Great course taught by a great teacher! John really show you how to handle MCAT problems in a "mellow" way. I was always amazed at how he would pick apart problems with very little content. the first part of the course covers material; the second part covers practice and strategy. Perfect for me since liked going to lecture and learning directly from them. He doesn't use books so you need to go to class. CARS was one of my favorite parts of the class. He really showed me how to read and break down passages. It really changed the way I looked at the test. In the end I did fine of the MCAT- 516 and I owe a lot of that to Swartwood + hard work!! read more

This is the biggest scam and people need to be aware, always late and always, always forgetting his computer at home making the entire class wait and then running until 1 AM because he he always late, never gave me my one hour privet studying session. The class it self was confusing and unorganized, please ask me questions, I be happy to reply. Find another prep class this guy is just money hungry lazy individual who has no regard for his students read more

I took Swartwood for the MCAT last year (2023), and I have to say that it was one of the best decisions I made. Granted, I'm an M1 now, so things worked out well. John- the head instructor and the only one for the Swartwood Only MCAT- is incredible. I'm sure everyone in my class would agree with me. I still remember the funny stories and his "big themes" to this day. Here's my breakdown: My personal opinion: PROS - He's the best. If you want to learn from someone who is entertaining, knows his material inside and out, and is also an incredible mentor, you need to take this course. Time flies by in class. This class, however, is definitely a "be there" class. I took the in-person class, so I can't say anything about the online class. You have to attend lectures and take notes. You have to interact to get the most out of it. I'm a little on the quieter side so I sat back while other people asked questions in class, but I wasn't shy about asking questions after class. If you miss class, you need to get notes from a friend or ask John about the material. He does not use class notes. You will learn the material the right way and learn how to go through passages efficiently. There's a part called the workshops where he does passages with you. It's the best part of the class in my opinion. He likes the AAMC tests. They have other tests but he says he prefers using AAMC material. There's a nice continuation policy. I actually took the course twice. The continuation fee was 200 when I took the course. My friend in the class now says that it went up to 300. CONS: I already mentioned that I'm a big fan of the class so take what I say with that in mind. The class is very hands-on. You can't miss class or you might feel like you missed a LOT. However, if you plan ahead and take 2 rounds of the class like I did, you can afford to skip a day or two. His approach to the content is honestly awesome but you can't find that treatment in a book and the classes sometimes build on one another - not as much for bio but a lot for physics and CARS. So again, don't miss class. If you think you are going to miss a lot of the class, repeat the class. Books and youtube videos won't help make up for the missing days. I tired that. The class is popular so depending on the time of year it can get really packed. My first round was completely packed but my second was a bit more roomy. I think John handles a large class well. He says he likes the interaction. I didn't mind and it's true that there were more questions my first time. ______________________________________________ I don't normally write much on Yelp but I had to since I stumbled on that previous review. That person has clearly never been in the class or at least the MCAT class. Maybe they were a DAT student. I only took the MCAT course so I don't know. The one big mistake the reviewer made: no one taking the actual course will believe that John does not care. If anything he is the MOST caring teacher I've ever had. He would stay late AFTER class answering questions about the material. He would also stay and help me and the others with our general concerns and anxiety. As a premed I had plenty and I'm sure you can relate. It just makes me so annoyed that someone posing as a student would say that given that the one thing John does is GO ABOVE AND BEYOND for his students. Sorry for the rant. I had to get that out. Good luck, everyone. It's a tough road but if I could make it, you can. read more

I took the approximately 2 full session of the MCAT course. It would have been one, but Covid (haha...) Pandemic aside, I would not hesitate to recommend John's MCAT lectures to any of my fellow pre-meds looking for instruction. I had been out of undergrad for 6 months with plans to retake the MCAT. I knew that I would want some structure given I would be studying while also working full time. This course was able to offer me just that. Not only is John a phenomenal instructor-he truly grasps how the MCAT is testing the student, versus simply giving you a list of topics to review. He morphs your thinking to make a difficult test seem easy and stands to support you through-and-through. I believe there are few MCAT courses that are taught by a single individualized teacher. This allows him to not only know your personal strengths and weaknesses, it allows him to advise you beyond the MCAT. I took the liberty to have John mentor me for applications, post-MCAT course, due to the morale I'd built with him and his experiences that allow him to understand the nuances of the medical school process. If you're looking for someone to teach you everything MCAT, while also picking up all the other skills necessary to be a medical school applicant, Swartwood is certainly the way to go. read more

Such a great class! John is an amazing teacher and mentor when going through the application process!

