Free MCAT Diagnostic Test: Start Your MCAT Journey Here

When you’re starting your MCAT prep, the very best place to begin is with an MCAT diagnostic test! Not only will this help familiarize you with MCAT question type variations, but it’ll also give you a sense of the content the exam tests, as well as its difficulty level.

Beyond that, an MCAT diagnostic test is a great way to start your MCAT preparations because it shows you what currently stands between you and your goal score. Don’t get me wrong—there’s a lot of room for growth between MCAT scores on a diagnostic and what you can achieve on test day! But getting a sense of your strengths and weaknesses on a practice exam can help you maximize the former and minimize the latter!

Ready to dive in? Here’s Magoosh’s free MCAT diagnostic test—featuring MCAT practice questions designed by our experts to show you what subject area (or areas) might need your attention before the real exam!

Free MCAT Diagnostic Test

 
Welcome to the Magoosh MCAT Diagnostic! These questions were created by our MCAT experts to test your knowledge of the MCAT subjects (except CARS questions, which will test your knowledge of how the section works). We recommend taking this quiz before you start your prep!

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Biology

1. During an experiment, a large, polarized compound is seen entering a cell and moving down its concentration gradient, without energy input. What mechanism of transport is most likely occurring?

Facilitated Diffusion

Osmosis

Simple Diffusion

Active Transport

Biology

2. Which of the following DNA sequences would have the highest melting temperature?

CCGACCTAGGTA

ATAACATTCGCA

CCAATCAGATCA

CGTAATGACCTT

Biology

3. Which type of bond links nucleotides to form a single stranded chain?

Ionic bonds

Phosphodiester bonds

Hydrogen bonds

Van der Waals forces

Biochemistry

4. During pregnancy, Hemoglobin F (HbF) has a lower P50 value and a higher affinity for oxygen that Hemoglobin A (HbA). How will the oxygen dissociation curve for HbF compare to the curve for HbA?

Shifted to the left with a higher Km value.

Shifted to the right with a higher Km value.

Shifted to the right with a lower Km value.

Shifted to the left with a lower Km value.

Biochemistry

5. During the citric acid cycle, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) catalyzes the conversion of isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate. Which class of enzyme is IDH?

Isomerase

Oxidoreductase

Lyase

Kinase

Biochemistry

6. A novel drug inhibits the conversion of ATP to cAMP by adenylate cyclase, disrupting the second messenger system within a cell. This drug most likely causes:

Inhibition of mitochondrial function

Disruption of intracellular protein activation

Apoptosis of the cell

Blockade of primary messengers at the cell membrane

Organic Chemistry

7. The substrate shown below undergoes two subsequent hydrolysis reactions. What is the product?

GMP

ADP

AMP

ADP

Organic Chemistry

8. What is the name of the molecule shown below?

β-D-Glucopyranose

α-D-Glucopyranose

β-D-Glucofuranose

α-D-Glucofuranose

Organic Chemistry

9. Which of the following compounds can undergo a keto-enol tautomerization?

All of the above

II, IV

I, II, IV

I, III

Chemistry

10. All of the following are underlying assumptions/conclusions of the ideal gas law EXCEPT:

Intermolecular interactions are maximal.

All collisions between gas molecules are elastic.

1 mole of ideal gas occupies 22.4 liters at 0 °C and 1 atm.

Pressure and volume are inversely proportional at constant temperature.

Chemistry

11. Which of the following molecules has bond(s) of the highest order?

CH4

F2

CO2

CO

Chemistry

12. Combustion reactions are used by the body to burn food and yield energy. When is the combustion reaction of sucrose C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ (s) + 12O₂ (g) → 12CO₂ (g) + 11H₂O(g) + ΔH spontaneous?

Always

Never

Sometimes, depending on the temperature of the reaction.

It cannot be determined with the given information.

Physics

13. A roller coaster cart situated at rest 50 m above the ground falls along the track into a circular loop of radius 10 m on the ground. What is the velocity of the cart at the top of the loop assuming no friction is involved?

31.30 m/s

28.00 m/s
​

24.25 m/s

20.00 m/s

Physics

14. A newly developed vaccine requires the administration of 3 mL of vaccine. How much pressure must be applied to administer the vaccine with a 10 mm diameter syringe if a nurse uses a force of 30 N to deliver the vaccine? (1 L·atm ≅ 100 J)

1 atm

400 atm

4 atm
​

100 atm

Physics

15. An electron is perpendicularly shot into a 5 T magnetic field at a velocity of 10 m/s. What is the radius of the circle created by its motion in the field? (charge of an electron = 1.6×10^–19C; mass of an electron = 9.1×10^–31kg)

1.14 fm

1.14 pm

11.4 pm

11.4 fm​

Psychology

16. A student consistently receives poor grades on a math exam. If the student takes the behaviorist perspective, they will attribute their poor performance to:

A lack of positive feedback from math teachers.

A genetic predisposition.

The social norms of their culture.

A stable personality trait.

Psychology

17. A child is presented with a box of multi-colored blocks. They are able to sort the blocks by color and by size. Which of the following tasks would the same child be least likely to perform?

Describing the merits of a behavior they believe to be wrong.

Gluing facial features onto a stick puppet

Intricately describing the visual perspective of another person in the room.

Finding a toy that was hidden behind a table.

