Practice & Global Review
Practice & Global Review
The separate sciences are taught in a modular, disconnected way in college. You can take biology before physics or vice versa. A person may take chemistry first and then biology and physics later. We all have to accept this approach for college, but it doesn't work very well for the MCAT. The MCAT is an interdisciplinary exam. The video content review for the new MCAT on this website is different than the disconnected, undergraduate curriculum or the disconnected approach of typical MCAT content review. The topic videos of the Integrated MCAT Course must be watched in order. It's a structured course. It uses a spiraling curriculum with priming and spaced repetition to teach the AAMC topics not only in themselves but also for each other.
The Integrated MCAT Course builds interconnections across science, deepening content review with "aha moments", and making MCAT review more interesting. It works like language acquisition to bring your knowledge-base into sync with the sophisticated side of MCAT passages. Your brain can learn to hold physics, chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry ideas together at the same time. Science is unified when you understand how an SDS-PAGE gel works or can recognize the basis for energy flow and spontaneity in a metabolic pathway through its chemical transformations. Ideas become accessible to perception and cued recognition when they are interconnected. Ideas become "lit up" by other ideas. Good content review is part of equipping your scientific imagination with the knowledge base it needs for the test.
It helps to understand there is a performance metric that applies to reading a science passage. A big part of reading a science passage is the cued recognition of scientific ideas as you are reading. Each passage element is a kind of puzzle you solve with active attention. Everything in the passage is intended as a puzzle this way. You bring the passage into the clear by bringing its elements into your imagination as scientific ideas. You build the world of the passage in your imagination to prepare for the questions. An integrated, structured course is the proper approach to content review for the new MCAT because it is how you build a knowledge-base that is well-structured and accessible to the scientific imagination.
Once upon a time I took ten years to build an MCAT course for the old exam called the WikiPremed MCAT Course. It became very popular. That was the old MCAT. Now I have built another MCAT course. My name is John Wetzel. I am probably the only person to have built two MCAT courses. My new MCAT course represents the culmination of many years of helping students with the new exam. It will help you learn how physics, chemistry, and biochemistry ideas hold together. Scientific ideas that hold together can shine light onto each other and into things. I am passionate about this project. MCAT review helps people learn how to see into things with their scientific imagination. I believe this approach to the challenge has helped me understand how to teach MCAT science in a way that has proven valuable for my students over the years.
Membership is free here for the first two weeks then $24.95/month. Subscribers receive access to the video content review as well as support and membership in Premed Village, the social learning community of the course. In Premed Village, there are forums and live events. You can can join a study group in Premed Village with resources, methods and study rooms with Zoom integration.
When you join the course, we send you a printed copy of the content review teaching slides for note-taking and problem solving. The PDF version can give you a good tour of the AAMC topics. The course is structured so that chemistry ideas are taught in the light of physics, and the physical sciences become a foundation for the biological sciences.
You can join the Integrated MCAT Course for a two week free trial to see if this MCAT course resonates with you. You can make use of the resources here how you like. The study plan is ideal for a 1st time test-taker with 5 months to prepare. However you use the resources here, be sure to start psychology early and watch the science videos in order. They are not disconnected topical videos you can watch in any order but a structured course. This means that the conceptual vocabulary inherits from one video to the next. In summary, the subscription is $24.95/month with a two week free trial. When you subscribe we will ship you the complimentary blank slides for note-taking. To make the course more effective, this is a hole-punched printed stack of all the teaching slides to take notes with and do problems as you go.
I think about my experience with your program often. Tutoring with you has honestly been one of the best decisions I made my entire college career. Anytime MCAT preparation comes up with classmates, I am quick to mention how helpful your approach to teaching has been for me. It has changed the way I approach my classes and my thinking in general for the better. Your advice to study in “broad cycles” lead me to read the material before and after lecture to reinforce and expand on core concepts. While studying the complexities of immunology, inflammation, and hypersensitivity in pathology class, I remember your advice to develop a “mental map” of key topics. It's so reassuring when I can instantly pin a new concept presented in class to a particular branch of my map. I finally feel secure in my knowledge base and like I'm earning a proper education. - S. L.
