Our detailed analysis of the Blueprint MCAT (Next Step) prep course
By the year 2020, the Next Step Test Preparation (or Blueprint) brand name has collaborated, resulting in a newly formed MCAT prep course now called Blueprint MCAT. By merging extensive content evaluations and thorough grasp of Next Step best MCAT prep course methods with Blueprint’s state-of-the-art video capabilities, award-winning digital platform, and comprehensive analytics, we’ve been able to provide exceptional educational tools.
While this all sounds fantastic on paper, the issue is still open to debate — will this newly merged MCAT Next Step test prep program be effective? To further expand on that answer, read the in-depth assessment of the Blueprint MCAT prep reviews formerly Next Step prep course, which we provide for your convenience.
Blueprint Pricing & Course Options
The cost of the Blueprint MCAT prep course and options are rather easy when compared to most other test preparation providers. Their courses are only available online: their main program, the Online Course, and their recently released Live Online program. A simple distinction exists between two courses: one offers self-paced learning, while the other provides identical instruction, but with live online classroom training.
When taking the online course style (the self-paced version), you have the option to select from three distinct content access periods that meet your specific needs. For your three options, you will have the option of 6 months, 12 months, or 18 months of online content access. While the length of the material access times varies, the content itself does not. Regardless of which plan you choose, you will have equal access to a large number of practice exams, practice questions, video-based tutorials, and other materials. At $1,800, $2,500, and $3,000, these three offers will cost you around $1,800, $2,500, and $3,000, respectively. Read more on the article can you take MCAT more than once to plan your financial budget.
Most popular base level 6-month course (which is comparable to Kaplan’s DIY Course and Princeton Review’s Self-Paced course) is directly comparable to Princeton Review’s DIY Course and Kaplan’s Self-Paced course, all of which cost around the same. A survey of various tuition options reveals that all three of these competitively priced offerings can be obtained within $100 or so of each other.
The most recent rollout of Blueprint’s Live Online Class took place after the launch of their Online Course. The identical course feature has the same modules and features, but with twice the amount of time as in the other courses: over 40 hours of live online class time with two of our best Next Step MCAT instructors. On average, you should expect to pay approximately $2,500 for this bundle, although you can find it on sale frequently for less.
By incorporating the Blueprint Online Course and Blueprint Live Online class with in-person individual tutoring packages for those students in need of a specific study plan and one-on-one coaching, Blueprint MCAT provides extra resources for the students who want help in studying. The Blueprint tutoring packages provide access to the same online course, but additionally offer different amounts of one-on-one private tutoring time layered on top of the Online Course with one of Blueprint’s MCAT experts. To begin, you have the option of selecting between packages of 16, 24, or 40 hours of tutoring. These coaching and Online MCAT course alternatives cost $3,200 to $10,000, although they are more affordable than many similar offerings.
Blueprint MCAT Curriculum & Coursework Analysis
After the merger of Next Step and Blueprint, many were concerned about what the effects of the merger would be on the MCAT prep course. It now appears that the answer is that the course is quite excellent. Incorporating the greatest aspects of both organizations’ products, the Blueprint MCAT bundle delivers better results. Essentially, Next Step blends their exceptionally high-quality and in-depth instructional content evaluations with Blueprint’s exceptional skill in developing compelling video lessons and a cutting-edge digital platform.
To add an extra layer in Blueprint MCAT, the newly developed course maintains Next Step’s standard curriculum and course structure (which is a very excellent thing), but with a twist. Instead of utilizing the traditional method of threading the several subjects together, Blueprint MCAT has brought the many units together and created learning modules for each.
Each study plan focuses on a different aspect of the MCAT, such as lipid metabolism and fluid dynamics, and comes with a variety of instructional videos, quizzes, drills, methods, and passages. As you work your way through each subtopic, you tackle one problem at a time until you master and have confirmed the solution.
This integrated approach to learning is more effective in ensuring that lessons are remembered. You are effectively getting the same stuff in a variety of methods all at one sitting, which helps cement your comprehension of the information. This technique of doing the coursework offers excellent breadth and scope, covering every Next Step MCAT prep course subtopic you might potentially encounter, and makes for superior learning in the long run. Blueprint is available in total to deliver 160 learning modules, in addition to an extra 30 modules that include such topics as strategy, reasoning, and other soft skills.
