,200 or so for the 40-hour course. You can do the math to see that those rates are not cheap. Is Kaplan MCAT worth it?
Princeton Review offers a score increase guarantee for all of its courses, with a particularly strong guarantee for the MCAT 513+ and MCAT 515+ Immersion packages.
Like other practice tests, The Princeton Review (TPR) practice tests are often reported as being harder than the real MCAT. Many test takers found that the Critical Analysis and Reasoning section (CARS) was very different compared to what they saw on the MCAT.
The primary difference between the Kaplan and Princeton Review MCAT offerings revolves around instruction. Kaplan provides better quality on demand, video-based instruction, while we tend to like the quantity and approach of Princeton's live classes better.
$315MCAT Quick FactsFrequency15 times/yearSectionsPhysical Sciences, CARS, Biological Sciences, Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of BehaviorCost$315 for initial registrationMax. Score528Avg. Score500 total, 125 in each section1 more row
Improving your MCAT score within two weeks If you only have two weeks, set up a detailed schedule, so you know exactly what you need to get done within the time frame. You should take up to three full-length MCAT exams (with two or three days in between). But do not take a practice exam right before the real MCAT.
Kaplan wins outright on the quantity front with 5,000+ practice problems (all with accompanying text explanations), while Princeton Review wins on course structure and quality, which at the end of the day, is most important. We prefer the structure of Princeton's curriculum and think it offers a more robust study plan.
In my opinion, Princeton Review's textbooks are more dense, but more thoroughly explain concepts, and just by that alone, I think it makes it superior to Kaplan's. Furthermore, I think Princeton offers a more comprehensive coverage of material, especially for Psychology, compared to Kaplan.
Best MCAT Prep Courses SummaryBest Overall MCAT Prep Course: Blueprint MCAT.Best MCAT Live Online Classes: Princeton Review.Best Value MCAT Prep Course: Magoosh.Most Personalized Instruction: Altius.The Popular MCAT Pick: Kaplan.Most MCAT Study Material: Gold Standard.
6 best MCAT prep booksThe Princeton Review MCAT Subject Review Complete Box Set.Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review.Kaplan MCAT Self-Study Toolkit.Mometrix MCAT Prep Book.Kaplan MCAT 528 Advanced Prep.AAMC Official Guide to the MCAT Exam.
Currently, a score of 510 on the MCAT places you in the 80th percentile, which will require you to score in the top 20% of test takers. As such, getting a score of 510 or better is not easy, and will require some very hard work. This is particularly true given the caliber of students that you are going up against.
What does a 513+ mean? The average MCAT score of students accepted into medical schools in 2021-2022 was 511.9. This means that a 513+ score on the MCAT would be higher than the average MCAT score presented by students ACCEPTED into medical school. This is why a 513 is important.
84% percentilein, and most importantly, your individual section scores. Attaining a score of 510 on the MCAT means you performed in the 84% percentile.
Blueprint practice exams are harder than the AAMC MCAT prep. Usually, students' score on the Blueprint is five to seven points lower than their actual MCAT score.
The general trend for Kaplan practice exams is that they are based heavily on content and may present as much more difficult than the real MCAT.
TPR tests are incredibly deflated, and you can typically expect to score a number of points higher on an AAMC-provided test than anything you get from TPR. Exactly how many points varies by person, but in my case my actual MCAT was 10 points higher than my highest TPR score.
TLDR: C/P: Blueprint physics has longer passages, is more calculation heavy, and has harder equations, making C/P harder than AAMC.
The Princeton Review MCAT prep options range in price from around $2,000 on the affordable end for their Online offering to roughly $7,000 on the e...
If you opt for either the Live Online Course or MCAT 513+ offering from Princeton Review, you will get 123 live instruction hours, in-person or liv...
You will get at least 270 days of online access to all of your study resources with any Princeton Review course. That equates to roughly 9 months a...
Practice tests are detailed and cover the essential topics asked on the MCAT. Students receive high yield materials topic-focused sessions and are...
This is a reliable and trustworthy service with a growing list of satisfied customers. Information is presented in an understandable format, while...
All tests offered by The Princeton Review aim to improve your MCAT score. The provider comes with additional resources to ensure a structured and o...
According to the Princeton Review MCAT course student reviews, the MCAT course is a bit pricy, but it’s still worth your money. Besides, the compan...
Depending on your needs and the time allocated to prepare for exams, the provider offers multiple choices. The MCAT Self Paced course is the most a...
The Princeton Review MCAT Ultimate Course is the most comprehensive, intensive MCAT course offered both LiveOnline or In-Person.
Within 5-7 business days, you will receive your full set of The Princeton Review Complete 7-book set, which has made our top MCAT prep books list year over year.
