Session 11

In today’s episode, we talk about private MCAT tutoring. It’s the best form of MCAT prep you can get, individualized to you personally, but it also tends to be the most expensive.

Should you be investing in one-on-one tutoring instead of taking an MCAT course or self-studying? Is private MCAT tutoring worth it? How do you know it’s right for you?

Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points.

Is a Private MCAT Tutor Right for You?

Private tutoring will help anyone who’s studying for the MCAT. So it’s never going to hurt you. But can you perform just as well with an MCAT course or by self-studying, and thereby save some money?

Let’s look at four different kinds of students who would benefit the most from private MCAT tutoring.

The 4 Groups Who Benefit Most from MCAT Tutoring

We’re going to go over four different kinds of students who would benefit the most from private MCAT tutoring. If you’re in one of these groups, tutoring is going to give you a higher return on your investment than the average premed.

1. Elite kids or the “goners”

These are the students who want to get 99th percentile MCAT scores. They may already be at the 89th percentile, but they find it’s not good enough for them, and they want a 99.9th percentile score.

If you’re performing at that level, no generic course is going to be good enough because the courses are designed to serve the broad base of students. So you need to work with a tutor at the very top of the scale. A private MCAT tutor can help you address your individual areas of improvement, so you can potentially keep improving even in very high score ranges.

[Related episode: What Is a Competitive MCAT Score?]

2. Struggling students

If you really find yourself struggling and you’re getting 5th or 10th percentile scores on your practice tests, something is not working for you. In that case, trying to self-diagnose what you’re getting wrong likely won’t work.

Taking a course often won’t help enough in this case either because courses target the broad middle. A private MCAT tutor can help address where you’re going wrong specifically, and they can help you pinpoint where you need to improve.

3. Nontraditional students

Nontraditional students have often been out of school for 2 or 12 or even 20+ years. In some cases, they’ve been out of school for so long that they really benefit from custom guidance to their unique situation to really help them improve.

[Related episode: The Nontraditional Medical Student: A Different Path to Medical School.]

4. Retakes and students who have been preparing for a while and are still not getting the scores they want

These are the students who have already tried hard to self-study, but they just couldn’t get there. Or they took a course which helped, but it didn’t get them the score improvement they needed.

These are the students who have realized they’re going to have to retake the MCAT, or even take it for the third time, and they need to get the best possible help this time.

Deciding Whether to Invest in an MCAT Tutor

These groups of students mentioned above are the ones for whom private MCAT tutoring is particularly advantageous. But if cost is not a concern to you, then tutoring is always the best choice for MCAT prep.

With private tutoring, you save time—potentially a lot of time—by having an MCAT expert help you pinpoint what’s going wrong for you personally. So it’s always going to be better than a general prep course. It’s just a matter of how much you need tutoring versus how much you need to save money on your MCAT prep.

If you are going for one-on-one MCAT tutoring, check out Blueprint MCAT (formerly Next Step Test Prep). As a company, Next Step is built around tutoring. I’ve worked with Next Step for years, and the student feedback has been incredible. See if their offerings fit what you’re looking for!

For more about the various MCAT prep options at different budget levels, check out episode 62 of The MCAT Podcast.

Links and Other Resources

• Check out my book about the MCAT, co-written with Blueprint MCAT (formerly Next Step Test Prep): The Premed Playbook: Guide to the MCAT.
• Related episode: Best MCAT Course Review (with a Promo Code).
• Related episode: Do I Need an MCAT Prep Course? Or Can I Self-Study?
• Need MCAT Prep? Save on tutoring, classes, and full-length practice tests by using promo code “MSHQ” for 10% off Next Step full-length practice tests or “MSHQTOC” for $50 off MCAT tutoring or the Next Step MCAT Course at Blueprint MCAT (formerly Next Step Test Prep)!