When is the best time to schedule MCAT exam?

[malbakri]

I've been studying for the past month for the MCAT, and I want to finish up by the end of Sept, but I want to write it next summer, after my second year undergrad. Should I register for a date in May, or should i take a month to review, and schedule the test date in june? How much should i take to review?

 

Thank you )

[10wattbulb]

I've been studying for the past month for the MCAT, and I want to finish up by the end of Sept, but I want to write it next summer, after my second year undergrad. Should I register for a date in May, or should i take a month to review, and schedule the test date in june? How much should i take to review?

 

Thank you )

 

It all depends about how ready you'll feel for the MCAT once you finish studying for it. Take a practice exam and see how well you're scoring. Ideally, you want 10+ in the science sections and 11+ in the VR to make Western's cutoffs and optimize your chances at Mac. If you're consistently scoring in this range, then you can do the MCAT whenever you're ready!

 

Personally, I would probably choose to schedule in June so that I would still have some time to study and do practice exams, but I'd also have the time to get my score back and redo the MCAT in late Aug-early Sept if I did poorly on my first attempt. That's just me, though, and I'm a bit of an overly cautious person.

 

The most important thing, though, is to register early for the MCAT!!!

 

Registration opens in mid-October for January to May test dates, and registration opens in mid-February for June to Sept test dates. And the good spots disappear quickly, so plan well ahead of time and register as early as possible to get your preferred location/date.

 

P.S. 2.5 months to study the MCAT is reasonable. (the .5 to do practice exams and work on your weaker areas). That's what I did and everybody's different.