MCAT Prep Course

What is a Prep Course? Why should I take a Prep Course? What should I look for when choosing an MCAT Prep Course? How does Prep101 compare with other companies? Will my MCAT score improve? Why are Prep101 instructors considered the "Best in the Business"? What is exceptional about the "Master the MCAT" study guide? What Is the format of the Prep Course? What outside the classroom resources are included? Are Online Lectures included in the price? How long are Online Lectures available? What is a booster course? What is "Flexible" about the schedule? Where can I find more info about the instructors? When are the Prep Courses? How does the free repeat policy work? How does the money-back guarantee work? Does Prep101 provide individual tutoring? How do I contact Prep101? How do I sign up? Where can I find out more about the MCAT? Where can I find free study aids for the MCAT? What is the refund and withdrawal policy? What is the cancellation policy? What is the discount policy? When do I get the Study Guides and Home Study Kit What are my Payment Options? If I only pay the $100 deposit, when is the balance due? If I only pay the $100 deposit, how do I pay the balance

What is a Prep Course? Prep courses are intensive workshops that sharpen your problem-solving skills to prepare you for the MCAT. By breaking down problems into manageable pieces, our prep courses teach you to solve any question on the MCAT.

Why should I take a Prep Course? 50% of all students end up with an average or below average MCAT score, which won't get you into med school. Yet with only a few more correct answers, they could have made the 80th percentile. Taking a prep course can mean closing that gap.

Here are some good reasons for investing in a prep course:

• Structure — we know how much time you need to spend on each section, so we keep you on schedule.
• Proven Methods — we know which study methods and exam-writing strategies work, so you don't have to figure it out for yourself.
• Focus — we keep you focused on the key concepts and problem-solving skills that are tested on the MCAT, saving you time and effort.
• Motivation — working with instructors and classmates keeps you motivated.
• Feedback — dry-run MCATs and in-class practice mini-tests with individualized feedback tell you where your strengths and weaknesses lie, and help you track your progress.
• Help from expert instructors — our instructors can clear up anything that's confusing you, so you're not left to figure it out on your own
• Teamwork — that "we're all in this together" spirit really helps your morale.

What should I look for when choosing an MCAT Prep Course? There are plenty of MCAT prep courses out there, each with their own philosophy and methods. However, there are three key things to look for when choosing a prep course:

1. Top-quality instructors
2. Comprehensive study materials
3. A well designed course.

How does Prep101 compare with other companies? See Comparison of MCAT Prep Courses

Will my MCAT score improve? That is the entire purpose of our prep courses. Students who are serious about entering medicine and who are committed to preparing themselves will improve their MCAT score by taking our courses. For students taking our Comprehensive Program, we guarantee that their score will improve.

Why are Prep101 instructors considered to be the "Best in the Business"? There are plenty of reasons why taking a class with an instructor is the most effective way to prepare for the MCAT. Buying a good study guide or practicing with old MCAT tests helps. But they're no substitute for working with an instructor who really knows his stuff.

Our instructors have been teaching students at this level for years
We're the only MCAT prep company that also offers prep courses for undergraduate classes. Our instructors have years of experience in teaching the same topics that are on the MCAT.

Our MCAT Prep Course is delivered by teams of specialists
We use teams of instructors to deliver our MCAT prep course — each one teaching in his or her area of expertise. Other companies rely on one instructor to deliver their entire MCAT prep course, but we don't believe that a generalist can do justice to the course

Our instructors have to pass an audition
When we hire instructors, we put them through a competitive audition by having them teach a mock prep class to a room full of undergraduate students. We can't think of anyone better qualified than students to spot the best teachers so we let your peers decide who we hire. Only Prep101 goes to these lengths.

We post every instructor's biography, teaching experience, and evaluations
We firmly believe that students should know who's going to teach them. That's why we post information about all our instructors on our website, including a full biography, educational background, and teaching history.

But we don't stop there. We ask each of our students to rate their instructor's performance. And because you ought to know how well the person who'll be teaching you performs in the classroom, we post those reviews alongside the instructor's biography. No other MCAT prep company does that.

What is exceptional about the "Master the MCAT" study guide? A study guide is almost as essential to your MCAT preparation as the instructor. You're dealing with more information than you've ever had to in any class you've taken before. A well-organized study guide helps you manage it.

Customized to the MCAT
Our Master the MCAT Study Guide is not a general textbook. It's meant to help you learn the material and master the problem-solving skills you need to write the MCAT — nothing more, nothing less. It has plenty of practice MCAT questions, and strikes the right balance between explanation and practice.

Comprehensive, Concise, and Focused
Some MCAT prep companies think they're giving you more value by pumping their study guides full of facts. But all you get is hundreds of pages of extraneous information. Our Master the MCAT study guide presents only material you need to know for the test.

Integrated into the Classroom
It's not enough simply to include relevant information in the study guide. You need to review it in class too. Some companies assume that students will cover much of the material on their own. Not us — we cover the entire study guide in the classroom. And our instructors give out their e-mail addresses, so students can ask them questions any time.

