What is actually in the set
Seven volumes covering Behavioral Sciences, Biochemistry, Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics and Math, and CARS, plus online resources and three full-length practice tests.
The 2027–2028 edition, released in July 2026, is a bigger revision than Kaplan's usual annual pass. It adds more than 500 new full-colour science images and rebuilds the CARS book from scratch. If you have read that Kaplan's CARS volume is its weak point, that criticism predates this edition.
Every chapter follows the same shape: concept explanation, worked examples, then practice with answer explanations. The consistency is genuinely useful when you are working across seven books.
How it reads, and the trap that comes with it
Kaplan writes formally and exhaustively. Nothing on the AAMC outline is skipped, and the tone is closer to a textbook than a study guide. For a student with real gaps that thoroughness is the point.
The trap is the volume itself. Seven dense books encourage passive reading, and passive reading feels like studying while doing very little. Students routinely tell us they read the whole set, retained a great deal of it, and watched their practice score sit still. Working problems from the start, rather than reading first and practising later, is what separates the two outcomes.
One more caution about the included practice tests: they run easier than the real exam. A strong score on a Kaplan full-length is not the same signal as a strong score on an AAMC one, and treating it as such is a common and expensive misread.
How it compares with the other sets
Kaplan against the other MCAT book sets we review. This compares books with books. Where coaching fits is a separate question, covered further down.
| Kaplan | The alternatives | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ||
| List price | About $299.99 for 7 books | Princeton Review $259.99; ExamKrackers and Mometrix lower |
| Second-hand availability | Excellent. Prior editions sell cheaply | Similar for Princeton Review, thinner for others |
| What you get | ||
| Content coverage | The most thorough in print | Princeton Review comparable; ExamKrackers deliberately leaner |
| Explanation style | Comprehensive and formal | ExamKrackers is more conversational and opinionated |
| CARS coverage | All-new CARS book in the 2027–2028 edition | ExamKrackers CARS is the long-standing favourite |
| Practice included | 3 full-length practice tests | ExamKrackers adds 44 mini-MCATs |
| Currency | ||
| Edition freshness | Revised annually, current is 2027–2028 | Princeton Review 5th ed; Barron’s notably dated |
| Online extras | Online prep bundled with the books | Varies; Mometrix and Barron’s lighter |
Free quiz
The Unbiased MCAT Prep Course Decision Quiz
Three different problems stall an MCAT score, and buying the wrong fix costs months. Six questions sort out which one is yours and what to spend on it. We name competitors and free resources when they beat us, and say so when the answer is spend nothing.
No email required. Your plan appears on screen.
Transparency, before you start. We sell MCAT tutoring and courses, so here are the rules this quiz follows.
- Zero budget, nothing paid. Free resources only, and we say so.
- Content gap, buy content first. From whoever does it best, which is usually not us. Our tutoring comes up only as an optional add-on for a big gap.
- Competitors named and linked when they beat us: UWorld, Kaplan, Blueprint, ExamKrackers, Khan Academy.
- We appear only where we fit, with the budget to match, and always beside a cheaper option.
- Our free MCAT resources show up wherever they fit, and they ask for nothing.
Where books fit, and where they do not
Every set on this page is a content resource. That is worth saying plainly, because it decides whether buying one is a good use of your money.
Books are excellent at closing content gaps. If there are topics you have never properly learned, a well-written set will teach them, at your pace, for a fraction of what a course charges. This is the case books are built for and they do it well.
Books cannot watch you work. They cannot see that you commit to an answer before finishing the passage, or that you lose four minutes on the first CARS passage every time. The most common thing students write to us about is finishing a full content resource, retaining it, and sitting at the same practice score. No book fixes that, because the problem is not knowledge.
What we would actually recommend. Buy the official AAMC material first, because nothing substitutes for questions written by the people who write the exam. Add one book set if you have real content gaps. Add a question bank. Only then consider paying for hours with a person, and only if your score has stalled while you already know the material.
We sell coaching, so read that ordering knowing what we sell. It is also the order we would give a friend who was never going to buy anything from us.
Get the free Decision Guide
On its way.
Check your inbox in the next minute.