MCAT Test Dates 2027: Deadlines and Score Release

By MCAT Study Planner Team • Updated 9/11/2026

Short answer: the AAMC has published 35 official MCAT test dates for 2027, from January 15 to September 11, and registration for all of them opens October 20 to 22, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET. The 2026 testing year is closed. Its last scheduling deadline passed on September 2, 2026.

Most pages ranking for this search still show only the 2026 calendar. Google’s AI Overview goes further and states that the 2027 dates have not been published yet. They have. The AAMC’s U.S. calendar carries the full 2027 table, with all three scheduling deadlines and a score release date on every row.

So this page gives you that table, and then the column nobody else prints: the date you need to start studying for each exam.

In this guide

• Every 2027 MCAT test date and deadline
• When you need to start studying for each date
• What the 60, 30 and 10 day deadlines actually mean
• Scores come back in 31 to 33 days, not “about a month”
• Registration opening day and the waiting room rule
• Four dates you cannot take everywhere
• What it costs to book, move or cancel
• February 2027 barely exists
• One error on the AAMC’s own calendar
• Can you still take the MCAT in 2026?

Every 2027 MCAT Test Date and Deadline

This is the AAMC’s U.S. calendar, read from their page on September 11, 2026. Dates marked “(select)” are offered only at certain testing centers, listed further down.

All deadlines fall at 11:59 p.m. local test center time. The standard exam start time is 8:00 a.m. unless the AAMC notes otherwise, and scores post by 5:00 p.m. ET on the release date.

Dates without a year are in 2027. The exam is not offered in October, November or December.

When You Need to Start Studying for Each Date

A test date is only useful if you know what it costs you. This table is our arithmetic: each test date minus 12, 16 and 24 weeks.

Pick the column that matches your life, not your ambition. Our analysis of how many hours to study for the MCAT puts the median at 475 hours across 43 self-reports, so 12 weeks only works if you can hold about 40 hours a week. At 15 to 20 hours a week you want the 24-week column.

Choosing between the rows is its own decision, and it turns on more than the calendar. Our guide to when to take the MCAT counts how many retake dates each of these 35 rows still leaves you, and what a missing prerequisite course is worth in questions.

Two things fall out of this table immediately.

If you want a January 2027 date on a 12-week plan, your start line is late October 2026, which is the same week registration opens. Registration day and day one of studying are effectively the same day.

If you want a January or early February date on a 24-week plan, that ship has sailed. Six of the 35 dates already have their 24-week start line in the past as of September 2026, the latest being February 12.

What the 60, 30 and 10 Day Deadlines Actually Mean

The AAMC prints three deadlines per date and explains only the last one. They are the boundaries of the reschedule fee tiers, and they are exactly what their names say.

We checked all 35 rows: every 60, 30 and 10 day deadline is precisely that many calendar days before its exam. So you can compute yours without the table.

The 10 Day Deadline is the one that bites. Per the AAMC, it is the last date to schedule, reschedule or cancel a reservation, and the last date to edit registration information such as your name, address and consents. After it, nothing moves. Your registered name has to match your ID exactly, so that is also the last day to fix a typo.

Scores Come Back in 31 to 33 Days, Not “About a Month”

Every competing page rounds this off. Kaplan and Princeton Review say roughly 30 to 35 days. The real number is tighter, and we can show it because the AAMC publishes the release date for all 35 dates.

Subtracting test date from score release date across the whole 2027 calendar gives 31 days on 14 dates, 32 days on 17 dates, and 33 days on 4 dates. There is no 30 and no 34.

Scores post by 5:00 p.m. ET on that date. Plan the rest of your application around 33 days, not 30, and you will never be caught short.

Registration Opening Day and the Waiting Room Rule

Registration for the entire 2027 season opens on three consecutive days: Tuesday October 20, Wednesday October 21 and Thursday October 22, 2026, all at 12 p.m. ET, split by testing center region.

