The MCAT is a standardized test required by all Medical Students in the United States. It is important that when studying for this test you make sure you are using the correct materials. Two of the most popular resources are The Princeton Review and Altius Test Prep. Both of these Resources have many unique features to accommodate a variety of students, and both have pros and cons. In this article I will be giving an objective review of both of these MCAT prep courses.

Summary

Before we get started reviewing, Below is a very brief summary of both of these prep courses

	Altius	TPR
Price	$6 ,999.00 for platinum $4, 999.00 for Gold $3, 999.00 for Silver	$2,399.00 for Live online course $2,999.00 for MCAT 513+ $6, 849.00 for the 515 immersion $183.00/hour for private tutoring
# of Full Length Exams	10 altius FL exams + AAMC FL exams	16 Full Length exams

The Princeton Review

• Overview

The Princeton Review Course comes with the 7 book set containing all of the sciences needed for the MCAT, an online learning platform which consists of videos and review questions for each science topic, and it also comes with 16 practice exams. At the more expensive tiers, a private one on one tutor is also included 

• Price

The Live online course is $2,399.00, the MCAT 513+ is 2,999, the 515 immersion is 6, 849, and private tutoring is $183.00 per hour

• Pros:

The course is extremely comprehensive as it contains a library of modules with video modules and practice questions. 

• Cons:

I think that the course could be improved in the CRS section as these questions were not very representative of what was on the actual test. Another con is the amount of information that they give you in the 7 book set. This is way more information than what is needed for the actual exam. What makes a quality MCAT course is not necessarily how much information they provide you with, but more so the quality of the materials and how closely they resemble the actual exam.

• How many practice exams are given

It comes with 16 full length practice exams

• What are the quality of practice exams

Practice exams are much harder than the real thing, especially for the science sections (Bio and Chem/Phys). Questions test more memorization rather than critical thinking ability. Still I recommend because it is good practice

• Which resources are given?

Resources that are given in this course include a single manual with workbook problems, access to the AAMC full length exams, MCAT official guide questions, as well as the AAMC MCAT question bank. 

I would be doing a disservice if I did not talk in detail about the altius specific resources. The first one that should be discussed is the workbook. The workbook is a paperback manual book which contains practice questions for every topic ont he mcat. The altius team company members claim that that book is the ONLY material that you need to study the actual CONTENT on the MCAT and that the rest of the materials are basically for practice and refining your test skills. After I completely this course I can confidently say that this is true. The workbook is extremely 

• How many full length exams are given

Each package comes with 10 of the Altius full length exams in addition to all of the AAMC official MCAT practice exams.

• What are the quality of the practice questions

Compared to most of the other materials out there Altius exams mirror the actual MCAT the best. Specifically the Altius exams go out of there way to to ask you questions that call upon your ability to critically think and and logically arrive at the correct answer as opposed to other practice exams which simply test your ability to memorize certain facts.

• Cons

The Cons are the price of the service. Expect to break the bank if you purchase even their cheapest package which is the Silver package 

• Pros

One of the biggest pros is the organised schedule that comes included with the packages. THe schedule provided is not only extremely detailed but it also incorporates spaced repetition learning so that you do not forget to review material that you learned in  the past. 

Another Pro was the tutor that they give you. THe tutor is someone who scored above a 514 so they definitely know your stuff. THe tutors are taught to pay close attention to the types of mistakes every student makes and to keep the student on track should they begin performing poorly on scores.

• Is it worth it

If you have the budget to spend on a test prep course, Then I definitely think Altius is worth buying.