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Just wanted to share the fruits of your labor (attached). It seems the center of AMCAS's preliminary percentile ranges were a little off for Chemical/Physical and Psychosocial, but having hit the magical 96th percentile overall, I really cannot complain. Should definitely have done better than an 129 on those two, but I think I will be well served by my scores. It's funny because I went back and forth on several CARS questions, changing some of my answers in the last minutes of the section, so I definitely would not have predicted my perfect score in CARS. - A. P.
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I found John through his website. I was very impressed with his videos and liked his curriculum. John is not only highly professional and experienced, he’s also a great guy. Couldn’t ask for more. Very, very happy with his services. - K. T.
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I’ve just finished my first year of medical school. I found that my time working with John set a good basis for studying medicine. I particularly like his way of explaining why things are the way they are, and I wish some of my professors had the same ethos.
John tailored his teaching to what I needed, and I liked his way of questioning me to ensure I understood what I was being taught.
The only other thing I’d mention is that I didn’t always find it easy. There was a lot of self-study that I did, and there were some sessions where I came away questioning whether I had it in me to get through the material. John was great though - he believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself. I’ll always be grateful for his help. - M. E.
Your course, and it is utterly brilliant, effectively teaches me. As someone with a strong intellect; I have to understand concepts fully before I can master them. In order to understand fully I have to grasp the concepts spatially, as a whole and then I unify them..that's when the magic starts to happen and my brain explodes with connections, questions and creativity. Previously, the teaching I received was inadequate..I may be bright but I couldn't come up with the kind of perspective and mature mastery that the years of intelligent and insightful reflection you have worked at provides. The spiralling nature of the curriculum, the emphasis on the key scientific concepts and their inter-disciplinary application not only concisely identifies the MCAT material, but brings the subjects/universe to life. It's immensely pleasurable to go on the journey with you. - J. H.
I got my score back yesterday and was very surprised to see that I got a 519! (131,128,129,131) I was in shock, since I really expected myself to get around a 513-515. I'm most surprised about CARS, since I completely guessed on a passage.
Anyways, thank you so much for tutoring me. It was a real honor to learn from someone who is so passionate and dedicated towards a single cause. I feel like every tutoring session, I was impressed by your knowledge of the material and your ability to help me understand something. I'm a bit active still on reddit and have referred some people over to you. I hope that I got you some students. I would be happy to leave you a 5 star review somewhere and feel free to let potential students reach out to me for questions about your tutoring. - E. D.
I really hope that students come to know the value of Integrated-MCAT... you really prepared me not just for the MCAT but for medical school. There are things that I'm encountering and I'm not panicking because we covered it in such detail. I included some genetics slides as evidence! I think it's easy to feel insecure about being in medical school, like Imposter Syndrome, especially when I hear classmates coming from big name schools and Ivy Leagues, and I have felt, 'what if I'm not as prepared as them?' I'm not saying this to be obsequious, but I really feel like I received a world class education through our tutoring-- like I can totally hang with some of the Yale kids in my class. Right now where I'm in the Pulmonary block and I have classmates struggling to grasp the Bohr effect and the Haldane effect and I get to chuckle at their misfortune... well not exactly lol, but it's really nice to feel ahead of the curve. - A. G.
Hi John, I hope this email finds you doing well. I wanted to share some really happy news with you. I passed comlex level 1. This exam was just as challenging as mcat and I didn’t think passing was possible for me. I always think back to when you tutored me to mcat and I couldn’t be more grateful for guidance and support during that very difficult time! I hope you are doing well, and that your family is all well too :) - S. A.
I just wanted to share with you my appreciation for all the work you have done with WikiPremed. Your lessons on physics and general chemistry changed my perspective on many of the topics and were, in my opinion, at the level of teaching required for students to score a 14 or 15 on PS - something many other MCAT resources lack. I received a 14 in physical sciences, up from 11 without using WikiPremed, and achieved an overall score of 37. I will definitely recommend WikiPremed to anyone who mentions they are writing the MCAT in the future. Thank you again for all your hard work! - A. P.
Thank you John for making this amazing website. I used wikipremed as my primary study tool, and I just received a score of 14 PS 11 VR and 13 BS for a total of 38. Not only did this site help me achieve the score I wanted, but it has left me with a deeper appreciation and understanding of science. - P. M.
