What MCAT Prep books are helpful for student getting into Med School?

Pre-Med & Medical School
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What MCAT Prep books are helpful for student getting into Med School?

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There are several different companies that offer MCAT prep books. Different series have different strengths. Some MCAT series: Kaplan, ExamKrackers. Princeton Review, Mometrix, AAMC, Berkeley Review, Gold Standard, Barrons.

All have their pluses and minuses. Some include online access to question databases and/or practice exams (sub-section and full length).

There are also several brands flashcard study decks that utilize different styles. Your choice of flashcard will depend on if you prefer a basic style or cloze deletion.

BluePrint (NextStep) offers a free 1600 basic-style card deck.

The student will also need access to full length practice exams. Kaplan, Princeton Review, Gold Star and other prep companies offer their own version of both full length exams and subsection practice exams–some as part of the purchase of their study series, other for a separate fee.
Blueprint Review has a couple of free practice exams

AMCAS offers MCAT prep materials. There is one free practice exam, plus students can buy access to 4 retired exams. (Scoring included in price)
AMCAS offer study materials including a question database and series of Kham Academy review videos

Students should buy AMCAS exam if at all possible as they provide the best feel for the actual exam. Students should at 2 least 2 AMCAS practice exam under conditions that closely mimic real exam conditions as possible in the 3 weeks preceding their actual test date to gauge their progress.

It all depends on what depth of review a student needs, their study style preferences and how much $$ they have to spend on study aids.

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As an expert in med school application, would you say that if someone consistently get above 515 on the Kaplan and Princeton Review full-length MCAT practice test, the odds of getting 520+ on the real AAMC MCAT is pretty favorable? Thanks for your insight!

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@juniebug
Neither Kaplan or Princeton Review practice exams are good predictors for actual MCAT score. Kaplan practice scores tend to be inflated while PR’s exams have a reputation for featuring very hard questions that aren’t terribly representative of the actual types of questions asked.

AMCAS retired MCAT tests are the gold standard for MCAT prep. These practice exams should be taken under test-like conditions. (Each test taken in one 7.5 hour sitting with a 10 minute break between sections. Test should be taken in a quiet but semi-public place --like a college library or a coffee shop to mimic actual testing conditions.)

Those will give you the best evaluation of your potential MCAT performance.

AMCAS Practice Exams
https://store.aamc.org/mcat-prep/full-length-exams.html

Individual exams are $35. There are 4 exams available.

Most test takers score lower on the actual MCAT than on their practice tests.

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We bought the entire test prep package from AAMC. It comes with practice questions, a sample full-length test, and four full length practice test, but he wants to take more full length to build up his stamina. Which testing company do you recommend beside the AAMC one? TIA!

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The MCATs FL will be ones that give the best prediction for his score. Ideally he will have saved the AMCAS FL’s for the last 3-4 weeks leading up to his actual MCAT date and done other companies’ tests first.

Besides the AMCAS exams, in order of preference:

  1. MedSchoolCoach-- half and full length exams. Tests are $29/each. Discount if you buy 3. Probably comes closest of all the non-AMCAS companies to real MCAT in content and structure.
  2. Blueprint (NextStep)-- their exams come bundled in packages of 4, 6 or 10… The 10 exam bundle is $249. Good data analytics about where you need to improve.
  3. Princeton Review/Kaplan–both Kaplan and PR offer a free online 3.5 hour practice exam. PR has an 8 test bundle you can buy. Good for content review.
  4. Altius-- 10 test bundle for $300. A lot of users feel their CARS subsection is confusing and poorly designed.
  5. ExamKrackers–6 test available $40/test. Again, lots of people dislike their CARS subsection and think it’s ambiguous and difficult to understand what the questions are asking.

If he just wants to build stamina–any of the FL practice exams will work.

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