Blueprint hasn’t been around long, but this MCAT prep program has been making quite the waves, particularly because of its practice exams.
The great thing is that even before signing up, the platform allows you to schedule a free consultation so you can discuss with an expert MCAT instructor on the best MCAT prep for you.
Additionally, Blueprint also offers a ton of free study resources, allowing you to get a feel for the program’s offerings before signing up for a premium membership.
Despite all that, though, this MCAT prep course leans toward the much pricier side, so naturally, many students would be skeptical about whether they are getting value for their money.
Well, this comprehensive Blueprint MCAT review addresses exactly that and so much more.
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February sale: Get up to $800 OFF today and start your MCAT prep the right way!
Pros
All-in-one learning platform with all you need to ace the MCAT.
Best video lessons for MCAT in the industry.
Score increase guarantee
Cons
Mobile app is not the best
Summary Table
Blueprint MCAT Online Course | |
Price | From $1,899 |
Access Period | 6, 9, Or 12 Months |
Learning Modules | 160 |
On-Demand Instructional Videos | 500+ |
Full-Length Practice Exams | 15 |
Practice Questions | 10,000+ |
Personalized MCAT Study Plan? | Yes |
Flashcards | 1,600+ |
MCAT Question of the Day? | Yes |
MCAT Books | 6 |
All AAMC Resources? | Yes |
Score Increase Guarantee? | Yes |
Blueprint MCAT Overview
Blueprint MCAT, formerly known as Next Step Test Prep, is one of the most widely recognized MCAT test prep programs in the market, particularly notorious for its challenging practice exams.
The program provides three study options: a Live Online Course that offers live instruction complete with set class schedules, an Online course that allows for self-study at your own pace, and a tutoring option for intensive one-on-one training.
The Blueprint MCAT Online course starts at $1,899 (unless you use a Blueprint MCAT coupon code), the Live Online course starts at $2,499, and tutoring starts at $3,599.
All 3 Blueprint MCAT study options – Online, Live Online, and Tutoring, provide access to the following once you’ve signed up:
- 160 interactive learning modules with 500+ instructional videos.
- Hundreds of hours of engaging and entertaining video content.
- 10 full-length practice exams.
- AI-powered QBank with 4,000+ discrete questions.
- Custom-tailored practice sets.
- 1,600+ flashcards.
- Personalized study plan that’s synced to the calendar App.
- Office Hours 6 days a week.
- Access to recorded Office Hour sessions.
- Access to additional tutoring hours.
- Access to all AAMC online prep resources.
- 6 revised and updated MCAT prep books.
- Advanced analytics.
- Score increase guarantee.
The Live Online course additionally comes with the following:
- 40+ hours of live instruction with 2 on-camera instructors.
- Unlimited class retakes.
- 12 hours per week of extra help sessions.
Aside from these 3 study options. Blueprint has a crash course option which is a 1-month Immersive experience that starts at $6,199.
As you can see, Blueprint MCAT is priced on the higher end, which begs the question, “Is this course really worth the money?”
Well, let’s find out.
Blueprint MCAT Review For 2024
Course Options
a) Online Course
The Blueprint Online course is a self-study option that provides comprehensive MCAT prep anywhere, anytime. Providing dynamic on-demand videos and illustrations, you have the flexibility to watch and learn at your own pace.
This course’s pricing starts at $1,899, and you can choose a 6-, 9-, or 12-month membership package.
Blueprint MCAT Online Course Rates | |
6-Month Access | $1,899 |
9-Month Access | $2,549 |
12-Month Access | $2,849 |
b) Live Online Course
The Blueprint Live Online Course provides live instruction conducted over Zoom and comes with the accountability of a set class schedule.
Each interactive live class is taught by 2 MCAT instructors and focuses mainly on skill integration. So aside from content mastery, you also get to learn test-taking strategies and AAMC-style critical thinking skills.
This course’s pricing starts at $2,499, and similar to the self-paced course, you can choose a 6-, 9-, or 12-month membership package.
