Blueprint Vs Princeton Review MCAT : Which One Should You Pick?

Taking the MCAT exam can be extremely overwhelming especially if you have not prepared adequately. Therefore, you may require an MCAT prep course, which will suit your needs and help you increase your score.

The most popular MCAT prep courses are Blueprint and Princeton, but since they all have great reviews from previous users, it can be difficult to choose between them. With that said, the following is a review of Princeton and Blueprint that will enable you to make up your mind.

Overview of Princeton Review Vs Blueprint MCAT Prep

Princeton Review MCAT

The most common reason why most students use Princeton as a prep course for the MCAT is due to its in-depth content that comprehensively summarizes the MCAT syllabus. Moreover, their practice materials and tests are high quality and guarantee a score increase. 

You will also gain access to their materials online for around 270 days, which gives you up to nine months to prepare for your exam. As a result, you get enough time to study whilst accomplishing other activities such as taking an internship or working in the healthcare industry.

In addition, Princeton offers different pricing options that can help meet your budget and studying needs. These include self-paced studying, comprehensive tutoring, as well as live online classes.

For the basic level, Princeton provides the following features:

• Up to 16 full-length practice tests.
• Over 500 high-quality on-demand videos.
• 1-year full access to their course materials.
• MCAT flashcards.
• 8 MCAT review books.
• Multiple practice questions.
• Infinite access to specific live questions and answers during office hour sessions.
• Score increase guarantee.
• Every official AAMC material including online flashcards.
• Medical School Admissions Advantage Sessions.

Blueprint MCAT

With the Blueprint MCAT, their curriculum is stellar with realistic practice materials that allow the student to experience what the actual MCAT exam feels like. Moreover, their software uses a design and functionality that is identical to the real MCAT exam. 

Similar to the Princeton review, they also offer different pricing options with the basic level consisting of the following features:

• Personalized study tool.
• Up to 160 interactive studying modules.
• AI-driven Qbank that consists of over 4,000 questions.
• Live office hours that consist of 6 days every week.
• Online journal tool for taking notes.
• Pre-recorded office hour lessons.
• Over 1,600 MCAT flashcards.
• Up to 10 full-length practice questions.
• Gain access to every official AAMC online resource.
• Guarantee of a score increase.
• Custom-tailored MCAT practice sets.
• Test out of lesson capabilities.
• Premium analytics that helps spot and improve weak areas.  

Comparison Features of Blueprint MCAT and Princeton Review

In case you cannot choose between Blueprint and Princeton, we have appraised some of the essential features that make each course unique.

• Curriculum

Using Blueprint allows you to enjoy up to 160 learning modules divided into 30 strategy modules and 130 content modules. Aside from that, you can also gain access to a personalized study plan that enables you to tackle all the modules strategically and effectively.

Blueprint’s modules are arranged cumulatively, meaning that you can begin with easier content before transitioning to tougher MCAT content. As a result, this allows quick understanding and effective studying techniques.

On the other hand, Princeton’s curriculum is quite the opposite. Instead of going through easier content first, Princeton content is extensively dense, which can appear overwhelming and overbearing to many students. However, if you are the kind of student who learns better from subjects that have been covered lengthily, then Princeton is the choice for you.

•  MCAT Practice Materials

Blueprint consists of numerous practice materials including 10 full-length practice tests, a Q-bank with 4,000 practice questions, module assessment quizzes, a diagnostic test, and end-of-chapter tests. The best part is their practice tests, which include realistic MCAT questions to simulate the real thing.

Princeton also includes multiple practice materials such as 16 full-length exams, numerous practice questions, diagnostic tests, and subject-based exams. Therefore, Blueprint offers better MCAT practice materials since Princeton’s tests are tougher and they do not represent the real MCAT exam. And, their exams can also help increase your test time management.

• Video Lessons

The best thing about engaging in video lessons whilst studying is that you get to enjoy visual learning. With that said, Blueprint offers high-quality and well-made videos with great graphics, animations, and illustrations that allow content retention. They also offer both live lectures and pre-recorded videos.

