I work a full time job and am attending college full time as well. The soonest that I would feel comfortable taking my MCAT, with the proper amount of content review and AAMC material practice is July 17. The scores would be released the 17th of August. Is this too late to apply for the 2021 cycle? Maybe feedback from someone that has done something similar.
Ehh. Haven't done something similar, because it's less than ideal, but definitely doable. COVID was a special, once in a lifetime situation, so it would be a mistake to go by what people did and what accommodations schools made this year.
In a normal year, to maximize your chances everywhere, you want to be complete by Labor Day. You also want to know your score before you apply, to avoid being a reapplicant in the future if necessary, as well as to avoid throwing away money on pointless apps now. So, your strategy would involve applying to a throwaway school early, so your application could be verified by the middle of August. You would then have around two weeks to turn around secondaries after 8/17, depending on when you receive them. You'll receive some right away, but not others, so you'll inevitably be submitting some in September after Labor Day. Not the end of the world, but not ideal.
Ideal would be taking the test in April or May, but if you can't be ready by then, taking it in July is better than taking it unprepared. Of course, if you blow the test in July, you then won't have an opportunity to retake for that cycle.
Are you a junior or a senior? If a junior, a better strategy might be to take it in August, which will give you the whole summer to prepare, and then plan to take a gap year, which 2/3 of all matriculants take anyway. That will allow you to relax and take your time, and have the buffer of being able to retake the following year before applying, if necessary.