The mechanic almost nobody explains is the waiting room. In the AAMC’s own words, everyone in the waiting room at 11:50 a.m. ET is randomly assigned a place in line. Logging in earlier does not improve your place. If you log in after 11:50 a.m. ET, you go to the end of the line.

So the winning move is to be logged in during that ten minute window and not before. Have your AAMC ID, your MCAT-accepted ID and your card ready, and pick two or three backup dates, because popular dates at popular centers go first.

One deadline sits before all of this. If you are applying to the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, submit your materials at least five business days before registration opens, because you must be approved before you register to get the $145 rate.

Four Dates You Cannot Take Everywhere

Four 2027 dates run only at selected testing centers: January 30, May 14, July 9 and August 28.

The AAMC lists the cities on each of its pages, and the two lists differ. The U.S. calendar page names only U.S. metros, while the registration opening page adds Canadian cities including Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary. The common U.S. set across all four dates is Atlanta, the Bay Area, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Diego, Seattle and Washington DC. Chicago and Houston appear on three of the four, and July 9 drops both.

If you do not live near one of those, treat these four as unavailable and plan around the other 31.

What It Costs to Book, Move or Cancel

From the AAMC scheduling fees page, read September 11, 2026.

Testing outside the US, Canada and US Territories adds a $130 international fee, which is not refunded if you cancel. No changes at all are allowed inside 10 days.

Worth knowing if you are comparing pages: Jack Westin’s calendar still lists $345 registration and a $50 reschedule. The AAMC’s current fee page says $355 and $55. Check fees on the AAMC page, not on a prep company blog.

February 2027 Barely Exists

The dates are not spread evenly, and that matters more than it sounds.

May has seven dates. January has five. February has exactly one, on February 12, and March has two. The ten weeks between January 30 and April 9 hold just three test dates: February 12, March 6 and March 19.

The practical consequence is about retakes. Sit on January 15 and your score arrives February 16, which is after the February 12 exam has already been given. The earliest date you could actually retake on is March 6, and its score lands April 6, nearly three months after your first sitting. If a retake is even a possibility, read when to take MCAT full lengths before you pick the first date, because your practice exam scores are the only honest signal of whether you are ready.

One Error on the AAMC’s Own Calendar

On the 2027 table, the 30 Day Deadline for the July 10, 2027 exam is printed as “June 110”.

We are flagging it rather than quietly fixing it. The arithmetic on the other 34 rows is exact, and 30 days before July 10, 2027 is June 10, 2027, so that is almost certainly the intended date. If you are booking July 10, confirm it against the AAMC page before you rely on it.

Can You Still Take the MCAT in 2026?

No. The 2026 testing year ran to September 12, 2026, and that exam’s 10 Day Deadline passed on September 2, 2026. Every 2026 date is closed to new registrations.

For completeness, here is how the 2026 year ended, since scores from the last sittings are still landing.

If you are waiting on one of those scores, our MCAT test day tips page covers what to do with the gap, and the MCAT time breakdown explains the section timing you will see again if you retake.

The Whole 2027 Year on One Page

• 35 U.S. test dates, January 15 to September 11, 2027. No October, November or December.
• Registration opens October 20, 21 and 22, 2026 at 12 p.m. ET, by region. Be in the waiting room between 11:50 and 12:00, not earlier.
• Deadlines are exactly 60, 30 and 10 days before the exam, at 11:59 p.m. local test center time.
• Scores arrive 31 to 33 days later, by 5:00 p.m. ET.
• $355 to register, $145 with fee assistance, and nothing can be changed inside 10 days.
• January 30, May 14, July 9 and August 28 run at selected centers only.
• February has one date. Plan retakes around that.

Once you have picked a date, the work is the schedule that gets you there. Our step-by-step guide to how to study for the MCAT covers the method, the 3-month MCAT study schedule covers the 12-week version week by week, and the free MCAT study schedule generator turns your chosen date and your weekly hours into a calendar you can export.