2027 MCAT Test Dates, Deadlines, and Score Release Dates

By Jessica Freedman, M.D.,  emergency physician, former admissions committee member and Associate Residency Director at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and founder of MedEdits Medical Admissions. Updated October 2026. Dates verified against the AAMC's published 2027 testing calendar.

Registration for all 2027 MCAT test dates opens October 20 through 22, 2026, by test center location, at noon ET. The 2027 testing year includes 35 test dates running from January 15 through September 11, 2027, with no testing in October, November, or December. For the first time in recent years, the entire testing year opens at once, which means most students will reserve a seat in October for an exam they may not sit for until summer, long before they have taken a single full-length practice test.

That last point is the one I want every applicant to think about carefully. In my years on an admissions committee and advising applicants since 2007, I have seen more students hurt by taking the MCAT before they were ready than by almost any other single decision in the application process. In this guide I give you every 2027 date and deadline from the AAMC, and then I explain how I advise students to register now while protecting themselves if their practice scores are not where they need to be later.

When Does 2027 MCAT Registration Open?

The AAMC opens scheduling in three regional groups. You register on the day assigned to the location of the test center you want, not the place where you live. If you live in New Jersey but plan to test in Pennsylvania, both fall in Group A. If you live in Connecticut but attend school in Illinois and want to test there, your opening day is October 21.

Source: AAMC, 2027 MCAT Registration Opening. Examinees with approved accommodations are offered advance scheduling. Confirm your group on the AAMC site before opening day.

What to Do Before Opening Day

Between October 5 and October 19, 2026, the AAMC allows you to complete the first five tabs of the MCAT Registration System and review the terms and conditions in advance. I strongly recommend doing this. When registration opens, thousands of examinees enter a virtual waiting room at the same time, and having your background information finished lets you go straight to scheduling when your turn comes.

Have your MCAT-accepted identification in front of you when you complete your registration so that your name matches your ID exactly. A mismatch can create problems on test day that are entirely avoidable. If you are eligible for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, apply now. The AAMC is clear that benefits are not retroactive, so if you register before you are approved, you pay the full fee. The AAMC advises applying at least five business days before you plan to register.

Finally, choose a first choice date and at least two backup dates and test centers before you log in. Popular centers and spring and summer dates can fill within hours, and you do not want to make a rushed decision in the waiting room.

2027 MCAT Test Dates, Scheduling Deadlines, and Score Release Dates

The standard start time is 8:00 a.m. Scores are released by 5:00 p.m. ET on the score release date. All scheduling deadlines fall at 11:59 p.m. local test center time on the date listed. Dates marked with an asterisk are offered only at select test centers.

Source: AAMC, U.S. MCAT Calendar, Scheduling Deadlines, and Score Release Dates. All deadlines are in 2027 unless noted. Always confirm dates in the MCAT Registration System before scheduling.

*These dates will ONLY be available at select U.S. testing centers. Please carefully check the table below before registering for your MCAT exam

Select Location Test Dates

Four 2027 dates are offered only at select U.S. test centers. If one of these is your first choice, confirm that your city is on the list before opening day.

Understanding the 60, 30, and 10 Day Deadlines

These three deadlines matter more than most students realize, because they determine what it costs you to change your mind. The 10 day deadline is the last day you can schedule, reschedule, or cancel a reservation, and the last day you can edit registration information such as your name, address, or consents. After that date, you either sit for the exam or you forfeit your fee.

The AAMC publishes its fee schedule by testing year. The figures below are the most recently published schedule. Confirm the 2027 amounts in the registration system when you register.

Standard registration is $355, and registration with approved Fee Assistance Program benefits is $145. Examinees testing outside the United States, Canada, and U.S. territories pay an additional nonrefundable international fee of $130. Fee Assistance Program recipients pay reduced reschedule fees and receive a reduced cancellation refund. If you change your date and test center at the same time, you pay one reschedule fee, so make all changes in a single transaction.

The Problem No Calendar Solves: You Register Before You Know Whether You Are Ready

Here is the reality of the 2027 testing year. In recent years, the AAMC released the testing year in two waves, so students targeting summer dates could register in winter, often after they had started studying and had some sense of where they stood. For 2027, every date from January through September opens in October 2026. Because all students are competing for the same seats at the same moment, the pressure to reserve a spring or summer date on opening day will be intense.

That means most of you will commit to a test date months before you have taken a single AAMC full-length practice exam. You will not know whether your practice scores are trending toward your goal, whether a section like CARS or Chem/Phys is going to need far more time than you planned, or whether your target is realistic for the schools on your list. You are making a scheduling decision with almost none of the information that should drive it.

I do not think that is a reason to wait. Waiting risks losing access to the dates and centers that work for you. But it does mean you need to treat your registration as a plan with built-in checkpoints rather than a promise you must keep. The AAMC itself advises students to take the exam when they feel well prepared and to ask whether they have mastered the content tested. The best way to answer that question honestly is with data, and the deadlines above tell you exactly when you need that data.

Know Your Target Score Before You Pick a Date

You cannot judge readiness without a target. The average MCAT for students who matriculated to U.S. MD programs in the 2025 to 2026 cycle was 512.1, and the average for DO matriculants was about 503. In general, I advise students to aim for a score near the 75th percentile of accepted students at the schools they want most, and I consider a 512 or higher with no section below 127 a strong score for most applicants. Your own target depends on your state residency, your GPA, your background, and your school list. I walk through how to set it in my guide to what MCAT score you need to get into medical school.

