Pre-Med Track Athletes: When to Take the MCAT
Short answer: yes, you can run college track and be pre-med, and the MCAT is the part to plan around. Labs and practice collide now and then, and a coach can work with that. The MCAT is different. It is one long test day after weeks of daily study, it runs on a fixed calendar, and that calendar overlaps most of your competition year.
The MCAT numbers below come from MedUni Exam's 2027 MCAT dates and score release table, which also carries the AAMC percentile tables, read on October 21, 2026.
The MCAT in eight numbers
| What | Number |
|---|---|
| U.S. test dates in 2027 | 35, from January 15 to September 11 |
| Test dates from October to December 2027 | None |
| Days from test day to score | 31 to 33 |
| Questions | 230, in four sections |
| Time answering questions | 375 minutes |
| Time in the building | About 7 hours 30 minutes, from an 8 a.m. start |
| Standard fee for 2027 dates | USD 360, or USD 145 with the AAMC Fee Assistance Program |
| Attempt limits | 3 in one testing year, 4 across two, 7 in a lifetime |
Where the 35 dates fall in a track year
College track runs up to three seasons: cross country in the fall, indoor in the winter and outdoor in the spring, each ending in championships. Sprinters, jumpers and throwers usually train through the fall without racing. Distance runners race it. Lay the 2027 test dates over that year and they sort into three groups.
| Window | 2027 test dates | Against your season |
|---|---|---|
| January and February | January 15, 16, 21, 29 and 30, February 12 | Early indoor season, before most conference meets |
| March to mid-June | March 6 and 19, four in April, seven in May, June 11 and 12 | Outdoor season and its championships |
| Late June to September | June 25 and 26, four in July, four in August, September 2, 3, 10 and 11 | After the outdoor season |
Fourteen of the 35 dates, June 25 to September 11, come after the NCAA outdoor championships close the college season in June. If your season ends at a conference meet in May, June 11 and 12 open up as well. That summer stretch is the window most track athletes end up using, for a plain reason: it is the only part of the year with no meets on the calendar.
The study load, in training terms
The AAMC's own advice on MCAT prep comes from Sunny Nakae, an assistant dean for admissions, who compares preparing for the MCAT to training for a marathon. She recommends six to eight hours of study a day for at least six weeks, and says six hours a day for six weeks gets you further than twelve hours a day for three. That works out to 252 to 336 hours.
You cannot stack that on top of an in-season week, which already holds practices, lifts, travel and a meet on top of a full course load. Track athletes who make it work move the heavy block to where the season is not:
- Summer after the outdoor season. Six to eight weeks of study from mid-June, then a test date in August or the first days of September. Scores arrive about a month later.
- Winter break into January. Content review through the fall, the daily hours over winter break, and a January date before indoor conference meets. This suits sprinters, jumpers and throwers better than distance runners, whose fall is cross country season.
The attempt rules that bite athletes
Meet schedules move. A rescheduled conference meet, a qualifying mark that sends you to a championship you did not plan for, or a travel day that lands on your test date are all normal in a track season. The MCAT rules treat them like any other reason:
- A no-show counts as one of your seven lifetime attempts, and the fee is not refunded.
- Rescheduling costs USD 55 if you move 60 or more days out, USD 110 at 30 to 59 days, and USD 210 at 10 to 29 days.
- Canceling 30 or more days out returns USD 180 of the USD 360 fee. Inside 30 days it returns nothing.
So book your test date after your championship schedule is out, and move it early the moment a meet lands on it.
What score to aim for
The AAMC sets no passing score. The number that matters is the average of the people who got in: 2025-2026 entrants to U.S. MD schools averaged 512.1, about the 84th percentile, against 506.3 for everyone who applied. Those figures and the full percentile table are in the MedUni Exam table linked above.
What to ask a coach when you are pre-med
Pre-med recruits should ask coaches about time the way other recruits ask about events:
- What time does practice start, and can an athlete with an afternoon lab train in a later group?
- How many athletes on the current roster are pre-med or science majors, and when did they take the MCAT?
- How many Friday classes does a typical travel weekend cost?
- What are the summer training expectations, and could you meet them while studying full time for six weeks?
- Does the athletic department have academic advisors or tutoring that know the pre-med path?
A coach who answers these clearly is telling you how the program treats athletes with a heavy major. Ask the admissions office about pre-med advising too, since that sits outside the athletic department.
Recruiting comes first
None of this changes how you get recruited. Marks, film and honest timing are what put you on a coach's list, and the step by step recruiting guide and the rules on emailing a coach still apply. Being pre-med is one more fact that helps a coach judge fit, so put your intended major in your first email.
Read next: indoor vs outdoor track, the NCAA recruiting calendar for 2026-27, and track scholarships and the new roster limits.