Psychology

18. A woman tells a friend that her mother taught her how to ride horses at age 8. Later that day, the woman flips through an old photo album and realizes that it was actually her father, not mother, who taught her to ride. This is an example of:

Retroactive interference

An error in external source monitoring

An error in internal source monitoring

Retrograde amnesia

Sociology

19. Which of the following is NOT part of the “sick role?”

The sick person is expected to cooperate with health care providers

The sick person is expected to try to get well

The sick person is exempt from regular responsibilities.

The sick person is deemed to be a risk to society

Sociology

20. The term used to describe the number of children a woman is most likely to have in the course of her lifetime is:

Crude birth rate

Child-woman ratio

Total fertility rate

Age-specific birth rate

Sociology

21. Complete the sentence below with the statement that best describes social capital.

A new graduate is chosen for a job because:

The company has an international customer base, and the graduate can speak four languages

They impress the hiring committee with eloquent speech and advanced knowledge of fine art

Their parents donate generously to the company’s philanthropic department

The company’s former CEO is a friend who recommends the graduate for the position

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

22. Some CARS passages have more questions to answer than others. What is the greatest number of questions you will see attached to a single passage?

6

8

7

5

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

23. Which of the following would not appear as the main topic for a CARS passage?

The Zombie in Film

Desert Ecosystems of the Arctic

Resource Mobilization Theory

Accounting Discourse Communities

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

24. Which of the following Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) question types most frequently appears on the MCAT?

These question types appear equally on the exam

Reasoning within the Text

Foundations of Comprehension

Reasoning Beyond the Text

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Should I take an MCAT diagnostic test?

The general answer to this question is: yes, you should take an MCAT diagnostic exam—with some caveats. An MCAT diagnostic test requires a good amount of time and sometimes money as well (though Magoosh has you covered with the free MCAT diagnostic!).

If you’re ready for more practice, sign up to get a FREE full-length MCAT practice test designed by Magoosh MCAT experts. Click the image below to get started!

Besides the free Magoosh MCAT test, I would highly recommend the one put out by the AAMC itself. This full-length practice exam is the gold standard of MCAT practice exams. It costs $35 and provides a simulated score. This is an “official” MCAT diagnostic test and, in my opinion, provides the best indication of what your score range will be.

Note that you can also get a full-length, free MCAT practice test in your official AAMC account, under “MCAT Official Prep Hub.” However, only the previously mentioned AAMC sample test provides you with scaled scoring information.

When to Take an MCAT Diagnostic Test

MCAT diagnostic tests can provide a lot of information. However, unlike full-length MCAT practice tests that you use in MCAT prep, diagnostics are not study tools per se. Instead, they let you know areas of strength and weakness, as well as an estimated score for the real exam. They do not teach you much about how to improve your areas of weakness, and this really requires time and effort on the test-taker’s part.

My advice on how to use an MCAT diagnostic test is to use one at the very beginning of your study time and another at the very end.

Analyzing Your Results and Next Steps

You’ve taken your first MCAT diagnostic test, you’ve gotten your scores—now what?

1. Review your answers—both the right answers and wrong answers. Take a look at any patterns that you see, then write them down. Acing biochemistry questions? Struggling with psychology and sociology? Circle any areas that you know you want to work on.
2. Next, create a schedule using the information you’ve learned from your MCAT diagnostic test. This can be as simple as noting that on Wednesdays, you study organic chemistry (and wear pink). Or (better option!) you might choose to use one of Magoosh’s MCAT study schedules to cover the content areas you need in an organized, efficient way before test day.
3. Then, it’s time to identify the best resources to help you achieve your goals. This can involve anything from taking an online course to working with a tutor, or some combination of methods. And, depending on when you took MCAT-related courses, you can focus on materials for one section, like Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, or every section. We definitely recommend at least reviewing the materials you’ll see on all parts of the test. You don’t have to retake General Chemistry if it’s fresh in your mind, but looking at how the MCAT tests this will be important.

• Resource Alert
  Try Magoosh’s MCAT Question of the Day and MCAT Sample Questions to get some extra practice!)

From MCAT Diagnostic Test to Full-Length Practice Tests

An MCAT diagnostic test can help lay the groundwork for your prep, but before your actual exam, it’s key to take at least one practice MCAT exam. The earlier you can start doing this, the better.

Trust me: I know it’s really easy to say, “My test isn’t until September; I’ll brush up on my bio and do it later.” But even once you’ve studied everything you need to know about the biochemical foundations of living systems (not to mention the biological foundations of behavior!), you still won’t build the endurance you need for test day until you sit down and put it to the (7.5-hour) test.

You can also check out this list of free MCAT practice tests! The AAMC store also offers the opportunity to bundle full-length exam purchases, as well. If you’re prepping for more than a week or two, we highly recommend getting more than one of these full-length practice tests; the savings can be big. Some bundles include the official guide and question packs that serve as section banks, as well.

As you get closer to your test date, your practice test scores will let you know if you are reaching your target score range. If you are way off from where you want to be, this can perhaps be helpful in a decision to postpone your test date.

• If test day is quickly approaching and you don’t have time for full-length practice tests, the AAMC question packs are a great resource to work on individual sections you’ve flagged in your diagnostic test. Topics include biology, chemistry, physics, a CARS diagnostic, Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills, and question banks containing mixtures of MCAT sample questions.

Takeaways After Completing Your MCAT Diagnostic Test

Congratulations! By taking this MCAT diagnostic test, you’ve also taken the first step on the road to becoming a physician. While the topics (not to mention the length) of the MCAT can be overwhelming, remember: everything you’re studying today will help your future med student self!

Good luck!