Best MCAT Prep Books and Materials (2026–27)

Picks are based on publisher-listed contents, alignment with the current MCAT format and AAMC content outline, and edition currency. We haven't worked through every book cover to cover, and we don't accept payment for placement. Prices change constantly, so we don't list them. Check the edition year before you buy; the MCAT's format hasn't changed recently, but older editions may have out-of-date online access.

AAMC writes the MCAT, and its practice products use questions from previously administered exams. No commercial publisher can match that. What AAMC offers right now:

• Two free full-length exams: the Unscored Sample Test and Practice Exam 1.
• Five low-cost full-length exams: Practice Exams 2–6.
• Question banks and packs for the science sections, plus a new CARS Question Bank (575 passage-based questions) that AAMC lists in its Online-Only Bundle.

If you're approved for AAMC's Fee Assistance Program, all online MCAT Official Prep products are included, which covers everything below from AAMC.

Probably. AAMC's products are practice, not teaching. They assume you already know the content. A subject review set covers the science that the passages lean on: biochemistry, biology, general and organic chemistry, physics, and psychology and sociology.

How to choose:

• Match your gaps. If you finished your prerequisites recently, a lean set may be enough. If it's been years since organic chemistry, you want more explanation.
• Buy one set, not three. The sets cover the same outline. Two overlapping sets mostly add reading time.
• Check the online component. Many sets bundle online practice tests or question banks that expire or require a code. Buy new if you want those.

Pick Kaplan if you want a thorough subject-by-subject reference and the option to step up to a large question bank from the same publisher. Pick Examkrackers if you want frequent timed mini-exams built into your review and don't mind supplementing biochemistry, which doesn't get its own volume in the listed set. Either way, AAMC's materials do the heavy lifting for practice. Check the table of contents of whichever set you choose against AAMC's content outline so nothing falls through the cracks.

• A second full review set. Overlap is huge. If one book's explanation of a topic doesn't click, look up that single topic elsewhere instead of buying another seven volumes.
• Old editions with "online access included." Used copies are fine for reading, but access codes are often expired or already redeemed.
• Score-conversion charts from third-party tests. Commercial full-lengths are useful practice, but their scores don't map neatly onto AAMC's scale. Trust AAMC's practice exams for your readiness check.
• Buying everything on day one. Start with a free AAMC exam and one review set. Add question banks once you know where your points are leaking.

• Tight budget: AAMC's two free full-lengths, one review set (a recent used copy is fine for reading), and the low-cost AAMC packs for your weakest subjects. If you qualify for AAMC fee assistance, apply first—it includes every online Official Prep product.
• Years since your prerequisites: a full review set with thorough explanations, such as Kaplan's 7-book set, and a longer content phase before you touch full-lengths.
• Recent science grad, strong on content: skip straight to AAMC's Section Bank, question packs, and practice exams, and use a review set only as a reference for gaps.
• Retaking: your old books are fine. Spend the money on AAMC material you haven't used, and do a brutally honest error log from your first attempt's practice tests.
• CARS is your weak spot: daily timed passages beat any book. Use AAMC's CARS practice as your benchmark and see our CARS guide for a 4-week plan.

1. Diagnostic: AAMC Unscored Sample Test or Practice Exam 1.
2. Content: one review book set, weakest subjects first, with passage practice starting in week 2.
3. Practice: AAMC Section Bank and question packs in the middle stretch; AAMC's CARS Question Bank for daily CARS work.
4. Final weeks: the remaining AAMC practice exams, each followed by a full review.

Want a full-length checkpoint before you open your AAMC exams? Take our free full-length MCAT practice test, and use the Bio/Biochem guide and CARS guide alongside your books.