r/MCATprep

Hi everyone! As a long-time lurker on this sub, I owe so much of my score to this community and want to pay it forward by offering cheap tutoring sessions to help people who are in the same boat I was.

I recently scored a 518 on the MCAT. Since I took the exam just over a month ago, the content, AAMC logic, and test-taking strategies are still very fresh in my mind.

Feel free to DM me if you're interested or have any questions!

Quick disclosure upfront, I built this thing so take it as it is.

Three things I couldn't stand from my MCAT journey.

First, they are boring as shit, mundane, and wildly expensive. I don't come from money or anything close to it, so I could never afford those "premium" resources. Pretty ironic for a field that focuses so heavily on equality...

Second, I didn't know how to use my data. It was very helpful for showing me what I still needed to study, but it did nothing to show me how close I was to actually being ready to take the test.

Third, yes they are reputable resources, and sometimes the explanations are half decent, but those explanations are all you got. I always wished there was an attached citation or link to further explore the exact published data that discussed the answers.

For those reasons I built ProgressNote. It's a FREE full 2000 question verified bank with explanations all linked to a direct published citation when free and available. It has baked in spaced repetition and adaptive difficulty in your questions, something verifiably beneficial as seen with Anki. I've also had several high end professionals build and verify 13 specific measurement scores based on performance to tell you EXACTLY where you stand. These include Predicted Test Score, Exam Readiness, Burnout Index Score, etc.

Most importantly it's ENTIRELY FREE. No cc, no ads, no nothing. I can't stress it enough, this is meant to level the playing field against those $650 UWorld subscriptions. Take it for a spin and let me know how to improve it for the years to come!! DM me if you ever have specific questions -

Looking for MCAT tutoring this summer? I’m currently taking on a limited number of new students for personalized 1-on-1 sessions.
I specialize in the science sections of the MCAT and scored 131 in Chemical & Physical Foundations, 132 in Biological & Biochemical Foundations, and 132 in Psychological, Social, & Biological Foundations of Behavior. I do not tutor CARS.
Over the past 3+ years, I’ve worked with 100+ students through both private tutoring and established MCAT prep programs. Whether you’re trying to break past a score plateau, strengthen weak content areas, or refine your test-taking strategy, I tailor every session to your individual needs rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach.
My goal is to provide high-quality tutoring at a price that’s accessible.
Before you decide, I’m also happy to offer a free 10-15 minute consultation where we can discuss your goals, identify areas for improvement, and see if we’re a good fit.
If you’re interested or have any questions, feel free to send me a DM!

Sadly, I have rescheduled the MCAT more times than I would like to admit (probably more than 3-4 times). My plan was to take just two gap years after college then start med school and I'm currently on my third so I would have taken four years if I applied this cycle but I just can't stick my studying plans. I'll study for a couple weeks, then get discouraged when I don't see the results that I want. I've done this on and off for over two years, taking big breaks in between studying to "refresh" and contemplate if I even want to keep trying before starting again. I feel I have a solid plan and have done plenty of research on what I should do to get a good score (content review first 1/3 of studying w/book set and anki, second 1/3 of studying uworld, last 1/3- aamc q banks, with jack westin daily and full lengths every week starting sometime during uworld). I just want a tutor that I could get that would verify I'm making a realistic plan and that I could use for accountability (w/emphasis on the accountability part) so I can at least get one solid effort in before I really start contemplating if I should do something else and stop letting my life go by year after year.

I recently just cancelled my test date for 9/11. I was planning on studying 3 months. Month 1 was mostly content review using Prof. Eman videos and pairing with MilesDown Anki. Month 2 I started UWorld and wanted to get through as much of it in that month. In an ideal world I wanted to aim for 59 questions a day. Month 3 would have been AAMC bank and full lengths. I only got to starting UWorld before feeling overwhelmed and my mid results on the question banks made me feel like I was not prepared content wise.

I’m seeking any advice on what I should change to my study plan. I plan on registering to test at some point in January, so if I really need to I can retake again late April before next years application cycle.

What resources are best for helping generate a comprehensive schedule because that’s where I think I got off on the wrong foot?

Is it okay that I get a lot of questions wrong on UWorld at first? Does that mean I’m wasting them and I should do more content review first?

What resource is best for tracking mistakes?

Any other advice for me as I gear up to finally go all in?

completed

• CARS diagnostic: 49% accuracy. average time 3 mins
• CARS Qpack vol 1: 44% accuracy. average time 2:53 mins
• 118 on AAMC FL1
• 121 on AAMC unscored
• 118 on AAMC FL2

How should I structure MCAT content review + practice questions?