How much does Princeton Review MCAT cost? Princeton Review courses start at $1,499 for on demand, $2,549 for their core live online/in person, and $3,399 for their 510+ score guarantee course .
The 123 hours of instruction for the MCAT Ultimate course breaks down into the following subjects to meet the MCAT testing outline: 33 hours of biology. 12 hours of organic chemistry. 18 hours of general chemistry. 18 hours of physics. 21 hours of psychology/sociology.
From your student portal, you have access to all the exclusive drills and standalone digital content like the MedFlix. Included online are 15 full-length online practice tests simulated to the format and time limits of real MCAT exams as well as analysis afterward to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Included is a noteboard so you can practice using laminated sheets as scratch paper.
For those who wonder how TPR picks their teachers, you can rest assured that they go through several rounds of interviewing, testing, and training before they are able to instruct a course. First, they partake in a non-academic interview/presentation. Next, interviewees must take a subject-specific content test. Upon satisfactory completion, teachers will follow a 20-hour training (presenting live classroom material).
Section-specific Diagnostic Exams are used throughout the course to help identify weak areas. After lectures, regular course homework is assigned in addition to subject-specific homework that covers areas identified in Diagnostic Exams as weaker for individual students.
Princeton Review makes you learn everything about every subject. Literally, even things that haven't been on the MCAT for 10 years, they'll make sure to cover, most likely to save their asses in case a student says Princeton Review didn't full prepare them etc.
The first 5 or so practice TPR FL are actually pretty representative material wise of the actual test, these are the core tests. The supplemental tests were just the old MCAT version passages from old TPR classes thrown together to form a test, and taking them was a waste of time, since they were not very representative of the new MCAT.
Overall, you can buy them if you want, but I would say just buying one TPR book, or just plugging in the bar code, and getting those 3 practice exams is good enough. Buy the AAMC FL, and their OG questions. Use NS diagnostic, and just spent $100 on their exams, and you'll get exactly what I blew $1800 on and it'll be more representative of the actual test.
Same thing with Bio, very detailed, when they never ask you such detailed questions. Also, a lot of my bio passages were heavily biochem, as well as oncogene passages. TPR did a really good job by giving you a lot of passages dealing with oncogenes, but hardly focused on biochem.
The TPR makes you learn everything, and a lot of it is not important. It also doesn't focus on biochem, when I would say over 50% of both my science sections were biochem. You need to know all the amino acids, their one letter codes, their side chains, and their isoelectric points, along with everything about enzyme kinetics, which TPR doesn't focus on at all.
The main difference between the two are: 1 MCAT 510+ offers an improvement in your MCAT score by 10 points 2 MCAT 510+ gives exclusive access to MCAT Topic Focus 3 MCAT 510+ costs $500 more
Princeton Review offers a tutoring program with two options: 10 or 60 hours. 60 hours includes books, online access, and the Princeton guarantee. The 10 hours only include the tutoring service. Everything else is an additional fee.
The Princeton Review self-paced MCAT course is a flexible approach to your study schedule and habits.
In the 510+ case, if your official MCAT score did not improve by at least 10 points (if your starting score was under 500) or is not equal to or exceed 510, you get a refund.
Princeton Review has helped and guided students as a college admissions services company for 35+ years.
This might not seem like a lot, but in a Princeton Review MCAT class, more resources mean more references and better guidance to sharpen your skills along the way.
The 510+ program is the most popular course onboard the Princeton Review.
These include Kaplan, MCAT Next Step, Examkrackers, Altius MCAT prep, and Gold Standard MCAT Prep. Feel free to check them out on your own or to read my overview of the top MCAT courses available.
This is a flagship MCAT course with a guaranteed result of 510 points or more. It also comes with the highest price, but if you don’t get the score you need, you’ll get your money back.
But there’s also a price to pay for such a comprehensive course. The MCAT 510+ course costs $2,799.
Obtaining a score of 510+ will dramatically improve your chances of getting admitted to your med school of choice. The average acceptance rate in the US is 42%, but with a score of 510, it raises to 62,4%. And this course is designed for you to get that score.
Bottom line: This is a good course option as you’d get 123 hours of live instruction over the course of 2 intense months. It should give you the proper knowledge and skills to succeed on the MCAT. But at the same time, it will require a good dose of self-discipline from your side.
If you do not improve your previous score by at least 10 points (if your first score was below 500) or if you do not equal or exceed 510 (if your first score was 500 or higher), you’ll get a full refund on your tuition.
Completing the full-length practice tests is the best way to get better over time and get the score you’re aiming for. But it’s hard to discipline yourself to beat the 7.5 hour monster time and again.