Best MCAT Prep Courses in 2020

Looking to get into medical school? Need help studying for your MCAT exam? In this guide, we’ve listed the best MCAT prep courses that will help you ace your test.

If you are reading this, you know that most of all U.S medical schools require you to submit MCAT ® exam scores as part of your admissions application. Preparing for the MCAT exam can be an overwhelming process. The good news is there are several companies with products and courses on the market to help build your confidence along the way.

Here in this article, you can read about seven reputable companies that provide MCAT study tools or prep courses. Under each company, there is a brief synopsis with highlights to help you decide the direction of test preparation most suited to your needs. Ideally, aid you to make the most efficient use of your time before your officially scheduled exam date.

1. The Princeon Review MCAT Prep

The Princeton Review features nine different MCAT® test prep courses designed to meet the diverse learning and financial needs of students. All the prep courses offered guarantee results with content and test preparation strategy delivered with an overall aim to prioritize the time spent preparing to achieve maximum results.

The Princeton Review’s most popular MCAT® prep course is the MCAT 510+, and the course delivery is available via online, or in person. The prep course moves you through 12 or more sessions, where you receive what is called a study manager. The study manager works with you one-on-one with the expertise to ensure you study smart through the correct utilization of your MCAT® preparation time spent throughout the course.

The overall rating from students who have taken the course is 4 out of 5 stars. Many of the reviews from students positively relay how confidently prepared the course made them feel upon completion while emphasizing the overall effectiveness of the instructors delivering the content of the course.

Course Highlights

• Guaranteed to give you results, or be issued a full money refund
• One-on-one guidance of a study manager expertly managing your study to maximize your results
• Test prep delivered with a mission to eliminate any area of MCAT® weakness
• Instructors are subject matter experts who are also MCAT® exam specialists

2. Kaplan’s MCAT Prep

Kaplan features MCAT prep courses delivered via with an instructor, or on your own. Content delivery is offered in several sub-sectors to fit variants of your time and financial needs. Course delivery with an instructor can be done via live online, or in person.

Kaplan features a highly rated MCAT® Summer Intensive Program, offering the most concentrated immersion of MCAT® content over the shortest amount of time, available to the market. The prep course with live instruction is a popular choice with Kaplan®. The course offers the flexibility to attend where you feel most comfortable with an expert teacher leading the live class, in real- time.

During live instruction instant one-on-one teacher support is provided through private chat, rather than a group chat, so you don’t have to worry about getting stuck. Student reviews emphasize the high quality of instruction; however, the practice tests Kaplan provided could do a better job simulating the MCAT exam.

Course Highlights

• Guaranteed to raise your score or be issued a full money refund
• The course integrates proven as effective score boosting MCAT® test-taking strategies
• Instructors are subject matter experts and hand selected by Kaplan® for their high effectiveness of teaching ability
• Integrates learning tools that identify strength and weakness areas of the MCAT® to promote the most effective use of test preparation time

3. Complete MCAT Preparation

Complete MCAT Preparation offers online study MCAT® packages designed to fit your needs and budget. Courses through this company are all self-paced and can be purchased as a single package or monthly subscription, depending on your learning and study needs.

All course practice tests offered through this company are designed to simulate the current version of the MCAT® exam. The Gold Standard is the company’s signature courses provided via a monthly subscription and highly regarded by students.

Student reviews emphasize the value of the study packages offered through the company and how similar the practice tests in the preparation materials were to the actual MCAT® exam.

Course Highlights

• Less expensive than other prep courses on the market
• Courses designed to fit any learning style
• Course delivery features a student-centered approach with problem-based learning (PBL) as the foundation
• Content contributions of the prep course from professionals with university teaching experience who also received high-rank scores on the MCAT ® exam themselves

4. Magoosh MCAT Prep

Magoosh® offers a comprehensive test prep package covering all MCAP ® exam topics. The test prep package is a one-time payment with two available options, one that allows access to all the materials for one month, and the other option for a full year.

