How Long Does It Take to Get Your Mcat Score Back

Learn when to take the MCAT, including the earliest date and the absolute latest date you should take the exam

(Note: This resource also appears in our MCAT Ultimate Guide.)

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Introduction

If you're applying to medical school, the many application components you need to take care of, from your personal statement to your letters of recommendation, might make your medical school application timeline feel like a juggling act.

However, all premeds know to plan around one major milestone: the MCAT. Your score on this formidable exam, along with your college GPA, will of course be a huge factor in determining which schools you get into.

(Suggested reading: Average GPA and MCAT Score For Every Medical School)

We get a lot of questions about what MCAT score to aim for or what a good MCAT score is, which are closely followed by questions about when to take the MCAT, variations of which include:

• When should I take the MCAT?

• When is the best time to take the MCAT?

• When is the earliest I should take the MCAT?

• When is the latest I should take the MCAT?

• What's the absolute latest date I can take the MCAT and still apply during a given application cycle?

So, when should you take the MCAT to maximize your score and improve your admissions odds?

While the AAMC offers around 30 MCAT test dates each year, some will be better options for you than others depending on where you are in your education and when you intend to apply to medical school. There is no universal "best month" to take the MCAT.

In this guide, we'll answer the most common MCAT questions in order to help you effectively plan your medical school admissions process.

When is the earliest I should take the MCAT?

The earliest you should take the MCAT is sometime late in your sophomore year or during the summer between your sophomore and junior years. You'll have completed most of your medical school prerequisites by then, thus minimizing the amount of content review you'll have to take on, regardless of which MCAT prep books or course you purchase.

If you're an early bird when it comes to taking the MCAT, you'll have plenty of test date options, as 25 of the 30 or so test dates fall between April and September. Just make sure to give yourself plenty of study time—somewhere between two and four months, depending on your command of the materials and your ability to devote full effort—so you can do as well as possible during your first attempt. Taking the MCAT isn't fun and retaking the MCAT is even less so.

(If you're wondering how far in advance to study for the MCAT, we suggest you read the following guide: The Ideal MCAT Study Schedule)

When is the latest I should take the MCAT?

You should plan to take the MCAT for the final time between January and April of your application year. For instance, if you'd like to enroll in medical school in August 2023, you'll want to take your MCAT during the first four months of 2022—that is, no later than April 2022.

You may wonder why you need that kind of window. After all, AMCAS won't even let you submit your primary application until late May.

There are a few reasons why it's to your benefit to wrap up the MCAT by April:

• You'll want to spend serious time writing your application essays. If you wait too long to take your MCAT, you won't be able to devote enough attention to your medical school personal statement, AMCAS Work and Activities section, and numerous secondary essays (including pre-writing secondary essays before secondary applications are released).

• Your MCAT score(s) will be a primary factor in determining which medical schools you should apply to. You don't want to spend valuable time and money applying to certain med schools and find out after the fact that your MCAT score doesn't even put you in the running for consideration.

• Your MCAT score won't be released until about a month after the exam. If you want adcoms to review your applications with your full set of scores in hand, and you want to take full advantage of medical schools' rolling admissions process, you should complete your testing early.

We emphasize final time because you may want to take the MCAT more than once. You can take it up to three times during a testing year, four times during two consecutive years, and seven times during your life. (Note: voiding your exam or failing to show up to a scheduled test date will still count towards these limits.)

That means that if you're not scoring as high as you'd like on your diagnostics or practice tests by the end of the summer before your application year (by August 2021, using our above example), it's a good idea to build in some time to take the MCAT twice, just in case. You don't want to be rushing through the test while also writing your medical school personal statement and secondary essays, prepping for CASPer, and (hopefully) readying yourself for medical school interviews.

What year of college should I take the MCAT?

Sometimes, we get this variant of the "What is the earliest/latest I should take the MCAT?" question. While you can technically take the MCAT any time, you should take it during the summer after sophomore year at the earliest, and April of your application year at the latest. Sometimes, your "application year" corresponds to Spring of your junior, other times the Spring of your senior year or a gap year. Just make sure to optimize for your best score in the fewest possible attempts.