As for Princeton, they provide in-depth videos that can be found in a library called MedFlix videos. The only problem is that their videos are less engaging and less visually appealing thereby leaving your mind wandering and becoming unfocused. Aside from that, the instructors cover each MCAT concept thoroughly so this course can be a great choice in case you are not bothered by their videos’ visual engagement.

• Office Hours

Blueprint includes office hours, which are held 6 days a week for students to gain extra help from their tutors. These sessions go for up to 2 hours and also consist of open questions and answers.

Similar to Blueprint, Princeton also has office hours occurring 6 days a week. These 6 days are divided into 6 sections, that is, Biology or Biochemistry, Psychology or Sociology, General Chemistry, Physics, Organic Chemistry, and CARS.

• Hardcopy MCAT Books

Both courses have MCAT books, with Blueprint having summarized, simple-to-understand, and animated books while Princeton has prep books that include detailed and extensively comprehensive content thus providing deep information about all the subjects.

• Personalization Of The Course

The best part about Blueprint is that they also offer personalization tools for your study plan, which are customized as follows:

• Use of AI-powered Qbank.
• Includes a feature for testing out of lesson modules.
• Access to a personalized online study planner.
• Includes flexible and reschedulable live classes.
• Consists of flexible live office hours.

Unfortunately, Princeton lacks this feature but they instead provide question-and-answer office hour sessions.

• Pricing options

The only difference between the pricing options of the two courses is that Blueprint offers multiple packages, which can be purchased according to the duration of your course while Princeton provides a constant price only. For more understanding, here’s a comparison table:

	Course Duration	Price
Blueprint MCAT	Self-Paced  6 months 9 months 1 year Live-online 6 months  9 months 1 year	Self-paced $1,999 $2,449 $2,699 Live-online $2,599 $3,049 $3,499
Princeton Review	Self-paced 1 year Live-online  1 year	Self-paced $1,999 Live-online $2,799

Pros of Blueprint MCAT

• Visual appealing videos.
• Course content includes integrated modules for learning.
• Includes 4,000+ realistic MCAT practice questions.
• Customizable study plan.

Cons

• Lacks a minimum score guarantee, unlike Princeton.
• Includes fewer real-time class hours, unlike Princeton.
• Does not include prep books with in-depth content.

Pros of Princeton Review

• Great real-time online classes.
• Includes extensively detailed explanations for medical and science questions.
• Excellent and deeply detailed MCAT physical practice books.

Cons

• Videos are of poor quality.
• Inadequate functionality for the mobile application.
• Includes videos with too much content, which can cause students to lose focus while studying.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Which MCAT Prep course is better?

The best course will be based on your preferences only. In case you prefer the incorporation of technology in your studying, you will find that Blueprint is the best option since it also has more visually appealing videos, realistic MCAT practice questions, and so much more. On the other hand, Princeton Review uses extensively detailed practice materials, which is ideal for students who need in-depth explanations and solutions.

• Are Princeton and Blueprint practice questions more difficult than the real MCAT exam?

According to previous users, Princeton’s practice exams are tougher than the actual MCAT exam. The downside of this is that it does not represent the real thing and some students even noted that their scores were 10-15 points lower. Blueprint also offers more complicated test questions than the real exam as users commented on scoring 5-7 points lower on the test.

• Does Blueprint MCAT have more accurate tests than Princeton Review?

Blueprint provides more accurate practice tests than Princeton since they use realistic questions to simulate the real MCAT exam. This way, students can get an idea of how the actual exam feels and looks like.

Conclusion

Choosing between Princeton and Blueprint MCAT can surely be tricky, but it does not have to be that way! With the guide above, you can easily decide which of the two is the best option based on your studying preferences and test goals. Blueprint includes an excellent digitized learning platform while Princeton is cost-friendly and has a text-based education atmosphere.