{"id":482,"date":"2021-04-28T18:00:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T01:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/mcat\/?p=482"},"modified":"2021-04-28T18:00:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T01:00:27","slug":"improve-mcat-time-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/mcat\/improve-mcat-time-management\/","title":{"rendered":"MCAT Time Management: Strategies for Successful Pacing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MCAT While focusing on Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) content review is important, there’s one key to a high score that students often miss: MCAT time management. You don\u2019t want to rush through the test and get a bunch of questions wrong! At the same time, you don\u2019t want to go so slowly that you don\u2019t have time to answer all the questions. Students should strive for a pace that will allow them to answer as many questions with as high accuracy as possible. This sounds easy but is actually quite difficult in practice. In this post, we’ll look at strategies for MCAT pacing and how you can make the most of your time!<\/p>\n

Mastering MCAT Time Management<\/h2>\n

To understand how you should manage your time on the MCAT, there are a few key pieces of information you’ll need to know. Not only will you need to know how many questions and passages are on the exam, but you’ll need to divide that up according to how long the passages are to know how much time you should spend on each MCAT passage\/question. Not to worry\u2014here’s my advice for mastering MCAT pacing!<\/p>\n

1. Understand Timing on the MCAT<\/h3>\n

The MCAT contains four sections: three 95-minute sections on the sciences (Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, and Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior) and one 90-minute section on critical analysis and reasoning skills (CARS). Students have about a minute and a half to answer each question. Yup\u2014the MCAT is long<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Furthermore, all of the sections also include passages that students need to read to answer the questions so there is definitely a time pressure on the MCAT. Students that don\u2019t pace properly end up having to rush or guess on many questions. While you don\u2019t have to answer every question correctly to get a good MCAT score<\/a>, there are still pacing strategies that students can utilize to increase their scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Section<\/th>\nNumber of Questions<\/th>\nTime Allotted <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Test-Day Certification<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n4 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tutorial (optional)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n10 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems<\/td>\n59<\/td>\n95 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Break (optional)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n10 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills<\/td>\n53<\/td>\n90 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mid-Exam Break (optional)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n30 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems<\/td>\n59<\/td>\n95 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Break (optional)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n10 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior<\/td>\n59<\/td>\n95 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Void Question<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n3 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Satisfaction Survey (optional)<\/td>\n—<\/td>\n5 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total Content Time<\/td>\n230<\/td>\n6 hours & 15 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Total Seated Time<\/td>\n230<\/td>\napprox. 7 hours & 30 minutes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Table from AAMC PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Follow MCAT Time Management Strategies<\/h3>\n

So what can you do to manage your time on test day? A few tips can help you make the most of the limited time you’re given.<\/p>\n