I found John through his website. I was very impressed with his videos and liked his curriculum. John is not only highly professional and experienced, he’s also a great guy. Couldn’t ask for more. Very, very happy with his services. - K. T.
Thank you so much for your time and effort in developing WikiPremed. In studying for the MCAT, WikiPremed has proven to be an invaluable resource. I credit my 35 to it. - C. K.
I would like to thank you for this great website. I have spent quite a bit of time and money on a prep course and materials, and WikiPremed has been far more helpful than anything I have come across. - S. O.
I just wanted to say thank you to the creators of the wikipremed website. It is by far the most useful MCAT prep tool I used to prepare for the exam. I scored a 40 with just two months of studying from this website and a few books and I am going to be attending my top choice medical school this coming summer. Thank you once again. - M. A.
I just wanted to thank you so much for having such a fantastic resource available. :) It's really kind of you considering it's a free service to everyone. - S. V.
>I appreciate the clarity and well thought out structure of your videos--particularly the way they tie together physics, chemistry, and biology--most public goods aren't this beneficial! - W. S.
Thank you very much for setting up this amazing website. I am seriously learning a lot more than what I learned at school. For once, I'm actually enjoying chemistry. Thank you so so much! - J. M.
I wanted to say thank you for providing such an incredible resource to us all for free. You are a wonderful teacher and I appreciate your holistic approach to the material. I love to learn, and this big picture understanding of the sciences is what I've been striving for. You do a GREAT JOB! Thank you for all the hard work you have put into making wiki premed. I'm spreading the word to all of the pre-med students I know! - C. J.
I recently found your website purely by chance. It was a pleasant surprise and still can't believe I paid just a few dollars shy of $2000 for an MCAT Prep course. Which I must add was painfully useless. Your program costs nothing and yet has such a wealth of material that are incredibly useful. For that I want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. God bless you and all your efforts. - J. D.
Hey John, I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work you have put into this project. I am a poor student who couldn't afford those $2000 courses and came across this site while searching the web for free resources. I know you say we're supposed to take longer to study for the actual test, but due to my circumstances, I only had 6 WEEKS to prepare! I watched all your videos, because it was so much better than sitting there for hours and reading through books thicker than bibles. My score jumped from a 23 (7PS/ 7BS/ 9 V) from the very first practice test to a 31 (11 PS/ 10 BS/ 10 V). I can say with a 100% confidence that my rise in the physical sciences score can be attributed to nothing else but your videos, as watching them is all I did to prepare for the section. I tell everyone I know that is studying for the MCAT to check out your website first. Not only are you a master of all the material that is covered by the MCAT, but your insight on how the test makers think helped me narrow down countless answers. Thank you again, you truly are a gifted teacher. - V. P.
I am enjoying the selfless resource of videos that you have provided for the MCAT and would recommend them to anyone as well as the printed materials. - T. L.
I really appreciate your help. You guys are providing a great service for all of us premeds who don't have the priviledge of spending vast amounts of money on MCAT material. - J. B.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for having these free videos here! I decided late I wanted to go to medical school so I had to take the MCAT this summer because I'm graduating in May, but I had never taken physics before, in high school or college. All I did was watch your videos and do the practice problems and I was able to get a 10 on the physical sciences section, which I'm sure would not have been possible otherwise, because it was absolutely unintelligible to me in the books I had been using. I thought you had a really thorough way of explaining things and making the concepts stick. - T. C.
I just wanted to thank you for setting up such an awesome way to learn and prepare for the MCAT exam. I am a premed student who is not interested in paying $3000 for a preparatory course, and this is such an awesome alternative. Great job putting together such awesome resources. The videos, pictures, text, example problems, and answers help SO much. Thank you! - E. F.
I think your sight is fantastic. Thanks for investing the time and energy into it! - S. A.
Hi John, Finally got scores and percentiles
35 M 93.8-95.7% ranking
Thanks again so much. - D. C.