People, please do not be fooled by John and do not take his class due to the following reasons: 1. His class is expensive and he does not teach you anything. He is just taking your money while teaching the concepts very fast on his blackboard. 2. His workshops are worthless and you do not learn anything from them. For the MCAT, you need to learn how to tackle the test and not a bunch of concepts that are outdated back in 2015. 3. His books are useless, you can give them to your child for the drawing. 4. John is a big liar and does not care about your success at all, the only thing he is caring about is his profit. 5. John is constantly looking for spies and might think that you are a spy in his class. 6. He is talking out of concept very much and you might find them boring and interesting. Take his class only if you are comfortable with failing MCAT multiple times and end up going to another prep company. FYI: This is an honest review, additionally you can take his class many times after your initial payment as long as you pay $200 every time. I just wanted to help other pre-meds since you can not find any honest reviews about this company online. read more

DAT course only: I was contemplating between 3-4 stars. There's no 3.5 stars so I will give 4 stars mainly due to John's amazing lectures. I was highly recommended by my friend about this course. I saw that many of my mutual friends/acquaintances were taking this course but mainly for MCAT course. I would say John (the owner/main instructor) is an AMAZING instructor. He teaches the concepts and is able make the course very understandable. He knows what's important and what is not. Why minus star? There were few things that hindered my learning experience. 1. DAT courses not taught by John... one particular male instructor was bit unprofessional by talking about inappropriate stuff (recent grad applying for dental) but John took care of that swiftly... it's amazing how words travel fast. In addition, while he was teaching math..... he said zero is a prime. I'm not good at math but I know that zero is not a prime. 2. DAT courses not taught by John, it's really a hit or a miss. I really liked some of the other instructors but some weren't as good as John. I felt on certain days I was wasting my time being there since it was another instructor that was teaching it. To me, driving 1.5 hour one way and back is not worth it if I am not satisfied with the instructor. It's good to have instructors that have good grades, good test scores, and have been accepted to Med/dental school but..... lacking in teaching experience makes them a so-so lecturer. I think John should invest in more instructors that have some decent amount of instructing experience if he's not going to be teaching it on that day/session. 3. I think John caters more towards the MCAT students. During my session, some of the courses got cancelled or skipped due to lack of time. I believe the MCAT got reading comprehension done but DAT schedule for reading comp was skipped with another subject. We were also suppose to have Bio special but it never happened. So expect to have some of the schedules changed around or skipped. It kind of sucks because you pay a lot for the course but do not get the the same experience/attention as the MCAT course. I really wished he would just have the DAT course by itself and not combine it with MCAT. They were few other things that I did not like but overall, I had a good learning experience with John and few of the other instructors. I did stay in few of the MCAT sessions due to carpooling with my friends in the MCAT session. I think it is more worth your buck/time if you take the MCAT course with him than the DAT course. read more

They SCAM students. They ask you to pay $20 to access a bunch of prep videos. After they collect your money you log in to find only 1 video teaching things that are BASIC. I contacted them and this woman named Stephanie started lying to me and giving me the run around for weeks, saying they were going to upload more videos. Then, she emails me to tell me I can access one video but if I view it she can no longer refund me. I ask immediately for a refund because after waiting weeks for things they falsely advertised, I wasn't about to spend $20 to watch another useless video. Stephanie then proceeded to ignore all of my emails about a refund. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY PREPPING FOR ANY EXAM WITH THEM. THEY ARE UNPROFESSIONAL AND LIE TO STUDENTS ABOUT WHAT THEIR MONEY WILL GET THEM. STAY FAR AWAY. read more