I'm starting MCAT content review using Professor Eman's videos and the associated Anki cards for each chapter.

I'm confused about how to split up subjects. Should I finish one subject at a time or rotate between bio, biochem, gen chem, orgo, physics, and psych/soc throughout the week?

Also, what platform/resources should I use for practice questions during content review, and when should I start them? Should I do questions immediately after each chapter?

I already know I should start doing CARS passages every day.

I'd appreciate examples of your daily/weekly content review schedule and how you made sure you didn't forget older material.

Testing in a week and aiming for a 510. I got a 504 on Jack Westin FL 6, with my breakdown being 126/125/126/127.

For anyone who’s taken JW FLs recently, how did your JW scores compare to your AAMC FLs or actual MCAT? Do you think a 504 JW could reasonably translate to ~510 on the real thing?

DM me if you want it

Please give me your most unhinged advice on how to score 132 in P/S?

Hey all, I'm an MCAT tutor taking on new students!

I scored a 521 this past January (130 CP / 127 CARS / 132 BB / 132 PS), so I can help across all the science sections and with full-length strategy. On top of my own prep, I spent 2.5 years as a TA (one of my classes being physics) at a T10 undergrad, so I have a lot of practice breaking down tough material and meeting students where they're at.

My rate is $45/hr, and I offer a free consultation first so we can talk through your goals, timeline, and where you're stuck before you commit to anything. No pressure.

If you're studying and want a hand, feel free to comment or DM me. Happy to answer questions!

I already took the MCAT once and scored a 485. I know that was very stupid to take it then. Since then, I’ve tried a lot of different things. I watched Eman videos, did Kaplan question sets, worked through UWorld questions, and completed the MilesDown Anki deck. When I started taking full-lengths again, though, my highest was a 492, and I’ve mostly been stuck around the 490 range. My goal was a 510.
I know I’ve made some progress since my first attempt, but clearly something still isn’t clicking. I thought I was improving a lot more than my scores are showing, and I’m starting to think I have much bigger content gaps than I realized.
My med school friend and my tutor both recommended that I drop my September exam and take it in January instead. Their advice was to actually take time off from work, go through the Kaplan books thoroughly and take notes, do UWorld alongside content review, and then spend the final month primarily on AAMC material while spreading out my FLs.
The problem is that I don’t really know what **thorough content review** is supposed to look like.
I’ve read chapters, watched videos, done Anki, reviewed questions, etc., but obviously the way I’ve been doing it hasn’t been enough. When you’re going through something like Kaplan, what are you actually writing down? How do you distinguish between something you just recognize and something you genuinely know well enough for the MCAT?
I also know consistency has been a problem. I work with clients, and some days can get extremely busy. I don’t want to keep blaming circumstances, though. If I’m going to push this exam to January, I want to completely change how I’m studying and do this properly.
For anyone who started in the **485–495 range and eventually broke 500/505/510+**, what specifically changed?

How did you:
Identify and fix major content gaps?
Go through Kaplan or another content resource effectively?
Take notes without basically rewriting the entire book?
Use Anki for actual retention rather than recognition?
Review UWorld/AAMC questions deeply enough that you stopped repeating the same mistakes?
Balance content review with practice questions?
Know when you were finally ready to start taking FLs regularly?
I genuinely feel pretty lost right now. I never thought I’d be the person asking for this much help, but clearly I need guidance. I don’t want to spend another few months doing a ton of work only to find out that I was studying inefficiently again.
If you’ve been in a similar score range and managed to turn it around, I’d really appreciate hearing exactly what you did differently.

Anki + UWorld + AAMC (don’t overcomplicate it)

Hello all! I scored a 517 (128/130/129/130) on the MCAT on April 10th, 2026 with a 130 in CARS and 130 in P/S. I’m offering tutoring, especially for CARS.

I have tutored students in English as a Second Language prior to taking the MCAT which has given me great understanding on how to teach analytical reading at any level.

This experience also taught me how to self-study and bring up my CARS score from the low 120s on my first few AAMC practice exams.

I'm charging $25/hour for 1 on 1 sessions over Zoom.

I'm also happy to do a free 20-minute introductory session where we work through a CARS passage together so you can see whether my approach is useful for you.

Feel free to comment or DM me if you're interested and I can provide verification of my MCAT score.

If you want help with CARS or general MCAT strategy, feel free to message me.