I truly can't say enough good things about WikiPremed. I took the MCAT for the first time last year and again this summer. Last year I participated in a weekly on-site prep course for four months. This summer I stumbled upon WikiPremed through a Google search for MCAT study materials. I improved my MCAT score by three points using the resources on WikiPremed. Reasons you should consider WikiPremed: - the structure [ The value of the "spiraling curriculum" that John Wetzel mentions in his course introduction is perhaps best realized after working a bit with the actual material. In my opinion, other methods don't compare to this setup. It's the way I believe most all things should be taught - dynamically and relevantly. The structure also allows you to work at your own pace and according to your own schedule. Call me nerdy, but I found the flashcards and crosswords to be pretty fun, while the videos offer the sense of a private tutor. Oh yeah - and he's not ruthlessly charging you by the minute for it. ] - the economics [ ...which brings me to my next point. For starters, it's free. No gimmicks where after 50 views of the site you get some unfriendly warning to "Pay up or log off!" Nope. Check out all the stuff he's got on there as much as you want, whenever you want. If you want the tangible products, you can buy "the bundle" for about fifty bucks. And suffice it to say that's many, many, many, many fractions less than I paid for my previous MCAT prep class. (Never mind the lower score I got doing so.) ] - the philosophy [ So, it's official. After using WikiPremed throughout my MCAT prep and ultimately reaching my goal with my score, I can say with confidence: Wetzel is not some profit-hungry monster. In reality, he's far from it. Honestly, I kept waiting for the catch. Instead, I came to accept that there are still genuinely good people in this world and realized he's in it for the right reasons - to offer access to MCAT prep materials to anyone, anywhere with the motivation to pursue becoming a physician. ] My suggestion: use WikiPremed as a central resource, KhanAcademy for clarification and a set of prep books (I used ExamKrackers) to supplement all of it. I'd also attempt to take as many practice tests as you can fit in your prep schedule whilst maintaining sanity. May seem like a lot, but once I got in the swing of things I was sincerely grateful for WikiPremed as a consistent guide and invaluable study tool. - J.T.
Just wanted to say thanks for taking on this huge project!!! I really appreciate all the information and hardwork you put into this. Wish me luck on the MCAT! - K. C.
I just want to thank you for all the work you put into this site. It has really helped me to understand Physics in a way that the big review companies have not been able to. God bless you and this company and thanks again. - A. S.
As a physician, there is a balance between the shear volume of learned information one is exposed to and the practical application that one ultimately retains. Hard work and diligent study are expected, but the ability to navigate through mountains of knowledge in order to firmly grasp the essentials requires a mentor. The principles that I learned through MCAT academy not only helped me to achieve a 90th percentile score, but have served as a foundation for a broad and practical understanding of scientific principles which I have continued to use since. John's passion for teaching is evident and he's also a genuinely nice person. His course makes studying palatable and enjoyable rather than drudgery. - A. H., MD
Not sure if you would ever read this. But I just really wanted to thank you so much for all your work and god energy that you have placed in wikipremed. I have watched about 85 % all the videos and the way you explain physics is waw !!!! Thank you. Me and my friend already ordered the package, with the flashcards and everything. - K. C.
Hey John, first of all, THANK YOU so much for creating this one in a million website. I have been searching for sites for MCAT and this beats everything out there, hands down. I really like the video part about the physical sciences parts, rather than just bombarding all kinds of facts, the intuition you provide is amazing. - D. R.
I just wanted to thank you for doing this entire series. I suggested this site to everyone in the premed club at my university, and we now all use it as the main means to study for the MCAT. So thank you so much for putting all of this online and for free as well. Many of my classmates were unable to afford Kaplan courses and so on, so this is a life saver to them, and several of the ones who have alreaady taken the Kaplan course agree that this site provides a better and more robust study schedule. - A. W.
I haven't heard back on what my test results are yet, but my last practice test was a 34, so I'm hoping for the best. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate what you've done in creating this course. Having benefited from not only the materials, but also your syllabus/schedule and the order in which you chose to present them, there is no way I would have guessed something like your program existed. WikiPremed is a true dark horse. Congratulations on an original and well executed idea! - L. L.
As a premed I had the same thought, that there should be a study program that builds knowledge block by block and connects the physics with the chemistry and biology. It looks like I found it. I can tell you put a ton of work into it, so this is just me saying Thanks. - P. S.
