{"id":586,"date":"2019-09-04T15:02:22","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T20:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/?p=586"},"modified":"2020-09-11T20:40:54","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:40:54","slug":"what-are-the-best-mcat-test-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/mcat\/what-are-the-best-mcat-test-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the best MCAT test dates?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div  style='background:#ffffff;color:#444444;border-color:#7825ff;' class='av_promobox  avia-button-no   avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_promobox  avia-builder-el-first '>\t\t<div class='avia-promocontent'><h4>Stay on Top of Test Date Changes<\/h4>\n<p>In response to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the AAMC has added two new upcoming MCAT test dates: September 27 and 28.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/students-residents.aamc.org\/applying-medical-school\/article\/coronavirus-covid-19-and-mcat-exam\/\">Learn more about the AAMC&#8217;s response to COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><br \/>\nChoosing MCAT test dates\u00a0should balance the amount of time you have to prepare with when you want to submit your medical school application. The AAMC\/MCAS service application typically is made available sometime in May, and the first round of applicants will submit them as soon as possible. To have a complete application when it is first available, you&#8217;ll want to have taken the MCAT in January or April since scores are made available 30 days after the test.<br \/>\nThat doesn&#8217;t mean you must complete the MCAT early in the year, however. Taking the MCAT in May or June will still allow you to complete and submit your application at a fairly early date. Later than this, however, can put you at a disadvantage. Medical school admission is done on a rolling basis, so the longer you wait, the more applicants you&#8217;ll be up against for fewer available spots.<br \/>\nThe decision you ultimately need to make is whether you can achieve your best score early in the year. If you are able to focus on MCAT preparation for the January or April test dates, that is ideal. However, if you are torn between taking the test early or getting a higher score, it is better to wait. Nothing will damage your application more than <a title=\"What MCAT score do I need?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/mcat\/whats-a-good-mcat-score\/\">a poor MCAT score<\/a>.<br \/>\n\t<div   class='av_promobox  avia-button-yes   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_promobox  el_before_av_heading '>\t\t<div class='avia-promocontent'><p>\nThinking about Medical School? Take a free MCAT practice test to find out how you&#8217;ll do.<\/p>\n<\/div><div  class='avia-button-wrap avia-button-right ' ><a href='https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/pages\/free-events' class='avia-button  avia-color-theme-color   avia-icon_select-no avia-size-large avia-position-right ' target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span class='avia_iconbox_title' >Learn More<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h4    avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_promobox  el_before_av_sidebar  '><h4 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Practical considerations when choosing MCAT test dates<\/h4><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nThe MCAT is a popular test; after all, a lot of people want to become doctors! For each test date, there are a limited number of testing locations and available seats. In many parts of the country, test dates fill up quickly, and you may not be able to find a seat in a location and on a date that you would prefer.<br \/>\nIn that case, you might choose to pick a less favorable location in order to take the MCAT on the date you prefer. If you are able to travel, you might find another test center that has available seats.<br \/>\nThe other alternative is to play the waiting game. In many cases, seats open up as test-takers realize that they need to postpone. You might be able to &#8220;swoop in&#8221; and find a seat by waiting until the last minute. However, this is a calculated risk, and you can only sign up for one test date and location at a time. Waiting for a seat to open up may leave you with no test date at all.<br \/>\nTo learn more about available dates and locations, visit the AAMC&#8217;s web site <a href=\"https:\/\/students-residents.aamc.org\/applying-medical-school\/taking-mcat-exam\/register-mcat-exam\/\">here.<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Previous:<\/strong> <a title=\"When should I register for the MCAT?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/mcat\/when-should-i-register-for-the-mcat\/\">&lt; When should I register for the MCAT?<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Next:<\/strong> <a title=\"What is on the MCAT?\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/mcat\/whats-tested-on-the-mcat\/\">What is tested on the MCAT? &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div  class='avia-builder-widget-area clearfix  avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_heading  avia-builder-el-last '><div id=\"text-72\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_text\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><code><br \/>\n<span data-sumome-listbuilder-embed-id=\"412169cd3aa9977143b6f06c0fae300dfc947b95c5705249ca54c9f4a812a953\"><\/span><br \/>\n<\/code><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div id=\"text-73\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_text\">\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><p><code><br \/>\n<span data-sumome-listbuilder-embed-id=\"69112752ce12d39d65c983f7db76907ae236d4cb30c38eaf7538c5f1d3530ae0\"><\/span><br \/>\n<\/code><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choosing MCAT test dates\u00a0should balance the amount of time you have to prepare with when you want to submit your medical school application. The AAMC\/MCAS service application typically is made available sometime in May, and the first round of applicants will submit them as soon as possible. To have a complete application when it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34422,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586\/revisions\/34422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}