Blueprint MCAT Live Online Course Rates | |
6-Month Access | $2,499 |
9-Month Access | $3,199 |
12-Month Access | $3,599 |
c) Tutoring
The Blueprint tutoring option provides intensive one-on-one training whereby you get undivided attention and custom-made prep and strategy from top-notch MCAT instructors.
Tutoring starts at $3,599, and you can sign up for 16, 24, or 40 hours of tutoring.
Blueprint MCAT Tutoring Rates | |
16 Hours | $3,599 |
24 Hours | $4,449 |
40 Hours | $6,499 |
d) 1-Month Immersive Course
This course provides a hybrid of live online classes, one-on-one tutoring, and peer-to-peer support, so be prepared for a jam-packed schedule once you enroll.
Just as the name suggests, the Blueprint MCAT 1-month Immersive course is an incredibly focused, efficient, and personalized course designed to maximize every minute to get you exam ready in just 4 weeks.
With pricing starting at $6,199, this course’s rates vary depending on how many hours of tutoring you choose to include in your study package.
Blueprint MCAT 1-Month Immersive Course Rates | |
With 4 Tutoring Hours | $6,199 |
With 8 Tutoring Hours | $6,599 |
With 12 Tutoring Hours | $6,999 |
Get up to $800 OFF
No code needed
February sale: Get up to $800 OFF today and start your MCAT prep the right way!
Pros
All-in-one learning platform with all you need to ace the MCAT.
Best video lessons for MCAT in the industry.
Score increase guarantee
Cons
Mobile app is not the best
Customizable Study Planner Tool
Each Blueprint MCAT course comes with access to a personalized MCAT study plan, but more than that, this fully customizable study planner tool is designed to entirely adapt to any changes you make to your study schedule.
You simply provide your MCAT date and when you want to study in terms of hours and days of the week, and everything else will be done for you.
The study planner tool optimizes your study schedule around the days and times you are available, taking into consideration the days you want to take off.
This way, it becomes much easier to adjust your MCAT study plan as time goes by and as life unfolds along the way.
Did something come up, and now you need to take an extra day off? No problem at all. Just input this into the planner tool, and your study plan will automatically get re-adjusted for you.
Preparing for the MCAT can be a long, seemingly endless, and exhausting undertaking, and having a handy tool such as this helps a great deal in taking the guesswork out of your studying.
Learning Modules
Every single Blueprint MCAT prep course comes with access to 160 learning modules: 130 content modules covering concepts in all the MCAT subjects and 30 modules covering strategies and general MCAT guidance.
Ideally, the learning modules are designed to be a deep dive into learning or re-learning content. Each content module comprises on-demand video lessons, quizzes, passages, and reasoning skills, allowing you to study in an orderly, efficient manner.
At the start of each module, you are presented with an assessment quiz testing the content covered in the module. Aside from that, these quizzes can also be excellent pointers on what’s important on the MCAT.
Acing the pre-module assessment quiz could allow you to skip a specific module by testing out of that module. This allows you to concentrate more study time on your weaker areas instead of re-learning content you are already perfectly conversant with.
On the other hand, if you perform poorly in this pre-module assessment, you will be directed toward a specific book chapter you need to review and relevant QBank quizzes.
Engaging Video Content
Blueprint MCAT provides visually stunning videos packed with illustrations and animations that simplify even the most complex chemical processes and biological systems into easy-to-comprehend visual elements.
The idea here is that when you are visually engaged, you can learn more efficiently, making it easier to retain concepts. So unlike other online MCAT course lectures whereby the instructor reads a slide word for word, Blueprint aspires to make things a tad more interesting.
Furthermore, the on-demand content videos have a mobile-friendly format meaning right from the Blueprint website, the content feels and looks like an App on mobile but without requiring you to download anything.
The platform has been designed to adapt to your WiFi speed, so even when you are dealing with slow internet, your video will still play seamlessly without buffering.
Aside from the on-demand videos, the live Zoom lectures are also just as engaging.
Live Lessons
Available only with the Live Online Blueprint course, the live lessons comprise 40+ hours of live instruction, spread over 16 lessons that students attend weekly or biweekly.
