Gold Standard MCAT Prep Review

Outline: Gold Standard MCAT Review

• Course Options And Pricing
• Evaluation Of The Gold Standard MCAT Curriculum
• Gold Standard MCAT Prep Books
• Gold Standard MCAT Practice Tests
• Verdict: Gold Standard MCAT Prep Course Review

This is a fairly detailed and lengthy review, so we’ve added helpful jump-to links above for easy navigation. Hopefully by the end of this review, you’ll have a good idea of whether Gold Standard is the right choice to help you prepare for the MCAT.

Course Options And Pricing

Gold Standard offers two different MCAT courses: MCAT Crash Course and Home Study MCAT Prep Package.

Starting with the MCAT Crash Course, Gold Standard provides those bargain-seeking future med school students an ultra-affordable prep option. This online only, no frills prep course costs $50 per month and will get you access to the follow resources:

• Gold Standard eBooks covering the subjects of MCAT Math, Physics, General and Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Psychology, and Sociology
• The Gold Standard CARS materials, including test taking tips and techniques, and practice questions
• 30+ hours of online video lessons
• 3 full-length practice tests (with question explanations and score reports)
• 3,500+ practice questions in total, each with a problem explanation

That is a good amount of prep for a $50/month budget course. I would say this package is best for students on super-tight budgets and/or those with only a short window in which to study.

Moving into their non-subscription courses, the Home Study MCAT Course is Gold Standard’s comprehensive prep package. This value-friendly course will run you right around $800.

This package provides everything included in the Crash Course plus additional full-length practice tests, practice questions, and personalized support.

Although the Gold Standard courses are priced relatively low, our team still recommends you skip Gold Standard and instead go with an MCAT course from Kaplan or Princeton Review.

Course options and pricing current as of date of publication.

Evaluation Of The Gold Standard MCAT Curriculum

Gold Standard provides a comprehensive MCAT curriculum which revolves around their eBooks. These eBooks, which Gold Standard refers to as “chapters,” have been around since the early 1990’s and are on their umpteenth iteration. That is to imply that these books are incredibly detailed and well-vetted at this point.

While the eBooks provide all-encompassing coverage of the MCAT (and in great detail), use of these books as the basis of the study plan causes the curriculum to feel under-developed.

Whereas companies like Blueprint MCAT and Princeton Review MCAT have very robust and well-designed sequences of instruction, the Gold Standard curriculum just feels amorphous. The material is all there and easily accessible, but there is no real direction. It is entirely on the student to drive the learning order and process.

That said, it is very difficult to design a well-developed and naturally flowing curriculum for a test such as the MCAT. As such, you must look more at what is offered, rather than the order or structure. And on that front, Gold Standard gets high marks.

As mentioned, their eBooks are very detailed and cover every inch of the MCAT. They dive into the nitty gritty of every subtopic and sub-subtopic, making sure you learn everything you need to know. They are well-written, straightforward and even provide some helpful graphics. For students that are self-motivated and driven to study alone through reading, these eBooks offer true value.

The eBooks are followed by 30+ hours of video lessons which cover a smattering of subjects. Each video is anywhere from 3 minutes to 20 minutes in length and tackles a particular subtopic of the MCAT (such as cellular metabolism and acids & bases).

In terms of video quality and format, these videos are not the best. The vast majority of them are outdated and have grainy footage. The picture quality is kind of pixelated and the audio isn’t crisp (note: Princeton Review and Jack Westin offer better video lessons).

These older video lessons sort of remind me of an old driver’s ed video from the 1990’s, or a sexual harassment training video you watch your first day at a new job. They just lack any modern feel. With that said, it is clear Gold Standard has changed direction and they now have a number of newer videos with a completely updated format. The picture is sharp, the audio is crystal clear, and there are some great graphics and digital effects.

Assuming Gold Standard keeps pumping out these updated videos and replacing the old ones, they will quickly find themselves in the company of Kaplan MCAT, Jack Westin MCAT, and other test prep giants.

From a substantive content perspective, the video lessons are spot on, regardless of quality. The Gold Standard instructors deliver excellent summaries of some very complex subject matter. Learning and memorizing MCAT content can be a bear, but the Gold Standard teachers provide some great mnemonics and tips along the way.

Beyond the eBooks, and video lessons, Gold Standard prides itself on its level of practice material offered. The company offers over 10 full-length practice tests. In addition, they boast over 3,500 practice problems across their coursework.

If there is one complaint with the Gold Standard practice material, it is the format in which you receive it. There is no adaptive question bank, tool to create custom problem sets or any cool software that allows to just jump straight into practice like Magoosh offers.

The bottom line is that they have a decent amount of practice material, but you’re getting it raw and unfiltered, with no bells and whistles. For me personally, this is disappointing, as creating personalized practice sets and having quick and easy access to practice is a huge plus.

All things considered, I liked certain aspects of the Gold Standard MCAT curriculum.