I love you. Very much. Thank you for putting this site together. I received a 32 on the MCAT. And this made me very happy. After taking a kaplan course and being stuck at around a 28. I wondered what more I could do. It was wikipremed.com. I find myself recommending this site to many people. Thank you for being wonderful, clear sighted, and altruistic. You really are amazing. - V. K.
I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for your heroic endeavor to make the MCAT a surmountable obstacle for aspiring premeds around the world. I used your website as my primary means of study and am happy to report that after much stress and worry have conquered the test and been accepted to medical school this coming fall. I owe you a debt of gratitude for your help and will gladly recommend your site to anyone with dreams of becoming a physician. - J. H.
Hello there, I was just wanting to write you a quick note letting you know how grateful I am for your site. I struggle with physics, and your course is allowing me to grasp the concepts. I am scheduled to take the MCAT in May. Thanks again!! - S. H.
I wanted to take the time to thank you for this resource. I am just starting to study for the June or July MCAT. It has been many years since I have studied these science topics (7-10 to be percise). As an older/nontraditional student, I have been very worried about starting over without retaking the classes. I have worked in clinical research for 5+yrs and have had a lot of encouragement to reconsider applying to medical school. I had been so nervous before I discovered your fantastic resource! - N. M.
Thank you!!! I wrote my MCAT this summer and studying only using this website and the exam krackers books, and I obtained a 33R. A million thanks! I don't know what I would have done without wiki-premed, not being able to spend the time or money on a prep course. - K. G.
I would like to thank the WikiPremed MCAT for freely distributing quality material online for MCAT preparation. I have used your material extensively in my own preparation for my exam. The material is well though out, especially the physical sciences flashcards. I also appreciated how each question explored a variety of implications that pertain to each topic, something which is rare in other MCAT preparation resources. Furthermore, the new situations in which a concept is situated served to prepare me well for new situations presented in the MCAT. Lastly, the spiraling curriculum was of great benefit, as it served to give a "heads up" for upcoming topics. At the end, I received a score of 13 in the physical sciences. I am grateful for all your help and hope that such services continue to be offered in the future for other students. - A. A.
Thank you for creating Wikipremed. I primarily used Wikipremed and the online AAMC tests to study. My pretest was a 27, rather horrifying. I wound up with a 32, decent enough to keep me in the running for medical school. I think your program is valuable for studying for the MCAT but should also be required for every student graduating from college, regardless of their major. Wikipremed does a fantastic job of drawing connections between the sciences, promoting a lifelong basic scientific understanding of the world. - D. P.
Setting its sights on reducing obstacles for pre-med students (and saving them a few bucks in the process) is the surprisingly sophisticated, open-access WikiPremed MCAT Course site. Providing hundreds of items for free that prep courses such as Kaplan charge thousands of dollars for, WikiPremed is bound to be every pre-med student's friend, and not just because of its price. - Dr. Kevin Ahern - University of Oregon BioTechniques Web Watch
This is an open-course guide to understanding the scientific content of the MCAT and other health professions exams . . . The general content is neatly packaged here. - George Mason University Health Professions Advising
WikiPremed is an MCAT preparation site with flashcards, questions and video explanations by John Wetzel, an incredibly experienced MCAT course instructor. The site has comprehensive lessons in all aspects of the MCAT and is a superb asset for those preparing to take the test. - Truman State University AMSA
Thank you for creating Wikipremed. I primarily used Wikipremed and the online AAMC tests to study. My pretest was a 27, rather horrifying. I wound up with a 32, decent enough to keep me in the running for medical school. I think your program is valuable for studying for the MCAT but should also be required for every student graduating from college, regardless of their major. Wikipremed does a fantastic job of drawing connections between the sciences, promoting a lifelong basic scientific understanding of the world. - D. P.
Thank you for creating Wikipremed. I primarily used Wikipremed and the online AAMC tests to study. My pretest was a 27, rather horrifying. I wound up with a 32, decent enough to keep me in the running for medical school. I think your program is valuable for studying for the MCAT but should also be required for every student graduating from college, regardless of their major. Wikipremed does a fantastic job of drawing connections between the sciences, promoting a lifelong basic scientific understanding of the world. - D. P.
I don't know if John sees these, if not please pass the info along to him. I am so thrilled with the course. I have so much joy listening to the lectures, I could almost marry him. - S. L.