The program is delivered 100 percent online, completely self-paced, and ideal for those who like to learn through video and media. Time management with the test prep with Magoosh® involves a carefully crafted study plan based on your skills and times you have available to commit to preparing for the MCAT® exam.

Remember, this is a self-study course without an instructor; however, test experts are available to answer any content questions by email, 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. Student reviews emphasize this study plan most helpful to more advanced students.

Course Highlights

• Money back guarantee, if for any reason you decide after seven days, you do not like the Premium MCAT® Prep, or in the event, your scores do not improve, by at least 10 points
• Test preparation that is extremely cost-effective, ideal for those students with limited budgets
• Ideal for busy professionals, or people who only have a limited amount of time to dedicate to MCAT® test preparation
• Provides a carefully crafted study plan based on your skills and available times you can commit to preparing for the MCAT® exam

5. AdaptPrep MCAT Prep

AdaptPrep® offers two different options for self-paced study plans. The first option is a study plan by section of choice, with the second option being a complete plan where you will receive practice questions for all sections of the MCAT®. AdaptPrep® provides you the ability to customize the material, including quiz length, to your level of difficulty as you go.

The study plans all include full-length practice tests designed to closely replicate the actual MCAT® exam that becomes more challenging as you go. As you move through the material, you will receive section progress reports to inform you of areas of weakness to focus on and efficiently monitor your time. The plan also features a discussion forum that allows you to chat with other students, as well as MCAT® experts.

Keep in mind this is an entirely self-paced study plan, without an instructor, ideal for those who like hands-on learning but provides only a limited amount of resources. Student reviews emphasize the exceptional value of the study plan; however, only useful for intermediate, and above level students, not for beginning level students needing to revisit the basic concepts of the content.

Course Highlights

• Test preparation that is extremely cost-effective, ideal for those students with limited budgets
• Ideal for those students who prefer completely self-paced study plans
• Provides differentiated levels of difficulty for each section or topic as you go
• The customizable study plan that allows you prep for only a specific section needed, at a time

6. NextStep MCAT Prep

Next Step® offers a personalized test preparation service through one-on-one MCAT ® tutoring and MCAT test prep courses with practice tests. Next Step believes you perform best when you can focus on areas of concern of the MCAT® exam.

Next Step® features MCAT ® prep courses that adapt to your skill level and needs as you work through them, that also integrate test-taking strategies. The courses provide ample resources, including prep textbooks, video lessons recorded by instructors, and full-length practice tests.

The prep course interaction with an assigned instructor occurs through what is called live-online small-group office hours, where each session held has a dedicated topic of review. Student reviews emphasize the comprehensive range of materials, provided with the prep course, also relevant to the actual exam.

Course Highlights

• Live practice delivered through 2- hours in length, live online small group study sessions, held at least five times per week
• Instructors have expertise in subject areas and MCAT® exam
• Instructors hired with Next Step® have scored in the 99th percentile, or higher, on the MCAT® themselves
• Course materials designed by test makers to replicate the actual MCAT® exam
• Student support for MCAT® prep course content readily available via an online MCAT group forum with responses from instructors who built the course themselves

7. MCAT Test Prep from Khan Academy

Khan Academy, a non-profit organization, provides free online education and test prep. The educational organization produces lessons and review lessons in the form of videos.

The MCAT test prep section on Khan Academy consists of 14 different sections, each with a number of subsections that contain reading material, video lessons, and practice questions.

While the MCAT prep material doesn’t contain any specific test-taking strategies, the content is free, and so it is a decent option to start with if you don’t want to pay the high prices associated with some of the courses listed above.

Course Highlights

• A completely free, personalized learning resource
• Content specialists who are also instructors or experts in the field of study
• Self-paced video lessons, including practice questions

The Preparation for your MCAT® exam involves a study plan best suited to your needs. The first step to your successful preparation for the exam is a self-inventory of what your learning and financial needs are.

For instance, do you need an all-encompassing review guided with an assigned instructor? Or, do you have a common understanding of the content but just needing to take your skills to the next level? Any of these reputable companies in this article can get your test preparation underway, even if on a limited budget.