Curious about Altius and their prep course? We take a deep dive into their course with our Altius MCAT review below.
You will learn about their different courses, the features you will find, and our honest take on the course.
Summary: Learn more about the Altius MCAT course. If you want to consider other options, read our article on the best MCAT prep course online.
Altius MCAT Options
Self-Paced Course | Silver | Gold | Platinum | |
Price | $999 | $3,699 | $4,999 | $6,999 |
Subscription Length | 12 months | Varies by test date | Varies by test date | Varies by test date |
Practice Questions | 4,500+ | 4,500+ | 4,500+ | 4,500+ |
Practice Exams | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Live Class Hours | 0 | 120 | 160 | 200 |
1-on-1 Tutoring Sessions | 0 | 15 | 25 | 45 |
Books Included | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Guarantee | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Free Trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Study Plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Learn More | GO! |
Altius MCAT uses 4 main options for students looking for MCAT test prep. The biggest difference between the 4 options is the amount of real-time class hours you receive. The higher the tier, the more live learning you can access.
Altius also offers a self-paced course for individuals looking to study on their own.
If you want to practice before making a big purchase, consider using our MCAT online practice test.
Altius Self-Paced
The self-paced course is the cheapest option offered. You can expect to find:
- 590-page MCAT bible (book)
- AAMC official guide
- 12 months of access to Altius student portal
- 10 full-length exams
- All AAMC exams
- 14-day money-back guarantee
Altius MCAT Silver
The silver tier is the cheapest tutoring / live online learning option Altius offers. It includes:
- Altius 90th percentile score guarantee
- 15 private one-on-one mentoring sessions
- 24/7 access to your personal mentor
- 10 Altius practice tests
- All AAMC practice tests
- 120 hours of small group classroom instruction
Bottom Line – If a mentor-focused approach appeals to you but you’re on a budget, go with the silver tier.
Altius MCAT Gold
The gold Altius Test Prep package includes all of the features in the silver package, with a few differences. The gold tier increases the number of private mentoring sessions from 15 to 25, and increases small group instruction hours from 120 to 160.
- Altius 90th percentile score guarantee
- 25 private one-on-one mentoring sessions
- 24/7 access to your personal mentor
- 10 Altius practice tests
- All AAMC practice tests
- 160 hours of small group classroom instruction
Bottom Line – The gold tier gives you a great boost in private sessions and classroom instruction, but the $1300 difference can get you cheaper test prep altogether.
Altius MCAT Platinum
The platinum package is the most expensive Altius package out of the three tiers. It includes all of the features included in the previous tiers, with private mentoring sessions increasing from 25 to 45, and 200 total hours of small group instruction.
- Altius 90th percentile score guarantee
- 45 private one-on-one mentoring sessions
- 24/7 access to your personal mentor
- 10 Altius practice tests
- All AAMC practice tests
- 200 hours of small group classroom instruction
The platinum tier also comes with some exclusive features: 15 platinum-only review sessions, and access to Altius’ “Emerald Admissions Package” ($649 value). Altius states that your odds of acceptance at targeted schools are more than doubled if you’re an Altius Admissions client. The emerald package gives you access to personal statement review content.
Bottom Line – The extra mentoring sessions are a plus, but the “exclusive features” are lacking.
Altius MCAT Features
Our team explored the ins and outs of what it’s like to use Altius MCAT prep.
One-On-One Mentoring
One-on-one mentoring is the hallmark of the Altius MCAT prep course. Your mentor will be a 515+ scoring MCAT expert, available 24/7. Through personal mentoring sessions and live, small-classroom instruction, Altius MCAT prep boasts a 7x increase in 99th percentile scores.
Within small group sessions, users get a similar amount of personal attention, as you can simply raise your hand (virtually) and discuss the material with the instructor and other students. These sessions meet one to two times per week, depending on your study plan and timeline.
While Altius does have an impressive amount of one-on-one hours available, there are some cheaper options out there with similar MCAT prep techniques. You can review those cheaper options by checking out our list of MCAT prep programs.
Practice Exams
Altius prides themselves on their “perfect match” MCAT mock exam. All Altius exams have matched the real MCAT with the following features:
- Item difficulty (same distribution of easy, medium, and hard questions)
- Word count match
- Question blueprint match
- Figure match
- Topics match
- Standardization match
- MCAT-2015 match
Altius also replicated the AAMC MCAT-2015 software, through functionality, format, font, size, and even word count.
As you would expect, Altius practice exams include all the relevant topics, including:
- Psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior (59 questions)
- Chemical and physical foundations of living systems (59 questions)
- Critical analysis and reasoning (53 questions)
- Biological and biochemical foundations of living systems (59 questions)
Altius allows unlimited attempts of each exam.
Study Timeline
Altius is unique in that they provide study plans on a semesterly basis. Currently, there are several options to choose from, depending on your test date.
Here’s a breakdown of the upcoming enrollment sessions:
Timeline | Spring Short Track | Spring Long Track | Summer Long Track | Fall Accelerated | Fall Long Track |
Course start | 2022 enrollment closed | January | June | September | September |
Exam date | n/a | August/September | January | January | April/May |
Analytics
Altius allows students to analyze their test results using over 1,500 metrics. Your performance can be broken down and categorized by:
- Question type
- Topic
- Subtopic
- Scientific inquiry & reasoning skills
- …and more
Trends and long-term progress can be viewed with infographics and charts, making it easy to see your progress at a glance. You can also track your performance across all full-length exams statistically and graphically.
Altius MCAT Review FAQs
Should I purchase Altius MCAT prep?
Based on our research, you can get a better value prep course much cheaper than Altius. Check out our list of MCAT online prep courses.
Is Altius MCAT prep good?
It depends on the student. Altius is the most mentor-focused MCAT prep we’ve encountered, a plus for many people. However, there are other courses out there that also feature expert instructors.