How long is the MCAT valid?

[deleted74029]

Nm

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[flip26]

Seems to vary by med school, but I have seen as little as 3 years...example if you take it in 2008, you need to matriculate no later than 2011...I doubt if there are any shorter than this, but I don't really know...

 

[armybound]

Seems to vary by med school, but I have seen as little as 3 years...example if you take it in 2008, you need to matriculate no later than 2011...I doubt if there are any shorter than this, but I don't really know...

3 years from the date of matriculation even, so you'd have to take it in August or later within 3 years of the fall you plan to enter.

it kinda sucks.

 

[flip26]

3 years from the date of matriculation even, so you'd have to take it in August or later within 3 years of the fall you plan to enter.

it kinda sucks.

yeah, that is even worse...seems kind of punitive to me.

 

[ChePibe]

For most schools I believe it is 3 years. Now, it varies from school to school as to from which date they consider the 3 years. Some take it from matriculation, some from application.
In my personal experience, I had to retake the MCAT with a previous score of 34 from 2005. However, it was funny to see how many interviewers were not aware of this requirement. I had to repeatedly explain why I had taken the MCAT twice (especially since I did 1 pt less in Verbal the last time).

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Pretty much 3 years from the test date.

 

[Yoyomama88]

so even though your mcat scores become invalid, the old ones still get sent to the schools?

 

[armybound]

so even though your mcat scores become invalid, the old ones still get sent to the schools?

yeah

 

[Yoyomama88]

do you think they still factor in the old scores into their evaluation?

 

[mikedc813]

Your MCAT score is valid for 3 years. Scores prior to that should not be used to assess your candidacy.

 

[Rowany]

The medical school admission requirements (MSAR) is really helpful for this, although I've found 1 or 2 inaccuracies. Or you can figure out your list of schools and visit their websites directly (although some are incredibly unhelpful). Read CAREFULLY: schools can say 3 years prior to application or matriculation, which effectively means 2 years. Here's a short list that I've made in the application process

3 years
University Wisconsin
Cornell
Upenn
UCLA
Baylor
Yale
Albert Einstein
duke
princeton/rutgers/rwj
Columbia U
NYU
Emory
WashU
Harvard
UNC

Johns Hopkins​

2 years
Stanford
UCSF
University Chicago-WAIVER possible
OHSU
UCSD
Tufts
University of Washington

Mt. sinai
​

 

[Excelsius]

Two years? Is that what it says in MSAR? I am assuming that you came up with that number for schools who accept MCAT three years prior to matriculation. In that case, if you took your MCAT in April, then it will indeed last for two years, but if you take it in August, it should last three. Correct me if I'm wrong.