Each lesson is about 2.5 hours long and taught by two on-screen instructors in a dynamic, conversational setting.
Students can sit in on any live online classes, as there aren’t any limitations to how many classes you can access for the duration of your course. You can repeat classes as many times as you want.
Also, with the adaptive study planner, should you, for any reason, need to reschedule a class, simply choose another option within the study planner, and your schedule will automatically get updated.
And even after your final live class, you can still keep prepping for the MCAT with the learning modules that are also available to you, in addition to all the other Blueprint MCAT online resources.
Practice Material
The practice material included within Blueprint MCAT includes 15 full-length practice exams, over 10,000 practice questions, a QBank with over 4,000 questions, and all official AAMC online resources.
a) Practice Exams
The 15 full-length exams comprise 10 Blueprint exams and 5 AAMC tests.
During the course of their MCAT prep, students are advised to complete at least 3 of the 10 Blueprint exams and 2 AAMC practice tests. But of course, the more exams you can get through, the better.
Generally, the overall consensus among MCAT students is that the Blueprint exams are much harder than the actual MCAT, especially when it comes to Blueprint full-length MCAT exams 6-10.
But then again, this comes as no surprise, seeing as most third-party practice exams, including Princeton Review and Kaplan MCAT exams tend to be harder than the actual exam.
Nevertheless, the quality of the Blueprint exams is quite impressive in terms of content tested, structure, question style and format.
Additionally, the Blueprint testing interface is as close to the real thing as you could possibly get. From the font and formatting to the functionalities of the interface, you basically get a full immersion into the real MCAT testing environment.
b) AI-Powered QBank
The Blueprint MCAT question bank covers all the 4 major MCAT science sections: Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Physics. In addition to that, you also have questions on the Behavioural Sciences section.
Comprising both discrete and passage-based question sets, this QBank makes use of artificial intelligence.
The AI technology personalizes your practice by creating customized practice sets designed to provide high-yield opportunities based on your weak areas. These smart recommendations mean that each student gets a unique experience using the QBank.
Just as well you get in-depth answer explanations for all answer choices, so you can comprehensively understand why you got a question wrong.
Advanced Test Performance Analytics
After taking an exam or tackling a practice set in the QBank, Blueprint’s analytics will quickly uncover underlying patterns of what you got wrong and why.
The advanced software quickly identifies patterns in questions you get wrong by subject, question type, and AAMC reasoning skills so you can best understand exactly where you keep falling short.
Furthermore, the software even breaks it down for you if, during the test, you switched answers from right to wrong and vice versa.
This comprehensive performance analysis allows you to prep smarter, putting your time and effort into the best possible use and allowing you to progress faster as you gear up for the actual MCAT exam.
Office Hours
As part of the Blueprint curriculum, all MCAT courses come with access to live Office Hours six days per week.
Office Hours are essentially online review sessions whereby you get to connect with an MCAT expert reinforcing and re-teaching vital MCAT concepts.
For efficiency, each Office Hour session is tailored to focus on the concerns raised by the class during the class lectures based on the questions students dropped in the class interface chat box.
With each session lasting about 2 hours, the instructor leads a comprehensive content review on the particular topic being discussed in that session, answering your MCAT questions along the way.
Typically, most sessions will involve working through at least one practice passage or a set of discrete practice questions as a group. Then you wrap up with an open Q&A on any subject you have concerns about.
An added advantage is that you will have access to recordings for every Office Hours session you register for, so you can go back and re-learn something you didn’t quite catch during the live session.
To enrich your MCAT prep, it is advised that you make a point of attending as many Office Hours sessions as you possibly can. This way, you can listen, take notes and learn from the questions being raised by other students.
Free MCAT Resources
Blueprint offers quite a number of free MCAT study materials, including access to a free MCAT practice account.
With a free Blueprint MCAT account, you have access to the study planner tool, 7 learning modules, all flashcards, a half-length diagnostic exam, a full-length Blueprint exam, MCAT guides, and question-of-the-day emails.
You can also access free live pre-med webinars, as well as access to recordings of past webinars.
