On This Page:
- Advancing Holistic Review with the Premed Competencies
- About the PREview Exam
- 2025 Program Enhancements
- Frequently Asked Questions
- PREview Data
- PREview Recorded and Upcoming Presentations
- PREview Informational Articles
- Contact Us for Questions and Feedback
Advancing Holistic Review with the Premed Competencies
Aspiring physicians communicate their readiness for medical school by demonstrating their proficiency in the 17 premed competencies medical schools look for when evaluating applications. The AAMC and its member medical schools created these competencies. They include not only science as well as thinking and reasoning skills, but also professionalism and interpersonal skills, areas in which today’s medical students must be ready to receive advanced instruction.
Applicants demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and experience with the 17 premed competencies through the various components of their medical school application:
- Their coursework and grades provide insight into their academic achievements.
- Their Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) exam scores provide a standardized evaluation of their basic knowledge of the natural, behavioral, and social sciences.
- Other components of their application, including the AAMC PREview professional readiness exam, provide medical schools with insight into their readiness to develop their professional skills.
About the PREview Exam
The PREview exam is an opportunity for applicants to showcase their knowledge of competencies that go beyond academic readiness. The PREview exam is a reliable source for evaluating a student’s understanding of personal and professional competencies such as resilience and adaptability, service orientation, ethical responsibility to self and others, empathy and compassion, cultural awareness, cultural humility, and teamwork and collaboration, among others.
This knowledge serves as a foundation for further learning and development in these competency areas during school and is a necessary precursor to engaging in effective professional behavior as a health care provider. When combined with other parts of the application process, PREview scores provide admissions officers with a more complete view of applicants and offer schools the opportunity to broaden the the applicant pool invited to interviews.
2025 Program Enhancements
Retesting within the Testing Season
Prior to 2024, examinees were limited to one exam attempt per testing season. Examinees may take the exam twice within a testing season, up to a lifetime maximum of four attempts. At this time, a testing season is defined as a calendar year (January through December), and test dates will be offered from April through September in 2025.
Open to All Medical Schools
The AAMC is no longer limiting participation to American Medical College Application Service® (AMCAS®) schools. Students will be able to identify participating schools in one of three ways. However, we recommend examinees consult directly with the schools to confirm their participation and to determine when and how in the application review process they will evaluate PREview scores. The three ways to determine participating schools:
- Referring to the PREview website.
- Consulting the AAMC Medical School Admission Requirements™ (MSAR®) online database – school participation can be found in the Situational Judgment Test section (formerly labeled Additional Tests Required).
- Selecting medical schools within the AMCAS application. Participating schools will display one of the following notation:
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Requiring a PREview score — your application is not complete until you have provided a PREview score.
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Recommending a PREview score — the school is requesting your score but may review your application with or without a PREview score.
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Requiring a situational judgment test — your application is complete when you have submitted a score from a situational judgment test, and the PREview exam will satisfy this requirement.
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Exploring PREview scores for future use — the school is requesting your score so that they may evaluate the use of PREview scores as a requirement or recommendation for a future application year. The school will not use your score to make an admission decision in the 2025/2026 application cycle.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Looking for answers to your students' questions about the PREview exam? Find information about registering, preparing, taking the exam, and sending scores on the PREview FAQ webpage.
PREview Data
- Download the 2025 Percentile Ranks.
- Download the 2024 Percentile Ranks.
- Download the 2023 Percentile Ranks.
- Download the 2022 Percentile Ranks.
- Download the 2021 Percentile Ranks.
- Download the 2020 Percentile Ranks.
The Percentile Ranking Table (updated each May) is based on an examinees’ performance on the PREview exam during a two-year time frame. View a sample score report.
Using PREview Data in 2025 Medical Student Selection
The AAMC PREview team created this guide to support medical schools in incorporating PREview scores into their holistic review during the admissions process. The guide includes information about the design, interpretation, research evidence, and use of the PREview exam.
PREview Upcoming and Recorded Presentations
The PREview team delivers webinars and presents at professional meetings to keep the advisor and medical school communities up to date on the administration and ongoing research and evaluation of the PREview exam.
Upcoming:
To be announced.
Recorded:
- Insights and Updates for the AAMC PREview® professional readiness exam: Getting your Students Ready to Test in 2025 – March 18, 2025 at 2 p.m. ET
- Be Prepared for Medical School: Everything you need to know about the AAMC PREview® exam to apply to medical school – March 20, 2025 at 2 p.m. ET
- Learn How to Prepare for the AAMC PREview® Professional Readiness Exam – April 8, 2025 at 2 p.m. ET
PREview Informational Articles
Learn more about the PREview exam by reading informational articles featured in various resources.
Academic Medicine Articles:
- Evaluating a Situational Judgment Test for Use in Medical School Admissions: Two Years of AAMC PREview Exam Administration Data
- Designing a Situational Judgment Test for Use in Medical School Admissions
- Predicting Medical Student Performance with a Situational Judgment Test in Admissions
Premed Navigator Articles:
The AAMC Premed Navigator is a newsletter that includes information, resources, tips, and more to help premeds along their path to medical school. Subscribe to receive the Premed Navigator in your inbox each month.
Contact Us for Questions and Feedback
Please feel free to contact us with any questions at askpreview@aamc.org. Thank you for your ongoing support of the PREview program.