While learning the various modules you are provided at least one video lesson in each. While the traditional PowerPoint video lessons of yesterday pale in comparison to the rich learning experiences that this course provides, these video lessons are essential in making this course. These clothes are intriguing, extremely well-designed, and simply stunning to look at. Every video is Blueprint MCAT prep course curriculum instructed by one of our in-house instructors before a green screen.
In the course of providing their lesson, a series of new images, animations, and illustrations will appear on the digital screen around them. To this, various kinds of the actual material you need to memorize emerge, including text, notes, and/or reference materials located onscreen. To put it simply, these videos cannot be overvalued in terms of both production value and general excellence.
Cartoon animations aren’t the only elements that make the video lectures enjoyable to watch, though. There are other details such as illustrations of the most complicated chemical processes and the most difficult-to-understand biological activities in Blueprint. This depiction of complex systems and concepts helps to make learning and memory a lot easier. A few pupils can just read a few lines from a textbook and have the information committed to memory without any trouble.
But for many others, you must have something to connect that information to in order to help you better remember it. And as you can see, these illustrated videos are exactly what we mean. When you use Venn diagrams, you allow a helpful visual connection that dramatically boosts the effectiveness of your recollection.
Following each video lesson is a quiz, and each time you finish the quiz, you’ll see a new video. These Blueprint test prep quizzes are filled with a nice range of question formats, including multiple choice, drag and drop matching, ordering, and fill in the blank. Although these Blueprint test prep quizzes do include a large amount of new information, they are more like complete drills that go over the things you recently studied. When you see a question that appears on a quiz, there will be a problem solution just below it. If you got the question correct, you will be shown a quick answer, and if you did not, you will receive a brief explanation of why.
Even though this is a terrific feature, these problem explanations fall well short of the most comprehensive explanations I’ve read. While it is true that I want Blueprint to be more specific, I’d want to see them include more information on this as well. There is rarely more than one sentence answer for the proper answer, which is why it is so important to select it carefully. It would be helpful to also have an explanation for the erroneous answer choices, which will better assist the audience in seeing how they relate to the issue at hand and how they function in other scenarios. By this, the full picture of the situation can be drawn.
However, I enjoy helping students with passage-based problems since I find it helpful to see a passage they are having difficulty with for sample issues. For those practice questions that follow lengthy passages, Blueprint highlights where you should have focused your highlighting and strike-through to get the most efficiency out of your highlighting and strike-through. Concerning the problem statements, they’re concise, to be sure, but they nonetheless serve their purpose.
In addition to the Blueprint test prep quizzes that follow each video session, you also have access to Blueprint’s QBank, which contains over 4,000 practice questions. This study plan gives you the ability to obtain similar full length practice exams as you see in the Next Step MCAT prep courses, but with advanced filtering options to create your own full length practice exams. Besides that, you can check out on Altius full length practice test MCAT to provide you another option. Narrowing your issue sets may be done by kind of question, degree of difficulty, and quantity of practice questions, among other criteria. This is a highly valuable tool that should be utilized frequently in conjunction with your study sessions.
When all things are considered, I found Blueprint’s coursework to be quite impressive, since I found the curriculum to be thorough and well-designed. I especially enjoy the way that you teach us about MCAT prep course topics by linking the lessons together in integrated learning modules. Personally, for me, this was really beneficial in enhancing my retention of information and the ability to recall it. While the text explanations may have been a little on the thin side, the amazingly great video courses, outstanding practice problems, and a QBank all but make up for it.
Blue print MCAT Books
In addition to the great video courses and top-quality practice resources already provided, you will also receive 6 hard copy books as part of your test prep package. This Blueprint MCAT prep guide covers the disciplines including psychology and sociology, physics, biology, biochemistry, chemistry & organic chemistry, and the CARS section. These mcat books, which have just had their pages refurbished, serve as an integral component of your online course, and also augment the fundamentals of your program.
According to the books, the main topics covered on the MCAT include substantial subject reviews, with the chapter end exercises including subject specific practice problems and approaches. They are written clearly and comprehensively, and provide easy-to-understand explanations of complicated and difficult issues. In my opinion, I found them to be really beneficial. The content of these mcat books is stronger than that of the Princeton Review subject review books, although they are not quite as good.
