When should I take the MCATs, or other standardized exams?
For students planning to go straight from their undergraduate program into a professional school, these tests should be taken in the spring or summer of your Junior year. The MCATs are currently offered only in April and August. GREs and DATs are offered year-round in a computer format. In general, you should have completed the exams before you begin submitting applications. Applications are normally submitted during the summer between your Junior and Senior year for a direct path from college to medical school.
Can I take the MCATs in late summer of fall instead of spring?
Although you can take the MCATs in late August or early September, your scores may not be available until sometime in October. Most medical schools use a rolling admissions process, where they begin offering acceptances as early as September in some cases. This means that students who take the exam in April or
May and submit their applications in July, are given the first consideration. Applicants with September MCATs are not even considered until October or November, by which time they school may have filled at least half of their available slots. If possible, we recommend spring MCATs to all students. If you are not applying to medical school right away (scores are good for 3 years), then it doesn’t matter which date you choose. You should be aware that all of this will change in 2007, when the MCATs move to computer-based testing. We will update this information as soon as details become available.
How should I prepare for the MCATs?
Each student should prepare in a way that best suits their needs. There are many books available to help study for the MCATs. The American Association of Medical Schools, which administers the MCATs, sells practice exams that you can take on-line. There are also formal prep course out there, such as Kaplan and Princeton Review. These work for some students and are not very helpful for others. They are also very expensive (approximately $1300) so we recommend talking to other students before making that decision. Ultimately, you need to realistically evaluate how you need to prepare for this exam.
