Altius MCAT Prep Course Review 2023: My HONEST Testimonial
Our Rating
Highlights
The Altius MCAT does astoundingly well for a specialized & personalized teaching appraoch, but it’s not at the same level as Kaplan or TPR.
Course Effectiveness
The Altius MCAT has shown more than just promises with its results and is one of the leading MCAT prep courses for a one-on-one learning style.
Price
The Altius prep review comes off quite steep in the price range but with the guarantee of value they provide, it’s a decent bargain for many students.
Ease of Use
The user interface looks outdated and some videos attribute to low audio and video quality. However, their online content material is highly informative.
Student Reviews
Altius reviews are a mix of good and bad. While a good number of students recommend and love the course, there are some who also express disappointment.
Altius prides itself in its tutoring program and with good reason.
The program in itself has shown strong mentorship qualities and is an ideal fit for any student looking for on-on-one support to guide and provide feedback through their MCAT prep journey.
Their course structure and 90th score guarantee provide solid value to all.
About Altius and Their MCAT Prep Course
Altius was founded in 2005 and leans strongly towards a mentoring/guidance role approach with conceptual thinking as the framework of their teaching guide instead of memorization.
This teaching style is what is praised often and mostly by students. Considering that most programs nowadays are heavily done online or self-paced, the Altius test prep program upholds the roots of personal tutoring to this day.
Altius MCAT Prep review centers around an intensive approach towards its students–1-on-1 tutoring.
The Altius test prep program is comparable to premium programs such as Kaplan and Princeton Review.
Although Kaplan and TPR offer a wide array of courses and online tools, the Altius test prep program is truly a leader in providing quality MCAT courses through strong mentoring and guidance from its instructors.
What Makes This Prep Course Unique?
The Altius 3x Guarantee
What makes this unique is the difference in conditions compared to most Score Guarantee offers.
3X to enumerate 3 kinds of guarantees:
- Lowest Price Guarantee
- Two-week money-back Guarantee (two-week refund policy, basically)
- 90th percentile score promise
The 90th percentile is what stands out the most.
If the student does not score in the 90th percentile in the actual MCAT exam, your tutor will continue to work with you for FREE until you do.
This not only reveals confidence in the Altius prep MCAT program but also the service value they provide for their students.
1-on-1 Tutoring Emphasis
At first, this may seem normal or as a commonality, but because the MCAT is an especially stressful and overwhelming journey for many students, a personalized approach just might be exactly what the student needs.
Through 1-on-1 tutoring, the student is able to maximize feedback, assessment, and mental support even motivation along the way. A personal approach can foster stronger encouragement and also carry a strong positive impact.
If, for example, a student has questions about the Altius practice tests throughout the session, the tutor offers guidance to the fullest extent.
Curriculum Overview & Effectiveness
The Altius test prep MCAT program offers 6 courses for a student to choose from, along with the option of taking it either by default (1-on-1) or MCAT Everywhere (online).
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold
- Platinum
Bronze
Course Overview:
Effective for students who already have seasoned knowledge on each MCAT topic and prefer light guidance along the way.
Choose Bronze If:
You’re confident about your MCAT adeptness and knowledge base along with the comfort of studying on your own without the support of an experienced mentor.
Silver
Course Overview:
This is the only course that offers private tutoring. Therefore, the effectiveness of this course depends solely on how the student prefers to learn. You will benefit the most out of this if you prefer to learn in a more personalized environment with a private mentor.
Choose Silver if:
You are at your best when you have someone who can guide you privately rather than learn with a small group. It is also a great choice if you prefer to have someone guide you every step of the way.
Gold
Course Overview:
What makes the Gold course effective apart from private tutoring is the mastery sessions. These provide reinforcement on the content material, which can be seen as an X2 tutoring upgrade.
Together with the Altius practice tests provided, the Gold course is a favorable option for any aspiring medical student.
Choose Gold if:
You’re looking to target a high MCAT score or make a significant score improvement but find the Platinum course plan too expensive or beyond your budget.
Platinum
Course Overview:
Platinum is your VIP Elite program for the MCAT exam.
If you thought Mastery sessions are the cream of the crop, the platinum offers double the reinforcement with a platinum-only review session.
This course is highly effective without a doubt, thanks to the highly intensive and rigorous prep approach. Be ready to pay a steep price, however.
Choose Platinum if:
You want a superior MCAT score and an even larger score improvement from your previous MCAT exam. With enough effort, you’ll get a higher rate to easily get into the medical schools you applied for.
Course Pricing Options
Altius provides steep but solid value on their packages. What’s great about the offers is the emphasis on conceptual thinking rather than memorization. This means you’re building more than just knowledge with the Altius program. This includes reasoning skills, analytical skills, and overall improved comprehension of the topics covered in the MCAT.
Platform’s Ease of Use
The platform is easy to use and carries little to zero issues navigating through the site. The downside; however, is the quality of the videos and the design of the platform itself.
With some videos being low in both video and audio quality, this can be difficult for a student who chooses to enroll in the MCAT Everywhere option since there’s less in-person tutoring/mentoring.
The design of the platform also appears outdated and can be demotivating for some students, affecting their interest to learn or study online.
Is Altius a Reputable Online MCAT Prep Course? (Not a Scam)
Altius has a decade of proven excellence that reflects the effectiveness and reliability of the program.
An Altius MCAT Reddit forum proves that the program has a positive impact on the students. Would a scam prep course have a similar effect?
Reviews and Real Unbiased Text and Video Testimonials:
Over a span of 15 years, the presence of Altius has made a positive impact, resulting in numerous success stories surrounding its effectiveness and how it strongly helped each student prepare for the MCAT.
- Oleg Sostin (altiustestprep.com)
- Sierra Debenham (altiustestprep.com)
- Jeff Falco (altiustestprep.com)
Final Verdict & Recommendation
I give Altius a total score of 3.75/5
Altius is a strong candidate among its competitors, Kaplan and Princeton Review; however, it’s still lacking a few features that can improve the overall user experience.
Nevertheless, I recommend Altius to any medical student looking for a personalized 1-on-1 approach and prefers rigorous studying and an unwavering commitment to the program.