MCAT Ultimate Guide

MCAT Overview

The MCAT, or the Medical College Admission Test, is a standardized exam used by many medical schools in the US, Canada, and other countries, to assess your the knowledge and readiness for medical school. The exam consists of the following four sections:

1. Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems (CPBS)
2. Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS)
3. Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems (BBLS)
4. Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior (PSBB)

Your MCAT score is typically used as an indicator of your academic preparedness for the study of medicine. Along with your GPA, your score will be considered in some of the earliest stages of the application review. This is why doing well on the MCAT is particularly important – your score will be assessed in comparison with thousands of other applicants, so proper MCAT prep is key.

Learn more about the MCAT basics below:

When to Take the MCAT

Before you even get into MCAT test prep, you need to decide when you want to take the test – this will determine your prep schedule and strategy. Review the guides below to learn when is the best time for you to take the MCAT:

How to Start Studying for the MCAT

Many students find it difficult to start their MCAT preparations – there is so much to cover! Check out the articles below to learn what your first prep steps should be:

MCAT Test Prep Strategies

MCAT prep is very multifaceted. While it’s really important to review the content, your prep must include a lot of different study techniques. The truth is, even if you know the MCAT content inside out, if you do not have the right test-taking strategies, you will not do well. Therefore, you must work on building exam taking skills as soon as you start your prep. Below, we provide you with the best MCAT test prep guides so you can use your efforts and time wisely while preparing for the test. These strategies will allow you to approach your prep from the right angle:

MCAT Content Guides

Content review should constitute about 75% of the first half of your MCAT test prep schedule. The amount of content covered on the MCAT is overwhelming. It is important to know the basics and the high-yield topics that you can expect to be tested on – that’s a great start. But it’s also important not to dedicate all of your time to high-yield topics only – other topics will need your attention too.

And do not make the mistake of being too complacent with topics you know well. Do not disregard them completely. Just because you know them well now does not mean that you will remember them as well in 2 or 3 months after intense MCAT studying of other topics. Make sure to review even the topics you did well on in your MCAT diagnostic test.

As you can see, there are many moving parts in this process, so it’s best to take content review in strides. Breaking down the huge number of MCAT biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, and social science topics into digestible chucks will significantly help your content review:

MCAT Practice

As we already mentioned, it’s not enough to know the content on the MCAT. One of the most challenging aspect of this test is its passage-based questions. In order to do well on the test, you need to practice applying your knowledge to MCAT passages and questions.

Below, we include practice passages and questions for each section of the test. Use them to test how well you are doing during your prep along with full-length practice tests provided by the AAMC. Plus, use our calculator, included below, to assess your progress!

Other Helpful MCAT Resources