MCAT Blueprint (Next Step) Practice Tests
One of the advantages Blueprint mcat members enjoy is that their practice tests have proven to be highly accurate, in terms of both the question substance and the testing interface. In that case, they should. The blueprint mcat tests used to measure how prepared you are for the Next Step MCAT and are completely accurate and resemble the actual MCATs; there are no exams more closely matching authentic Next Step MCAT tests (apart from the AAMC materials). This software is designed to look, and work, much like the real Next Step MCAT. This software utilizes highlighting and strike-through functions, and has that very ’90s-esque visual appearance. It is really difficult to tell them apart when lined up next to one other.
Besides having a high-quality interface, the quality of the MCAT practice test questions is the most significant thing. In order to provide more authentic MCAT information, Blueprint mcat goes above and above by recreating the length, difficulty, and content of actual Next Step MCAT questions. When it comes to quantity, you will have 15 full-length practice examinations to work with. This is a respectable number, and it only trails Gold Standard MCAT Prep’s 20 practice exams by a little.
These are among the greatest I’ve seen; aside from the AAMC examinations, these are excellent. As far as AAMC test prep is concerned, 5 of the 15 total practice tests supplied by Blueprint are AAMC exams. You should not be disappointed with this product, since it is a very positive item. The AAMC practice tests are the same quality as they would be if you purchased the MCAT from the manufacturers. Thanks to the 5 AAMC practice tests and the 10 high-quality practice examinations from Blueprint, you have a wealth of testing opportunities to master skills while taking a test like you would on the day of the test.
Blueprint Prep MCAT Digital Platform and Interface
While some don’t consider this to be as vital of a test prep component as it is to be in a learning environment, a great online platform can make a significant impact in your studies. Inability to access useful information, particularly with regard to classes and coursework, might have a detrimental impact on your overall efficiency and skill level. In the case of Blueprint, they have one of the most reputable internet platforms around.
The UI is neat, modern, and completely self-explanatory. You will have access to all of your course study materials including your study plan, practice tests, QBank, and analytics if you are using the navigation bar on the top as your primary tool. By adding this feature, it becomes rather simple to navigate through the Blueprint site and locate exactly what you need. With respect to overall time, the majority of your time will be spent in the learning modules, viewing video courses, and taking quizzes. These functions are largely available through your individual study plan (this topic is covered in more detail below) or from the resources tab. When working with primary sources, you’re never more than a couple clicks away from your source resources.
We may say that the platform’s functionality is excellent as well. It is fast and smooth, and it has a sleek, modern feel. In order to describe it as being like working in Google’s suite of apps, I would say it is comparable to working in Google’s platform. It is merely natural and easy to use, yet feels like it belongs in the present age. I can commend the Blueprint interface and user platform for everything they’ve accomplished so far.
MCAT Blueprint Review Live Online Classes
While the new live online course at Blueprint is fully driven by self-study, the online course option at Blueprint also recently became live online. The arrangement of this MCAT course provides a total of 40 hours of live online classes throughout 16 sessions that last for 2.5 hours each. This digital course has a separate channel on which it is held that also serves as a complementary educational resource to the main Online Course curriculum.
At this time, we have not had a chance to audit these MCAT live online classes yet (they just started in late 2020), so I am going to reserve judgement until I can test drive the courses. However, if the on demand video lessons are even half as engaging and informative as they were, I fully expect the classes to be exceptional. If you are someone who needs structure in your studies in order to be accountable and to follow through, this class may be the right one for you.
Blueprint Supplemental Resources
Additional fantastic materials are offered in conjunction with Blueprint’s superb curriculum, providing students with additional resources to assist them with their studies. Topping our list of essential resources is the study plan that is personalized. To help you get the most out of your time in school, Blueprint MCAT will first have you schedule your days based on your studying needs. Then, it will provide a calendar for you to check your schedule on days you need to be free of academic obligations. After completing their consultation, the crew will work on a customized study plan for your needs, which will include sample learning modules, diagnostic tests, and practice exams (as well as your live online classes if you take the Live Online course).
When all is said and done, it is a rainbow-colored study planner on an interactive calendar. At these moments, you can change your daily activities to accommodate new occurrences in your life or early module completion. No matter where or when you want to drag a task, do so. This is an excellent tool for remaining on track, as well as tracking your progress while going through the content. For school, this location serves as your principal point of departure for everyday studies.
