With the MCAT being one of the most important milestones in your journey towards medical school, I know that you probably have a lot of burning questions on what mammoth task you are preparing for. I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that you have probably never taken an exam that long. So what does this exam look like? How long is the MCAT really? And what else do you need to know about test day? You are going to learn all the answers in this blog post!
This post is all about how long is the MCAT.
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Find out how long is the MCAT
What is the MCAT?
MCAT stands for “Medical College Admission Test” and your score can greatly impact your success when applying to medical schools.
This exam tests your knowledge across a wide range of different scientific disciplines as well as evaluating your critical thinking skills. In order to score well in this exam, it needs more than pure memorization. You need to know how to apply your knowledge in complex scenarios. Most students need around 3-6 months to prepare for the MCAT.
Granted, it’s not everything and so many other factors can play into becoming a great med school applicant, but it certainly holds a lot of weight for the admissions committees. So let’s make sure you know all the details about this exam!
How Long is the MCAT?
Don’t hold your breath, since this exam takes 7 hours and 27 minutes to complete. As much as it is testing your knowledge and skills as an aspiring medical student, it’s also a challenge for your mental endurance. So what does such a long exam look like?
The MCAT exam is divided into four sections, each section given a specific time frame to complete during the exam. This also includes breaks in between to recharge mentally and physically (aka eating and stretching).
How Many Breaks During the MCAT?
You have breaks between each section of the exam. Two of them are shorter with just 10 minutes and a bigger one of 30 minutes after half-way through the exam. Keep in mind that they are in fact optional but I would highly recommend to use every one of them, and to use them well. Make sure to eat, drink, stretch and rest before so that you can give it your absolute best till the end.
This becomes especially important once you realize that you aren’t allowed to bring any water or snacks into the testing room (yes, chewing gum included). These are stored in a locker in the waiting room from where you can access them during your breaks.
| MCAT Section | NUMBER OF QUESTIONS | length | total time |
| Test-day certification | – | 4 minutes | 4 minutes |
| Tutorial (optional) | – | 10 minutes | 14 minutes |
| Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Sciences | 59 | 95 minutes | 1 hour 49 minutes |
| Break (optional) | – | 10 minutes | 1 hour 59 minutes |
| Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills | 53 | 90 minutes | 3 hours 29 minutes |
| Mid-exam break (optional) | – | 30 minutes | 3 hours 59 minutes |
| Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems | 59 | 95 minutes | 5 hours 34 minutes |
| Break (optional) | – | 10 minutes | 5 hours 44 minutes |
| Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior | 59 | 95 minutes | 7 hours 19 minutes |
| Void question | – | 3 minutes | 7 hours 22 minutes |
| End-of-day survey (optional) | – | 5 minutes | 7 hours 27 minutes |
| Total Content Time | 6 hours 15 minutes | ||
| Total Seated Time | approx. 7 hours 30 minutes |
What about Bathroom Breaks?
When it comes to bathroom breaks, you are allowed to use the bathroom during the exam. But unless you use the dedicated breaks, keep in mind that this will take away some of your precious testing time.
My advice? Already practice under “testing conditions” when you go through your full-length practice exams and only use the official break times for going to the bathroom. This can help you to make this much easier on test day where you want to avoid losing any time and keep bathroom runs for the actual breaks.
When Should You Arrive at the Testing Center?
The MCAT typically starts at 8:00 AM in the morning and you should arrive at least 30 minutes beforehand, but I would rather aim for 45 minutes just to be on the safe side. Once the testing center opens, you can put your belongings in storage lockers before continuing into the testing room.
To make sure I don’t have to rush to a big exam like this, I usually like to use the day beforehand to make a test-drive to the exam location in order to know the route well and also know exactly how much time I will need to get there (taking into consideration any weekday rush hours).
In case you arrive after the official beginning of the exam (which you want to avoid at all cost), know that it’s likely you will not be able to attend the exam. This will count as a “no show” and you would have to register for a new date. Granted, you would get a refund for the registration fee but it will be one less possible attempt at the MCAT for you in the future – in total you get 7 attempts in a life-time.
Performing Your Best During Such a Long Exam
While I was preparing for my own MCAT exam, I knew early on that the duration of the MCAT would be a challenge in itself. Therefore I made it a regular practice to simulate the testing conditions as closely as possible during my many full-length practice exams. This included starting at 8:00 AM, using the dedicated break times, going all the way to 7 hours 27 minutes of test taking, only using the resources that would actually be available during the test and giving it my absolute best.
This not only allows you to build mental stamina and practice different timing strategies which you desperately need to perform well on the MCAT, but also reduce test anxiety over time. And once you sit down for the real thing, you will feel like you’ve already done that 10 times before which can shrink the intimidation factor tenfold.
How to Register for the MCAT
You can register for the MCAT through the AAMC official website. Here you can select the best date and location for your MCAT exam. MCAT testing centers are spread out across the US and Canada so you can choose one that is closest to your location to avoid additional travel stress around your exam.
Make sure to select a test date early on so that there are still seats available for your preferred date and location. It would be best to set up an estimated study plan before your registration, so that you can avoid rescheduling later on.
If you are (understandably) still a bit clueless on how much time you will actually need till you are ready to score well, you will find a Study Schedule Tool in MCAT Roadmap with step-by-step guidance on creating that perfect study plan for you. This also includes your work, family or school responsibilities you might need to tackle on the side plus much needed rest days so you can avoid running into study-burnouts right off the bat.
Final thoughts – How long is the MCAT?
The MCAT is a beast of an exam that you want to give your absolute best. Make sure to familiarize yourself as good as possible with the length and structure of the MCAT through regular full-length exams so that you have the mental endurance and necessary time strategies to perform at your best.
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