Like many students preparing for med school, you may wonder if you need an MCAT tutor to
get a good MCAT score. The MCAT is a hard multidisciplinary exam that challenges even
the brightest students. But does this difficulty mean you need to work with a tutor? Some students
thrive on the additional guidance and confidence provided by tutoring, but no two students
are the same. In this video, we'll help you determine if an MCAT tutor is right for you
and, if so, how to find one that suits your needs.
Hi! My name is Chris and I’m an admissions associate here at BeMo. Before we get started,
be sure to subscribe on whatever social media channel you’re watching this from now, so
you don’t miss any of our upcoming videos. If you would like us to help you with your
MCAT, click on the link above or below this video to schedule your free initial consultation
. As a quick tip, check out the time stamps in the description of this video to navigate
to specific sections of the video that you are interested in.
Here’s a look at what we’ll review today: Should You Get an MCAT Tutor?
Establish Your Baseline With Diagnostic Testing How Important Is Your MCAT Score?
Does Studying With a Tutor Suit You? By the way we're giving away $50 Amazon gift
cards every week to best comments and questions - comment below for a chance to win.
Now let’s get started! Should You Get an MCAT Tutor?
If you’re applying to a medical school that doesn’t require the MCAT at all then you’ve
got your answer, but for everyone else this question is fairly complicated. Working with
an MCAT tutor is one of many ways to successfully prepare for the MCAT, but it’s hard to know
if it’s the right choice for you. Regardless of what you think might fit you initially,
it’s important to do a little work to be sure in your choice. We recommend everyone
start with the same first step: Establish Your Baseline With Diagnostic Testing
Whether you've already taken the MCAT or you're preparing for your first attempt, you'll want
to begin by establishing your baseline knowledge with an MCAT diagnostic test. The goal with
a diagnostic test is to understand your specific strengths and weaknesses before you embark
on your MCAT preparations. For your diagnostic, we recommend using a full-length exam from
the AAMC. Complete your practice exam in one sitting
and in an environment that mimics test-day conditions. This means a quiet setting with
a timer. Additionally, only allow yourself the resources you’ll be provided on testing
day, which includes a copy of the periodic table, a dry-erase notepad with graph paper,
a non-permanent pen, and foam earplugs if you so desire. If you have any medical conditions
that require additional resources like food, water, or medical devices like an insulin
pump then keep those on hand too, but be sure to apply for accommodation with the AAMC at
least three months ahead of when you’d like to take the test. Accommodations are generally
granted, but they must be proven to be medically necessary.
As you review the results of your diagnostic, identify your strengths and areas that need
improvement, then design your own MCAT study schedule. This can be easier said than done.
For instance, you might bomb the biology section but excel in the rest, in which case the focus
of your preparation is obvious. However, many passage-based questions incorporate multiple
bodies of knowledge and it may be unclear exactly where or why you faltered. Yes, there
are standalone discrete questions on pure chemistry or psychology, but in many cases,
you may be asked to utilize knowledge of biochemistry,
research design, and even sociology in a single
question. Getting complex questions wrong may make it difficult to do the actual work
of diagnosing your baseline knowledge. If this is the case, and you need help sorting
out exactly which points are weakest for you, then consulting a tutor can greatly benefit
you. An MCAT expert or a medical school advisor will help you to pinpoint exactly where you
are going wrong, so you can successfully move past those hurdles with a specialized study
program. How Important Is Your MCAT Score?
How Important is Your MCAT Score? The simple answer here is "Very!" but there are some
students for whom achieving a stellar MCAT score will play an especially pivotal role
in their medical school applications. For example, if you have a below-average GPA—that
is, below the average GPA requirements of the schools you hope to attend—you may be
relying on the MCAT to make up for this. A high MCAT score can't overshadow a 1.5 GPA,
but it can offset a few decimals if the rest of your application is strong.
Some medical schools weigh individual sections
of the MCAT higher when they rank their applicants,
so you would want to do everything possible to maximize your score on these. A few schools
will even disregard all but specific sections, such as McMaster which only considers the
CARS section. This is exceptionally rare however, and most schools will still prefer applicants
who do well on all 4 sections of the test. Nonetheless, it's vital to study the schools
to which you're applying and try to determine how they'll consider the various parts of
your application and MCAT. If this feels like a dizzying task, a good tutor will be able
to help, and may even have additional insight into schools' admissions policies that aren't
otherwise publicly available. Time, as ever, is a vital factor to consider.