I just finished FL5 today and honestly I’m pretty disappointed and unsettled. My exam is 8/21, so I have to decide basically now whether to keep it or push to 9/3. Would really appreciate advice, especially from people who have taken FL5/FL6 or the real exam recently.

My AAMC FLs:

FL2: 514 — 130/127/130/127
FL3: 512 — 129/125/128/130
FL4: 515 — 131/127/130/127
FL5: 512 — 128/126/129/129

I know a 512 is a good score for many people and I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but based on my goals I really need 516+ and am aiming for ~518, so seeing another 512 this close to my exam really hurt.

The weirdest part is the skill breakdown.

C/P Skill 2 (Scientific Reasoning):
96% → 85% → 92% → 71% on FL5

B/B Skill 2:
92% → 85% → 92% → 73% on FL5

So I had been around ~90% on science reasoning across FL2–4 and then both sections suddenly tanked on FL5. C/P did feel much more time pressured/calculation heavy to me, but I’m confused about why the drop was that dramatic.

CARS is also strange:

Reasoning Beyond the Text: 68% → 70% → 82% → 86%
Reasoning Within the Text: 93% → 71% → 67% → 63%

On FL5 I somehow got 24/26 social science questions right but only 17/27 humanities. I actually felt like I understood AAMC logic better while taking it, which makes the 126 pretty discouraging.

The one encouraging thing is P/S. I’ve been specifically working on content/term recall, and my Skill 1 went from 70% on FL4 → 86% on FL5, while Skill 2 was 88%, so at least that seems to be improving.

I guess what I’m trying to figure out is:

Did anyone else have a weird Skill 2/science drop specifically on FL5? Did FL6 or your real exam rebound?

For recent testers, do FL5/FL6 feel meaningfully different from FL1–4, especially in C/P and B/B reasoning?

And most importantly, if you were me and 516+ was really important, would you keep 8/21 or take the extra ~2 weeks and move to 9/3?

I’m pretty stressed because I’ve put a ton of work into this and really thought I was starting to understand AAMC better. If anyone had a similar FL5 drop this close to their exam and then improved on FL6/the real thing, please tell me what happened and what you changed.

I'm planning to start preparing for the MCAT and I'm realizing I need to do a pretty serious refresher of my basic science knowledge before I jump into actual MCAT prep.

I don't mean normal MCAT content review. I mean something that essentially assumes I've forgotten a lot of my introductory science courses and walks me through the material from the ground up in a structured order.

For example, instead of just saying "review general chemistry," I'd want something that goes through things like:

• Atomic structure → bonding → stoichiometry → solutions → thermochemistry → equilibrium → acids/bases, etc.
• Cell biology → genetics → molecular biology → physiology, etc.
• Physics fundamentals → mechanics → fluids → electricity → optics, etc.

Basically, I want a structured foundation/refresher course that tells me exactly what I should learn and in what order before I move into actual MCAT-level preparation.

I'm much better with video/lecture-style teaching than learning primarily from textbooks, so ideally I'd like something that has actual instruction rather than just a list of topics to review.

Does anything like this exist? If you've ever felt like you needed to essentially relearn your prerequisite science before starting MCAT prep, what resources did you use?

Also note I don't plan to take the MCAT for quite a while so I got a lot of time but I just feel like I've completely forgotten everything.

AAMC FL 1 509 (126, 125, 130, 128)
AAMC FL 2 512 (128, 128, 130, 126)
AAMC FL 3 513 (128, 127, 129, 129)
AAMC FL 4 516 (130, 130, 126, 130) - felt easier 🤷‍♂️
AAMC FL 5 514 (128, 128, 128, 130) - felt easier but clearly not so much !

Taking FL 6 on Friday and doing one science unscored section a day this week (is that worth it?)

Kinda stuck around 128 for C/P, B/B and CARS and I need atleast two sections to be at 130 in 10 days to get near my goal score! Or somehow get P/S to 132 lol. Don’t get me wrong I’m very grateful to be where I am. I just think for the full time studying that I did this summer, I should be able to reach closest to 518/520. I just don’t know how to make the jump effectively.

C/P - struggling with application for solutions and electrochemistry, fluids for physics, plan is to do lots of UWorld and SB 2

B/B - idk I was getting 130s on the first 2 AAMC FLs so idk what happened and what’s the issue, plan is to stay on top of anki and do SB 2 pls lmk if u have any other tips

CARS - idk again it’s fluctuating - gonna do diagnostic and vol 1 (alr did vol 2)

Good luck to everyone testing this week!!!