When To Take The MCAT? Timeline

There are about twenty-five different MCAT test dates available from January through September when the exam is offered. When should I take my MCAT exam? is one of the queries we receive the most frequently, which is understandable.” You can also inquire as to whether taking the test in the summer or the fall gives you a better chance of receiving a high score.

We’ll go over the MCAT for you in this article. Please keep reading.

MCAT Test Dates

The MCAT is offered from January to September, with multiple testing dates available within each month to give you plenty of opportunities to take the exam. The MCAT is additionally provided at a number of testing facilities.

Recognize that the testing facility quickly fills up, so you should schedule your exam as soon as you locate one in a location that is convenient for you.

Make sure you locate the MCAT test dates for the year you intend to apply to medical school as the dates fluctuate from year to year. You can find the current testing dates here, for example, if you want to attend medical school in 2022 or 2023.

You’ll see that there are various zone deadlines when you look at the MCAT testing schedule: gold, silver, and bronze.

• The gold zone gives you the largest deadline to schedule your exam (29 days prior to the exam), the best exam price, and the lowest rescheduling price and is the only zone that gives you a partial refund in the event you need to cancel your testing date.
• The silver zone gives you an MCAT registration deadline 25 days before the exam date, and you still get the best price, but if you need to reschedule, there is no refund and the fee will go up.
• The bronze zone gives you a small window of a registration deadline, only eight days before the exam date. You can no longer cancel or reschedule your MCAT in this zone, and the exam fee increases from $315 to $370.

Make sure you take the MCAT at a time when it will be available when you apply to medical school because the list of testing dates also includes the date you’ll receive your MCAT score.

What To Consider When Selecting A MCAT Date?

Of course, not every applicant’s academic plans will realistically permit them to take an early test. If you still have coursework to finish or study for, it’s okay to take the MCAT later in the year when you are ready. To choose the ideal date for you, take into account these factors.

What Stage Of The Application Process Are You In?

Beginning in early June, AMCAS accepts applications. Due to the fact that the majority of schools offer rolling admission, it is crucial to submit AMCAS applications as soon as possible.

Remember that MCAT results are made public about a month after the test date. Until your MCAT results are available, many schools won’t even look at your application.

Do You Have All Of The Prerequisites?

You should probably not take the test if you have not completed the majority of the test’s prerequisites, which include two semesters of each of the following: biology, physics, general chemistry, and organic chemistry.

Utilize The Princeton Review’s free MCAT practice test to see how you would perform before taking the actual test and find out how you would perform!

How Are You Going To Schedule Prep Time?

Although it’s not recommended, it is possible to take the final semester of one of the required science courses while also preparing for the MCAT. In order to adequately study for the exam and still maintain a high GPA, it is imperative that you reduce your course load if you find yourself in this situation.

If they want to focus on their studies and give themselves some of the summers to prepare, pre-meds might choose a test date in the summer.

Are You Planning To Retake The MCAT?

It’s best to book your first MCAT as early as possible if you believe you might need to retake it. This will give you enough time to register for a seat, plan your preparation for MCAT #2, and get your MCAT results.

If you did not take the MCAT earlier or need to improve your MCAT scores, aim to take take the MCAT as early in the summer as possible

Where Are You Going To Take The MCAT?

The number of testing sites and seats for each MCAT date is restricted. Seats quickly sell out!

When Should You Take The MCAT At The Earliest Opportunity?

The MCAT should be taken as early as possible, ideally in your sophomore year or the summer between your sophomore and junior years. Regardless of the MCAT prep books or courses, you choose to purchase, you’ll have finished the majority of your medical school prerequisites by then, minimizing the amount of content review you’ll have to undertake.

As 24 of the approximately 30 test dates fall between April and September, if you plan to take the MCAT early, you’ll have plenty of test date options.

Just remember to give yourself plenty of study time—between two and four months, depending on your command of the material and ability to devote 100% of your attention—so you can perform as well as possible on your first attempt. The MCAT isn’t enjoyable, and taking it again isn’t much better.

When Should You Take The MCAT At The Latest?

You should plan to take the MCAT for the final time between your application year’s January and April. For instance, if you’d like to enroll in medical school in August 2024, you’ll want to take your MCAT during the first four months of 2023—that is, no later than April 2023.

You might be perplexed as to why you require such a window. Because of this, AMCAS won’t even allow you to submit your main application until late May.

You should finish the MCAT by April for the following motives:

• You should give your application essays a lot of thought. You won’t have enough time to focus on your medical school personal statement, AMCAS Work and Activities section, and numerous secondary essays (including pre-writing secondary essays before secondary applications are released) if you wait too long to take the MCAT.
• Which medical schools you should apply to will largely depend on your MCAT score(s). You don’t want to invest valuable time and money in applying to specific medical schools only to learn later that your MCAT score disqualifies you entirely.
• A month or so after the test, your MCAT score won’t be made public. You should finish your testing as soon as possible to take full advantage of the rolling admissions process used by medical schools and to allow atoms to review your applications with your complete set of scores.

We emphasize the final time because you may want to take the You may take the MCAT up to three times during a testing year, four times over the course of two consecutive years, and seven times overall.

A Timeline For Your Final MCAT Test Date

In order to give you the best chance of passing the MCAT, here is a conservative strategy that works backward:

• the summer before the year you apply (i.e., June–August): Study for the MCAT
• the fall prior to the year of application (i.e., September): once take the MCAT (Note: The MCAT is not offered between October and December)
• The winter of your application year (i.e., January–April): Retake the MCAT, if necessary

You might not need to bake in that second attempt if you’re a great test taker and have been scoring well.

But if you’re a college student applying to medical school, you should budget the summer before your application year to study for the MCAT to give yourself the most testing options moving forward.