Just got my first acceptance! I'm so thankful to Swartwood and John, in particular, for helping me get where I am now. The MCAT was something very daunting to me. I dreaded studying for it and delayed for longer than I should have. I heard about Swartwood from a friend I worked with in my lab, so I decided to check them out. I am so glad I did. John made the experience so much more manageable. He really teaches you how to think about the questions and passages. The atmosphere was relaxed, and John was always engaging and entertaining. My favorite parts were the stories during break and trivia. I don't usually write Yelp reviews but when my classmate from the Swartwood class told me that someone he knew had written a bizarre review for the DAT class, I had to check it out. I might be a bit biased as I loved the class and I was an MCAT student, not DAT but I think my friends in the DAT class would agree with me. My friend's response was not accepted by Yelp, so here is mine. The person writing the bizarre review is Laleh. She was in my cycle taking the DAT class. I don't know her that well personally but she spoke with one of my friend's in the DAT class. She never complained about the class and laughed along with the jokes and trivia just like everyone else from what I saw. She asked one of my friends for help/resources since she was having trouble keeping up, apparently she had been out of school for a while. She was the aunt of a student from a previous class, Aghdas. I do not know Aghdas, but my friend does. He said that Aghdas really liked the class and recommended it to her aunt, Laleh. I read the Yelp review from Laleh and couldn't believe it! Absolute garbage. First, John's does tell the most entertaining stories - but they are about funny incidents and he's not the only one telling stories during break, a lot of us talk. Is she even talking about the same person/company??? This is soooo bizzaarrreee. Ask any of the 70 or so students in my class. Nothing Laleh talks about is true - not even close? Except maybe for the part where she says she might remove the Yelp review if they pay her :(. Second, yes, if you are in elementary school, you should NOT be in the classes. They are meant for college students like me preparing for dental school, or med school in my case. He did say penis but that was in the lesson on spermatogenesis, oogenesis, menstruation, ovulation, etc. How can you not say penis when you are talking about the path of sperm? If you are interested in the DAT class or the MCAT for that matter, you should get used to using professional health career related language. No physiology class I ever took at UCLA had the professor saying, "now the sperm move from the vas deferens ... to the that thingy." Anyone who has ever taken a Swartwood course or who has even worked with John can tell you that her review is just nonsense. Read it! She even says that she might "... still be more than happy to talk to administration in regards to a refund." How sad. Sorry to go on for so long but I owe a lot to Swartwood for all the help and for making what could have been a very stressful experience so much better. I made good friends there and had a lot of good times - yes, even studying for the MCAT. Swartwood staff, don't let those false reviews get you down! You have tons of genuine students that love what you do! Do not change a thing! read more

Swartwood only MCAT helped me do well in my exam. The instructor, John, was there throughout the process, helping me learn the material and making himself available whenever I had a question. If you want to do well in your MCAT, I'd definitely recommend you come and learn from Swartwood and say hi to John for me. read more

It is the real scam. You are going to pay the money about $500 less than Princeton Review Guarantee 510, and this is what you get taking MCAT for three times and getting the score of 475. Then you have to pay $100 to repeat the course for a year maybe you can get 502. read more

This class is awesome! No other words for it. I took it last summer - got a 518. Applying now :(. John, the head instructor, is amazing in class!! I like how he shows you exactly what to know. read more

I began taking courses with John (owner and head instructor) back when I was in undergraduate school at UCLA. He held review sessions for the math and science courses before final exams. I then learned about his prep courses for the MCAT and DAT and knew that he would far excel the other prep courses. I'm so glad I did. He actually teaches, unlike other courses where they read you their review book and expect you to memorize on your own. He breaks down the science, provides stories to help you remember, teaches at your own pace, will review any topic until it's set in stone, and he actually cares. He invests so much in each student it's incredible. He follows up with each student to see how they did/ and where they end up. If you want to take a course that will actually give you your money's worth, go with Swartwood! You'll be happy you did and your future will be too! read more

I've only been to Swartwood for their University Review Sessions held by John. John is really great at the reviews--he does thorough, indepth test preparation before midterms and finals. Usually, the fee is $20/3 hours, which is very helpful. John also will run overtime if it means finishing a problem for his students to get the maximum benefit. He is very smart and knowledgeable. He answers all questions and caters the review sessions to particular professors and classes. They also offer many other review sessions for MCAT, GRE, etc. read more

MCAT is about a month away! Getting a bit nervous, but still gad I chose Swartwood. I feel like I am really getting a handle on the concepts and the test. read more

Swartwood is good to take for understanding general concepts. John's lectures are only concept based, with minimal content. I took the pre-dental course, and did fine...but attributing it to merely the course would be a sham read more