So while Gold Standard gets a thumbs up in terms of quantity, they receive a thumbs down in terms of quality. For that reason, our recommends other MCAT courses over Gold Standard.

Gold Standard MCAT Prep Books

As discussed above, Gold Standard’s eBooks are at the heart of their coursework. These eBooks have been around for over 20 years and have gone through loads of updates and iterations – and it shows. These books are very well-written and easily understandable.

And more importantly, they are painstakingly detailed, going to great lengths to cover nook and cranny of possible MCAT material. In addition, they contain some really useful graphics and renderings.

In fact, the eBooks are the first place Gold Standard suggests you start with each new chapter (which covers a subtopic of the MCAT). These eBooks carry significant prep value and should be looked at as a major piece of the prep course, not as a side feature.

Gold Standard MCAT Practice Tests

One of the first things prospective med school students want to know when trying to pick the best MCAT prep course, is how many practice tests they will get.

All together, they provide 12 full-length practice exams, and the problems seem to be a close replication of official MCAT questions, and vary in length and difficulty like the real MCAT.

I found them to be very similar to the real thing overall. That said, the Gold Standard testing software for the practice exams was not. It doesn’t have a real MCAT look or feel.

The structure is there, but it’s hard to get a true exam-like mindset with a different delivery format. If you want as close to the real thing as possible, check out Kaplan or Blueprint MCAT.

The Digital Platform Experience

Cutting to the chase, there are no frills with the Gold Standard online platform. While other companies boast sleek designs and intuitive layouts, the Gold Standard digital platform is very basic.

There are navigation tabs at the top of the screen directing you to lessons, videos, practice tests and more, which makes it easy to navigate the main categories. But once you land there, it is not the cleanest or most intuitive portal to maneuver, especially the lessons tab.

To get to your eBook chapters and accompanying questions, you have to keep drilling down, which then opens a separate browser tab for every lesson or tool.

Additionally, to the extent you lump in the video lessons with user experience and interface, the feel is outdated and clunky.

The video lessons, as discussed above, have a retro feel to them, with grainy footage and old school techniques (with an instructor standing in front of a whiteboard). Beyond that, the practice tests and questions have a dated functionality as well.

In short, the Gold Standard digital platform gets the job done, but it definitely does not have the panache and sleek styling of other test prep companies’ platforms.

➡ You May Also Find Interesting: Altius MCAT Review

Does Gold Standard Have Private Tutoring?

The answer here is “sort of.” With the purchase of the Home Study Course, you get one 30 minute coaching sessions with a Gold Standard MCAT expert. You can use this session however you’d like.

So while you do get “tutoring” in the sense that you can use this session for anything you’d like, most students use it for more general guidance, study planning and general MCAT strategies and questions.

Otherwise, no, Gold Standard does not provide any formal MCAT tutoring options.

Online Content Access Period

For the MCAT Crash Course, your content access will depend on the duration of your subscription. Since this package is pay-as-you-go, your access is directly tied to however many months of study you’d like.

For the Home Study Course, Gold Standard provides 12 months of access. This should be more than enough time for you to fully prepare for the MCAT.

Does Gold Standard Have A Mobile App?

Yes and yes. While Gold Standard does rise to the occasion of providing a useful mobile tool, I use multiple “yeses” because Gold Standard has multiple apps. Rather than having one comprehensive mobile app that covers every MCAT subject, Gold Standard breaks out their apps by topic for some reason. This is not a huge deal, but is definitely a slight annoyance from a user perspective.

In terms of app content, the Gold Standard apps provide helpful flashcards. These flashcards cover all of the major subjects of the MCAT and test your content knowledge. They are not the most in-depth resources, carrying a limited number of flashcards, but are useful for on-the-go studying.

Gold Standard’s Refund Policy

Unfortunately, Gold Standard does not offer refunds. All sales are final and if you change your mind a few hours after purchasing, there’s no going back.

This is kind of disappointing, especially given that most other test prep companies have some sort of refund window, even if short. So if you’re going to purchase the Gold Standard course, just make sure you’ve done your homework first.

Verdict: Gold Standard MCAT Prep Course Review

The Gold Standard MCAT prep course is a decent all-around prep package that self-learners will find particularly appealing. There are no live classes, as this course is designed for those seeking online, self-paced study.

The strengths of this course lie in its incredible eBooks and practice material. Their eBooks are incredibly comprehensive, covering every aspect of the MCAT in great detail. In addition, they are well-written and do a great job of breaking down complex subject matter into understandable chunks. These books are combined with over 10 full-length practice tests and 3,500+ practice questions, making for a formidable prep option.

Looking at the negatives of this course though, the video-based lessons are below average, with outdated quality and short duration, and there are no adaptive question banks or custom practice set making tools, which is a little frustrating.

When all is said and done, our team is not a big fan of the Gold Standard prep courses. If your goal is to score high on the MCAT and get accepted into a top tier medical school, our team thinks that are much better options on the market, like Blueprint or Princeton Review, for example.