Mcat Prep Course - Prep101 Or Princeton?

[groverdot]

I was wondering if anyone here had any input on either of these two companies when it comes to their MCAT prep courses. I'm aiming to take the MCAT this summer and both are running courses in my area during May/June/July.

 

Upon a quick scan of their respective websites, there doesn't seem to be that much difference between the two. Both will cost me upwards of $2000 with tax, both have classes in the evening should I have a conflict and both include over 100 in-class hours. But is there something about one or the other that I should know about before I invest the two grand?

[FutureGP333]

I am biased because I teach for the Prep101 MCAT course (the good majority of Prep101 MCAT instructors are med students/resident physicians), but I do personally think it is a solid program.

 

Just do your research carefully on all the companies out there as you are right, MCAT prep courses are not cheap (they are also not cheap to run either when all the costs are factored in). I suggest a good place to start is to find out who the actual instructors are that will be teaching your course, in your given region. I know Prep101 posts our instructor bios/student evaluations on their website...check to see if PR or Kaplan does this as well (I haven't looked in a long time)?

 

Good luck with studying for the new MCAT - it is going to be a Beast   

[groverdot]

I am biased because I teach for the Prep101 MCAT course (the good majority of Prep101 MCAT instructors are med students/resident physicians), but I do personally think it is a solid program.

 

Just do your research carefully on all the companies out there as you are right, MCAT prep courses are not cheap (they are also not cheap to run either when all the costs are factored in). I suggest a good place to start is to find out who the actual instructors are that will be teaching your course, in your given region. I know Prep101 posts our instructor bios/student evaluations on their website...check to see if PR or Kaplan does this as well (I haven't looked in a long time)?

 

Good luck with studying for the new MCAT - it is going to be a Beast   

 

Thanks for your input

[desperate_premed]

May I ask why you are not considering Kaplan at all?

 

I personally would stay away from Prep101. Try aiming for Kaplan or Princeton first. I've used both Kaplan and Princeton for the current MCAT and I can say Kaplan gives you a lot more resources, TPR and their website is not the greatest, but for verbal they are golden in my honest opinion.

 

Good luck - regardless of which prep course you take, study like hell !! 

[groverdot]

May I ask why you are not considering Kaplan at all?

 

I personally would stay away from Prep101. Try aiming for Kaplan or Princeton first. I've used both Kaplan and Princeton for the current MCAT and I can say Kaplan gives you a lot more resources, TPR and their website is not the greatest, but for verbal they are golden in my honest opinion.

 

Good luck - regardless of which prep course you take, study like hell !! 

 

Why should I stay away from Prep101? Or is that just relative to TPR and Kaplan?

 

Thank you for asking me why I wasn't considering Kaplan. When I posted this initially Kaplan didn't have any courses in my area listed on their website. I checked again just now though and they either added them to their website just recently or I missed them completely before. Either way, thank you for raising that point!

 

Yet, I'm still a bit hesitant to opt for Kaplan over Prep101/TPR as they only offer ~36 in-class hours. While they do offer an alleged total of >150 hrs (this includes online instruction I guess?) the purpose of a review course, for myself, is greatly underlined by the fact that I would have to actively go to a structured environment that keeps me concentrated and focused in one place for x number of hours. I took an online/VOD course in uni and I found it harder to focus, keep myself disciplined and up to schedule relative to in-lecture. As a result, I feel like the in-class hours of a review course would really benefit me. Are there some redeeming factors that I'm missing though? Or am I making to big of a deal about the in-class hours?

 

Thanks for the luck. I'll definitely need it