Write that number down before you register. It becomes the benchmark for every decision that follows.

Build Your Practice Test Schedule Backward From Your Deadlines

Most students build their study plan forward from the day they start. I advise the opposite. Once you choose a date, plan your AAMC full-length exams so your results arrive before the deadlines that change your costs and options. I place the most weight on AAMC practice tests, because in my experience they are the most accurate predictor of test day performance. Commercial diagnostic and simulated exams can underscore or overscore, so read those results with caution.

Consider a student who registers for May 29, 2027. Her 60 day deadline is March 30, her 30 day deadline is April 29, and her 10 day deadline is May 19. I would want her to take her first AAMC full-length in mid March, so that by March 30 she knows whether she is in range. If she is far below her target at that point, she can move her date for $55 and still have a $175 refund available. Her second and third full-lengths should come before April 29, which is her last chance to cancel with a refund. If her scores have stalled well short of her goal by then, the most defensible decision is usually to move the exam rather than hope for a test day surge. By May 19, her final reschedule deadline, she should be taking her last full-length and confirming that her scores are consistently at or near her target.

The same logic applies to any date in the table. Find your 60 and 30 day deadlines, and schedule your full-lengths so that each one gives you an answer before a decision point.

Choose a Date With a Fallback Already Built In

You may hold only one MCAT seat at a time, so you cannot reserve a backup date. Rescheduling is also limited to dates that still have open seats, and with the full year opening at once, later spring and summer seats at popular centers may be scarce by the time you know you need one. My direct recommendation is to register for the date that gives you at least three months of dedicated study after you finish your coursework, and that still leaves at least one later 2027 date that would work for your application timeline. If your practice scores fall short, you then have somewhere to go.

Students who choose the very last date that fits their application plan leave themselves no margin. If something goes wrong in their preparation, their only choices are to test before they are ready or to delay their application by a full year.

What To Do If Your Practice Scores Are Not There

Moving your exam is not a failure. Every score you earn is reported to medical schools, and in my experience a premature attempt followed by a retake is a weaker pattern than a single strong score. I would far rather see a student move an exam by six weeks at a cost of $55 or $110 than sit for an exam she knows she is not ready for. If you do sit for the exam and something goes wrong that day, the AAMC allows you to void your exam, but a voided exam still counts toward your lifetime attempt limits.

If your practice scores are close to your target but not quite there, that is a different conversation. A student consistently scoring two or three points below her goal on recent AAMC exams, with a school list that would be well served by that score, may be better off testing as planned than delaying her application. This is a judgment call that depends on your full application, and it is one of the decisions I work through most often with the students I advise.

How Your Test Date Affects Your Application Timeline

Most medical schools review applications on a rolling basis, so applying early in the cycle matters. If you are applying in the cycle that opens in spring 2027, testing in January through April gives you your score well before you submit your primary application and lets you build a school list around a known number. A late spring test, such as May 29 with a June 29 score release, still allows an early submission, though you will finalize your school list without your score. Testing in July or later is workable, but schools will not complete their review of your file until your score arrives, which can delay your secondary review and interview invitations.

An early date also preserves the option of a retake within the same cycle if you need one. I generally recommend at least three months between attempts unless you can identify a specific test day problem, so a student who tests in January or March has room to retest by summer, while a student who tests in August does not.

MCAT Testing Limits

You can take the MCAT up to three times in a single testing year, up to four times across two consecutive testing years, and up to seven times in your lifetime. Voids and no-shows count toward these limits. Because medical schools see every score you report, plan to take the exam as few times as possible. If you are weighing a second attempt, read my guidance on whether you should retake the MCAT.

Frequently Asked Questions About 2027 MCAT Registration

When does 2027 MCAT registration open?

Registration for all 2027 test dates opens at noon ET on October 20, 21, or 22, 2026, depending on the location of your test center. You can complete the first five tabs of the MCAT Registration System between October 5 and October 19, 2026.

How many 2027 MCAT test dates are there?

There are 35 test dates from January 15 through September 11, 2027. Four of them, January 30, May 14, July 9, and August 28, are offered only at select U.S. test centers. There is no testing in October, November, or December 2027.

Do I have to register on opening day?

No. The registration system remains open through the end of the testing year. However, because every 2027 date opens at once, popular dates and test centers may fill quickly, so I recommend registering as soon as your group opens if you know your target window.

Should I register for the MCAT before I have taken a practice test?

For most students applying in 2027, yes. Register for a realistic date, then schedule your AAMC full-length exams so you have results before your 60 day and 30 day deadlines. Those deadlines let you move or cancel your exam at a lower cost if your scores are not where you need them to be.

What is the last day to reschedule or cancel my MCAT?

The 10 day deadline, at 11:59 p.m. local test center time, is the last day to schedule, reschedule, or cancel. Cancellation refunds are available only if you cancel 30 or more days before your exam.

When will I get my 2027 MCAT score?

Scores are released by 5:00 p.m. ET on the score release date listed for your test date, roughly four to five weeks after your exam.

Sources

AAMC, U.S. MCAT Calendar, Scheduling Deadlines, and Score Release Dates. AAMC, MCAT Registration 101. AAMC, 2027 MCAT Registration Opening. AAMC, MCAT Scheduling Fees. AAMC, MCAT Essentials for Testing Year 2027.