Reviewed by:
Third-Year Medical Student, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Reviewed: 10/16/23
Do you need to reschedule your AAMC MCAT exam? Fear not! Read on for simple ways to reschedule the test.
Life happens fast. Sometimes, despite the most careful planning, you may run into a situation where you must reschedule important dates. Rescheduling your MCAT may be frustrating, as you’ve most likely been studying for a while now. Luckily, the process is simple.
Here’s your quick guide to rescheduling the MCAT, including important deadlines to follow. Let’s get started!
You can reschedule your MCAT exam date online using the AAMC’s MCAT Registration System. Alternatively, you can call 202-828-0600 to reschedule. Before selecting a new date to take the MCAT, ensure you’ll receive your scores before your medical school application deadlines.
It’s important to note that there are fees for rescheduling your MCAT exam. Below are the MCAT rescheduling fees according to when you reschedule your test. Note that you may reschedule your exam up to ten days before the exam.
Source: The AAMC
Source: The AAMC
You can’t reschedule after the bronze deadline for your MCAT test date or ten days before your exam. If you decide to cancel your exam, you can, but you won’t receive a refund.
However, if you’re in an emergency and can’t take your test after the ten-day limit has passed, call 202-828-0600 to make arrangements.
There’s no issue with rescheduling your MCAT if you’re ready to pay the necessary fees and reschedule before the final ten-day period. You should ensure your MCAT scores will be available before the deadline for your med school application.
It’s best to take the MCAT long before the deadline to ensure you have enough time to receive your scores and retake the test if you’re unhappy with them. Make sure you get help from an expert MCAT advisor to excel on test day.
Many students wonder how rescheduling the MCAT will impact their profile; thankfully, successfully rescheduling won’t hurt your chances of acceptance at medical schools. Schools aren’t interested in when you take the MCAT; they care about your score and how many times you took the test.
There are many reasons someone might want to reschedule their MCAT. Let’s review some of these reasons and talk about what to do if you find yourself in the following situations.
If you don’t feel prepared for the MCAT and need more time to study, rescheduling may seem like a good idea. If this is the case, it’s crucial to reschedule your MCAT with enough time to study. Your new MCAT test date should be at least a month away to give you more time to review and take practice tests.
If you're at this stage and want to prep with practice tests, our tests are designed by industry experts to ensure they're as close to the real MCAT as possible!
While this is a common reason to reschedule the MCAT, it’s not considered a special circumstance or emergency. You need to reschedule your MCAT before the bronze deadline to receive a partial refund for your testing fees.
Everybody gets sick, so don’t feel frustrated if it happens. It’s essential to protect yourself and others by not going to the test center if you feel sick, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. If you feel unwell, you can submit an emergency refund request on the AAMC website.
According to the AAMC, you are obligated to reschedule or cancel your test if:
You can also request MCAT accommodations if you’re immunocompromised or have a disability that may impact your ability to take the MCAT.
Aside from feeling ill, you may face other uncontrollable emergency circumstances that prevent you from following through with your scheduled MCAT test date. Examples of emergency circumstances could be a death in the family, a house fire, a flood, etc.
If you have a sudden emergency circumstance on or around your MCAT test date, you can submit an MCAT emergency refund request on the AAMC website or call 202-828-0600 to discuss the next steps.
Still have more questions about changing your MCAT date? These FAQs can help.
The deadline to reschedule your MCAT exam is ten days before your test date.
Yes, it’s possible to reschedule your exam date as long as you do so more than ten days before test day.
It won't be an attempt if you successfully reschedule your MCAT exam. However, it will count as an attempt if you fail to reschedule and don’t show up.
You can reschedule your exam as many times as you want to, as long as you do so before the deadline. However, changing your MCAT date means paying more fees, so choose carefully to avoid rescheduling again!
Rescheduling the MCAT isn’t ideal, but sometimes it’s inevitable. If you want to reschedule the MCAT to allow yourself more time to study before the test, you must do so before the bronze deadline.
Typically, it’s not possible to reschedule or acquire a refund after the bronze deadline. However, if you’re facing an emergency circumstance, you may be able to request an emergency refund or contact the AAMC via phone to discuss how to move forward with taking your MCAT. Good luck!
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