User-friendly
A good study guide makes complicated concepts easy to understand, taking you step-by-step through the problems you'll encounter on the MCAT. Our Master the MCAT study guide isn't a jargon-laden textbook. Its design helps you quickly and easily find the information you need, using simple and clear explanations.

What is the format of the Prep Course? When you're taking an MCAT prep course, how it's formatted is just as important as what's being taught. Lectures should be intense, but not overly long. There should be lots of practice time and review, so you get instant feedback on how well you are managing MCAT concepts and problems.

That's the format that Prep101 follows. Our course covers absolutely everything on the MCAT, but we've structured it in a way to make it easier for you to absorb the huge volume of material.

We break down the MCAT into 40 lessons, which we cover in individual Study Guide chapters. Students read each lesson in the Study Guide and work through 24 practice questions before coming to class to review their work.

In class, each 2-hour lesson begins with a 1-hour lecture, during which the instructor goes over the chapter's key concepts and the practice questions. We follow that with a 30-minute practice exam, which is then reviewed with your instructor. That's different from most other prep companies, which offer little or no in-class testing and review.

What outside the classroom resources are included? If you're serious about the MCAT, you'll prepare for it even when you're not in the classroom. It helps to have lots of resources at your disposal, there when you need them. Knowing that support is there when you need it is a real morale booster.

Online Lectures

Miss a class? No problem. Every lecture is posted online for you to view at any time from the comfort of home. Check out a demo video. And the Online Lecture on Demand are available for a full month after the end of the prep course so you can go back and watch them again to refresh your understanding of any part of the course.

Follow-up email tutoring
Our instructors give out their email address, so they can tutor students outside the classroom right up to the day of the MCAT. They'll respond directly to your email questions, during and after the prep course.

Online Forum
Prep101 students can also log into an online forum run by the authors of Prep101's Master the MCAT study guide. They'll answer your questions about the study guide, and you can also interact with other students preparing for the MCAT.

 

Are Online Lectures included in the price? Yes.

How long are Online Lectures available? 24/7 throughout the course and for one full month after the course ends so you can go online and refresh your understanding of any part of the course even after it is over.

*Online Lectures will be available July 1, 2008

What is a booster course? Most students have subjects they need extra help in. That's why we let our students customize their program by taking Booster courses for whichever subject — Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, or Verbal Reasoning — they're weak in. We're the only MCAT prep company that offers that.

What is "Flexible" about the schedule? We're the only MCAT prep company that lets students customize their weekly schedule. We present each of our 40 lessons on a weeknight, and again on the weekend. Students can choose to attend either or both classes, depending on their own schedule week to week.

And if you miss both classes, you can watch any lecture online at any time from the comfort of home. Check out Online Lectures

 

Where can I find more info about the instructors? See Instructors

When are the Prep Courses? See Prep Course Schedules

How does the free repeat policy work? One of the goals of Prep101 is to give you the confidence to do as well as you possibly can on the MCAT. After taking our prep course, if you feel you still aren't fully prepared for this challenging test, then we encourage you to repeat the course again at no further charge.

*Does not include AAMC licensing fees for simulated MCATs

How does the money-back guarantee work? This guarantee is offered to all students taking our Comprehensive Classroom Prep Course. If you write the diagnostic MCAT and all the simulated MCATs, and attend all our lectures, your score will improve when you write the actual MCAT. If it doesnt, we will refund the cost of the course minus the cost of materials.

Does Prep101 provide individual tutoring? No.

How do I contact Prep101? See Contact Us

How do I sign up? There are 4 ways to register for our MCAT prep course:

Online — The easiest way is online at Sign-Up

1. Fax — To sign-up by fax, please complete the MCAT Registration Form included in the Information Package and fax it to (416) 628-4625.
2. Phone — To sign-up by phone, please call 1-877-878-0882. You can register over the phone using Visa or MasterCard.
3. Mail — To sign-up by mail, please complete the MCAT Registration Form in the Information Package and mail it to:

Where can I find out more about the MCAT? See About the MCAT

Where can I find free study aids for the MCAT? See Free Study Aids

What is the refund and withdrawal policy?

1. 100% refund if you withdraw at least two weeks before the start of the prep course.
   
2. Prep101 retains the $100 deposit if you withdraw less than two weeks before the start of the prep course
   
3. 100% refund if the prep course for which you register is full or cancelled
4. 50% refund if you withdraw from the course within the first 2 weeks of the prep course

What is the cancellation policy?Prep courses must obtain a minimum enrolment in order to proceed.

What is the discount policy?We grant a maximum of one discount per student per prep course. If you are eligible for multiple discounts, we will honour the discount with the highest dollar value.

When do I get the Study Guides and Home Study Kit? Within 5 business days of making full payment for the course.

What are my Payment Options? You have two payment options:
1. Full Payment guarantees your spot and the Study Guides and Home Study Kit will be shipped to you (expect delivery within 5 business days).
2. $100 Deposit guarantees your spot but the Study Guides and Home Study Kit will not be shipped to you until you pay the balance.

If I only pay the $100 deposit, when is the balance due? 14 days before the start of the course.

If I only pay the $100 deposit, how do I pay the balance? Log In to our account and select Pay Balance.