Numerous more noteworthy resources include Blueprint’s on-site office hours. This MCAT course consists of two-hour study sessions each day with a Blueprint MCAT instructor for five days each week. Most sessions are dedicated to getting into the nitty-gritty details of a certain topic covered on the MCAT. To ensure the topic is understandable, the teacher will specifically clarify the subtleties of the subject, answer questions, and give practical examples of use. Some meetings consist of merely an open Q&A session to chat about anything connected to the Blueprint MCAT, or anything in general.
These MCAT sessions provide a great deal of value for the most part. In addition, the Blueprint instructors are not afraid to dig into the nitty-gritty details and are more than happy to answer your questions. To succeed in taking in new information, be sure that you’ve previously completed and validated any previous knowledge. They may be time wasters, but at least they are amusing.
In the end, and without question, the most critical of all extra tools is Blueprint’s advanced analytics. When you visit the analytics section on the navigation bar, you will discover many useful facts on your overall performance. These measurements go way beyond just getting an acceptable percentage of questions answered correctly and delve into the extensive details on answer-changing patterns, question sub-type strength, and other additional metrics.
But all of this data is really excellent, and to be honest, there is just too much of it. Over the course of a day, I was more than once lost in analysis of these narrowly defined niches. Each time, I checked the time, realizing I had spent at least 20 minutes looking into things in those sub-niches. You will find that this research is invaluable as long as you can efficiently harvest the information into actionable advice.
Blueprint Private MCAT Tutoring
It is totally worth it to use one of the Blueprint MCAT private tutoring packages if you are having trouble with a few courses or if you simply need to learn some extra techniques to boost your study efficiency. Studying for the MCAT is extremely challenging, and it is important to have a good score to boost your application to medical school. The private tutoring packages are expensive, but not as expensive as the expense of not getting admitted, which results in you having to put your grade point average back a year.
All of the tutors at Blueprint mcat are 99th percentile on the Next Step MCAT and are specifically prepared to speak about the subjects on the Next Step MCAT in a way that corresponds with the Blueprint curriculum. “I PERSONALLY ATTEMPTED TO MAKE USE OF A BLUEPRINT INSTRUCTOR DURING MY COURSE AND FOUND IT TO BE A HUGE ASSISTANCE”. He was incredibly intelligent and ready to try new approaches with each issue I brought up, whether it was reviewing material or strategy concerns, or scheduling my studies.
I saw that he, in fact, had an area or two where he was less of a master (like physics), but it’s nearly impossible to conceive of someone being master in every single field. The Blueprint MCAT prep course encompasses everything that a scientist should know and tests a chaotic blend of scientific principles and disciplines. He hasn’t done anything wrong, so I have no issue with that.
In spite of the fact that there was just one exception, he was friendly, approachable, and helpful. Unlike Blueprint, which offers self-paced instructional videos with full text at students’ own pace, I was unable to talk about the value of the additional instructors (e.g. Kaplan or Princeton Review) because I did not use them. However, it is my assumption that they would be just as good.
Conclusion
The emphasis on videos that are dynamic and extremely engaging and tailored to each student are at the core of Blueprint MCAT prep course broad program. This is where Blueprint MCAT is getting their money’s worth. It is almost impossible to escape once you’ve started watching, since you’ll be glued to the screen until the MCAT video is finished. Those animated videos have visually stunning images that comprehensively illustrate many systems and procedures as well as popular images, which substantially assist with retaining knowledge.
Each of these MCAT video classes is located in an integrated learning module, which gives you a clever way of organizing the total curriculum. In addition, Blueprint MCAT is home to some of the industry’s best practice and training assets like their advanced analytics tool, office hour meetings, and study planning tools.
While we considered their problem explanations to be on the thinner side, especially when compared to other test prep firms, we were able to locate only one genuine issue: this was the only genuine drawback. On the whole, Blueprint’s prep package delivers an in-depth and highly interesting introduction to the Next Step MCAT prep course that caters to all sections of the test. It is without question that the video lectures are great; the study materials they offer are remarkable, and they have plenty of other valuable tools and study guides to choose from. This is why we believe that Blueprint MCAT’s course is near the top of our list of the finest courses.
FAQ
Is Blueprint MCAT Worth It?
In terms of question length, complexity and topic coverage, Blueprint is performing a fantastic job when stimulating real MCAT questions. As mention above, you will be accessing to 15 full-length practice examinations when it comes to quantity. This is an impressive figure that is only surpassed by Gold Standard MCAT Prep’s 20 practice test. Thus, Blueprint MCAT is definitely worth recommending.