It is important that you understand how the MCAT is structured and scored, how often it is administered, and how it is used in the admissions process to make sound decisions around it. We highly recommend you read the MCAT Essentials to familiarize yourself with registration modalities, test-day policies, post-test procedures, and more.
If you anticipate needing accommodations for the test, start gathering the required paperwork for the accommodation request well in advance.
If you need assistance paying for the test, see if you are eligible for the Fee Assistance Program.
When to take/not to take the MCAT
The MCAT exam is administered multiple times a year, from late January through early September, and offered at hundreds of test sites in the United States, Canada, and around the world–see schedule.
If you are planning to attend medical school immediately after completing your undergraduate education, you are advised to take the MCAT by spring of your junior year. However, you should only take the test when you have completed your pre-requisite courses and can fit several months of intense MCAT preparation in your schedule.
In an ideal world, you would want to take the test by spring (or early summer at the very latest) of the year you wish to appIy. On any given year, the application services for both allopathic and osteopathic medical schools (AMCAS and AACOMAS) open in May and start allowing submission in early June. Because of rolling admissions, you are encouraged to submit your primary application in June or early July at the latest, possibly, with MCAT scores in hand. Be sure to discuss your overall application timeline with your advisor. In fact, you may need to take the MCAT later than the summer between your junior and senior years--and apply in the following year or beyond--if you need to strengthen your preparation and overall application profile.
Do not take the MCAT if you have not taken a substantial number of pre-requisites; you will not apply for another 2+ years; and especially, do not take the test as a trial run since all scores count. Although you can retake the MCAT if needed, never sit for the test without adequate preparation since all scores are considered.
What is a good score?
You will get your scores approximately a month after you take the test.
Although there is some variance from school to school, for the last few years, the average score of accepted applicants nationwide has been 30 P for allopathic medical schools and 26 O for osteopathic schools. Many MD programs will consider scores below an 8 on any given section as non competitive and may not even send a secondary application.
However, there are always exceptions. In fact, although undergraduate GPAs and MCAT scores are important, they are not the only factors taken into consideration when medical schools make admission decisions. For example, when looking at the percentages of acceptance in 2008 through 2010, 8% of applicants with GPAs ranging from 3.80 to 4.00 and MCAT total scores between 38 and 45 were not accepted. However, 18% of applicants with GPA ranging from 3.20 to 3.39 and MCAT scores between 24 and 26 were accepted at least at one allopathic school.
See AAMC table for more information.
Releasing your scores
Your MCAT scores will be automatically released to AMCAS (for inclusion in your application) and to other AAMC affiliated institutions.
When registering for the MCAT and completing your AMCAS and or AACOMAS application, you will also have the option to authorize these entities to release information about your application--including your MCAT scores--to the official University of Michigan pre-medical advisors. Releasing this information not only helps advisors counsel future applicants and evaluate programs; it also authorizes AMCAS, AACOMAS, and individual medical school staff to discuss your application with your pre-medical advisor(s) if needed. Rest assured that any personal information provided will be handled with the utmost confidentiality and compiled in reports only in the form of aggregate, anonymous statistics.
When registering for the MCAT, you can also elect to have your scores released to the Medical Minority Applicant Registry (Med MAR), MCAT Recruiting Service and, if you are applying to osteopathic medical schools, to AACOMAS.
You can release your scores electronically also via the MCAT Testing History (THx) System.
Retaking the MCAT
If you are not thrilled with your first set of MCAT scores, you will have to decide whether or not to retake the test. Nationally, applicants tend to make very modest gains on retakes, especially if they repeat the test within just a few weeks or months from the original attempt, which underscores how MCAT preparation requires lots of time and practice. In general, the lower the initial score, the larger the retest gain. See more detailed data on national test retakes.
Although the decision to whether or not retake the test lies ultimately with you, you may wish to consult with your pre-medical advisor to help you reflect on the circumstances surrounding your preparation and those that occurred on test day, to gauge the likelihood for a future, better performance on this very demanding test.
Individual medical schools' policies on handling multiple sets of scores do vary; but in general:
- All scores count, and sometimes they are averaged
- The most recent (sometimes best) set of scores is given the most weight
- Individual scores <8 are usually not competitive
- Scores older than 3 years are not viable
- August and September scores may put an applicant at a disadvantage due to rolling admissions
- January scores are seldom accepted as a first set of scores but may be considered for applicants on an alternate/waitlist
- Scores on the verbal and biological science sections may be more closely scrutinized.