Princeton Review MCAT Review (2025): Is the 515+ Guarantee Legit?

If you are aiming for a top 20 medical school, you already know the magic number: 515.

A score of 515 puts you in the 90th percentile of all test-takers. It is the threshold where admissions officers stop worrying about your academic potential and start looking at the rest of your application.

The Princeton Review MCAT 515+ Immersion course is built entirely around this metric. It is not designed for the casual student. It is not designed for someone trying to “squeeze in” studying on weekends. It is an academic bootcamp designed to force-feed you high-yield science until you are dreaming in amino acid structures.

I have spent weeks analyzing the curriculum, the instructor quality, and the fine print of that famous guarantee. Here is my unfiltered review of The Princeton Review’s MCAT prep for 2025.

The “Secret Sauce”: Subject Matter Experts

The single biggest differentiator between The Princeton Review (TPR) and every other prep company (Kaplan, Blueprint, etc.) is their instructor model.

In most MCAT courses, you have one “super-tutor” who teaches everything. They teach you Physics on Monday, CARS on Tuesday, and Biochemistry on Wednesday. While these instructors are smart, nobody is a PhD-level expert in everything.

TPR takes a university-style approach. You don’t get one teacher; you get a team of 4 to 6 specialists.

• The Physics Instructor: Likely has a Master’s or PhD in Physics. They don’t just know the MCAT formulas; they understand the underlying mechanics and can explain why a circuit behaves the way it does.
• The CARS Instructor: A specialist in verbal reasoning who focuses solely on strategy, logic, and reading comprehension.
• The Bio/Biochem Instructor: An expert in biological systems who can deep-dive into metabolic pathways without getting lost.

Why This Matters

The MCAT has evolved. It is no longer just about memorizing facts; it is about applying concepts in novel scenarios. A generalist teacher can help you memorize the Krebs cycle. A specialist can help you understand how a specific enzyme inhibitor would alter the cycle in a diabetic patient-which is exactly the kind of question the AAMC loves to ask.

The 515+ Guarantee: Read the Fine Print

The marketing headline is simple: “Score a 515 or get your money back.”

It is a bold claim, and it’s the main reason students pay the premium price tag (often $3,499+). But like all guarantees, there are strings attached. I dug into the Terms & Conditions so you don’t have to.

Who Qualifies?

To be eligible for the 515+ money-back guarantee, you must:

1. Have a starting score of 500+: You need an official previous MCAT score or a diagnostic test score of 500 or higher.
2. Do the work: This is the kicker. You must attend all classes, complete all homework, and take all required practice exams.

What if you start below 500? If your starting score is below 500 (e.g., a 495), the guarantee shifts. Instead of promising a 515, they guarantee a 10-point increase (e.g., 495 → 505). This is still incredibly valuable, as a 10-point jump can move you from “unlikely to get in” to “competitive for DO and many MD schools.”

Is it worth it?

Yes, but primarily for the structure. The guarantee forces you to be a good student. Because you want to keep your eligibility for the refund, you will do the homework. You will attend the classes. That external pressure is often exactly what high-performing students need to stay on track during a grueling 3-month study schedule.

Course Structure & Curriculum

The Princeton Review offers a few different flavors of their course, but the 515+ Immersion is the flagship.

1. Live Instruction (The Firehose)

You are looking at 123+ hours of live instruction. That is significantly more than Kaplan or Blueprint.

• Frequency: Classes often meet 4-5 times a week for 2-3 hours at a time.
• Style: The teaching style is academic and lecture-heavy. It feels like a college seminar. If you learn best by listening to an expert explain complex topics, you will love it. If you prefer short, gamified videos (like Khan Academy), you might find it dry.

2. The Books

While everyone else is moving to digital-only, TPR still ships you a box of 11 hardcopy books.

• 7 Subject Review Books (Bio, Biochem, Gen Chem, O-Chem, Physics, Psych/Soc, CARS)
• 4 Exclusive Workbooks (Science Workbook, CARS Workbook, In-Class Compendium, Science Review Questions)

These books are legendary. They are dense, detailed, and comprehensive. The Science Workbook alone is worth its weight in gold, containing hundreds of freestanding practice questions that are perfect for drilling weak areas.

3. Practice Tests

You get access to 16 full-length practice tests.

• Quality: TPR exams are notoriously difficult. Many students report scoring 505-508 on TPR practice tests and then scoring 512-515 on the real AAMC exam.
• Strategy: This “training with weights” approach builds mental stamina. If you can handle a TPR Physics section, the real AAMC Physics section will feel manageable.

The User Experience (Interface)

If there is one area where Princeton Review lags behind Blueprint, it’s the digital interface.

• Dashboard: It’s functional but looks a bit like a learning management system from 2015. It gets the job done-you can access your drills, schedule, and reports-but it lacks the sleek, modern polish of Blueprint’s study planner.
• Analytics: You get detailed score reports that break down your performance by subject and question type. It tells you what you got wrong, but the visual data visualization isn’t as intuitive as UWorld or Blueprint.

Pricing & Value

Let’s address the elephant in the room: It is expensive.

• Self-Paced: ~$1,699
• 510+ Course: ~$2,899
• 515+ Immersion: ~$3,499+

Is it worth $3,500? If you get into medical school a year earlier because of this course, that $3,500 is a rounding error in your lifetime earnings. The value proposition here is certainty. You are paying for the highest probability of success. You are paying for the best teachers, the most materials, and the strictest schedule.

Pros and Cons

Final Verdict: Who Should Buy This?

The Princeton Review 515+ Immersion is the “Nuclear Option” of MCAT prep.

Buy this course if:

• You are aiming for a top-tier MD program (Harvard, Hopkins, UCSF, etc.).
• You have a strong science background but need to master the application of that knowledge.
• You need external accountability and a rigid schedule to stay on track.
• You learn best from lectures and textbooks.

Skip this course if:

• You are working full-time and cannot commit to 20+ hours of class/homework per week (look at Blueprint Self-Paced instead).
• You are on a tight budget (look at Magoosh or self-study with UWorld).
• You prefer short, animated videos over long-form lectures.

Ultimately, Princeton Review delivers exactly what it promises: a rigorous, no-nonsense path to a high score. It demands a lot from you, but if you put in the work, the results are undeniable.

• Overall
  4.8
• Ease of Use
  4.2
• Features
  5.0
• Support
  4.9
• Value
  4.5

Scale 0-5. Ratings are our own weighted assessments.