MCAT 16-Week Study Planner

The MCAT has four scored sections: Chem/Phys, CARS, Bio/Biochem and Psych/Soc. It’s a long day, over seven hours of testing time, so stamina is part of what you’re training.

This 16-week planner turns that into a calendar you can write on: the weekly overview shows the whole plan, and the daily pages give you a page for each study day.

The exam at a glance

• 230 questions in four sections: Chem/Phys 59 questions in 95 minutes, CARS 53 in 90 minutes, Bio/Biochem 59 in 95 minutes and Psych/Soc 59 in 95 minutes.
• About 6 hours 15 minutes of testing, and about 7 hours 30 minutes in the seat with breaks.
• You can take it up to 3 times in a testing year, 4 times over 2 consecutive years and 7 times in your lifetime.

Checked against the official pages in November 2026; the exam owner can change these. Sources: AAMC: what is on the MCAT exam, AAMC: testing attempt limits.

• Weeks 1 to 8: content review. Take one or two topics a day and finish each day with practice questions on what you covered.
• Weeks 9 to 16: practice and review. Move to timed sets and full practice tests, write every miss in the error log, and keep going back to your weakest areas.
• CARS every week. Keep a little CARS practice in every week, because it is a skill that fades if you leave it.
• The last days. Work through the test-day checklist and keep the final day light.

The exam map splits your time across the areas of the exam. The four sections are scored equally, so the planner gives each one a full share of your time:

Most people planning for the MCAT put in about 300 to 500 hours in total, which is roughly 19 to 31 hours a week over 16 weeks. That is a planning range, not an official figure: start from your own score and target.

Not sure yet? Our free study plan for the MCAT builds a week-by-week schedule from your test date and free hours, and the free Study Focus Kit includes a printable planner. The paid planner is the same system on paper, with logs and a checklist you can write on.