A timeline for your final MCAT test date

Working backwards, here's a conservative plan designed to give you your best shot at acing the MCAT:

• Summer before your application year (i.e., June - August): Study for the MCAT

• Fall before your application year (i.e., September): Take the MCAT once (Note: The MCAT is not offered between October and December)

• Winter of your application year (i.e., January - April): Retake the MCAT, if necessary

If you're a terrific test taker and have been scoring well, you may not have to bake in that second try. Nevertheless, if you're applying to med school while still in college, plan to devote the summer before your application year to studying for the MCAT in order to give yourself the greatest number of testing options going forward.

When should you not take the MCAT?

Since the MCAT is so important, you'll want to be adequately prepared for the MCAT each time you take it. Therefore, here are some considerations for when not to take the exam:

• If you haven't studied many of the topics on the test in college

• If you're scoring poorly on the AAMC practice exams and need more time to study

• If you feel spread so thin with other priorities that you may need separate time solely allotted for MCAT studying

What's the absolute latest date I can take the MCAT without delaying my medical school application?

To avoid causing any application delays, the very latest date by which you'll want to take the MCAT is the last test date offered in May of your application year. MCAT scores are released roughly one month after you take the exam, and since AMCAS applications aren't released to schools until late June, taking the MCAT on the last May date won't delay review of your application in any way.

Be aware that AACOMAS (the DO medical school application) and TMDSAS (the Texas medical school application) have slightly earlier timelines: AACOMAS starts transmitting applications to med schools on June 15th, and TMDSAS begins on June 1st. So, if you're also submitting applications within these systems, you'll most likely want to take the MCAT by mid-May or the end of April, at the very latest.

(Recommended reading: TMDSAS: The UItimate Guide)

Of course, most medical schools don't really review your application until you submit their secondary application. Therefore, the real answer to this question is: The absolute latest date you can take the MCAT is whichever test date has a score release date closest to your secondary application submission.

Nevertheless, we still don't recommend that you consider MCAT test dates later than May of your application year for the reasons discussed above.

How many times should I take the MCAT?

As few times as possible. However, this doesn't mean that taking the MCAT multiple times necessarily looks bad. So far as your scores meaningfully increase from administration to administration, med schools will likely be fine with it. For example, suppose you start out with a 508 on your first attempt and get a 518 on your second attempt. We would all agree that your retake was worth it. However, if you start with a 508 and get a 509 on your second attempt, we would probably say that your retake wasn't worth it.

If you're considering a second (or third) attempt or simply want to learn more about how how adcoms view multiple MCAT attempts, we suggest you read our guide on retaking the MCAT.

How long are MCAT scores valid?

At the majority of medical schools, MCAT scores earned within the past two to three years are considered valid. However, to make matters more complicated, some med schools require a score achieved within two to three years of the date of application, whereas others count backwards from matriculation—this can result in a discrepancy of a year or more between schools.

It's worth noting that, in and of themselves, MCAT scores technically don't "expire" as far as the AAMC is concerned. Rather, the window of acceptable score dates is set by each individual medical school.

That's why you should look up in advance the earliest test date accepted by each med school that interests you. MSAR or schools' admissions websites will be able to provide this information.

How does my graduation year affect the expiration of my MCAT score?

Sometimes students who plan to graduate early or take a gap year ask us how those plans will affect the expiration dates of their MCAT scores. The answer is: They don't. So, regardless of when you graduate, remember that what matters when determining score validity is when you want to begin medical school.

For example, let's say you'll be graduating in May 2023 and plan to take a gap year before entering med school in August 2024. Based on the reasons outlined above, we'd recommend taking the MCAT no later than April 2023. Setting a foolproof earliest test date is more complicated; nevertheless, summer 2021—between sophomore and junior year in our example—would likely be the earliest date you'd want to consider.

Bear in mind, however, that if you didn't get in anywhere and had to reapply the following year, a summer 2021 date would be expired in the eyes of some medical schools, thus potentially forcing you to take the MCAT again.

Final thoughts

Students often ask when is the best time to take the MCAT. The answer depends on when you can adequately prepare for the exam and when you want to enter medical school.

Don't rush the studying process and risk a lower score, and don't spend so much time studying that you end up delaying your applications. The same thinking applies to the question, "What year of college should I take the MCAT?"

We suggest building your medical school application timeline around your MCAT test dates. Remember that it's just the starting point, though, and that once you have your ideal score in hand, you'll want to turn your whole attention to the many essays that still remain. That just makes it all the more important that you get the timing right for this crucial exam.

How Long Does It Take to Get Your Mcat Score Back

Source: https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/blog/when-to-take-the-mcat

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