If you're considering retaking the MCAT within a given testing year then your timeline may
be considerably more restrictive than someone planning to take it for the first time.
Alternately,
perhaps you're so pressed for time that you only have one opportunity to take the MCAT,
and need to ensure that you ace it on the first attempt. If you find yourself in a situation
like this, the pressure to do well can become overwhelming, and going it alone could result
in burning out. The bottom line is that if everything’s riding on your next MCAT attempt,
then utilizing a tutor is almost assuredly the right call. If nothing else, it takes
some of the pressure off of you to personally create and navigate your preparation plan,
and can give you a number of additional tools as well. The more tools you have at your disposal,
the better your chances are for success! Does Studying With a Tutor Suit You?
Some students prefer to study alone and are actually more productive that way. Other students
struggle to study alone, so having someone
there to guide them is the best form of preparation.
If you have trouble motivating yourself for the months of MCAT prep that lie ahead of
you, a tutor can help to motivate you and keep you on track. If you made a study schedule
but are having trouble sticking to it, a tutor can hold you to deadlines and set the pace
for your MCAT preparation. Many students enjoy being able to talk through
concepts tested on the MCAT with another person while receiving targeted advice for their
particular strengths and weaknesses, while others find that they are not really that
receptive to outside help. Think about who you are as a student – how receptive you
are to help and what you actually need help with – in order to determine if enlisting
the help of a tutor is right for you. If you need someone to hold you accountable as you
study, a tutor is an excellent option. Another consideration, going on your diagnostic
test results, is how readily you can access and review the information you're weak on.
For example, if you finished your undergraduate degree in physics then you may only need to
review practice questions, your course notes, and textbooks to pick up your score in that
section. But if your experience is limited to a single intro physics course in your first
year, you may feel a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out where to start your studying.
In this case, hiring an expert to tailor your study plan to your specific needs is almost
assuredly a good idea. Even if you prefer studying alone, having someone available to
help you structure that studying can save you tons of time and prevent your anxiety
from getting the better of you. Lastly, working with an MCAT tutor can be
especially helpful if you're a non-traditional applicant. By non-traditional we simply mean
someone who hasn't maintained an unbroken path to med school; so, someone who's taken
a gap year, someone with a background in the humanities, someone turning to a career in
medicine later in life, or someone leaving the military among many other possibilities.
MCAT tutors can be a great help to those who took their intro science courses a decade
ago, or who have limited recent academic experience
in the sciences.
How to Find a Good MCAT Tutor If you have decided that an MCAT tutor is
the best fit for you, you’ll want to invest some time and care into finding the best one
for your needs. But this task can be quite daunting, even with lots of time and sharp
evaluative skills. Simply searching for MCAT tutors online will flood you with thousands
of options that often feel indistinguishable from one another. It's imperative that your
MCAT tutor is qualified and that they have extensive training and experience with this
particular type of tutoring. 1. Go With Experience
It’s crucial to have someone with MCAT-specific
tutoring experience to guide you in your preparations.
A good tutor will know the MCAT inside and out, so be sure to do your research and don’t
settle for just anyone. An especially crucial but easy to overlook detail is that your potential
tutor needs to have recent experience with the current version of the MCAT, rather than
the old style of the exam. Specifically, you’d want to determine that a tutor has helped
students in the last 5-6 years, rather than merely having extensive experience pre-2015
iteration of the MCAT. Don’t just take their word for it—be sure to do your homework
and interview them for the position. Discuss your plans, concerns, and situation with them,
and don’t assume anything without them proving their claims. Ask if they’ve taken the new
MCAT, how long they have been tutoring for the MCAT, how many students they’ve successfully
prepped since 2015, and have them explain the current MCAT format to you.
If you go with a prep company, they should be able to match you with an MCAT expert that
has been tutoring for years and knows the test’s format and effective preparation
strategies like the back of their hand. Always check their reviews for MCAT preparation on
an independent website such as Trustpilot to see if they’ve helped past students succeed.
It is important to ensure that you are placing your trust in a trained and tested MCAT expert.
2. Find a Teacher, Not Just a Student Despite what some MCAT reddit forums might
lead you to think, just because someone has done well on the MCAT doesn’t automatically
mean that they can teach you how to do the same. A tutor is only as good as their ability
to teach, so ensure that your tutor has teaching experience and has undergone extensive training.
As anyone who’s made the transition from student to teacher will attest, the ability
to effectively direct knowledge to others and guide them toward understanding it is
different than simply absorbing information and using it on a test or paper.
Additionally, you’ve undoubtedly found that each teacher has a different teaching style.