Score Increase Guarantee
If you fail to increase your score after studying using any of the Blueprint MCAT courses, you may be eligible for compensation.
This compensation may come in the form of a complimentary extension of your study resources, or alternatively, you may receive a full refund for the price of the course minus the cost of AAMC resources.
Of course, for you to be eligible for the Blueprint MCAT score increase guarantee, you have to have met certain criteria, which have all been clearly highlighted here.
Blueprint MCAT Pros & Cons
– Has instructors who are very knowledgeable and engaging.
– Blueprint MCAT practice exams are of top-notch quality.
– The analytics are very detailed and comprehensive.
– Very intent on offering a personalized MCAT prep experience.
– Mobile-friendly interface is excellent for studying on the go without needing to download an App.
– Priced on the much higher end.
Verdict
Blueprint MCAT launched in 2020, so it really hasn’t been around for long. However, in the short time it’s been around, this MCAT prep course has proven to be a force to reckon with.
This comprehensive program offers some top-notch MCAT test prep materials, from engaging videos to the realistic practice offered through quizzes, practice problems and practice exams.
To start off, the digital platform has a great user interface that’s easy to use, mobile-friendly and designed to adapt to your WIFI speeds, so there isn’t any buffering even when using a slow internet connection.
Secondly, Blueprint creates a personalized studying experience by making use of the customizable study planner tool, which entirely adapts to your availability and can be reset as many times as you want.
Another advantage is the high-quality, visually appealing video lectures are taught by lively instructors who cleverly use humor to keep you engaged and drive the point home.
Although Blueprint offers some excellent practice complete with a very realistic testing interface, their answer explanations are certainly not the best in the market.
Nonetheless, what they lack in detailed explanations, they more than make up for with their advanced analytics, which is a pretty nice touch and quite possibly the best part of using this study resource.
The comprehensive Blueprint MCAT analytics break down your performance by subject, question set, question type, difficulty and AAMC skill, thereby helping you clearly understand exactly where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
Yes, the Blueprint practice exams are much harder than the AAMC exams or even the real MCAT.
However, rather than get discouraged by your subpar performance, focus instead on the analytics, carefully and patiently taking in everything that’s presented to you. That’s where the true gold lies in using Blueprint MCAT.
All things considered, Blueprint is a top-notch resource in the MCAT prep world that comprehensively covers both content and strategy to get you exam ready.
You may find interesting: we looked at UWorld MCAT QBank and we compared it to Blueprint MCAT. Here’s our main takeaways.
Get up to $800 OFF
No code needed
February sale: Get up to $800 OFF today and start your MCAT prep the right way!
Pros
All-in-one learning platform with all you need to ace the MCAT.
Best video lessons for MCAT in the industry.
Score increase guarantee
Cons
Mobile app is not the best
Blueprint MCAT FAQs
Is Blueprint MCAT Free?
No, Blueprint MCAT is not free.
The company does offer some free MCAT resources, but to get optimum value from Blueprint MCAT, you are better off signing up for one of the premium packages.
Is Blueprint Any Good For MCAT?
Yes, Blueprint is a great MCAT prep resource.
Offering an extensive curriculum, this test prep program offers well-designed, highly engaging video lessons, along with top-tier practice material and some great supplemental MCAT resources such as the unlimited Office Hours.
Not to mention you also get a fully customizable study planner tool and comprehensive analytics that pinpoint your exact areas of weakness, taking the guesswork out of your studying.
How Many Blueprint Practice Tests Should I Take?
If you are short on time, it is recommended you take at least 3 Blueprint practice exams and 2 AAMC tests under actual test-taking conditions.
However, the general rule of thumb is that the more full-length practice exams you can work through, the better off you will be.
Is Blueprint Harder Than AAMC Exams?
Yes, Blueprint is much harder than the AAMC exams and the actual MCAT in general. In particular, Blueprint exams 6-10 are notorious for being much harder than exams 1-5, so brace yourself.
Typically, expect your Blueprint test scores to be deflated by about 7 points or so.
However, this is a good thing. Prepping for the MCAT using a harder practice test will help build your fortitude, so the real exam appears that much easier in comparison.
