Cost of MCAT
How much will you have to shell for taking the MCAT and preparing for It?
Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a high-grade exam that aims at providing you with the gateway to get admission to one of the top medical schools across the United States and Canada. It evaluates your basic skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and general writing that are prerequisite for getting success in the medical line. Besides, this test assesses your basic knowledge in the fields of biology, physics, and general and organic chemistry. It is conducted more than once a year. You are allowed to take the exam up to three times in a year. Before you pass this exam, you have to plan for the preparation and registration for this exam. The cost that is involved in the registration is as follows:
| Conditions for Registration | Fees (USD) |
| Regular Registration fees | $240 |
| Registration for an International Test Site | $80 |
| Late Registration fees | $70 |
| Change of Test Date | $70 |
| Change of Test Center | $70 |
Source: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/258546/data/2012mcatessentials.pdf
Note:
- International Test Site may be from anywhere other than the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
- You have to make payments with VISA or Master Card.
- The payment should be payable in US Funds.
- The above-mentioned fees for the different situations are in addition to the regular registration fees.
Fee Assistance Program (FAP)
If you are aspiring to crack the test but you are not able to bear the cost that is required for the registration, the AAMC comes to your assistance. You will have to pay $85 instead of the regular registration fees of $240. In addition, you will get ‘The Official Guide to the MCAT Exam’ free along with the Medical Colleges Admissions Requirements (MCAR) in an electronic form for one year. If you want to get details of this information, you may consult the webpage https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/fap.
No doubt, registration for the exam is very essential. Unless you register, you cannot take the exam. However, you also have to plan for the preparation for the test. It is equally important to score high in the exam. For this, you have to select the test prep option that would be the best for you i.e. in terms of both quality of preparation and the test cost.
You may refer to the webpage http://www.e-mcat.com/ to get access to the free practice tests for MCAT. The Practice test 3 does not involve any cost whereas, you will have to bear the cost of $35 each to get access to the other practice tests like the Practice Tests 4 to11. You will get the advantage of unlimited access to the tests for one year. Along with the practice tests, you may buy the book The Official Guide to the MCAT Exam 2nd Edition. The book will provide you with:
- complete explanations for correct as well as incorrect answers to the actual questions.
- complete explanations for both the right and wrong answers.
- sample essays for practice.
- importance of scores and GPA in the admission process.
- information about the test registration and test day essentials.
However, to get access to this book, you will have to bear the cost of $30. You can buy it online from AAMC. If you want to get detailed information about this book, you may open the link http://www.e-mcat.com/.
If you are aspiring to crack the test, you will have to plan for the best test prep option. You may get confused with a plethora of coaching centers that are mushrooming every day. However, only some of these coaching centers are good and you will have to bear a heavy cost for buying their services. Therefore, it is good to take guidelines from the official website of MCAT. It is good from both the aspects i.e. in terms of quality of preparation and the cost. The article also provides you information about the cost for registration. The details for the test cost are very essential. Unless you have adequate money, you cannot think of preparing for the test. Thus, this article surely guides you toward calculating the cost that you may have to bear for preparation and registration for MCAT.