Some teachers’ approaches may be harmonious with your learning style, while others seem
to speak a different language entirely. When researching tutors, be sure to investigate
their teaching style and share details about your learning style with them. For example,
let them know if you prefer to attempt problems on your own after they explain a concept to
you, or if you need more hands-on guidance and would prefer them to walk through problems
with you. By having this conversation, you can ensure that your MCAT tutor’s teaching
style is a match for the way that you learn. If you have a learning difference or require
testing accommodations, it is worth the extra digging to find an MCAT tutor that has experience
with your specific variables. And for this point especially, you’ll want to see proof
of their ability to match their teaching style to your unique needs. Anyone can claim to
help you ace the MCAT, but not everyone can verify it with a positive history with other
students. If a prep company or tutor doesn’t have much of a track record to point to, consider
it a huge red flag and start looking elsewhere. 3. Ensure That You'll Get Personalized Feedback
Connected to the last point somewhat, it’s important to make sure that a tutor or prep
company’s program will be tailored to your needs both before and after diagnostics/practice.
An important but sometimes overlooked part of this is finding an expert that will be
able to give you personalized feedback. A tutor that only provides answers to practice
problems in chemistry or physics will not be effective—you need your preparation to
address you and your specific needs as an individual. Rather than giving generic or
limited feedback, a good tutor will identify the types of MCAT questions that stump you
and give you feedback based on these specific weaknesses. But the point is that your tutor
should be able to analyze your studying and
work together and give you an exact and constructive
path forward, without relying too much on generalities or cookie-cutter programming.
For instance, your CARS strategy demands that your tutor be able to critically assess your
comprehension of literary passages, and this is a skillset quite distinct from solving
physics equations or unpacking patterns in statistics. So in addition to needing personal
feedback, you again want to make sure your tutor has the necessary experience to provide
this feedback based on your section-specific performance.
4. Ask for Recommendations Many excellent tutors work by word of mouth.
If you are preparing for the MCAT, chances are you know several students that have already
taken it and done well. Did any of them utilize a tutor or an MCAT preparation company? Seeking
a friend or family member’s advice can be invaluable in narrowing down an MCAT tutor
that will work for you. If your friend has a similar learning style to you, and their
tutor helped them to achieve a competitive MCAT score, then this is a great place to
start your search. However, don’t just take their word for it—always interview them
for the position! You can also ask for a student reference to
determine if an MCAT tutor you’re considering is effective and suited to your needs. This
may ruffle the feathers of some tutors, but anyone worth their fees should be able to
point you toward reviews or feedback from students they’ve helped in the past. Asking
for recommendations to initially find a tutor is important, but so is asking for student
reviews from the tutor themselves. 5. Test Drive Their Services to Ensure a Good
Fit An excellent MCAT tutor will not only be able
to help you improve your scores, but they will also truly care about your success and
will allow you to test drive their services before committing to a lengthier relationship.
Many tutoring companies will have success rates posted on their website regarding how
many of their students achieve their MCAT goals and get accepted into medical school.
Look for a tutor that will provide you with a free initial lesson or consultation to get
a feel for their teaching style and expertise, as well as to ensure that they are able to
provide you with personalized feedback. You wouldn't apply to a medical school without
doing your research first, so don't spend money on an MCAT tutor without testing them
out as well. Your MCAT tutor should stand behind their
services by holding themselves accountable for your success. With individual tutors and
larger prep companies alike, a satisfaction guarantee is another good sign to see. The
best tutors will be personally committed and accountable to ensuring your success. Lastly,
look for a company or tutor that’s upfront about their costs, and provides this information
in an easy to find location on their website.
The best MCAT tutoring services will be transparent
in all regards, and if the financial data seems cagey or hard to find, odds are that’s
because they’re only in it for money or simply overcharge for their services. Transparency
in all regards is a huge positive sign for academic prep services, and if your “spidey
sense” is tingling from something as basic as fee structures, odds are your experiences
further down the line won’t be much better. Check out our blogs for more grad school tips.
I have included links in the description of this video so you can find the blog easily.
If you would like us to help you with your MCAT, click on the link above or below this
video to schedule your free initial consultation. Hopefully you enjoyed the video so please
subscribe, like and leave a comment. If you have any questions about video interviews
that I didn’t cover in this video, let me know in the comment section and I will get
back to you as soon as possible. Don’t forget that we're giving away $50 Amazon gift cards
every week to best comments and questions - comment below for a chance to win. Thanks
so much for watching this video, see you next time.