Overview

The Princeton Review is one of the most popular test prep companies. Many pre medical students utilize their well known MCAT Prep courses. But how reliable are their MCAT prep courses, and can it guarantee you a score of over a 513 as the company states? In this article I will be giving an objective review of the Princeton Review MCAT course.

How Much Does The Princeton Review MCAT Course Cost?

• Live Online: This course comes $2,349.00
• MCAT 513+: This course costs $2049.00.00
• 515+ Immersion: This course costs $6,799.00
• Private Tutoring: This costs $183/hr
• Princeton Review Self Paced Course: $1599.00

The Princeton Review MCAT Courses

The Princeton Review Live Online Course

This course is best for those student who are taking the MCAT in the next 4 weeks, and only have in between 2-3 days per week to devote to study for the MCAT. This is definitely ideal if you are someone who prefers to consolidate your studying into a very short period of time. Me personally, I like to spread my studying out over a longer period of time. If I were to purchase this course, I would purchase after having spent a significant amount of time (8+ months) studying and doing practice questions on my own.

The Princeton Review MCAT 515 immersion Course

This course is perfect if your goal is to get a 515 or higher within a time period of 12 weeks. In order to be eligible for this course you have to first get a 505 on you starting test. Personally I think this course is a good idea if you previously too the MCAT and got in the 508-510 range, but you want to get a higher score to get into the medical school fo your choice.

Another good thing about this course is that all of the live sessions will have other students who are also aiming for a 515+. This is ideal because you will be sufficiently challenged in each sessions, and will be learning at a pace that is suited for your level.

Princeton Review MCAT Online Course

In this course you are given all of the tools and resources to self study for the MCAT. It includes an entire online platform which includes videos as well as practice questions and passages in addition to full length Practice tests. It is not tied to any exam.

This was the option that I personally chose when I enrolled in The Princeton Review MCAT course because I wanted to study over a longer period of time without necessarily being watched over the whole time.

If you have done all of the required work and do not get above a 513, then you get a full refund. Interestingly enough, the website claims that this program historically has a less than 2% refund rate.

The Princeton Review MCAT Private tutoring

The Princeton Review also offer a variety of MCAT tutoring services. These private tutoring sessions come in two packages that you can choose from. The tutors help you set goals for the MCAT and as well as you with content and test strategy. This is a great option if you

In addition to online private tutoring, In person tutoring is also available. More options can be found here.

Princeton Review MCAT 513 + course

This course consists of over 123 hours of material and those who enroll get a an expert study advisor as well as access to specialized course instructors for each specific subject. The study advisors ensure that you take all of the diagnostic exams, do all the homework as well as attend all of the classes on the rating schedule. This is a great option if you are trying to score above the national average and you want a more regimented and structured schedule

Which Princeton Review MCAT Prep Course is the Best

The Princeton Review MCAT online

I thin the Self Paced Study Course is the best. It afford the most flexibility and also allows you to operate at your own pace. Of course if you appreciate the structure that comes with MCAT prep courses then I would say to go with something such as the Live Online Course

How to use the Princeton Review MCAT course. 

The Best way to use the Princeton Review MCAT course would be to purchase it  during your Freshman year of college and begin going through each of the sections alongside your pre medical course.

If you are someone who  appreciates organization and benefits from learning with others, then it would be good to use this course with a tutor (which you get if you purchase the more expensive package)

Is Princeton Review Enough for MCAT?

Use the AAMC Materials with The Princeton Review MCAT course

Although the Princeton Review course is extremely robust, It should not be used as your only source of studying for the MCAT. I would use the Princeton Review Course with the AAMC materials. Reason being is that The Princeton Review practice questions and test questions are harder.

Doing harder questions will surely help you in the long run, but as you progress in your MCAT studies you will want to be getting your brain prepared to answer AAMC type questions. After all, the AAMC wrote the MCAT

The Princeton Review MCAT Books: Pros

A lot of Practice questions

They contain many useful practice  questions, and each chapter periodically throws quizzes at you embedded in the paragraphs to make sure that you are staying sharp. These quizzes really help you begin to think like the MCAT test writers, and helps you anticiupate the tricks which the MCAT likes to throw at you.

Good Reference Source

If you are like me and you do not necessarily like reading large bodies of texts, then you can use the book as more of a reference guide when you encounter parts of the video or the practice questions which you do not understand

For me personally, the way that I used the book is that in the Summer leading to the  beginning of my Senior year of college I would got through and answer all of the quiz questions in the chapters. I would then take notes on a word document on the important concepts. If I could go back in time i would have done this much earlier in my studies.

The Princeton Review MCAT books are organized and Pair well with other Princeton Review Materials

Other Pros of the Princeton Review books is that they are extremely organized and go along well with the video playlist. Additionally it has 1000s of practice questions to allow you to apply all of the knowledge that you have learned.

The Princeton Review MCAT books: Cons

Books can contain too much information at times

• Another big con is that the books sometimes contain a bit too much information

Chem/Phys is difficult

• The Chem/Phys section is excessively difficult in some of the full length exams. Some of the questions test you on very high level topics.

Princeton Review MCAT course Individual sections

Psychology/Sociology: The Psych Sociology Section was the most  helpful out of all of the books. It mainly covered vocabulary words, which is good because this section in particular mainly tests your ability to understand vocab.

Bio: This section in my opinion was the best out of The Princeton Review resources. It still relied on memorizing detailed facts which is unlike the real exam, but as far as having all of the relevant content included in the exams, I would say it is very comprehensive and accurate.

Chem/Phys: As mentioned earlier this section is rather difficult from The Princeton Review Resources. It tests a lot on memorizing equations and many of the problems required multiple steps. Overall it is good additional practice, but much harder than the real exam

CARS: The Princeton Review is pretty good when it comes to CARS. in the video playlist, they have individual CARS passages which are like taking CARS mini exams. This was really helpful if you need to get in solid practice for CARS, bu you do not necessarily want to take a full length exam for CARS.

The CARS book in the 7 book set contains helpful strategies and techniques to help you in you approach to answering CARS questions

Is The Princeton Review MCAT worth it?

I would say that if you have the budget for it then this would definitely be worth it. I don’t think it should be your only resources, but it can definitely serve you well early on in your MCAT prep.

As far as level comprehensiveness, and online platform, features, nothing really comes close.

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